1. Scaling to a Team of Teams
An iceberg-hopping journey through key ideas from General Stanley
McChrystal’s book Team of Teams and Agile practice
2. The value of teams
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Teamwork remains the one sustainable
competitive advantage that remains
untapped.
Patrick Lencioni
In an economy driven by knowledge
work, value gets created through the
efforts of teams.
Daniel Goleman
3. Why do teams matter…
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The reality is, teams of people are the only
entity capable of solving the big problems and
thriving in growing complexity.
Teams in and of themselves are no longer
enough; entire systems must learn to cooperate
with the same dynamics of teams.
4. Teams are a mainstay of Agile
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Consider
for a
moment…
Think of a time when you
were on a team that was
simply incredible.
1. What was it like?
2. How did the team get
to be that way?
3. What did it do to
maintain it?
5. Teams are a mainstay of Agile
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Teams outperform individuals in
complex contexts
Any one individual cannot
comprehend the whole, or hold all
required skills
Most orgs as a whole have yet to even
begin to understand how to gain the
advantages of teams at scale
How can you become a Team of Teams?
6. What is your purpose…
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Consider
for a
moment…
1. Why does your
organization or team
really exist?
2. What are you seeking
to adapt to?
3. Do you know your
own purpose?
4. Do you dare articulate
it?
7. Scaling Trust
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Scaling trust is very, very difficult
Each team must have at least one person that
has a positive relationship with at least one
person on each other team
Expand your circle of “we”
Link teams through explicit dependency; use
Kanban to limit WIP between systems
8. Organizational mental model
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Consider
for a
moment…
1. Your image of the
organization is most
like _____________?
2. What is the metaphor
you use to think about
your organization – is
it more like a machine
or a living system?
9. Command network and hierarchy
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Source: McChrystal, Stanley (2015). Team of Teams. New York: Penguin.
12. And while we’re at it…
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While network
organizational
structures are
effective, it’s simply
beyond most
organizations’ current
capability to formally
organize in this way
1. If your information flows are
networked
2. When decisions are able to
be made by those best
positioned to make them
3. Those people have the most
complete and up-to-date
information
4. A clear sense of purpose
5. Allowed to lead through
mistakes
It may not be necessary
13. Key patterns of Team of Teams
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Consider
for a
moment…
1. Upshift leadership
from commanding to
building shared
consciousness
2. Expect and empower
decision making by
whomever is closest
to the content
3. Work directly together
to build trust
4. Know your purpose
5. Be willing to learn
15. Actions to consider
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You have
the power
1. Look at information
flows from a “lean”
lens
2. Observe and map how
and where information
flows
3. Regular real-time
effective information
exchanges
4. Seek to build shared
understanding
5. Tie actions back to
purpose
18. Sources
• David Snowden, M. B. (2007). A Leader's Framework for Decision Making. Boston:
Harvard Business School Publishing.
• General Stanley McChystal, T. C. (2015). Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement
for a Complex World. New York: Penguin.
• Jeffery Pfeffer, R. S. (2006). Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense:
Profiting from Evidence-based Management. Boston: Harvard Business School
Publishing.
• Laloux, F. (2014). Reinventing Organizations: A Guide to Creating Organizations
Inspired by the Next Stage of Human Consciousness. Brussels, Belgium: Nelson Parker.
• Lencioni, P. (2002). The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Marquette, L. David. (2012). Turn The Ship Around. New York: Penguin.
• Morgan, G. (2007). Images of Organization. SAGE Publications.
• Patton, J. (2014). User Story Mapping. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly Media, Inc..
• Taylor, F. W. (1911). The Principles of Scientific Management. New York: Harper &
Brothers.
• William Joiners, Steven Josephs. (2007). Leadership Agility: Five Levels of Leadership
Mastery. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
