2020-02-01_strategy+business

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The accomplishments of the project teams so far are uneven and tentative.
Some of them are more advanced than others, and as a whole they are a long way
from effecting transformation. They may fail — many previous efforts have. But
they are continuing to fight hard, together, because they believe that together
their chances are better.
Superteams like those working in the Education Lab can be used to transform
any organization. Whether at the project level or executive level, teams made up
of outstanding people from different silos — including technology, finance,
marketing, manufacturing, and communications — can perform with greater
understanding, creativity, speed, and
reach than those from within a single
silo. And on a larger scale, superteams
can be used to transform whole sectors,
such as education. They can do this by
bringing together outstanding people
from across organizations, including
companies in different parts of the
value chain, users, regulators, academics, and activists, who not only have different
skills but also different experiences, perspectives, insights, and networks, and
ultimately different power bases from which to effect change.
Thanos may have prevailed in Avengers: Infinity War, but the superheroes’
story didn’t end with that movie. Nor need the work of the committed leaders in
the Education Lab end with their first win or setback. Nor need the work of your
own superteam. You have the power to learn from your own experience and from
that of others, and to write your own sequel. What will it be? +
Teams made up of outstanding
people from different silos
can perform with greater
understanding, creativity,
speed, and reach than those
from within a single silo.
Adam Kahane
[email protected]
is a director of Reos Partners,
an international consultancy that
helps people move forward on
their most intractable issues. His
most recent book is Collaborating
with the Enemy: How to Work with
People You Don’t Agree with or
Like or Trust.

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