CHAPTER 6Put the Right People on the Team

“You go to war with the army you have, not with the army you wish you had.” That oft-repeated military saying also can be applied to team formation: You compose a team with the people you have, not with the people you wish you had. There is both wisdom and danger in that statement. It is wise because it encourages leaders to adjust their decisions about team design to reality rather than to delay launching a team until they can corral exactly the right mix of members with exactly the right qualifications. The statement is dangerous because it can encourage mindless expediency—such as when a leader composes a team of those individuals who happen to be readily available even if they do not have the competencies ...

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