Team of teams

How to combine the flexibility and cohesion of small teams with the possibilities and resources of large organizations? General Stanley McChrystal led a huge, hierarchically structured, disciplined war machine made up of international allies, but their superiority in numbers, equipment and training did not count against al-Qaeda. The traditional operation of the army did not correspond to today's warfare, so in the middle of the war, McChrystal transformed his troops into a decentralized network that communicated transparently. The lessons of the challenges experienced in the war are also exemplary for business enterprises, non-profits and other organizations. The strategy described in this book works in any field, whether it's a hospital or NASA, and leaders are wisest to act when they give their teams the freedom to experiment and organizational-level visibility. After thirty-four years of military service, Stanley McChrystal retired as a four-star general in July 2010 as commander of the US and NATO forces of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) fighting in Afghanistan. He was previously head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff and served as commander of the Joint Special Operations Command for almost five years. During his leadership, Saddam Hussein was captured and al-Qaeda in Iraq was defeated by killing Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The commander's memoir, My Share of the Task, became a bestseller, as did his new book, The Team. He is currently a senior fellow at Yale University's Jackson Institute for International Relations and, as co-owner of the McChrystal Group, he trains senior executives on organizational adaptability. He lives in Virginia with his wife Annie.