Book Summary Preview : Organizing Genius

The Big Idea

Whether it is a Lone Ranger, Paul Revere, Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan, the myth of the triumphant individual – the lone hero – is deeply ingrained in the American psyche. But in a shrinking world of technological and political complexity, cooperation and collaboration are now becoming the order of the day. Most urgent projects require the coordinated contributions of many talented people.

“Organizing Genius” by Warren Bennis and Patricia Ward Biederman presents insights on how and why a few groups rise to greatness, as a way of showing how to transform today’s workplaces into Great Groups of collaboration and productivity. It presents 7 examples of Great Groups – Walt Disney, Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), Apple, the 1992 Clinton campaign, Lockheed’s Skunk Works, Black Mountain College, and the Manhattan Project, which invented the atomic bomb in World War II.

Greatness Starts with Superb People

Recruiting the most talented people possible is the first task of anyone who hopes to create a Great Group. These people have more than enormous talent and intelligence – they have original minds. They see things differently, and therefore can achieve something truly unprecedented.

These are people who can spot and discover interesting, important problems as well as skill in solving them. Often, they have specialized skill, combined with broad interests and multiple frames of reference. They are problem solvers before they are computer scientists or animators. They look for new and better ways of doing things and they have the tenacity to accomplish things of value.

Great Groups and Great Leaders Create Each Other

Great Groups are not just created by Great Leaders. They also make it possible for a leader to be great. Great groups don’t exist without great leaders, but they are much more than lengthened shadows of them. In fact, what makes a leader really great sometimes is because he/she can draw on the collaboration and internal resources of the group he/she works with.

This means that leaders of Great Groups are not great leaders alone; they are great leaders who exist in a fertile relationship with a Great Group.

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