Teams Are Adaptive Systems

Teams do not act, but react. They learn not from words and speeches, but from their work environment. They respond to the incentives that are communicated through action, not words. Your decisions are important not just for their immediate result, but for the future behaviors they make more likely in your subordinates.

In my experience, few managers use this phenomenon to their advantage, resulting in motivated and productive teams. Conversely, most either have no idea of this phenomenon or acknowledge it in theory but ignore it in practice.

For example, here are some mistakes I see many managers make:

Waiting too much to acknowledge something good that one of their subordinates did, with the result that in the meantime, he thinks, "I did it for nothing, no one even noticed," and learns the lesson that the next time he should put less effort.Not being specific enough while saying "good job" so that the wrong behavior is reinforced.Letting an ethics violation pass "just this one time" because it wasn't that much of a big deal, with the result that the rest of the team either resents the manager and the violator or begins violating core values.Allowing grey areas in performance standards, so that performance stabilizes on the lower bound.

12 PrinciplesThe book describes 12 principles for effective management, all analyzed through the lenses of "Teams Are Adaptive Systems, and your job as a manager is to give them a work environment to which they adapt positively."

Each chapter ends with a few practical action items you can immediately put to use.



About the author

Luca Dellanna is an author, researcher, and management consultant. After a few years working in the consulting unit of DuPont, Luca opened a private practice in Turin, Italy.

Luca's first book on management was "Best Practices For Operational Excellence." It was a principled book describing the Four Principles of Operational Excellence, the Eight Best Practices that embody them, and a Roadmap to achieve change.

It got great reviews, such as the following one:

"I'm a huge fan of High Output Management and Setting the Table ...] Luca's Best Practices for Operational Excellence took my management to the next level.

It's been almost a month since I started implementing the principles, but I can already say that I've noticed a significant improvement in my company's morale ...] That feels amazing."

- Molson Hart, Viahart CEO