Reviews (22)

Packed with Knowledge!
Warren Bennis and Patricia Ward Biederman describe the qualities that generate "Great Groups," capable of meaningful creative collaborations. Despite the myth of individual achievement and heroic leadership, the authors delve into major breakthroughs accomplished by group effort. Often Great Groups unite around the vision of a charismatic leader and work toward that leader's goal with obsessive commitment. Bennis and Biederman spend much of the book describing the workings of a half dozen such groups - from the Manhattan project to the founders of the Disney Studio to Bill Clinton's campaign team. These case histories read like individual short stories, but they each tell the saga of a driven creative collaboration. The authors conclude with lessons you can apply to bring the dedication of Great Groups to bear within your organization. We recommend this clearly written, logically organized book to leaders and collaborators in any industry, with two caveats. First, acquiring the requisite charisma is up to you. And, second, as to the authors' fulsome praise of obsessive work habits, well, that's so '90s.

Packed With Knowledge!
Warren Bennis and Patricia Ward Biederman describe the qualities that generate "Great Groups," capable of meaningful creative collaborations. Despite the myth of individual achievement and heroic leadership, the authors delve into major breakthroughs accomplished by group effort. Often Great Groups unite around the vision of a charismatic leader and work toward that leader's goal with obsessive commitment. Bennis and Biederman spend much of the book describing the workings of a half dozen such groups - from the Manhattan project to the founders of the Disney Studio to Bill Clinton's campaign team. These case histories read like individual short stories, but they each tell the saga of a driven creative collaboration. The authors conclude with lessons you can apply to bring the dedication of Great Groups to bear within your organization. We recommend this clearly written, logically organized book to leaders and collaborators in any industry, with two caveats. First, acquiring the requisite charisma is up to you. And, second, as to the authors' fulsome praise of obsessive work habits, well, that's so '90s.

Really Great Insights
I got tremendous value out of this book. While I did not see or connect with all the Great Groups that Bennis used as case studies, there are powerful ideas and insights in every one of them. I have summarzied his 15 "Take Home Lessons" in a one page handout and include it in the materials for our School for Innovators and on operational Thinking Expeditions. I also got a video of "Fat Man & Little Boy" - the Manhattan Project (which is cited in the book) and have referenced it often as an example of a powerfully urgent Great Group coalesces and collabortes differently. For anyone trying to not just launch a fastforward team, but who also wants to inspire that team to greatness, this is a must read. Caution: this is not a "how to do it" book - rather it tells the story and paints the picture, and its up to the reader to take his or her own learnings and how to out of it (iontuitively).

Some great points dissolved in useless text
This book explores common treats of what author calls a "Great Group". The book tells the stories of a dozen groups creating breakthroughs in many different domains from creation of Disney's first animated feature film, to the development of the first Apple computer.
The author uncovers and shows characteristics of Great Groups using numerous and at times repetitive examples. The last chapter summarizes the lessons.
I have a mixed feeling about this book. Even though I found that messages contained in this book are extremely valuable, I don't think authors found the best way to present them. Most of the volume of the book is taken by numerous stories about how a particular group worked. Many of the tales add little to the core message of the book and merely dissolve them in irrelevant material. My advice the author: the title of this book should have been "Organizing Genius. Stories of creative collaboration". Or even better - instead of writing a book the author could have written fantastic article that spells out all the same messages without wasting reader's time. Pretty much every chapter digests of other sources, so if you're interested in each particular group, I think you'll find much better accounts elsewhere.
See my weblog (just google it) for a more detailed review.

disappointing and rambling, with interesting tid bits
It never ceases to astonish me how little substance there is to most business books: they tend to take a few ideas, puff them up with facts and stories, and then paste them together into a book when a single article - or indeed the flap of the book - would more than suffice. Alas, though Bennis is a brilliant man and great expert on leadership, his book fails on many counts.

First, throughtout the text, the ideas are not that well delineated. So you get lots of stories that are often intersting and fun, but you wonder why all the details are included. Second, I didn't see what the book really adds: sure leaders can be both remarkable and difficult; sure, some teams are extraordinary; sure, we could use more great teams. But how do you do it? THe book doesn't provide much on that as a practical guide (its third failing).

Nonetheless, I thought this book was very well written, which is almost certainly Bierderman's contribution. ALso, it is fun to read the stories on their own. Finally, the sumup chapter has useful ideas (and frankly, it - just 15 pages - is all that you would need to read if you don't find the stories inherently interesting).

Tepidly recommended. ... Read more

Book Description

A quick, clear way to learn about teamwork, with a useful framework for identifying critical roles of team players.
--Peter Block

This handbook will help you focus on what makes a good team player. It draws on stories of more than fifty team-driven organizations?including Xerox, Honeywell, General Motors, and 3M?to give you proven evidence of the qualities of high performing teams.

You'll discover:

• Four styles of team players critical to an effective, dynamic team
• The right balance of styles to create a productive team
• How to get team members to support, challenge, and inspire one another to achieve stellar results
• A useful framework for identifying team roles

Here's a practical guide for your team leaders and members who need to maintain their competitive advantage through teamwork.

... Read more

Reviews (6)

Easy read for any techo....
Whitehead covers alot of the basics of team management. It shouldn't be difficult, and that what Whitehead explains through "questioned" title chapters. It works quite well because you can zero in on the question about leadership in your situation that may be plaguing your mind. The book is short and easy to read, so it can be read in about 3 days on a bus.

The author subscribes to making you aware of the qualities of good managers and how to handle common types of problems, like what to do when you don't have the technical knowledge about a problem, or how to handle difficult/disruptive team members. In summary, Whitehead helps you get into thinking like a ternary leader, that is you are part of a group, all working towards a common goal and you, (the teamleader/manager), should not dictate your "will and whim" to others.

The only criticism is that it is probably too light on the aspect of project management. There are issues about project management of people in terms of requirements, risk, scheduling that are not discussed. This book is about working with your colleagues not clients.... but overall a good read at a good price.

Really understands the project lead role
After reading this book, I would say for sure that Richard Whitehead understands the role of the project lead. I would buy this book for a new, or existing lead, if I wanted him to understand the challenges he might face. I really applaud this and would add that many books feel like they were written from the outside looking in (sure, everyone on the outside wants twice the functionality in half the time!). I would love to see an update that included more strategies for success however. A lot of the solutions seemed to be based on a specific set of circumstances and personalities. Perhaps adding some examples from others who faced similar challenges, and overcame them with different methods, would increase the impact of this book.

