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Good Team, Bad Team: Lead Your People to Go After Big Challenges, Not Each Other
Know yourself, know your team, solve your challenge.
When team leaders meet a challenge, they often spend more time dealing with their people than dealing with the challenge. They can’t get their team to row in the same direction―or row at all. In Good Team, Bad Team , a ground-breaking primer for leaders, Sarah Thurber and Blair Miller share their decades of experience building, facilitating, and leading thriving teams alongside pioneering research from the fields of cognitive diversity and creative problem-solving. Effective team leadership isn’t mind-reading―it’s good science.
Built on research from their popular FourSight System―used by Disney, Nike, and NASA― Good Team, Bad Team examines over 6 million data points on problem-solving styles that impact collaboration, innovation, and leadership. By integrating these scientific insights with creative strategies, Good Team, Bad Team presents a transformative model that empowers leaders to harness the diverse energies of their teams and generate powerful results.
A good team isn’t perfect, but its people know their purpose and trust each other. You might think bad teams are led by bad people. Actually, bad teams are often led by good people, who simply don’t have what they need to lead. With practical exercises, relatable stories, and contrasting examples, Thurber and Miller clarify the complexities of how good and bad teams approach challenges and why they succeed or struggle to solve them. Good Team, Bad Team is the must-read leadership toolkit to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of collaboration and achieve extraordinary results―together.
When team leaders meet a challenge, they often spend more time dealing with their people than dealing with the challenge. They can’t get their team to row in the same direction―or row at all. In Good Team, Bad Team , a ground-breaking primer for leaders, Sarah Thurber and Blair Miller share their decades of experience building, facilitating, and leading thriving teams alongside pioneering research from the fields of cognitive diversity and creative problem-solving. Effective team leadership isn’t mind-reading―it’s good science.
Built on research from their popular FourSight System―used by Disney, Nike, and NASA― Good Team, Bad Team examines over 6 million data points on problem-solving styles that impact collaboration, innovation, and leadership. By integrating these scientific insights with creative strategies, Good Team, Bad Team presents a transformative model that empowers leaders to harness the diverse energies of their teams and generate powerful results.
A good team isn’t perfect, but its people know their purpose and trust each other. You might think bad teams are led by bad people. Actually, bad teams are often led by good people, who simply don’t have what they need to lead. With practical exercises, relatable stories, and contrasting examples, Thurber and Miller clarify the complexities of how good and bad teams approach challenges and why they succeed or struggle to solve them. Good Team, Bad Team is the must-read leadership toolkit to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of collaboration and achieve extraordinary results―together.
224 pages, Paperback
Published June 4, 2024
10 people are currently reading
87 people want to read
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August 3, 2024
In "Good Team, Bad Team" by Sarah Thurber and Blair Miller, the authors delve into the factors that distinguish high-performing teams from those that struggle. They explore the critical role of cognitive diversity in team dynamics, emphasizing that understanding thinking preferences—how individuals prefer to approach and solve problems—can be a powerful tool for improving team cohesion and effectiveness. By recognizing that people have different strengths, such as clarifying, ideating, developing, and implementing, leaders can better leverage these differences to create a more dynamic and innovative team environment.
The book highlights the importance of a shared purpose in transforming a group of individuals into a cohesive team. Without a clear understanding of the team's goals and mission, even the most skilled members can become disconnected and ineffective. The authors provide practical strategies for articulating and reinforcing the team's purpose, such as creating a team charter that outlines the group's objectives, roles, and communication plans. This clarity helps align everyone's efforts toward a common goal, fostering a sense of unity and shared ownership.
Trust is another cornerstone of high-performing teams. Thurber and Miller discuss how trust is built through transparency, relationship-building, and the recognition of excellence. They stress that leaders must be open and communicative, as withholding information can erode trust and lead to disengagement. The authors also note that understanding and respecting each other's thinking preferences can reduce conflicts and misunderstandings, thereby enhancing trust and collaboration.
