Team of Teams : New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World

What if you could combine the agility, adaptability, and cohesion of a small team with the power and resources of a giant organization? THE OLD RULES NO LONGER APPLY . . . When General Stanley McChrystal took command of the Joint Special Operations Task Force in 2004, he quickly realized that conventional military tactics were failing. Al Qaeda in Iraq was a decentralized network that could move quickly, strike ruthlessly, then seemingly vanish into the local population. The allied forces had a huge advantage in numbers, equipment, and training—but none of that seemed to matter. TEACHING A LEVIATHAN TO IMPROVISE It’s no secret that in any field, small teams have many ad­vantages—they can respond quickly, communicate freely, and make decisions without layers of bureaucracy. But organizations taking on really big challenges can’t fit in a garage. They need management practices that can scale to thousands of people. General McChrystal led a hierarchical, highly disci­plined machine of thousands of men and women. But to defeat Al Qaeda in Iraq, his Task Force would have to acquire the enemy’s speed and flexibility. Was there a way to combine the power of the world’s mightiest military with the agility of the world’s most fearsome terrorist network? If so, could the same principles apply in civilian organizations? A NEW APPROACH FOR A NEW WORLD McChrystal and his colleagues discarded a century of conventional wisdom and remade the Task Force, in the midst of a grueling war, into something new: a network that combined extremely transparent communication with decentralized decision-making authority. The walls between silos were torn down. Leaders looked at the best practices of the smallest units and found ways to ex­tend them to thousands of people on three continents, using technology to establish a oneness that would have been impossible even a decade earlier. The Task Force became a “team of teams”—faster, flatter, more flex­ible—and beat back Al Qaeda. BEYOND THE BATTLEFIELD In this powerful book, McChrystal and his colleagues show how the challenges they faced in Iraq can be rel­evant to countless businesses, nonprofits, and other or­ganizations. The world is changing faster than ever, and the smartest response for those in charge is to give small groups the freedom to experiment while driving every­one to share what they learn across the entire organiza­tion. As the authors argue through compelling examples, the team of teams strategy has worked everywhere from hospital emergency rooms to NASA. It has the potential to transform organizations large and small. As Commander Of Joint Special Operations Command (jsoc), General Stanley Mcchrystal Played A Crucial Role In The War On Terror. But When He Took The Helm In 2004, America Was Losing That War Badly: Despite Vastly Inferior Resources And Technology, Al Qaeda Was Outmaneuvering America's Most Elite Warriors. Mcchrystal Came To Realize That Today's Faster, More Interdependent World Had Overwhelmed The Conventional, Top-down Hierarchy Of The U.s. Military. Al Qaeda Had Seen The Future: A Decentralized Network That Could Move Quickly And Strike Ruthlessly. To Defeat Such An Enemy, Jsoc Would Have To Discard A Century Of Management Wisdom, And Pivot From A Pursuit Of Mechanical Efficiency To Organic Adaptability. Under Mcchrystal's Leadership, Jsoc Remade Itself, In The Midst Of A Grueling War, Into Something Entirely New: A Network That Combined Robust Centralized Communication With Decentralized Managerial Authority. As A Result, They Beat Back Al Qaeda. In This Book, Mcchrystal Shows Not Only How The Military Made That Transition, But Also How Similar Shifts Are Possible In All Organizations, From Large Companies To Startups To Charities To Governments. In A Turbulent World, The Best Organizations Think And Act Like A Team Of Teams, Embracing Small Groups That Combine The Freedom To Experiment With A Relentless Drive To Share What They've Learned. Drawing On A Wealth Of Evidence From His Military Career, The Private Sector, And Sources As Diverse As Hospital Emergency Rooms And Nasa's Space Program, Mcchrystal Frames The Existential Challenge Facing Today's Organizations, And Proposes A Compelling, Effective Solution. Introduction -- The Proteus Problem: Sons Of Proteus ; Clockwork ; From Complicated To Complex ; Doing The Right Thing -- From Many, One: From Command To Team ; Team Of Teams -- Sharing: Seeing The System ; Brains Out Of The Footlocker ; Beating The Prisoner's Dilemma -- Letting Go: Hands Off ; Leading Like A Gardener -- Looking Ahead: Symmetries. General Stanley Mcchrystal (u.s. Army, Retired), With Tantum Collins, David Silverman, And Chris Fussell. