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Title: Organizing Genius: The Secrets of Creative Collaboration by Patricia Ward Biederman, Warren G. Bennis ISBN: 0-201-33989-7 Publisher: Perseus Publishing Pub. Date: June, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.6 (20 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: There are good lessons hiding in this poorly written book.
Comment: Bennis and Biederman have put together a good collection of stories and anecdotes about teamwork and team leaders. There are quite a few "takeaways" hidden in most of them, which is what makes this book worth reading.
Unfortunately, the authors force the reader to change gears much too often. The way the discussions suddenly shift from one "Great Group" to another is very distracting and often forces the reader to question who is being discussed and what the point is.
This book is a nice contrast to "The Wisdom of Teams," which is very dry and a struggle to complete. "Organizing Genius" is a quick, fun read.
Rating: 5
Summary: Packed with Knowledge!
Comment: Warren Bennis and Patricia Ward Biederman describe the qualities that generate "Great Groups," capable of meaningful creative collaborations. Despite the myth of individual achievement and heroic leadership, the authors delve into major breakthroughs accomplished by group effort. Often Great Groups unite around the vision of a charismatic leader and work toward that leader's goal with obsessive commitment. Bennis and Biederman spend much of the book describing the workings of a half dozen such groups - from the Manhattan project to the founders of the Disney Studio to Bill Clinton's campaign team. These case histories read like individual short stories, but they each tell the saga of a driven creative collaboration. The authors conclude with lessons you can apply to bring the dedication of Great Groups to bear within your organization. We recommend this clearly written, logically organized book to leaders and collaborators in any industry, with two caveats. First, acquiring the requisite charisma is up to you. And, second, as to the authors' fulsome praise of obsessive work habits, well, that's so '90s.
Rating: 3
Summary: Some great points dissolved in useless text
Comment: This book explores common treats of what author calls a "Great Group". The book tells the stories of a dozen groups creating breakthroughs in many different domains from creation of Disney's first animated feature film, to the development of the first Apple computer.
The author uncovers and shows characteristics of Great Groups using numerous and at times repetitive examples. The last chapter summarizes the lessons.
I have a mixed feeling about this book. Even though I found that messages contained in this book are extremely valuable, I don't think authors found the best way to present them. Most of the volume of the book is taken by numerous stories about how a particular group worked. Many of the tales add little to the core message of the book and merely dissolve them in irrelevant material. My advice the author: the title of this book should have been "Organizing Genius. Stories of creative collaboration". Or even better - instead of writing a book the author could have written fantastic article that spells out all the same messages without wasting reader's time. Pretty much every chapter digests of other sources, so if you're interested in each particular group, I think you'll find much better accounts elsewhere.
See my weblog (just google it) for a more detailed review.
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Title: Leaders : The Strategies for Taking Charge by Warren G. Bennis, Burt Nanus ISBN: 0887308392 Publisher: HarperBusiness Pub. Date: 26 February, 1997 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Hot Groups: Seeding Them, Feeding Them, and Using Them to Ignite Your Organization by Jean Lipman-Blumen, Harold J. Leavitt ISBN: 0195144058 Publisher: Oxford Press Pub. Date: April, 2001 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: On Becoming A Leader: The Leadership Classic--Updated And Expanded by Warren Bennis, Warren G. Bennis ISBN: 0738208175 Publisher: Perseus Publishing Pub. Date: 01 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $17.50 |
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Title: The Northbound Train: Finding the Purpose Setting the Direction Shaping the Destiny of Your Organization by Karl Albrecht ISBN: 081440233X Publisher: AMACOM Pub. Date: May, 1994 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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Title: The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton M. Christensen ISBN: 0060521996 Publisher: HarperBusiness Pub. Date: 07 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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