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Speaking from his personal experience in Iraq in 2003, General McChrystal acknowledges that the majority of leaders face immense pressures to maintain the “heroic” leadership ideal and that any deviation from it tends to feel like an admittance of weakness. And yet, ultimately, he emphasizes, the increased complexity and speed ushered in by new digital technologies makes the choice clear: adapt or go extinct.
Quiz based on Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World by Stanley MCCHRYSTAL with Tantum COLLINS, David SILVERMAN, and Chris FUSSELL (Portfolio / Penguin, May 2015).
Traditional hierarchical models remain the best defense against the invasion of the “New Barbarians”
True
False
Right !
New “barbarians” (e.g., Uber, Airbnb, Blablacar, Kickstarter) are invading markets and upsetting the business models that have been sources of prosperity for big businesses for decades. To confront these troublemakers, and to confront more generally the hyper-mobility and interdependence of today’s markets, you and your teams need to become savvier at handling these complexities. However engagement at work continues to decline, according to the annual 2014 Gallup survey, and traditional managerial models fall out of step with the needs of the organization: problems achieving strategic objectives due to excessive bureaucracy or internal political games; disengagement among employees; wasted resources; and having to battle competing interests across internal silos. Since they’ve been inherited from another era, traditional hierarchical methods of organizing seem out of touch with modern realities.
Wrong !
New “barbarians” (e.g., Uber, Airbnb, Blablacar, Kickstarter) are invading markets and upsetting the business models that have been sources of prosperity for big businesses for decades. To confront these troublemakers, and to confront more generally the hyper-mobility and interdependence of today’s markets, you and your teams need to become savvier at handling these complexities. However engagement at work continues to decline, according to the annual 2014 Gallup survey, and traditional managerial models fall out of step with the needs of the organization: problems achieving strategic objectives due to excessive bureaucracy or internal political games; disengagement among employees; wasted resources; and having to battle competing interests across internal silos. Since they’ve been inherited from another era, traditional hierarchical methods of organizing seem out of touch with modern realities.
Operational efficiency is the only performance criteria in complex and volatile situation
True
False
Right !
The ability to transmit information instantly and at virtually no cost has led to a vastly more interdependent and fast-paced world. This in turn has created unprecedented complexity and
unpredictability. Efficiency — once the advantage of large organizations over smaller — is no longer enough for navigating today’s complexity and speed of change. How can “leviathans” become more agile, hitherto limited to less structured players?
unpredictability. Efficiency — once the advantage of large organizations over smaller — is no longer enough for navigating today’s complexity and speed of change. How can “leviathans” become more agile, hitherto limited to less structured players?
Wrong !
The ability to transmit information instantly and at virtually no cost has led to a vastly more interdependent and fast-paced world. This in turn has created unprecedented complexity and
unpredictability. Efficiency — once the advantage of large organizations over smaller — is no longer enough for navigating today’s complexity and speed of change. How can “leviathans” become more agile, hitherto limited to less structured players?
unpredictability. Efficiency — once the advantage of large organizations over smaller — is no longer enough for navigating today’s complexity and speed of change. How can “leviathans” become more agile, hitherto limited to less structured players?
AI-Qaïda is a successful organizational model in a complex and volatile situation.
True
False
Right !
General Stanley McChrystal faced these new realities when he led America’s most elite military organization, the Joint Special Operations Task Force, into the midst of war against Al Qaeda in Iraq in the spring of 2003. In his words, the enemy, Al Qaeda, was “poorly trained and under-resourced” in comparison to his 4,000-strong Task Force. And yet, initially the greater resilience and fl exibility of Al Qaeda’s networked organization enabled them to stay always one step ahead. According to him, the problem was his organization’s approach to management, which was based on Frederick Taylor’s theory of “scientific management.” Designed for “highly efficient execution of known, repeatable processes at scale,” this system slowed McChrystal’s organization down in an environment characterized by extreme uncertainty. In response, he set out to scale up the adaptability and agility of smaller teams by building a “team of teams.”
Wrong !
General Stanley McChrystal faced these new realities when he led America’s most elite military organization, the Joint Special Operations Task Force, into the midst of war against Al Qaeda in Iraq in the spring of 2003. In his words, the enemy, Al Qaeda, was “poorly trained and under-resourced” in comparison to his 4,000-strong Task Force. And yet, initially the greater resilience and fl exibility of Al Qaeda’s networked organization enabled them to stay always one step ahead. According to him, the problem was his organization’s approach to management, which was based on Frederick Taylor’s theory of “scientific management.” Designed for “highly efficient execution of known, repeatable processes at scale,” this system slowed McChrystal’s organization down in an environment characterized by extreme uncertainty. In response, he set out to scale up the adaptability and agility of smaller teams by building a “team of teams.”
An agile team is a team unlike any other
True
False
Right !
