X-Teams: How to Build Teams That Lead, Innovate, and Succeed

by Deborah Ancona, Henrik Bresman

Overview

Why do good teams fail? Very often, argue Deborah Ancona and Henrik Bresman, it is because they are looking inward instead of outward. Based on years of research examining teams across many industries, Ancona and Bresman show that traditional team models are falling short, and that what’s needed—and what works—is a new brand of team that emphasizes external outreach to stakeholders, extensive ties, expandable tiers, and flexible membership.

The authors highlight that X-teams not only are able to adapt in ways that traditional teams aren’t, but that they actually improve an organization’s ability to produce creative ideas and execute them—increasing the entrepreneurial and innovative capacity within the firm. What’s more, the new environment demands what the authors call “distributed leadership,” and the book highlights how X-teams powerfully embody this idea.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781591396925
Publisher:	Harvard Business Review Press
Publication date:	06/26/2007
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.60(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     IX
Introduction: When Bad Things Happen to Good Teams     1
Why Good Teams Fail
Into a Downward Spiral     21
How Our Old Models Lead to Failure
A Changing World     41
New Kinds of Organizations
New Kinds of Teams
What Works
X-Team Principle 1     63
External Activity
X-Team Principle 2     89
Extreme Execution
X-Team Principle 3     117
Flexible Phases
X-Factors     139
The X-Team Support Structure
How to Build Effective X-Teams
Tools for X-Teams     165
From Theory to Action
Crafting an Infrastructure for Innovation     195
The X-Team Program
X-Teams     217
Distributed Leadership in Action
Notes     241
Index     249
About the Authors     259

Editorial Reviews

The authors dive into the nitty-gritty details of engineering a better team . . .

TIME.com

The book expands our thinking about teams...comfortable reading, broken down into clear sections . . .

The Globe & Mail