Why you decided to choose this resource?
I chose this resource to learn from a Manager’s point of view on how to build top performing teams. I have previously created entries on how to create a good team which mostly focused on how a team member fits within an organization. This fit is usually measured by behavior, how well the team members work with each other, and how well each team member can learn the habits of their peers to form an effective unit.
For this entry, I wanted to focus more on what makes a top team. Of course, the first prerequisite of a top team is a good team. From my research, top teams are usually measured by results and what they produce rather than behaviors or how they fit inside organizations. The nirvana would be that all top teams remain good teams but this is not always the case.
What did you learn from it?
In Tim Irwin’s Book, Run With the Bulls Without Getting Trampled, he describes why some people succeed in the work place and why others fail. He uses real world examples of where he himself was fired or didn’t like his job and how he then became the top performing team as a salesman.
The books title comes from a time when Irwin ran with the bulls with his son in Spain. He explains that even though the bulls were dangerous, they were not out to get him or his son and were more of a distraction. Irwin continues to use this experience throughout the book to explain that at work there are many bulls that affect individual and team performance.
Key points
- “Bulls” constantly rage around us in the workplace, in the guise of inept managers, downsizings, misguided compensation systems, outdated IT systems, ill-designed processes, or structures that make our jobs difficult or even obsolete
- “Organizational bulls” are indifferent to us unless we get in their way, not caring whether we reach our goals, but rather whether they reach theirs, Irwin argues.
- Irwin points out that because most of us spend more than half of our waking hours at work, our careers are a huge commitment of life energy, especially when you multiply those hours by 40, 50 or even 60 years. But he notes that we don’t always learn what we should from these experiences.
- Readers will find out how to make sure they’re “fit to run” on the job, how to run with skill, run the best race and, probably the most critical skill, how to run well with others.
- Competence spans not only the accomplishment of the task, but also how well you collaborate with others in the accomplishment.
- Working on a team, managing conflict effectively and influencing others can spell the difference between success and failure in today’s workplace
- For many people, work is slogging through five days before the weekend. That often happens because of things about our jobs that we don’t like –– including the people with whom we work.
How are you using what you learned?
This resource has made me rethink the way I approach work. Work should be a place you love and enjoy while also being a place of improvement. However to accomplish work takes not only a good team but a successful one. Conflict and outside forces can make or break success.
How can we as a company or individuals in the company use this?
This resource can teach an individual not only how to recognize if they are a good fit within an organization but to also “run with the bulls” so to speak with the company’s teams.
Source
Title: Run With the Bulls Without Getting Trampled
Author: Tim Irwin
Links:Book Summary