Advice that will reduce the very difficult to difficult
While the programmer in me has often railed at the managers of software development, generally with very good reason, but admittedly sometimes for reasons that were less than pure, I do readily admit that it is a very difficult job. Humans tend to have distinct sets of skills, some of which seem to have a fundamental incompatibility. Writers of good software seem to be predisposed to having limited social and managerial skills and in general one needs to be able to understand a great deal about software in order to be able to manage its' creation. Programmers are also known as being "somewhat difficult" to organize, so even the best managers can be challenged by what is oftentimes an unruly bunch of developers.
However, difficult does not mean impossible, I have yet to meet a quality programmer who did not have a "weakness", that properly exploited, will cause them to work intensely and log an enormous amount of keyboard time. Teams are built in many ways, and Whitehead quite properly notes that many (most) successful teams are made of people who respect and rely on each other's skills, but may not personally like each other. Some of the most successful sports teams of all times were made up of players who did not speak to each other outside the bounds of play. Arguing and bickering, as long as it is within clearly defined boundaries, should be considered normal and tolerated. Attempts to dictate that people like each other and engage in silly "teambuilding" exercises more often lead to failure rather than success. Other examples in the book show the same good sense, as Whitehead clearly has experience in making projects work.
The book is split into sections, which are

* The new leader.
* Project management.
* Leading people.
* Requirements capture.
* Stress and conflict management.
* Relationship with management.
* Making decisions.
* Analysis and design.
* Testing and project release.

Under these sections, there are a total of 40 different points, with a header and explanation of some of the rights, wrongs and different shades of gray inherent in the points. While forty is not large enough to cover all possible contingencies, I cannot find a reason to criticize those that were chosen.
Writing good software is hard, and managing hard people is difficult. However, from this book you can find some very sound advice that will improve your chances of managing a project to a successful conclusion.

Practical Guide
This is an excellent "how to" book. It describes in detail all the steps required to properly lead a software development team. It pays particular attention to conflict resolution including examples on how to handle difficult situatuions and people. I get the impression that in Richard Whitehead's limited project experience he has had significant exposure to conflict.
It would have been useful if he had fully explored some of the other paths during conflict resolution. He explains what to do in certain circumstances, but does not go the additional step; what if it doesn't get results, what then?

Solid book on managing software developers
"Leading a Software Development Team" is a great introduction to project management, especially for a software developer who is suddenly thrown into the driver's seat. I really liked how this book was organized into problem areas, each cross-referencing related problem sections. Think "design patterns for software managers." Software developers are quirky people and thus quirky employees. This book understands how they work and their motivations.

I felt the brief chapters on UML and object-oriented design patterns were unnecessary and a little out of place. There are plenty of other books on UML and design patterns. Not all of the information in this book is brand new, but it is well organized and lucidly written. This book is a great companion to Steve McConnell's far-less-approachable "Rapid Development: Taming Wild Software Schedules." ... Read more

Book Description

Two training legends offer you a definitive team sourcebook!

The world's two best-known team-building facilitators bring you over thirty-five cutting-edge activities. You'll turn to this treasury of hassle-free, sure-fire games, exercises, and simulations time and time again.

"In keeping with the tradition of continuous learning about teamwork, Thiagi and Parker have hit a home run. Teamwork and Teamplay is a must-have for every training bookshelf."
--Harvey A. Robbins, co-author, Why Teams Don't Work

"I can think of forty reasons to buy this book: thirty-eight games and activities, each a gem--plus two of the best writers in the training business. I am truly impressed at how well each activity is designed and how easy the rules are to understand."
--Steve Sugar, author, Games That Teach; president, The Game Group

The game formats are varied: some short, some long; some icebreakers, some closers; and much more! A game selection matrix enables you to find a game that suits your situation. Plus, training legends Thiagi and Parker share with you their proven insights on effective teamwork and facilitation. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Together Everyone Achieves More
More is just what this phenomenal book of new and exciting trainings offers any aspiring and inspiring trainer. The trainings can be easily grouped and shared to produce high impact.

In returning from a weekend seminar of team building and communication courses, several trainings from this manuel helped to provide for a high-impact seminar with team-work problem solving, team interaction and production, opportunities for great transitional shorties between programs (adaptability is immense!) and communication inside the team.

Metcalfe, Our Team, ET, Escape from Gilligan's Island were among the courses used and combined with others throughout the seminar. Worthwhile trainings and with some ingenuity and creativity, easily adaptable to fit any size of audience!

I highly recommend this book for trainers looking to provide something new or something different in seminars on team work and communication.

I know I can't wait to implement more trainings from the book into helping others become better team players!

Thiagi done it again!
I met Thiagi few years ago when I was still in Bloomington, Indiana (when I was still a PhD student). I love his game and simulation seminar a lot. This book include a lot of his "tricks" and pratical guidelines for those trainers who would like to motivate the team sprit and so on. A highly recommend book

Well-Organized and Useful Resource
Being one of those relatively concrete-sequential, oldest child, ISTJ (for the Myers-Briggs aficionados) people, I started my consulting career a little wary of all these "touchy-feely" group activities that trainers use when working with groups. Well, times change and (maybe) people do, too. I have done a fair amount of group facilitation and training, and have found all kinds of activities to be very beneficial in getting people to identify, focus on, and move toward shared goals. Many trainers discount or are ignorant of the requirements of adult learners -- most adults won't sit still (literally) for traditional, classroom-style instruction for more than 45 minutes at a time.

This book is an excellent, concise, easy-to-follow resource for anyone working in either team building or team training environments. As explained in the book's introduction, team building "...increases the ability of an intact team to work together...," while team training "...increases the knowledge and skills of the participants in various aspects of teamwork and being a team player...." The book presents many exercises for each type of team experience.

Each of the 38 activities is organized in an easy-to-follow format that includes:

* purpose * team size (minimum/maximum recommended group) * required resources * time (to complete) * room setup * steps * debriefing * variations * templates, charts, overheads, as applicable

The book also includes appendices that sort the activities by primary use (team building or team training), time and participants, and by topic area (desired outcome or issue being addressed). These appendices make it easy to determine at a glance which of the 38 activities are most appropriate for a particular group or setting when designing training.

The value of the introduction bears emphasis. Many books have forgettable introductions; this book's introduction is an excellent short essay on the value, uses, and benefits of building and training teams. Read it slowly -- the authors make their points quickly. If you skim, you'll miss something important.