The authors emphasize the importance of a structured problem-solving process in tackling complex challenges. They outline a framework that includes the stages of clarifying, ideating, developing, and implementing, which can guide teams through a systematic approach to finding solutions. By matching tasks with team members' strengths and allowing time for thorough exploration and iteration, teams can develop more innovative and effective solutions.
In conclusion, "Good Team, Bad Team" provides a comprehensive guide to building and leading high-performing teams. It underscores the value of cognitive diversity, a clear purpose, trust, and a structured problem-solving approach. By embracing these principles, leaders can create teams that are not only productive but also a source of personal and professional growth for their members. The book offers practical insights and tools that can help leaders transform a group of individuals into a cohesive, effective team capable of tackling even the most daunting challenges.
The book highlights the importance of a shared purpose in transforming a group of individuals into a cohesive team. Without a clear understanding of the team's goals and mission, even the most skilled members can become disconnected and ineffective. The authors provide practical strategies for articulating and reinforcing the team's purpose, such as creating a team charter that outlines the group's objectives, roles, and communication plans. This clarity helps align everyone's efforts toward a common goal, fostering a sense of unity and shared ownership.
Trust is another cornerstone of high-performing teams. Thurber and Miller discuss how trust is built through transparency, relationship-building, and the recognition of excellence. They stress that leaders must be open and communicative, as withholding information can erode trust and lead to disengagement. The authors also note that understanding and respecting each other's thinking preferences can reduce conflicts and misunderstandings, thereby enhancing trust and collaboration.
The authors emphasize the importance of a structured problem-solving process in tackling complex challenges. They outline a framework that includes the stages of clarifying, ideating, developing, and implementing, which can guide teams through a systematic approach to finding solutions. By matching tasks with team members' strengths and allowing time for thorough exploration and iteration, teams can develop more innovative and effective solutions.
In conclusion, "Good Team, Bad Team" provides a comprehensive guide to building and leading high-performing teams. It underscores the value of cognitive diversity, a clear purpose, trust, and a structured problem-solving approach. By embracing these principles, leaders can create teams that are not only productive but also a source of personal and professional growth for their members. The book offers practical insights and tools that can help leaders transform a group of individuals into a cohesive, effective team capable of tackling even the most daunting challenges.
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August 2, 2024WIP - Tagline shows great potential for a good read, tba 4/5 stars
Notes:
- It turns out that we all have measurable differences in the way we like to solve problems. These are called thinking preferences. Once you understand them, you gain a powerful lens that can help you interpret behaviors that once seemed baffling.
- According to research by Gerard Puccio at SUNY Buffalo, there are four main thinking preferences that people tend toward when tackling a challenge: clarifying, ideating, developing, and implementing.
- People who prefer to clarify like to really analyze and understand a problem before proceeding. They ask lots of questions and gather data. In contrast, those who prefer to ideate want to explore possibilities and generate ideas right away. People with a preference to develop like to compare options and craft detailed solutions. And those who prefer to implement want to spring into action and get things done.
- Fair point: Most of us have one or two dominant preferences. And we tend to assume everyone else thinks the same way we do. So when a colleague takes a radically different approach, we’re often quick to label it as wrong or problematic, rather than simply different.
- without a clear and shared understanding of why ateam exists and what it’s trying to achieve, even the most talented individuals can flounder. Etienne (a division president) was leading a team of 150 experts, but they were a disjointed group, worn down by corporate reorganizations. To unite them, Etienne knew he needed to clarify the team’s purpose in a way that everyone could understand and rally behind. So he asked each functional team to create a simple poster explaining their purpose, the key questions they were trying to answer, and an animal mascot representing their team.
- Why do we exist? What are we trying to achieve together?
