What Google Learned from Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team
The good folks at the New York Times Magazine have excerpted a chapter from my new book, Smarter Faster Better, that is now available online. Here's a quick peek:
Like most 25-year-olds, Julia Rozovsky wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with her life. She had worked at a consulting firm, but it wasn’t a good match. Then she became a researcher for two professors at Harvard, which was interesting but lonely. Maybe a big corporation would be a better fit. Or perhaps a fast-growing start-up. All she knew for certain was that she wanted to find a job that was more social. ‘‘I wanted to be part of a community, part of something people were building together,’’ she told me. She thought about various opportunities — Internet companies, a Ph.D. program — but nothing seemed exactly right. So in 2009, she chose the path that allowed her to put off making a decision: She applied to business schools and was accepted by the Yale School of Management.
When Rozovsky arrived on campus, she was assigned to a study group carefully engineered by the school to foster tight bonds. Study groups have become a rite of passage at M.B.A. programs, a way for students to practice working in teams and a reflection of the increasing demand for employees who can adroitly navigate group dynamics. A worker today might start the morning by collaborating with a team of engineers, then send emails to colleagues marketing a new brand, then jump on a conference call planning an entirely different product line, while also juggling team meetings with accounting and the party-planning committee. To prepare students for that complex world, business schools around the country have revised their curriculums to emphasize team-focused learning.
Every day, between classes or after dinner, Rozovsky and her four teammates gathered to discuss homework assignments, compare spreadsheets and strategize for exams. Everyone was smart and curious, and they had a lot in common: They had gone to similar colleges and had worked at analogous firms. These shared experiences, Rozovsky hoped, would make it easy for them to work well together. But it didn’t turn out that way. ‘‘There are lots of people who say some of their best business-school friends come from their study groups,’’ Rozovsky told me. ‘‘It wasn’t like that for me.’’
Read more here.
And if you're interested in the book - which is about the science of productivity, and comes out March 8 - you can pre-order a copy here. (If you pre-order, let me know!)
Head of US Sales, EF Corporate Learning
8 年I found this excerpt and article fascinating! I love when your "gut" and data connect to make perfect sense!
Team Management ★ Software Developer
8 年This was a really interesting read. The key outcome is that everyone should be self-aware and have empathy for others.
Thanks for this most compelling article---it's certainly made the rounds over the past week in organizational circles that I travel in. Looking forward to reading the whole book. Even if it were only half as good as Power of Habit, it'd be of great value.
Executive Coach. Leadership and Team Development. Family Business Advising.
9 年Thank you Heidi Glickman, PhD, SPHR, SHRM-SCP -- an interesting story about a research quest for understanding the characteristics of an effective team. It's not surprising that some of the findings pointed to the importance of group norms. I think this is because when a group of people come together, group dynamics will play a powerful role no matter how structured the behavioral expectations are made. I agree that when individuals feel psychologically safe in a group they will be more willing to take risks. I would also add that being psychologically safe means feeling accepted for who one is, which frees up cognitive energy to contribute to the group rather than being spent on posturing, hiding, and manipulating other's impressions. The psychology of the group is an extremely active world that sits below the surface and can wreak havoc on team functioning. Teams should take the time to explore, understand and agree upon group norms. They can work on gaining awareness of the impact of individual and group behaviors on group performance. Teams need a shared purpose and vision, a culture of trust, to value others and feel their own contribution is valued, and to believe their leader cares about them.
Senior Consultant at Tech Infinity Consulting
9 年Creating great teams is part design and part magic. The design part may be grouping those whose personalities compliment each other and hold similar values. Perform team building exercises which put members under distress which can dissolve the "workface" illusion, so everyone see the real person. The magic part can not be forced but its more about the team members jelling together. Having common shared experienced helps with that. See my take on this https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/5-keys-championship-team-tech-business-mark-fling?trk=prof-pos