Whether you're a consultant or in-house trainer, regardless of organization size or mission, this book is a handy tool to improve the quality, participation, and outcomes from your groups training.

Splendid Team-Training Tool
Sivasailam "Thiagi" Thiagarajan designs activities and games for training programs and to improve human performance. Glenn Parker is a team-building expert. When the two of them paired up to create Teamwork and Teamplay, they were able to offer 38 team-building and training exercises that work.

The value of this book begins with its introduction. Thiagi and Parker start by identifying 7 different types of teams and guidelines for using the activities. Those guidelines include steps to take so you are prepared to facilitate the activity, steps to take during the activity, and what to do after the activity is concluded.

Activities include skill-building in consensus-making (don't miss "Escape from Gilligan's Island" here!), ethics, motivation, team effectiveness, stages of team development. . .and more.

Thiagi and Parker include three indices at the end of the book: a topical index, a primary use (team-building or -training activity) index, and a time/number index.

Trainers, coaches, facilitators, and team leaders will find themselves returning to this book again and again. I have worked several of these games into my training sessions, with great results, and am eager to try even more. The activities are fun and groups find them engaging and energizing, and the learning points are solid. ... Read more

Book Description

Facing an explosion of workplace complexity, many executives choose a team-supported approach to organizational leadership over more traditional leadership models. Executive Teams provides both CEOs and senior team members themselves with an unprecedented set of insights and strategies they can use to build and maintain teams that live up to their full potential. Team members get ideas for: **Implementing strategy **Leading transformations **Changing organizational culture . . . and much more! " I strongly recommend [this book] to all those in charge of, on, or involved with executive teams."--Paul Allaire, chairman and CEO, Xerox Corporation Real-world case studies at Xerox, Corning, AT&T and other top companies to demonstrate exactly what executive teams are all about and detail the proficiencies CEOs must master to ensure their success. The range and depth of professional experience brought to Executive Teams makes it the most comprehensive, practically conceived work on the subject ever written. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

An excellent and insightful collection of essays.
An excellent collection of essays that examines the reasons for and dynamics of executive teams. Explores the organization, chemistry and purposes of the team. Some topics include: the jobs of the CEO and COO; governance, importance of trust, conflict resolution, feedback, developing strategy, and leading strategic change teams. The essays in this work make many important observations. Of added value are effective summary tables. ... Read more

Book Description

How employee ownership can pay bottom-line benefits

Today, more than 25 percent of American workers own stock in their employers. You can shop at employee-owned supermarkets such as Publix, buy Gore-Tex fabric from employee-owned W.L. Gore & Associates, and sip coffee served by employee owners at Starbucks.

Now Corey Rosen, John Case, and Martin Staubus present convincing evidence that employee ownership can be much more than just a good benefit program. Done right, it can be the foundation for a new-and more effective-model of management. Drawing on first-hand studies of dozens of companies from large corporations to local retailers, the authors show that the "equity model" enables firms to grow faster and more profitably than conventionally run competitors. Vivid examples of both winning and failed attempts at employee ownership reveal the key concepts that make the model successful, and suggest how managers can adapt these strategies for use in their own companies.

This lively and practical guide delivers a sound business case for making employees true partners in a firm's success.

... Read more

Reviews (5)

Stories Make It Work
Rosen, Case and Staubus have authored one of the most readable books I have encountered on employee ownership and the difference it can make for employees and companies, irrespective of industry or geography. This book is filled with very personal stories, as well as compelling dreams that have been realized through the collaboration of owners at all levels of an organization. The authors provide rich evidence in the post-Enron era that hope is very alive for business models that invite all employees into the opportunities for success. After reading the book I had a list of several businesses I wanted to visit just to see how they've done it. Definitely an inspiring book!

Everything you want to know about employee ownership
As someone who's been active in employee ownership for over a decade, I can't think of any of book - or any other source - that does a better job of pulling together dozens of company stories, hundreds of examples, and thousands of hours of collected wisdom into a single place. This book will intrigue company leaders who want to know how to make ownership work, satisfy the prove-it-to-me crowd with up-to-date research, and even entertain the lay reader with inspiring stories and personal anecdotes. It strikes a balance between history and current events, between theory and practice, and between raw fact and the human touch. Read it to get the inside scoop on one of the most under-reported trends in the U.S. economy from three of the field's most respected thinkers.

Sid Scott, M.B.A. (Dubuque, IAUSA)
Recently, personal ownership of various kinds in our society has been emphasized. This book addresses perhaps the most important and rewarding type of ownership--employee ownership.

The book is chock full of interesting statistics and insightful research studies juxtaposed with wonderful success stories and anecdotes about how having significant and broad ownership changes (for the better)how an organization is run. Rosen, Case and Staubus bring decades of experience, observations and conclusions that will help everyone from owners looking for positive ways to perpetuate their businesses to managers wanting to improve product development, customer service, management, motivation, rewards systems and profitability to employee owners interested in learning from the experiences of folks at other organizations.This book is a must read for anyone wanting to learn the important business advantages of having people own and actively participate in making the places where they work more competitive and successful.

A Must Read for Business Owners and Management Consultants
This is a clear, concise and very readable book that makes the case for the Equity Model of ownership and management better than anything that has been written to date.After reading this book, you will readily see why all of the management theories of the past-Theory X, Theory Y, Theory Z, Management by Objectives, Management by Walking Around, Reengineering by Downsizing, the One Minute Manager, Quality Circles, etc.-have failed. Throw out all of your existing management theory books.This is the only only one that has got it right.

The Equity Model has evolved over the past 30 years and has resulted in phenomenal performance by those companies that have used it. As described by the authors, the Equity Model involves three essential components-stock ownership, an ownership culture, and employee training and involvement in the specific goals and strategies of the business in question.Unfortunately, most business owners and most ESOP consultants have overlooked the importance of the third component.Ownership by itself is not sufficient.An ownership culture by itself is not sufficient.Even combining stock ownership with an ownership culture is not sufficient. Superior results only occur if all three components are utilizied.

This book traces the origins and development of each of these three components and then illustrates through numerous case examples how these components have been successfully combined to create high performance results, even in very mundane industries.

This book also gives practical, easy-to-follow guidelines as to how these components can be combined to create the best results.In today's global competitive environment, following these guidelines may just make the difference between success and survival on the one hand or business failure on the other.