- (team lead e.g.) When her company hit a rough patch, Shyla started communicating less openly, sharing information only on a need-to-know basis. (look fair I can understand why her team lost try in her but I can understand she lost trust in the organisation itself)
- Research by Paul J. Zak shows that trust produces physical changes in the brain. Zak found that in high-trust companies, people reported 74 percent less stress, 106 percent more energy, and 50 percent higher productivity than in low-trust environments. To foster trust, start by sharing information broadly and building relationships intentionally. Recognize excellence. Give people discretion. Show vulnerability. These behaviors stimulate oxytocin production in the brain, generating feelings of trust.
- But even in a trusting environment, teams don’t become high-performing overnight. They go through predictable stages: forming, storming, norming, and performing.
BT?
Research shows we implicitly prefer to work with people who share our thinking style. But a team full of similar thinkers is not ideal – cognitive diversity leads to better solutions. The trouble is, we often mistake thinking preferences for personality flaws, labeling differently minded colleagues “difficult.”
By educating your team about thinking preferences, you can help them navigate storming more smoothly. People start to see that the colleague they found frustrating is actually contributing a valuable perspective. They develop a shared language to discuss differences productively. Understanding greases the wheels of trust and collaboration.
In today’s work world, the challenges we face are becoming increasingly complex. Gone are the days when a simple brainstorming session could yield a clear solution. Now, we’re grappling with multi-faceted problems that require a more structured, strategic approach.
That’s where having a robust problem-solving process comes in. By equipping your team with a shared framework for tackling challenges, you can channel their diverse thinking styles and expertise toward finding truly innovative solutions.
At the heart of effective problem-solving are again the four key concepts: clarifying, ideating, developing, and implementing.
Interestingly, if you look under the hood of various popular problem-solving methods like Design Thinking, Lean Six Sigma, or Agile, you’ll find these same four thinking skills powering the engine. They may use different terminology or emphasize certain stages more than others, but the core elements are the same.
So, how can you harness the power of this problem-solving framework for your own team?
Mastering a structured problem-solving process, one that engages diverse thinking styles throughout, enables teams to tackle even the most complex issues with creativity and resilience. Ultimately, by recognizing and leveraging the unique strengths of each team member, you can forge a cohesive unit that not only achieves remarkable outcomes but also serves as a catalyst for personal growth and fulfillment.
Notes:
- It turns out that we all have measurable differences in the way we like to solve problems. These are called thinking preferences. Once you understand them, you gain a powerful lens that can help you interpret behaviors that once seemed baffling.
- According to research by Gerard Puccio at SUNY Buffalo, there are four main thinking preferences that people tend toward when tackling a challenge: clarifying, ideating, developing, and implementing.
- People who prefer to clarify like to really analyze and understand a problem before proceeding. They ask lots of questions and gather data. In contrast, those who prefer to ideate want to explore possibilities and generate ideas right away. People with a preference to develop like to compare options and craft detailed solutions. And those who prefer to implement want to spring into action and get things done.
- Fair point: Most of us have one or two dominant preferences. And we tend to assume everyone else thinks the same way we do. So when a colleague takes a radically different approach, we’re often quick to label it as wrong or problematic, rather than simply different.
- without a clear and shared understanding of why ateam exists and what it’s trying to achieve, even the most talented individuals can flounder. Etienne (a division president) was leading a team of 150 experts, but they were a disjointed group, worn down by corporate reorganizations. To unite them, Etienne knew he needed to clarify the team’s purpose in a way that everyone could understand and rally behind. So he asked each functional team to create a simple poster explaining their purpose, the key questions they were trying to answer, and an animal mascot representing their team.
- Why do we exist? What are we trying to achieve together?
- (team lead e.g.) When her company hit a rough patch, Shyla started communicating less openly, sharing information only on a need-to-know basis. (look fair I can understand why her team lost try in her but I can understand she lost trust in the organisation itself)
- Research by Paul J. Zak shows that trust produces physical changes in the brain. Zak found that in high-trust companies, people reported 74 percent less stress, 106 percent more energy, and 50 percent higher productivity than in low-trust environments. To foster trust, start by sharing information broadly and building relationships intentionally. Recognize excellence. Give people discretion. Show vulnerability. These behaviors stimulate oxytocin production in the brain, generating feelings of trust.
