No More Teams!: Mastering the Dynamics of Creative Collaboration

by Michael Schrage

For organizations that care about innovation,  individual creativity isn't enough anymore -- people  need to be in creative, collaborative  relationships. But without the knowledge and tools for  building these relationships, innovation expert Michael  Schrage argues, one will not be successful in the  offices of today and even less so in the  "virtual" offices of tomorrow. No More  Teams gives readers the tools and  techniques to go beyond the lazy cliches of  "teamwork" to the practical benefits of  collaboration. When Schrage studied the world's greatest  collaborations -- including Wozniak and Jobs,  Picasso and Braque, Watson and Crick -- he found that  instead of relying on charisma, they all created  "shared spaces" where they could play with  their ideas. By effectively using technological  tools available in most workplaces -- anything from  a felt tip pen and a napkin to specialized  computer software - -you can literally map your  discussion as it is happening, making it possible to  keep all the good ideas, cope with every objection,  handle conflicts as they arise, and, ultimately,  master the unknown.

272 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1995

About the author

Michael Schrage is a Research Fellow at the MIT Sloan School of Management's Initiative on the Digital Economy. A sought-after expert on innovation, metrics, and network effects, he is the author of Who Do You Want Your Customers to Become?, The Innovator's Hypothesis: How Cheap Experiments Are Worth More than Good Ideas (MIT Press), and other books.

Reviews

[Scott Pearson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to read this book because I frequently saw it cited in contemporary business and management books. It talks at length about how to foster creative collaboration through the use of technology. It presaged a vision of a workplace with abundant computerized interactions. More impressively, it did so without foreseeing most of the impact of the Internet.

Of course, the technologies described in this book are dated. Indeed, most of them are now in the domain of historians of technology. In the hindsight of history, it’s mostly right in that it references the right things – technologies that have since become a part of our daily lives. Still, reading this book for the technologies is probably a losing game because it’s outdated.

However, observing the powerful historical and interpersonal principles at work through technology makes a perusal of this book still relevant and worthwhile. Indeed, Schrage’s work is half-technology, but also half-behavior. Through example after example, he teaches us how to nurture and elicit certain behaviors of collaboration through the ways we communicate. That vision is philosophically lasting (and grounded in prior work done by Marshall McLuhan).

This work has relevance for those who, like me, have an interest in the history of technology. It also has value for business leaders who want to ignite more collaboration in their workplace. Everything from architecture to technologies is discussed. I was impressed with how much of Schrage’s vision has come reality thirty years later! Creative collaboration is an engine that drives much of the world economy, and this book, as no other does, points us in how to harness its profound forces for lasting results.

[Lori Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read book on managing teams for knowledge workers, managers, executives, and entrepreneurs.