This book makes sense
Rosen, Case and Staubus have done a wonderful job of making a very basic case.Having broad employee ownership of a company makes sense.It makes sense for the employees.And it makes sense for the company.The employees benefit through receiving value beyond wages.The company is better off because the employees work smarter and work harder as owners than as hired hands.Through the case studies and the analysis the authors write what historically has not been written: a book which realistically makes the case that employee ownership helps companies become stronger and more competitive.It is also very important to note that Harvard has published this book.To date, major university presses have not emphasized employee ownership among their priorities.It is to Harvard's credit that they have found a fabulous book to publish on this topic. ... Read more

Book Description

Winner of the 2004 George R. Terry Book Award!

Teams have more talent and experience, more diverse resources, and greater operating flexibility than individual performers. So why do so many teams either struggle unpleasantly toward an unsatisfactory conclusion-or, worse, crash and burn shortly after launch?

J. Richard Hackman, one of the world's leading experts on group and organizational behavior, argues that the answer to this puzzle is rooted in flawed thinking about team leadership. It is not a leader's management style that determines how well a team performs, but how well a leader designs and supports a team so that members can manage themselves.

According to Hackman, cookie-cutter formulas and prescribed leadership styles often backfire because they place far too much emphasis on the leader as the primary cause of team behavior. In Leading Teams, he identifies the key conditions that any leader can put in place to increase the likelihood of team success-regardless of his or her personality or preferred style of operating.

Through extensive research and compelling examples ranging from orchestras to economic analysts to airline cockpit crews, Hackman identifies five conditions that set the stage for great performances: a real team, a compelling direction, an enabling team structure, a supportive organizational context, and the availability of competent coaching.

Leading Teams outlines what leaders can do to structure, support, and guide teams in a way that

· enhances the social processes essential to collective work;

· builds shared commitment, skills, and task-appropriate coordination strategies;

· helps members troubleshoot problems and spot emerging opportunities; and

· captures experiences and translates them into shared knowledge.

Out of these conditions, Hackman argues, the very best teams emerge-teams that exceed client expectations, grow in capability over time, and contribute to the learning and personal fulfillment of individual members.

Authoritative, practical, and astutely realistic, Leading Teams offers a new and provocative way of thinking about and leading work teams in any organizational setting. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Engaging, practical, well-structured: a superb book on teams
Teamwork is more popular as a buzzword than as a practice when it comes to the actual experiences of team members in many organizations. In this engaging, well-structured, and practical book, Richard Hackman addresses this puzzling gap between theory and practice. Teams should have a richer pool of talent and experience, greater resources, and more flexibility than an individual. Yet a painfully large proportion of teams function poorly, often underperforming the same work done by individuals. Drawing on years of research and observation of teams ranging from music ensembles to airline crews to hockey teams, Hackman illuminates the dark corners of teamwork. Anyone working in a team or leading a team will benefit from reading his book. The author's engaging style comes as a significant bonus.

Teams go awry because leaders have focused on the wrong things (such as leadership style) when designing, managing, and supporting teams. Hackman explains why team effectiveness is best measured by the three criteria of a team product acceptable to clients, growth in team capability, and a group experience that is meaningful and satisfying for its members. Team members and leaders alike will benefit from fully appreciating the five conditions that Hackman has found to foster work team effectiveness: having a real team, a compelling direction, an enabling team structure, a supportive organizational context, and expert team coaching - the first three of which are the core conditions.

Contrary to "cause-effect" models of team leadership in which all the emphasis is placed on leadership behaviors and styles, in Hackman's view the central role of leaders is to create and maintain these five conditions. Leaders should not attempt to continually manage a team to *push* it to perform well. They will do better to establish a clear purpose and then make small adjustments at the right times. Consistent with this approach, Hackman warns against the pervasive tendency to assign credit or blame to specific individuals. Taking that perspective blinds those trying to "fix" or improve team performance to dynamics only evident at a group level of analysis.

Commendably, Hackman does *not* present his findings as a *universal* model for teams. His Authority Matrix (p.52) sets out four levels of team self-management. He does not address "manager-led teams" which have the lowest level of self-management since they are invariably disastrous for well-understood reasons. Nor does he look in depth at self-governing groups which take on all four levels of setting overall direction, designing the team and its organizational context, monitoring and managing work process and progress, and executing the team task. Hackman's model revolves around the most heavily populated middle categories of self-managing and self-designing teams.

Don't mistake this group level of analysis for any kind of fuzziness. You will find the book outstanding in the author's ability to combine compelling narrative with a finely-carved explanatory structure. The first condition of having a "real team" may appear fuzzy, but only until you read chapter 2 in which Hackman analyzes real work teams into four components, each with its own subtleties. As you read the examples and reflect on your own experiences participating in or observing teams, you will see how commonly teams fail to have a real team task (rather than being merely a "co-acting group"), to suffer from being "underbounded" or "overbounded", or to lack clearly delimited authority or inadequate stability over time. On the last element of real teams, Hackman strongly disputes the notion that long-lasting teams tend to deteriorate in performance. The only except appears to be research and development teams who becoming uniquely stale after about three years of stable membership.

Despite pushing back against over-managing teams, Hackman finds a crucial role for leadership in setting a compelling direction - the second core element of effective teams. Even here, direction must be carefully limited to ends rather than means. In the very worst teams, a leader sets highly specific means but leaves the purpose completely unspecified. Hackman's example of such a team at a bank will make some of us wince in painful remembrance. This understates the subtleties of Hackman's account, which unfolds in his discussion of the trade-offs involved in setting direction for a team.

If this were an infomercial rather than a review, I would say "And there's more! Much more!" The last section of the book examines imperatives for leaders, including 7 execution skills of team leaders, and how to think differently about teams - the obstacles to improving teams, what it takes, and what it costs those who would attempt the task. If you prefer to test drive some of Hackman's ideas, you might first read his articles "The Five Keys to Successful Teams" (which covers some of the material in the last two chapters), and "New Rules for Team Building". You may want to abandon such caution however. Unlike so many books where 80 percent of the text acts as filler, adding little if anything to the initial points, every one of Hackman's chapters will yield an excellent returning on your reading investment.

