Organizing Genius

Why do certain groups of smart, talented people produce greatness while others never live up to their potential? How do some managers with excellent skills lead their organizations to amazing feats while others fall short? The answers to those vital questions lie in the remarkable workings of a Great Group.

In Organizing Genius, America's most respected leadership expert teams with a veteran journalist to explore the forces that foster creative collaboration. By analyzing six histories of Great Groups - from the Manhattan Project to the teams that developed today's personal computer - Warren Bennis and Patricia Ward Biederman uncover the secrets of collective genius. Their findings illuminate every field, from business to the arts, from education to politics. All Great Groups, they conclude, aim to do more than fix a problem; they're out to change the world. And they do. Organizing Genius captures the spirit of discovery that pervades Great Groups. It describes the free-form organization of such teams, more interested in their mission than their hierarchy. The authors discuss how Great Groups believe both that they're underdogs up against a powerful foe and that they're bound to succeed, like the 1992 Clinton presidential campaign. Organizing Genius also illuminates the roles of a Great Group leader as a gatherer of talent, a source of inspiration, and a bridge to the outside world.