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After their Toy Story crisis Pixar discovered an approach that enabled them to work as a team. To ensure the primacy of the story and maintain a compelling narrative, Pixar’s team made the clear distinction between encouraging everyone’s full contribution and the final decision rights of the producer and director.
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For the 2010 Ryder Cup, Colin Montgomerie understood how vital the environment was to success: he visited the Hong Kong golf-bag manufacturers to ensure the bags were perfectly waterproof, provided extra-wide beds to guarantee a good night’s sleep, and organized quizzes where cheating was cheerfully tolerated to relax and bond the team.
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The notion of ‘going slow to go fast’ can be seen in the preparation the SAS committed to the Iranian embassy siege, so their rescue could be decisive in less than twenty minutes. Superteams follow the maxim that time spent sharpening the axe pays off in cutting down the trees.
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Facing the overwhelming challenges of the Haiti earthquake, with all hands on deck, the Red Cross team combined clarity of their individual roles with an understanding of what others in the team contributed. It also enabled team members to provide backup beyond their core role when the task demanded it.
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The British Red Cross clearly defined roles of different teams during the Haiti crisis. Their Society Action Team and Emergency Task Force meetings each had distinct mandates, responsibilities and standing agendas. This meant meetings were focused on the task at hand, with no time or effort wasted in duplicating discussions.
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The British Red Cross’s International Director had to stand in a field of excrement in the middle of Haiti to fully appreciate where scarce resources would have the biggest impact. As the US Marines’ doctrine of warfighting says, operational decisions ‘should be taken as close as possible to the enemy’.
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On a Rolling Stones tour the skill of their entourage is to ensure that by showtime not only are staging, lighting, sound, props, catering and backstage in place, but that the four principals are ready to leave their bubbles and recreate the Stones as their fans expect them to be.
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As power-sharing in Northern Ireland grew closer in 2007, even the furniture’s shape was of critical importance. A British civil servant suggested the solution of a diamond-shaped table allowing Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams to sit either side of one apex – ‘both opposite each other and next to each other’.
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No team can deliver superior results on a sustainable basis without the right resources. Resources are not however enough to transform perennial losers into all conquering champions. Toyota invested over $3 billion in their Formula One team over 8 years but failed to register a single Grand Prix victory.
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Shape the environment for success Main Menu
Keep teams as small as the mission allows. As teams grow so too does the challenge of co-ordinating them, getting agreement and building cohesion. Where team size is an option, less will deliver more. Smaller teams make it easier to forge common purpose, build bonds between members and choreograph collaboration.
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Clarify roles. To get the most out of your team make sure that each member has three levels of clarity about team roles: 1) what is expected of them and why it matters, 2) a practical understanding of the other team roles and 3) how the pieces of the puzzle fit together.
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Ensure the team is as level as possible: to avoid unnecessary layers, deliver agile responses to changing events and allow a freer flow of information, ideas and feedback. But don’t discount the benefits of having a final authority to cut through the Gordian knots which teams can tie themselves into.
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Be flexible within a framework. Team structure will give you the platform for your team’s performance. But note Keith Richards’ view of a song: as a coathanger he can hang a different shirt on every time he plays. Structure should form the basis, not the barrier, to improvisation and teamwork.
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Control the controllables. So much in a team’s environment is beyond their control. Focus their energy on those elements they can affect, no matter how small. Being obsessive and detailed in preparation, improving tiny aspects here and there, has a cumulative impact that can add up to a winning edge.
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Focus on resources that are fit for purpose. Time, information, the right equipment and financial capital – resources are always in short supply. Prioritize, ruthlessly, the resources vital to your team’s progress. Shed any excess baggage. If in doubt, investing in the right people and their resourcefulness is the most effective way to secure the assets needed to succeed.
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Build bridges beyond the team. Reaching out to other individuals and organizations is an important source of support and resources your team may not possess. Identifying who to engage with and building productive relationships is a team task. Speaking with one voice will enable your team to maximize its influence.
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To get the most out of your team each member must be clear about their team role: what is expected of them, why it matters - a clarity that goes beyond defining roles in terms of responsibilities and authority by connecting how each role contributes to the team’s common purpose. > Forge common purpose

Leaders are the architects of the team; focusing on keeping team as small as the mission allows, as flat as it can be and that all team members are clear about what is expected of each of them and how they fit together. > Lead the team

For high-performance by a team under intense time pressure and limited resources, clarity of individual roles and responsibilities is the basis for ensuring everything that needs to get done actually gets done by the most qualified and often specialist team member, leaving no confusion as to who is accountable for what. > Pursue a quest for the best

In team environments, a toxically divisive aspect can be the perception of unfairness or of being mistreated. A perceived lack of recognition or credit as well as uneven financial rewards can pull a team apart. A perceived fairness matters more than the absolute or even relative amounts in maintaining cohesion. > Build cohesion

In situations of high pressure and high stakes, being explicit about how the team will interact, the choreography for collaboration, enables the team to have a shared understanding and limits risk. Agreeing the agenda for important meetings helps ensure individuals are focused on the right things, securing more effective collaboration. > Master conflict

A team is only as strong as the weakest of its components. The key to a winning team and successful team environment is that each component or member of the team is great in their own way and also amplifies the performance of the other parts, enabling greatness around them. > Adapt or die
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NAVIGATION
About Khoi Tu
Blog
Contact

Insight
Forge Common Purpose
Lead the Team
Pursue a Quest for the Best
Shape the Environment for Success
Build Cohesion
Master Conflict
Adapt or Die

Inspiration
Pixar
Ryder Cup
SAS
British Red Cross
Rolling Stones
Northern Ireland Peace Process
Ferrari Formula One

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WHAT PEOPLE SAY
‘Products, companies and organisations that
are brilliant, fun and deliver on their promise
often look super, super simple to the outside
world, but the detail and speed happening
behind the scenes is frighteningly fast. To
achieve this, let alone keep it going, requires
the right team and leadership, and a little bit
of magic based around good, solid
relationships and people skills.
We all work hard to get it right, even people
that are good at it, and nothing good lasts
forever so we need to keep on our toes!
For me, this is what this book is all about
– it shows what humans can do in different
scenarios, especially when the going gets
tough and there's a goal to be achieved.
Nice one Khoi.’
Jamie Oliver, Chef, Entrepreneur, Activist

‘Khoi Tu is the most visionary among
visionaries.’
Management Today

‘Khoi Tu has an inspirational mind, full of
curiosity, and a strong desire to find solutions
for issues that can seem to be unsolvable.’
‘Sir Jackie Stewart, three-time World Drivers’ Champion

‘This is a fantastic book. Do you want to
supercharge your team? Then ‘superteams’
will help you do just that and more. It is
creative, inspirational, and filled with
practical insights into what the most
successful teams do to reach such high
achievement. Reading it brings the
excitement of being part of the teams. WOW!
This book is destined to be a classic.’
George Kohlrieser, Professor of Leadership
at IMD.

‘Insightful… this book will be an essential in
any managers’ toolkit.’
Sir Nicholas Young, CEO of British Red Cross

‘Demystifies and choreographs what’s needed
to create high performance teams. Anybody
interested in teambuilding and teamwork
should have a serious look at this book.’
Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries, INSEAD Global Leadership Centre

IN THE MEDIA