The Nighthawks and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
An author who proposes a common lens through which to understand the dynamics of the Nighthawks hockey team and the conductor-less Orpheus Chamber Orchestra is pretty audacious, but Richard Hackman carries if off in this book. Solidly researched and very well written, the book presents an apparently wide range of work groups, including airline crews, musical ensembles and hockey teams, and unifies them by illustrating how they are effective (or not) as teams. What do they have in common? "Their work requires members to generate performances 'live' and in real time, often without the chance to go back and try again if things don't go well." The examples are compellingly interesting, e.g., a reader will never fly a 737 again without noticing the specific roles and choreography of the flight crew. It's a good read, far more entertaining than one would expect from a publication of Harvard Business School Press. ... Read more

Book Description

How to structure, facilitate, and implement the process.

Strategic planning is a critical part of running a business, but when you get a team of people together to plan, it can often become a confused exercise in grand visions without a clear process for establishing workable goals. This book is unique in providing both guidance for the actual content of strategic plans and techniques for how to plan in a team context. Readers will discover how to:

• structure the process so it custom fits their company needs

• effectively facilitate the process (keep meetings on track, train others in planning skills, document decisions made at meetings, present and communicate the plan)

• use teams and teamwork smoothly and productively to create a far-reaching plan—and then to implement it

Features detailed guidelines for each step, dozens of flowcharts, and three self-contained "facilitator’s guides" to follow. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Key messages get lost
...

There is a whole industry surrounding strategic planning, and the language of this industry is laden with jargon, that is words devoid of any real meaning. Hence, "structure," "facilitate," and "implement" have become an empty mantra with no power. The tendency to ascribe power and authority to organizations rather to the people who work within business, government, and industry undermines many such approaches, and though this book acknowledges that the power is with the people, that message gets lost in the language.

Moreover, it's just not that helpful to read that "The outside world can be hostile, difficult to understand, and sometimes impossible to influence." Too often, I find the advice and observations do not seem like what those working in the trenches need.

Though many folks swear by illustrations laden with arrows, boxes, shading, ALL CAPS, and such, I'm unable to process these sorts of graphics, focusing instead on the disparate elements and wishing I could have worked hand-in-hand with the publisher, author, anyone to suggest friendlier, more understandable designs.

A Must for all Strategic Planning
This book has become my bible for developing strategic plans and marketing plans. It offers a great outline for strategic plans, as well as a detailed plan on how to facilitate the information gathering process. This book, however, is appropriate for not only team-based strategic planning, but also for those working on projects alone. I have recommended this book to several of my associates. ... Read more

Book Description

Praise for the First Edition of Virtual Teams

"If you want to see where organizational communications are going in the future, heed what these pioneers have written today." —Howard Rheingold, author, The Virtual Community, and founder, Electric Mind

"Lipnack and Stamps have written an important book for the twenty-first-century corporation." —Regis McKenna, The McKenna Group, author, Relationship Marketing

"This book provides a long overdue perspective on how to apply the discipline of real teams in the fast-moving, increasingly dispersed information age of the future." —Jon R. Katzenbach, author, The Wisdom of Teams

"For those who want to lead the movement, catch up with it, or simply know where it is going, this book is packed with useful information and interesting stories." —Dee W. Hock, founder and chairman emeritus, VISA

"Virtual Teams provides valuable insights into global teamwork and management through network technologies now available to all companies, large or small." —Jim Lynch, director, corporate quality, Sun Microsystems, Inc. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Useful, but some fluff
I purchased this book because I was intrigued. In much of the work I do I am a member of "virtual" teams. That is, I often am some distance apart from the people I am working with.

I found the book to be a slow read, with nuggets of information separated by deserts of fluff. The first half of the book is filled with vague ramblings about how the information age has changed the way that teams work and with case studies that illustrate how the forming of virtual teams has helped various companies solve difficult problems.

In the second half, the book begins to pick up. In a chapter entitled "Teaming with People" the authors discuss team dynamics, including essential roles with a team, how teams form and which aspects of team dynamics are especially subject to the stresses of distance communication.

The authors suggest that the beginning and closing phases of most projects are the most stressful on team members and that extra effort be exerted at the beginning phase of the project to bring the core project team members together, even if they are geographically separated. This, say the authors, will help build interpersonal relationships that can hold the team together in times of stress.

There are several optimum team sizes. 3 to 5 is the size of a core team, 5 to 25 the size of a "team family" and 25 to 200 the size of a "team camp". In the authors' opinion, any team larger than 5 people will naturally divide into sub-teams.

The authors also point out the value of rewarding teams. Making teams compete, or making them completely independent of one another has little value for the company. Cooperative goals can encourage and motivate all of the teams, while competition can demoralize them.

Finally, the authors talk about starting up teams and provide a checklist of some elements such as a customer and a management sponsor which are essential to any team's success.

Overall, I found the book to have some good information on forming and maintaining teams, and what to do when those teams are not located in the same physical location. There is some fluff, I feel, and the book could easily be half its current length without sacrificing much.

Aphoristic
I spent many hours with Lipnack & Stamps' Virtual Teams. Lipnack and Stamps are team consultants, and this book is one of their business cards. It's strong on axioms, moderate on bibliographic references, filled with trenchant observations derived from their consulting experiences, and written in a hurried style that reads like a draft or a condensed version of a larger book, despite its 300 pages. The authors provide dozens of taxonomies, some of which are useful and thought provoking, but most not deriving from research data. I obtained one item referenced in the bibliography, a middling-quality correlational study, but noticed the authors were quite creative in their interpretation of its results. Once you get past the aphoristic writing style ("Connected, linked, matrixed. We are the future now. . . Before we know it, 10-year-olds will be running the world. Perhaps they already are. . . The new virtual organizations are at once very old and very new, very small and very large . . . ") you'll find yourself reading many interesting nuggets of information combined with useful advice on how to build and manage a virtual team. I appreciated the fact that Lipnack and Stamps avoided treating the virtual team as a panacea or as a solution to team problems. Their cool approach to the formidable problems faced by distributed groups adroitly avoids the hype in which other authors engage. I also appreciated their extended discussions in the areas where virtual teams suffer the most, including trust and communication across time zones. Leadership got slight treatment, but perhaps for good reason-the DNA of effective leadership in general has yet to be cracked, and is a largely unexplored phenomenon in virtual teams.