If you were asked to put together an agile team, what qualities would you would look for? Agile teams that operate well demonstrate a set of behaviors that other teams do not possess. This is because agility demands certain types of behavior if projects are to be brought to fruition in complex and volatile environments where resources are limited.
If you are called on to create an agile team, start by asking yourself what distinguishes an agile team from an unagile team. Are members of agile teams different from members of other teams? Yes and no. Yes: because certain kinds of behavior are more in evidence in agile teams than in their less agile counterparts. Specifically, six different kinds of behavior come to the fore: collaboration, honesty, iterative learning (without fear of failure), humility (accepting that not everything will be perfect), adaptation, and a thirst for knowledge.
And no: because we are talking about human beings, who all exhibit these six behaviors to some degree, which can be enhanced and developed over time!
Source: “Teaming: How Organizations Learn, Innovate and Compete in the Knowledge Economy” by Amy Edmondson (Jossey-Bass 2012)
If you are called on to create an agile team, start by asking yourself what distinguishes an agile team from an unagile team. Are members of agile teams different from members of other teams? Yes and no. Yes: because certain kinds of behavior are more in evidence in agile teams than in their less agile counterparts. Specifically, six different kinds of behavior come to the fore: collaboration, honesty, iterative learning (without fear of failure), humility (accepting that not everything will be perfect), adaptation, and a thirst for knowledge.
And no: because we are talking about human beings, who all exhibit these six behaviors to some degree, which can be enhanced and developed over time!
Source: “Teaming: How Organizations Learn, Innovate and Compete in the Knowledge Economy” by Amy Edmondson (Jossey-Bass 2012)
Wrong !
If you were asked to put together an agile team, what qualities would you would look for? Agile teams that operate well demonstrate a set of behaviors that other teams do not possess. This is because agility demands certain types of behavior if projects are to be brought to fruition in complex and volatile environments where resources are limited.
If you are called on to create an agile team, start by asking yourself what distinguishes an agile team from an unagile team. Are members of agile teams different from members of other teams? Yes and no. Yes: because certain kinds of behavior are more in evidence in agile teams than in their less agile counterparts. Specifically, six different kinds of behavior come to the fore: collaboration, honesty, iterative learning (without fear of failure), humility (accepting that not everything will be perfect), adaptation, and a thirst for knowledge.
And no: because we are talking about human beings, who all exhibit these six behaviors to some degree, which can be enhanced and developed over time!
Source: “Teaming: How Organizations Learn, Innovate and Compete in the Knowledge Economy” by Amy Edmondson (Jossey-Bass 2012)
If you are called on to create an agile team, start by asking yourself what distinguishes an agile team from an unagile team. Are members of agile teams different from members of other teams? Yes and no. Yes: because certain kinds of behavior are more in evidence in agile teams than in their less agile counterparts. Specifically, six different kinds of behavior come to the fore: collaboration, honesty, iterative learning (without fear of failure), humility (accepting that not everything will be perfect), adaptation, and a thirst for knowledge.
And no: because we are talking about human beings, who all exhibit these six behaviors to some degree, which can be enhanced and developed over time!
Source: “Teaming: How Organizations Learn, Innovate and Compete in the Knowledge Economy” by Amy Edmondson (Jossey-Bass 2012)
An agile team needs instructions to ensure results
True
False
Right !
False! The traditional role of the manager who follows, measures, and rewards the successful implementation of guidelines and procedures is a thing of the past. Leading an agile team means helping it to discover best practices… for itself. Your role is more about providing overall direction, setting a framework and finding solutions alongside your teammates. In this context, you have to accept that change is a constant feature of collaborative work (that it’s not a problem!) and a source for creating value in the long term.
This flexible kind of leadership improves a team’s reactivity and ability to innovate; of course, it’s not easy to implement and requires, above all, resisting the temptation to try to give (or receive!) precise instructions for ensuring results, the certainty of which would only be an illusion.
Source: “Teaming: How Organizations Learn, Innovate and Compete in the Knowledge Economy” by Amy Edmondson (Jossey-Bass 2012)
This flexible kind of leadership improves a team’s reactivity and ability to innovate; of course, it’s not easy to implement and requires, above all, resisting the temptation to try to give (or receive!) precise instructions for ensuring results, the certainty of which would only be an illusion.
Source: “Teaming: How Organizations Learn, Innovate and Compete in the Knowledge Economy” by Amy Edmondson (Jossey-Bass 2012)
Wrong !
False! The traditional role of the manager who follows, measures, and rewards the successful implementation of guidelines and procedures is a thing of the past. Leading an agile team means helping it to discover best practices… for itself. Your role is more about providing overall direction, setting a framework and finding solutions alongside your teammates. In this context, you have to accept that change is a constant feature of collaborative work (that it’s not a problem!) and a source for creating value in the long term.
This flexible kind of leadership improves a team’s reactivity and ability to innovate; of course, it’s not easy to implement and requires, above all, resisting the temptation to try to give (or receive!) precise instructions for ensuring results, the certainty of which would only be an illusion.