- But even in a trusting environment, teams don’t become high-performing overnight. They go through predictable stages: forming, storming, norming, and performing.
BT?
Research shows we implicitly prefer to work with people who share our thinking style. But a team full of similar thinkers is not ideal – cognitive diversity leads to better solutions. The trouble is, we often mistake thinking preferences for personality flaws, labeling differently minded colleagues “difficult.”
By educating your team about thinking preferences, you can help them navigate storming more smoothly. People start to see that the colleague they found frustrating is actually contributing a valuable perspective. They develop a shared language to discuss differences productively. Understanding greases the wheels of trust and collaboration.
In today’s work world, the challenges we face are becoming increasingly complex. Gone are the days when a simple brainstorming session could yield a clear solution. Now, we’re grappling with multi-faceted problems that require a more structured, strategic approach.
That’s where having a robust problem-solving process comes in. By equipping your team with a shared framework for tackling challenges, you can channel their diverse thinking styles and expertise toward finding truly innovative solutions.
At the heart of effective problem-solving are again the four key concepts: clarifying, ideating, developing, and implementing.
Interestingly, if you look under the hood of various popular problem-solving methods like Design Thinking, Lean Six Sigma, or Agile, you’ll find these same four thinking skills powering the engine. They may use different terminology or emphasize certain stages more than others, but the core elements are the same.
So, how can you harness the power of this problem-solving framework for your own team?
Mastering a structured problem-solving process, one that engages diverse thinking styles throughout, enables teams to tackle even the most complex issues with creativity and resilience. Ultimately, by recognizing and leveraging the unique strengths of each team member, you can forge a cohesive unit that not only achieves remarkable outcomes but also serves as a catalyst for personal growth and fulfillment.
August 3, 2024
“Ultimately, by recognizing and leveraging the unique strengths of each team member, you can forge a cohesive unit that not only achieves remarkable outcomes, but also serves as a catalyst for personal growth and fulfillment. “
key factors that distinguish high-performing teams from those that struggle
insights into how to harness the power of thinking preferences
Read to: clarify your team's purpose, build trust, and master the art of problem-solving.
“Armed with these tools, you'll be equipped to transform a group of individuals into a true team, one that can navigate even the toughest challenges with resilience and grace. Whether you're a seasoned leader or just starting out, these lessons will help you unlock the full potential of your team and achieve goals you never thought possible.”
“By understanding thinking preferences, the measurable differences in how people approach challenges, you can unlock a shared language that fosters mutual understanding and understanding. A clear purpose acts as a guiding force, aligning individual efforts toward a common goal. Cultivating an environment of trust, where vulnerability is embraced and excellence is celebrated, lays the foundation for open collaboration. Mastering a structured problem-solving process, one that engages diverse thinking styles throughout, enables teams to tackle complex problems together.”
key factors that distinguish high-performing teams from those that struggle
insights into how to harness the power of thinking preferences
Read to: clarify your team's purpose, build trust, and master the art of problem-solving.
“Armed with these tools, you'll be equipped to transform a group of individuals into a true team, one that can navigate even the toughest challenges with resilience and grace. Whether you're a seasoned leader or just starting out, these lessons will help you unlock the full potential of your team and achieve goals you never thought possible.”
“By understanding thinking preferences, the measurable differences in how people approach challenges, you can unlock a shared language that fosters mutual understanding and understanding. A clear purpose acts as a guiding force, aligning individual efforts toward a common goal. Cultivating an environment of trust, where vulnerability is embraced and excellence is celebrated, lays the foundation for open collaboration. Mastering a structured problem-solving process, one that engages diverse thinking styles throughout, enables teams to tackle complex problems together.”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 8, 2024
Best Insight into team performance I’ve read
If you’ve ever been frustrated in a team, wondered why someone acts the way they do, or just need to get a team moving, get this book.
