Extreme Teams

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Many have studied teams seeking to explain why some work well while others fail. One of the most notable is J. Richard Hackman, who spent nearly five decades observing and writing about teams. Richard was my advisor in graduate school and proved to be a wise and quirky mentor. Dennis N.T. Perkins, author of Leading at the Edge, was an inspiration in emphasizing the importance of entrepreneurial leadership in building great teams and organizations. Robert Freed Bales, in his pioneering work on group dynamics, examined what he called task-oriented versus socioemotional behavior in team life. His ideas influenced what I describe in this book as the interplay between results and relationships. Other individuals who provided helpful ...