Highly Recommended!
Globalization can create as many problems as opportunities. One big problem is figuring out how to unite people worldwide to work on projects for your company. In an age that lacked a worldwide communications net, the answer would probably be quite depressing. However, as authors Jessica Lipnack and Jeffrey Stamps make clear, the modern Internet makes it quite possible for workers all over the world to collaborate. The physical location of your firm’s various experts is no longer a barrier to effective team building, be they in Dublin, Bangalore, Las Vegas or Bangkok. In fact, the authors claim that companies that fail to create effective teams across cyberspace will be left in history’s dustbin. This might be overstating the case, but we [...] recommend this book for its candor about exactly how challenging it is to create virtual teams. Still interested? If so, this book serves as an excellent primer of both theory and practice.

"Teamwork" Re-defined for New Realities
The authors are convinced that, eventually, "virtual teams will become the natural way to work, nothing special. Virtual teams and networks -- effective, value-based, swiftly reconfiguring, cost-sensitive, and decentralized -- will profoundly reshape our shared world. As members of many virtual groups, we will contribute to these ephemeral webs of relationships that together weave our future." That day is already here for many people and I agree that virtual working relationships will soon be the rule rather than the exception. The authors correctly note that technology extends capabilities "but organizing to do things together is only human. The most profound change of the new millennium is in the way we're organized." Moreover, as more people connect online, "we increase our capacity for both independence and interdependence. Competition and cooperation both thrive in our new culture." However, there are perils to avoid because whatever goes wrong with in-the-same place teams can also go wrong with virtual teams -- only worse and, worse yet, faster and at a much greater cost.

The authors organize their excellent material within 14 chapters whose individual titles indicate each chapter's perspective on virtual teams: Why, Networks, Teams, Trust, Place, Time, Purpose, people, Links, Launch, Navigate, Theory, Think, and Future. I agree that a virtual team "is a group of people who work interdependently with a shared purpose across space, time, and organization boundaries." Nonetheless, I still have some quibbles about the authors' sequence of subject matter (not with the content itself) and am still convinced that cooperation between and among members of virtual teams is even more difficult than it is between and among those within physical boundaries. Moreover, my own rather extensive experience with all manner of corporate clients suggests that the most formidable barriers are between two ears. If you have some serious human barriers in your own organization, I urge you to check out O'Dell and Grayson's immensely thoughtful and practical book, If Only We Knew What We Know.

But please keep in mind that even if O'Dell, Grayson, Lipnack, and Stamps were retained to create virtual teams for your organization, unless and until everyone else involved buys into the enterprise, the results would be abysmal. Hence the importance of several points which Lipnack and Stamps make in the final chapter, notably the absolutely essential need for trust. "A presumption of trust enables a successful strategy of collaboration [enables everyone involved] to be better innovators, competitors, and survivors....If purpose is the glue, trust is the grease." I agree.

Of course, no single volume such as this can provide all the right answers but Lipnack and Stamps raise most (if not all) of the most important questions. Their answers seem sensible and practical. Of course, decision-makers must decide what the nature, extent, and duration of a virtual relationship should be in their organization at any given time. The authors do provide an excellent source of information and insight which can help virtually (pun intended) any organization increase cooperation and collaboration across boundaries through the effective use of various technologies. Especially, in this age of accelerating globalization, most organizations need all the help they can get.

Practical Ideas for Boundary-Crossing Teams
The very nature of teams has changed in most organizations. This change is not rooted in the use of technology but rather in organizational changes that require teams that cross all kinds of boundaries: organizational, temporal, geographic, functional, cultural. Virtual Teams focuses on the fundamental issues that challenge members, leaders, and stakeholders in these boundary-crossing teams rather than simply on the technology that connects them. A major strength of the book is the wealth of stories about how key ideas have been applied in both public and private sector organizations. This book offers practical ideas you can apply to any team - whether it is co-located or spread across the world. - Lisa Kimball, Executive Producer, Group Jazz ... Read more

Book Description

Concepts, Principles, and Practical Techniques for Improving Small-Group Performance

The authors of the phenomenal bestseller, The Wisdom of Teams, are back. This time Jon Katzenbach and Doug Smith focus on the issues of small group discipline and performance and the challenges presented by revolutionary technologies that enable the creation of virtual teams and global teams.

The Discipline of Teams helps small groups implement the disciplines, frameworks, tools, and techniques that enable performance. With detailed guidance and dozens of indispensable exercises, they present a regimen proven to improve performance and help groups adhere to the Six Basic Principles of Team Discipline:

• Keep team membership small

• Ensure that members have complementary skills

• Develop a common purpose

• Set common goals

• Establish a commonly agreed upon working approach

• Integrate mutual and individual accountability

The Discipline of Teams is an indispensable resource for any small group in any organization that wants to raise the bar by setting and achieving more ambitious performance goals again and again.

Katzenbach and Smith’s work on teams over the past decade has been called "essential", "path breaking", and "the best ever" by Business Week, Harvard Business Review, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Leader to Leader, Fast Company, the Financial Times, and other publications around the world. Tens of thousands of teams, from the executive suite to the front lines, have applied the Katzenbach and Smith disciplines to increase the performance of their organizations and themselves. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Discipline of Teams
As the sequel to The Wisdom of Teams, John Katzenbach and Douglas Smith return to uncover the tools, techniques, frameworks and disciplines required to unlock the performance potential that lie within today's teams and virtual teams.

Performance potential is not guaranteed, and you need to become an expert at the two disciplines - team and single leader and, you must be able to implement the right discipline to suit the performance need of your team.

Katzenbach & Smith identify and discuss the Six Basic Principles of Team Discipline: 1) keep team numbers to a minimum, 2) ensure that team members possess skills that compliment one another, 3) identify a clear performance purpose, 4) agree on outcome based goals, 5) provide clear roles and responsibilities and, 6) ensure mutual and individual accountability.

As a follow-up to their insights and strategies, Katzenbach and Smith provide practical exercises at the conclusion of each chapter for both team members and leaders to get them on the road to optimal performance.

The Discipline of Teams is easy to read and will provide the reader with tools, techniques and strategies to assist in becoming top performers within today's organizations. On a personal note, The Discipline of Teams provided me with some new techniques to help develop and maintain effective teams for today and in the future.

When and How to Use Teams Versus Single Leaders
The Discipline of Teams updates and extends the best-seller, The Wisdom of Teams. "The most important characteristic of teams is discipline; not bonding, togetherness, or empowerment." You are encouraged to be sure that you use teams only when they make sense as a performance unit, rather than having a single-leader approach. Using sophisticated Marine units as models, you begin to appreciate that some tasks are better suited to individuals and some tasks need to combine team and individual elements. In fact, complex tasks may require many teams focusing on subtasks. The book also looks at virtual teams and the impact of electronic communications on teams (concluding that nothing really changes -- you just have more ways to communicate and face-to-face is still important).

