5大秘诀打造最佳团队

    • 寻求非传统的多样化

    P.J.佩雷拉在旧金山为自己的广告公司Pereira & O'Dell招募员工时注重的是超越性别与种族的多样化。他招聘的依据是求职者的个人背景。他曾聘用过一位酿酒行业的资深人士、一位音乐制作人、一位好莱坞编剧，甚至还有一位曾经做过面包师的捕鲨手。通过将不同观点融为一炉，这个团队往往能够找出意想不到的联系，诞生各种新颖的创意。这种组合为P

ereira & Dell制作出许多优秀广告作品，帮助公司赢得了许多大牌客户，如租房服务网站Airbnb、英特尔（Intel）和Skype等。佩雷拉说道：“帮助一家公司最简单的方法便是跳出固有思维模式，召集一批有着不同生活经历的人。”

    一项围绕“思想多样化”的新研究为佩雷拉的理念提供了依据。研究显示，由具有不同背景和认知方式的人组成的团队更愿意分享观点，能够做出更好的决定，带来更多的创新。伍利说：“事实一次次证明，多样化是使团队能够解决棘手难题的关键要素。”

    • 坦率

    和谐并非人们所说的那么美好。团队成员之间的交流过于彬彬有礼，从来不会发生争论，一团和气，这种情况对团队反而有害。不够坦率难免会削弱决策的效果，创造出一种政治化的文化。在这种环境中，人们只会隐藏自己的真实想法。

    咨询公司Ferrazzi Greenlight的CEO基斯•法拉奇说：“对股东价值影响最大的做法是回避冲突。”这家公司对50家大公司进行研究发现，绩效最高的团队同时也是最坦率的团队。

    受到《星球大战》（Star Wars）的启发，他建议许多大客户任命一名团队成员担任“尤达大师”。尤达大师是《星球大战》中的角色，每当发现有些事情没有说破的时候，他都会直言不讳地说出来。

    Ferrazzi Greenlight的一位客户是原汤姆森-路透（Thomson-Reuters）的CEO德文•维尼格。2008年公司合并之后，维尼格希望让高管团队变得更加坦率。他在开会时会采取个人签到的方式，还举行过宴会，让团队成员分享自己之前经历过的挑战。这种做法的出发点是：如果人们对彼此加深了解，他们便更有可能坦诚说出自己的真实想法。

    最终，他的团队成员都打开了心扉，并形成了一种全新的氛围，团队成员可以挑战彼此——甚至可以批评维尼格。后来，维尼格担任eBay全球市场总裁后，也采用了同样的方式。

    • 保留行之有效的做法

    传统观念可能让高管相信，做一些改变是好事，比如重新安排团队的成员，或者引进新鲜面孔。但伍利表示，这些措施却可能给团队带来伤害。

    伍利说：“如果你已经有一个高绩效团队，要努力保持团队的完整。调动其中任何一个人，都可能摧毁这个团队的价值。”

    伍利提到了美国联邦航空管理局（Federal Aviation Administration）对1974年至1990年期间发生的大型空难进行的研究。研究发现，73%的空难都发生在副机师与机长一起工作的第一天。

    这种现象并不属于航空学的范畴，但在全食超市（Whole Foods Market），高管团队的延续性给公司带来了回报。公司七名高管一起共事了至少18年，公司联席CEO约翰•麦基把这种关系比喻成经营一段漫长的婚姻。高管们会开诚布公地谈论问题，甚至能够预料到一个人对于一个创意或一项决定的反应。麦基说：“我们步调一致，共同进退。”（财富中文网）

    译者：刘进龙/汪皓    

    • Seek out non-traditional diversity

    When P.J. Pereira puts together teams for his San Francisco ad agency Pereira & O'Dell, he looks for diversity that goes beyond gender and race. He hires people based on their personal backgrounds. He has hired a wine industry veteran, a music producer, a Hollywood screenwriter – even a baker-turned-shark-wrestler. By combining different perspectives in one room, the team usually finds unexpected connections and original ideas. The combination has led to award-winning campaigns for Pereira & Dell and helped to land notable clients like Airbnb, Intel (INTC) and Skype. "The simplest way to help a company think outside the box," says Pereira, "is to bring in people who have lived in different boxes."

    Pereira's philosophy is backed by new research popping up around the idea of "thought diversity," showing that teams of people with various backgrounds and cognitive styles are more willing to share ideas, make better decisions and deliver more innovation. "It is turning up over and over again as being the key ingredient for allowing teams to solve tough problems," says Woolley.

    • Be forthright

    Harmony isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Teams suffer when the conversation is too polite, the debate muted and members don't challenge each other --or their leaders. That lack of candor will inevitably debilitate decision-making and create a politicized culture, where people only speak their minds in private.

    "The No. 1 erosion to shareholder value is conflict avoidance," says Keith Ferrazzi, CEO of consulting firm Ferrazzi Greenlight. The firm studied 50 large companies and found the highest-performing teams were the most forthright.

    He advises many large clients to appoint a team member to be a "Yoda," inspired by the Star Wars character who will notice and speak up when something is left unsaid.

    One client, former Thomson-Reuters (TRI) CEO Devin Wenig, worked to make his executive team more candid, following the company's 2008 merger. He started team meetings with personal check-ins and hosted dinners where teams share stories about past personal challenges. The idea: when people get to know each other better, they're more likely to be honest about what they really think.

    Eventually, his team opened up and established an environment where they could call each other out—even criticizing Wenig himself. Wenig has gone on to use the same approach as president of eBay's global marketplaces (EBAY).

    • Keep what works

    Common wisdom might lead executives to believe it's a good thing to shake things up, perhaps rearranging individuals on teams or bringing in fresh faces. But those moves can actually hurt a team, says Woolley.

    "If you have a high performing team, try to keep them together," says Wooley. "If you move someone you may actually destroy value."

    Wooley points to a study by the Federal Aviation Administration that looked at major airline accidents between 1974 and 1990. The study found that 73% of errors occurred the first day of a first officer and a captain working together.

    It's not aviation science, but team continuity has paid off for the executive team at Whole Foods Market. (WFM) All seven executives have worked together for at least 18 years, something that co-CEO John Mackey compares to caring for a long marriage. Executives talk problems out and can even anticipate how one person will respond to an idea or a decision. "We're synced up and we flow along," he says.