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 255-279) And Index. The retired four-star general and and bestselling author of My Share of the Task shares a powerful new leadership model As commander of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), General Stanley McChrystal played a crucial role in the War on Terror. But when he took the helm in 2004, America was losing that war badly: despite vastly inferior resources and technology, Al Qaeda was outmaneuvering Americas most elite warriors. McChrystal came to realize that todays faster, more interdependent world had overwhelmed the conventional, top-down hierarchy of the US military. Al Qaeda had seen the future: a decentralized network that could move quickly and strike ruthlessly. To defeat such an enemy, JSOC would have to discard a century of management wisdom, and pivot from a pursuit of mechanical efficiency to organic adaptability. Under McChrystals leadership, JSOC remade itself, in the midst of a grueling war, into something entirely new: a network that combined robust centralized communication with decentralized managerial authority. As a result, they beat back Al Qaeda. In this book, McChrystal shows not only how the military made that transition, but also how similar shifts are possible in all organizations, from large companies to startups to charities to governments. In a turbulent world, the best organizations think and act like a team of teams, embracing small groups that combine the freedom to experiment with a relentless drive to share what theyve learned. Drawing on a wealth of evidence from his military career, the private sector, and sources as diverse as hospital emergency rooms and NASAs space program, McChrystal frames the existential challenge facing todays organizations, and presents a compelling, effective solution. "From the New York Times bestselling author of My Share of the Task and Leaders, a manual for leaders looking to make their teams more adaptable, agile, and unified in the midst of change. When General Stanley McChrystal took command of the Joint Special Operations Task Force in 2004, he quickly realized that conventional military tactics were failing. Al Qaeda in Iraq was a decentralized network that could move quickly, strike ruthlessly, then seemingly vanish into the local population. The allied forces had a huge advantage in numbers, equipment, and training -- but none of that seemed to matter. To defeat Al Qaeda, they would have to combine the power of the world's mightiest military with the agility of the world's most fearsome terrorist network. They would have to become a 'team of teams' -- faster, flatter, and more flexible than ever. In Team of Teams, McChrystal and his colleagues show how the challenges they faced in Iraq can be relevant to countless businesses, nonprofits, and orƯganizations today. In periods of unprecedented crisis, leaders need practical management practices that can scale to thousands of people -- and fast. By giving small groups the freedom to experiment and share what they learn across the entire organizaƯtion, teams can respond more quickly, communicate more freely, and make better and faster decisions. Drawing on compelling examples -- from NASA to hospital emergency rooms -- Team of Teams makes the case for merging the power of a large corporation with the agility of a small team to transform any organization." Introduction -- The Proteus problem: Sons of Proteus ; Clockwork ; From complicated to complex ; Doing the right thing -- From many, one: From command to team ; Team of teams -- Sharing: Seeing the system ; Brains out of the footlocker ; Beating the prisoner's dilemma -- Letting go: Hands off ; Leading like a gardener -- Looking ahead: Symmetries.;As commander of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), General Stanley McChrystal discarded a century of management wisdom and pivoted from a pursuit of mechanical efficiency to organic adaptability. In this book, he shows how any organization can make the same transition to act like a team of teams - where small groups combine the freedom to experiment with a relentless drive to share their experience. Drawing on a wealth of evidence from his military career and sources as diverse as hospital emergency rooms and NASA's space program, McChrystal frames the existential challenge facing today's organizations, and presents a compelling, effective solution.