A team makes sense when you need to accomplish something more than what individual performances will give you. A good example comes in new product development. Each specialist can do a good job, and the project can easily be a bust. By thinking together, potential failure can become success by tweaking each perspective in new ways. The authors also point out that many times goals are set that sound like individual performance, but better goals would set directions requiring a team.

An effective team needs to have:

(1) an understandable charter

(2) communicate and coordinate effectively

(3) have clear roles and responsibilities for individuals

(4) use time-efficient processes and

(5) have a sense of accountability.

"Whenever a small group can deliver performance through the combined sum of individual contributions, then the single-leader discipline is the most effective choice."

The book provides many ways to make both teams and single-leader groups work better. In fact, it focuses on those areas that are most likely to cause problems, like poorly defined goals, keeping the size of the group as small as possible, not having the skills needed, time pressures, and using the wrong leadership discipline). I also liked the fact that the book looked at the question of when you should fold a team.

The authors clearly understand a great deal about making teams more effective, and anyone can learn from this book. I think those who liked The Wisdom of Teams will find it to be a useful refresher with some valuable new material.

The book contains many exercises and workbook questions that I happily endorse. They make the book much more practical and useful. If you just did the exercises and the workbook questions, this would be a five star book. The explanations are just icing on the cake.

After you have finished this book, I also suggest you think about whether you have set the right priorities in your organization. Realizing that you can only do a few things at once, what should they be? Be sure to give yourself a chance to pick tasks that will benefit from teams.

Find ways to make human cooperation more beneficial . . . for that's our strength!

... Read more

Book Description

"The author’s analysis is very up-to-date, for he includes chapters on very recent analyses of teams, such as questions of diversity and teams-communicating-via-computers…. The book’s key strength is its aim to help students and professionals better understand the groups to which they belong by reviewing key concepts in the area of groups."

--Donelson R. Forsyth, Virginia Commonweath University

Group Dynamics for Teams provides a clear and concise overview of group dynamics as it relates to work teams. The book is designed to be a bridge between psychological research on how groups operate and the applied study of the use of teams at work, with the ultimate goal of teaching people how to work effectively in teams. The book begins with an overview of how teams are being used at work and the factors that relate to team success. The second section of the book examines basic group dynamics topics, such as goals, norms, cooperation, and communication. The third section reviews the main challenges that teams face, including conflict, decision-making, problem solving, creativity, and valuing diversity. The final section analyzes the use of teams in the workplace, including the impact of organizational culture, technological support for teams, differences among types of work teams, and team building. Each chapter contains learning objectives, summaries, and activities intended to help understand how teams operate. The book has an applied focus that is designed to help students and professionals improve their abilities to work in teams.

Reviews (3)

Practical and Useful
I'm the Training Coordinator at a manufacturing facility with 200 hourly employees whom we are trying to get more involved in a team-based work system. This book has given me so much PRACTICAL information on the how's and why's of doing this! I'm actually able to relate this information to our employees in a way that it clearly shows the benefits TO THEM of working in teams. Too many of these so-called "Team Building" books are filled with silly exercises that do nothing in the long run. If you want something practical and useful, I recomment this book!

The best practical manual on team building
I have easily paid 8x more for other 'manuals', and have none with a more ugly cover, yet this is the anchor of my team building library. It is short on philosophy and long on the day-to-day requirements of goal-setting, consensus building, procedures, and strategies. This is THE book of practical advice to guide a team and its' leader, regardless of prior experience.

Good basic handbook
Harrington-Mackin creates a good overview of teambuilding in the workplace. She also provides very practical suggestions that can help team leaders, team members, or the leader of an organization. ... Read more

Book Description

THE NAVY SEAL WAY TO WIN IN BUSINESS

Leadership and teamwork techniques of the military elite, where partnering is mandatory, and failure is never an option

As increasing focus is placed on fully utilizing and leveraging the value of employees, managers are finding that strong team leadership can be the answer to increasing productivity, reducing turnover, and boosting morale. A coherent, proven approach to teambuilding and leadership is very much in demand. Such an approach exists in today's military, where powerful leadership and effective teamwork are more than just concepts­­they're necessities. Leadership Lessons of the Navy SEALs analyzes the leadership and team-building techniques and strategies of elite Navy SEAL units, and guides business leaders and managers in creating, training, and leading teams that are extraordinarily successful at carrying out the company's mission.

Built around inspiring real-life stories from both the military and business worlds, this no-nonsense book outlines a step-by-step approach for boosting morale and increasing productivity. Leaders from every business environment will discover techniques to:

• Communicate objectives simply and forcefully
• Build flexible, dynamic organizational structures
• Acquire and keep important team members
• Gain the trust and loyalty of team members
• Prevent bureaucracy within chains of command
• Effectively train their eventual replacements
• Plan and prepare for crises
• Make training relevant

Reviews (10)

Military Leadership Applied to Business
I chose to buy and read this book because one of its authors was a Navy SEAL, and it promised to highlight military leadership lessons from a SEAL perspective. I soon discovered an outstandingly balanced and informative organizational leadership book that took an honest military leadership perspective and effectively applied it directly and indirectly to civilian business environments. This real-world leadership book should appeal to any military-related person and anyone interested in better understanding the military and business leadership connection.

This book was written by a brother duo, one a successful corporate executive and the other an experienced SEAL officer. In their introduction, they accurately assessed what made the book stand apart from other leadership books I have read: "Be forewarned: This book does not pay homage to godlike CEOs, legendary generals, and other corporate cult figures. It is our view that masterful leadership and effective teams, not colorful mavericks, produce success...Every great leader has a great team above, around, and behind him or her...[The book is] a collection of lessons from SEAL training and SEAL operations that have been tested in the business world."

The book is broken down into six chapters (Setting Goals, Organization-Create Structure or Fight Alone, Leadership-The Hardest Easy Thing, The Thundering Herd, Building a Thundering Herd, and Now Maintain Your Momentum), with embedded lessons related to each chapter title. Each lesson starts with a SEAL mission (a SEAL team sea-story or experience) and ends with a suggested business take-away. The lessons stimulated thought and offered ideas for improving individual and organizational leadership. The authors left it to the readers to decide which lessons applied to their situations and then challenged them to apply those lessons.