Source: “Teaming: How Organizations Learn, Innovate and Compete in the Knowledge Economy” by Amy Edmondson (Jossey-Bass 2012)
This flexible kind of leadership improves a team’s reactivity and ability to innovate; of course, it’s not easy to implement and requires, above all, resisting the temptation to try to give (or receive!) precise instructions for ensuring results, the certainty of which would only be an illusion.
Source: “Teaming: How Organizations Learn, Innovate and Compete in the Knowledge Economy” by Amy Edmondson (Jossey-Bass 2012)
An agile organization can still retain the imperative to withhold sensitive information.
True
False
Right !
Building a team of teams requires never-before-seen levels of transparency and collaboration across internal silos. The fundamental challenge in building a “team of teams” was creating what McChrystal refers to as “shared consciousness.” “We wanted to fuse generalized awareness with specialized expertise. Our entire force needed to share a fundamental, holistic understanding of the operating environment and of our own organization, and we also needed to preserve each team’s distinct skill sets. We dubbed this goal — this state of emergent, adaptive organizational intelligence — shared consciousness, and it became the cornerstone of our transformation.” To realize this transformation, the Task Force had to make a radical change away from the deeply entrenched policies that, for the sake of security as well as effi ciency, had hitherto restricted information sharing to a “need-to-know” basis.
Wrong !
Building a team of teams requires never-before-seen levels of transparency and collaboration across internal silos. The fundamental challenge in building a “team of teams” was creating what McChrystal refers to as “shared consciousness.” “We wanted to fuse generalized awareness with specialized expertise. Our entire force needed to share a fundamental, holistic understanding of the operating environment and of our own organization, and we also needed to preserve each team’s distinct skill sets. We dubbed this goal — this state of emergent, adaptive organizational intelligence — shared consciousness, and it became the cornerstone of our transformation.” To realize this transformation, the Task Force had to make a radical change away from the deeply entrenched policies that, for the sake of security as well as effi ciency, had hitherto restricted information sharing to a “need-to-know” basis.
An agile organization increases the connections across silos.
True
False
Right !
Building a team of teams requires never-before-seen levels of transparency and collaboration across internal silos. The Task Force increased transparency across silos primarily by opening up what is called its Operations & Intelligence brief to the entire organization as well as to partner organizations. « AT the end,we had seven thousand people attending almost daily for up to two hours,” reports McChrystal. “To some management theorists, that sounds like a nightmare of inefficiency, but the information that was shared in the O&I was so rich, so timely, and so pertinent to the fi ght, no one wanted to miss it.” In addition to the O&I, McChrystal also initiated programs in which individuals were assigned to different teams in the force or to entirely separate partner agencies for six months at a time. The goal was twofold: 1) sharing perspectives and 2) forging closer, more trusting relationships across silos.
Wrong !
Building a team of teams requires never-before-seen levels of transparency and collaboration across internal silos. The Task Force increased transparency across silos primarily by opening up what is called its Operations & Intelligence brief to the entire organization as well as to partner organizations. « AT the end,we had seven thousand people attending almost daily for up to two hours,” reports McChrystal. “To some management theorists, that sounds like a nightmare of inefficiency, but the information that was shared in the O&I was so rich, so timely, and so pertinent to the fi ght, no one wanted to miss it.” In addition to the O&I, McChrystal also initiated programs in which individuals were assigned to different teams in the force or to entirely separate partner agencies for six months at a time. The goal was twofold: 1) sharing perspectives and 2) forging closer, more trusting relationships across silos.
An agile organization dispenses with leadership.
True
False
Right !
The traditional role of leaders as “all-knowing decision makers” has become unrealistic in today’s highly complex, uncertain environments. But the fact that their role has changed does not make them any less important; in fact, according to McChrystal, leaders are now more important than ever. “Empowered execution may at fi rst glance seem to suggest that leaders are no longer needed. That is certainly the connection made by many who have described networks such as Al Qaeda in Iraq as ‘leaderless.’ But this is wrong,” argues McChrystal. On a team of teams, leaders are the ones who create the conditions — such as by harnessing new technologies to implement new managerial processes like shared consciousness — that unleash the collective intelligence of the organization as a whole.
Wrong !
The traditional role of leaders as “all-knowing decision makers” has become unrealistic in today’s highly complex, uncertain environments. But the fact that their role has changed does not make them any less important; in fact, according to McChrystal, leaders are now more important than ever. “Empowered execution may at fi rst glance seem to suggest that leaders are no longer needed. That is certainly the connection made by many who have described networks such as Al Qaeda in Iraq as ‘leaderless.’ But this is wrong,” argues McChrystal. On a team of teams, leaders are the ones who create the conditions — such as by harnessing new technologies to implement new managerial processes like shared consciousness — that unleash the collective intelligence of the organization as a whole.
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