Collaborative intelligence: using teams to solve hard problems: lessons from and for intelligence professionals

Intelligence professionals are commonly viewed as solo operators. But these days intelligence work is mostly about collaboration. Interdisciplinary and even inter-organizational teams are necessary to solve the really hard problems intelligence professionals face. Tragically, these teams often devolve into wheel-spinning, contentious assemblies that get nothing done. Or members may disengage from a team if they find its work frustrating, trivial, or a waste of their time. Even teams with a spirit of camaraderie may take actions that are flat-out wrong. But there is also good news. This book draws on recent research findings as well as Harvard Professor Richard Hackman’s own experience as an intelligence community researcher and advisor to show how leaders can create an environment where teamwork flourishes. Hackman identifies six enabling conditions – such as establishing clear norms of conduct and providing well-timed team coaching – that increase the likelihood that teams will be effective in any setting or type of organization.. Although written explicitly for intelligence, defense, crisis management, and law enforcement professionals it will also be valuable for improving team success in all kinds of leadership, management, service, and production teams in business, government, and nonprofit enterprises. Intelligence professionals are popularly viewed as solo operators. But, particularly today, doing intelligence is mostly about teamwork--the volume, complexity, and global nature of the work demand collaboration across a diversity of people, disciplines, and organizations. And yet teams in the intelligence community face formidable challenges. Needed information may be classified, and ultimate goals are sometimes covert--concealed from the very people working to achieve them. The bureaucracy is immense and complex, and the extraordinary demands of the work lead to high turnover and frequent transfers. But there is also good news. J. Richard Hackman draws on his unparalleled decade of experience as a researcher on and consultant to the intelligence community to show how to create an environment where teamwork flourishes. Hackman identifies six conditions necessary for any team to succeed: setting up a well-defined, stable, interdependent unit; getting the right people on the team; defining a compelling purpose; establishing clear norms of conduct; creating a supportive organizational context; and providing team-focused coaching. He uses concrete examples to show how each of these conditions helps teams accomplish their missions. Although written with intelligence, defense, crisis management, and law enforcement professionals in mind, the book contains lessons that can be applied to any organization--these necessary conditions are universal. Collaborative Intelligence is a vital resource for the intelligence community and a fascinating look inside that community for outsiders This practical guide draws on cognitive science and work with Fortune 500 companies to help readers develop essential collaborative skills. Collaborative intelligence is a measure of our ability to think with others on behalf of what matters to us all. It is emerging as a new professional currency at a time when influence is more important than power, and success relies on the ability to inspire. Through a series of practices and strategies, this book helps us develop our own collaborative intelligence. The authors teach us how to value intellectual diversity and recognize our own mind patterns. By mapping the talents of our teams, we’re able to embark together on an aligned course of action and influence. Collaborative Intelligence is the culmination of more than fifty years of original research that draws on Dawna Markova’s background in cognitive neuroscience and her most recent work, with Angie McArthur, as a “Professional Thinking Partner” to some of the world’s top CEOs and creative professionals. In their experience, managers who appreciate intellectual diversity will lead their teams to innovation; employees who understand it will thrive because they are in touch with their strengths; and an entire team who understands it will come together to do their best work in a symphony of collaboration. Teams that work and those that don't When teams, when not? You can't make a team be great Create a real team Specify a compelling team purpose Put the right people on the team Establish clear norms of conduct Provide organizational supports for teamwork Provide well-timed team coaching Leading intelligence teams Intelligence teams in context. Explains how to develop an environment where teamwork flourishes, identifying six conditions necessary for any team to succeed and using examples to show how each helps teams accomplish their goal Intelligence professionals are popularly viewed as solo operators. But, particularly today, doing intelligence is mostly about teamwork