The authors' candid perspectives and observations were refreshing and were reflected in their equally straightforward lessons. A sampling of the authors' colorful lessons includes:

*Avoid creating a capability and then looking for a mission to justify it
*Build boundaries to prevent infighting and cannibalism
*If you think no one else can replace you, you're an egotistical S.O.B. who's failed
*There are probably good reasons why your marching orders seem screwed up
*Identify your lead dogs, feed them well, and build a pack around them
*If you need to scream, you need to practice

The team-building and teamwork concepts emphasized in this book apply to military and business leaders and organizations. If you want time-tested ideas to improve your leadership, or your organization's effectiveness, then you should read this book.

Insightful!
If you've declared war on your company's lackluster performance, this book will help you launch an all-out assault. Leadership Lessons of the Navy Seals demonstrates through the experiences of this elite military unit of Sea, Air and Land commandos that combat lessons can apply to the corporate world. The book provides examples of SEAL tactics and missions, along with their corporate applications, particularly in strong team building. Authors Jeff Cannon and Lt. Cmdr. Jon Cannon combine their experience in business and the U.S. Navy in a no-nonsense, practical guide. They zero in on setting goals and commanding your troops with deadly accuracy. While their problem-solving text gets straight to the point, it isn't novel and they repeat lessons under different titles. The book is a laundry list, a useful approach in allowing you to choose what you need. We from getAbstract found that the Cannons fire off a good how-to book for corporate strategists who want to develop battle plans for improving their teams and organizations.

Insightful!
If you've declared war on your company's lackluster performance, this book will help you launch an all-out assault. Leadership Lessons of the Navy Seals demonstrates through the experiences of this elite military unit of Sea, Air and Land commandos that combat lessons can apply to the corporate world. The book provides examples of SEAL tactics and missions, along with their corporate applications, particularly in strong team building. Authors Jeff Cannon and Lt. Cmdr. Jon Cannon combine their experience in business and the U.S. Navy in a no-nonsense, practical guide. They zero in on setting goals and commanding your troops with deadly accuracy. While their problem-solving text gets straight to the point, it isn't novel and they repeat lessons under different titles. The book is a laundry list, a useful approach in allowing you to choose what you need. We found that the Cannons fire off a good how-to book for corporate strategists who want to develop battle plans for improving their teams and organizations.

Extraordinary Teams
I liked the book. I think it hit the mark for it's intended audience. The lessons learned from the school of hard knocks are clear, simple, direct; very military at the front lines. Each point is illustraged with a war story from both the civilian and military perspective. Being ex-military I liked the war stories.

The lessons are very useful, but like many books of its ilk, not new. The key lessons were learned and documented many years ago by the Greeks and Romans. I think the thing to keep in mind is that communication has not ocurred until both sides understand the message. In that line, I think this book does a very good job of describing key leadership traits and tools and introducing them to a new audience.

The book is organized by chapters, and key points and illustrations within each. There are contradictions in the points that are not brought up or discussed. I think this is true due to the nature of human interaction and its complexities, that a tool or technique works until it doesn't. The key is for the leader to recognized the difference. The book is weak here, but I also think that is something better learned from experience.

Some major take aways for me was the dicussion on organizational structure, the need to follow SOP, until there is a greater need to not, good leadership demands good followership, followers have major responsibilities towards their leaders (how and when to tell the boss the path we are following is wrong).

For me this is not new, but it is great to be reminded of these things. This book is not the best I have read on the topic, but very useful for the key insights form practical life and death experience.

It's okay
I was surprised at the high marks given. The book was okay at best. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Aimed at the computer science student, Introduction to the Team Software Process provides a textbook-style introduction to the author's Team Software Process (TSP), a rigorous group-based design process that stresses planning, metrics, scripts, accountability, and ultimately, higher code quality. Although best suited for a semester- or two-semester-length course, this book provides a useful model for any team development effort.

This textbook focuses squarely on the team-based nature of successful software development. The author, who also invented the Personal Software Process (PSP), outlines the steps for "staffing" a classroom-based software project with different multiple member roles, such as team leaders and development managers. The Team Software Process (TSP) outlined here stresses accountability through numerous scripts and metrics. (An appendix features over 80 pages of scripts and forms that would be used over the course of the semester.) Not only does the author provide a thorough guide to choosing the right team role that fits your personality and skills, but several sections offer some "motivational speaking" on the advantage of "discipline," both as a person and software engineer.

This book does a particularly good job of defining a team's role for each stage in the development process, beginning from the initial planning stages to requirements definition, implementation, testing, and postmortem followup. There are hints for dealing with missed deadlines, staffing, and design problems.

The reality is that teams are used throughout the software industry, but many computer science students do not get much experience working in successful teams. As a first encounter with team development, Introduction to the Team Software Process provides a model for serious implementation of a smart, rigorous software method that can put readers on the right track with group development. --Richard Dragan

Topics Covered: Team Software Process (TSP) basics and scripts, building production software teams, team goals, team roles, planning, risk management, quality plan, requirements, design principles, product implementation, integration and system testing, test planning, defect tracking, documentation, conducting postmortems, team leaders, development managers, planning managers, quality/process managers, support managers. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

totalitarian control is not the answer
A state-of-the-art process for producing PL/I programs on punchcards. If you can master PSP/TSP, you will be more effective than 99% of all software developers at filling out forms and producing status reports. A shockingly wasteful approach to quality management.

Outstanding Reference for Software Engineers
I've been involved with many different projects in a team environment. This book contains some of the best and most respected procedures to complete a team project. I've used these methods and they work well! The principles outlined in this book apply to more than just software engineering. Take a look! You'll be glad you did!

Good introduction to creating software in a team
This is a good introduction to working in a team and using good software engineering techniques such as planning and inspections. It is geared for undergraduate students, therefore the managerial roles have been created. This would probably not work out of the box for an organization that is already set up. For students, the manager roles give each team member ownership in the product while making sure each aspect of good engineering has an advocate.

The processes are written as scripts. These are very easy to follow and take the guesswork out of how to do each step in the lifecycle.

This is a process book therefore there is not a lot of technically-oriented information in the book. For example, the book tells you that you must design your software. It does not give many guidelines on what a good (object-oriented, client-server, real time, etc.) design might look like. In addition, some of the data bookkeeping is long and involved. A good tool would help with this.

Overall, this is a good tutorial and a good reference book. I used this book as a graduate student, and I continue to pull ideas out of it for use in my work. ... Read more

Book Description