There are a lot of fluff teambuilding books out there: easy to read, full of obvious advice, short on insight. This is not one of those – it’s easy to read, but the advice is not obvious and it’s backed (and explained) by research.
The book starts from “know yourself” and lays out different thinking styles. It then takes you through why those styles are needed in teams tackling tough problems. Which then leads you to where those styles mesh and where they conflict in teams and what to do about it.
The advice is practical, grounded, and gives a great framework for forming, developing, troubleshooting, and leading teams. Each section of theory is short and clear enough that you don’t feel that you’re in a class lecture. Instead, it feels like you’re in conversation with a brilliant friend, with powerful stories and experience in building effective teams.
I loved this book and will use it with every team I’m on.
If you’ve ever been frustrated in a team, wondered why someone acts the way they do, or just need to get a team moving, get this book.
There are a lot of fluff teambuilding books out there: easy to read, full of obvious advice, short on insight. This is not one of those – it’s easy to read, but the advice is not obvious and it’s backed (and explained) by research.
The book starts from “know yourself” and lays out different thinking styles. It then takes you through why those styles are needed in teams tackling tough problems. Which then leads you to where those styles mesh and where they conflict in teams and what to do about it.
The advice is practical, grounded, and gives a great framework for forming, developing, troubleshooting, and leading teams. Each section of theory is short and clear enough that you don’t feel that you’re in a class lecture. Instead, it feels like you’re in conversation with a brilliant friend, with powerful stories and experience in building effective teams.
I loved this book and will use it with every team I’m on.
June 4, 2024
I’ve worked with many different organizations, teams & boards. Some were great to work with and some were downright toxic. I was curious as to what factors make a difference in team dynamics. Good Teams, Bad Teams offers an easy-to-follow template for team leaders on how to create the magic and reap the rewards of a well-run & cohesive team. Based on science and filled with fun anecdotal stories, the book is an informative and enjoyable read. I would recommend it for anyone working on a team-Good or Bad!
August 3, 2024
Summary:
By understanding thinking preferences, the measurable differences in how people approach challenges, you can unlock a shared language that fosters mutual understanding and understanding. A clear purpose acts as a guiding force, aligning individual efforts toward a common goal. Cultivating an environment of trust, where vulnerability is embraced and excellence is celebrated, lays the foundation for open collaboration. Mastering a structured problem-solving process, one that engages diverse thinking styles throughout, enables teams to tackle complex problems together.
By understanding thinking preferences, the measurable differences in how people approach challenges, you can unlock a shared language that fosters mutual understanding and understanding. A clear purpose acts as a guiding force, aligning individual efforts toward a common goal. Cultivating an environment of trust, where vulnerability is embraced and excellence is celebrated, lays the foundation for open collaboration. Mastering a structured problem-solving process, one that engages diverse thinking styles throughout, enables teams to tackle complex problems together.
August 3, 2024
Leading a research team of my own, while I can't say I have learned anything new, I have been able to revise my own leadership strategies a little bit from the read. The bookish concept of Cognitive Diversities felt real and informative to me.
January 17, 2025
I'm not a natural leader so I found this to be eye-opening with quite a few valuable ideas HOWEVER be aware it is a huge promo for the author's "product" which is for sale on their website. I couldn't shake the feeling I was reading a lengthy advertisement stacked with glowing reviews.
April 13, 2025
Most useful book I’ve read in a long time.
April 15, 2025
work book, but really good!!
September 7, 2024
Great leadership book with practical pieces I was able to take away. As a Gallup Strengths coach I felt the points in this book added substance without taking away from that approach. I think in the end this book is a great companion for Strengths coaches and all leaders trying to create engaged teams
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews