Mark Miller's (VP Organizational Effectiveness, Chick-fil-A) book, The Secret of Teams, surprised the heck out of me. It's written as a parable (which I'm not usually a fan of), which makes it easier to comprehend then most other books on teams. And the common sense ideas made me think, "hmm (again), why haven't I ever looked at it like that?"
Mark has an up and coming executive (Debbie Brewster) take a look at 3 very different types of teams, totally out of her business domain. What Debbie finds is that there are common threads to success and also common types of factors to look at, no matter the team or organization. Mark says that "the keys to building great teams are universal". There is no REAL secret here. You just have to stop and smell the roses in order to realize what those keys are for you.
The biggest step for anyone trying to create a successful team is changing the "entrenched ways of thinking and acting". Along with this is - developing your staff, your team members. Teams don't fail because the want to, they fail because they don't know what it takes to succeed.
Doing things the 'way we've always done it' has been one of my biggest pet peaves over the years. Miller's book gives you the ideas and the tools to get away from the old 'tried and true'. Chances are you've tried, but it hasn't worked, and no one wants to put the effort out to try again.
My suggestion . . . my recommendation . . . is to buy The Secret of Teams for yourself and your leadership team. It may well be the best investment that some of you will ever make.
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