Virtuoso Teams
17 Aug 05

What do Ducati, Miles Davis, and West Side Story have in common? At the heart of all three were dynamic teams of inspired individuals. They worked together to break out of the commonplace, creating big change.

How did these teams form? How were they managed? How were they led? How can leaders build and manage similar teams that transform enterprises?

For ordinary initiatives, ordinary teams will suffice. When big, discontinuous change is required, a different sort of team and leadership is needed. These Virtuoso Teams make the difference between real success and just achieving another modest result.

What, then, is a Virtuoso Team?

They are an elite squad. Revolutionaries that are catalysts for big change. Unlimited by the conventional approach to teamwork, they are frequently contentious and always less comfortable. But, if you can pull together the right people and manage them in the right way, the results can be extraordinary.

It sounds simple, but the ingredients for virtuoso teams are rarely attempted in most organizations. They are considered “too risky, too temperamental, too ego-centric, and too difficult to control”. So we see that time and time again, ambitious efforts led by traditional teams in organizations fall far short of the mark. Great things don’t happen. Big results are not delivered. The entire organization is held back, an outcome unacceptable in today’s ultra-competitive world.

Written for managers needing big change or, those of us simply tired of reading the same old business case studies; Virtuoso Teams introduces you to some of the most compelling and wide-ranging stories of remarkable team leadership ever assembled:

Miles Davis: A serial innovator who surrounded himself with virtuoso talent, at least three times, to change the face of jazz.
Sid Caesar: Led a weekly, frenzied process with a team that included: Mel Brooks, Woody Allen and Neil Simon, which revolutionised television entertainment and comedy.
Thomas Edison: Not the lonely "Wizard of Menlo Park" at all, but the captain of a great team of gifted individuals.
Roald Amundsen: The explorer who won the race to the South Pole by picking and leading an expert team that was better able to learn and adjust than their competitors.

	Virtuoso Teams
	Authors	Andy Boynton and Bill Fischer
	Pub Date	5 July 2005
	Price	£20.00
	Publisher	Financial Times Prentice Hall
	ISBN	0273702181
		Buy online from www.pearson-books.com before 16th September 2005 to save 10% on the RRP of £20.00. Click here for further information or to purchase Virtuoso Teams.

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