Turning around a losing organization is difficult. It’s tough to fix the leaks and keep people excited when the ship is sinking. If only there were a manual for turning a team around. Fortunately, Joe Frontiera and Daniel Ledil have been working on just such a manual, Team Turnarounds: A Playbook for Underperforming Teams. After five years of studying a variety of teams in business, sports and government, they argue that many turnarounds follow the same six-step process:
Lead Past Losing – evaluate your current state and accept your reasons for failure.
Commit to Growth – Communicate the better future.
Change Behaviors – Introduce new behaviors and best practices.
Embrace Adversity – Test the team and get better.
Achieve Success – Reach the turnaround and look to the future
Nurture Excellence – keep the focus on continuous success
Within Team Turnarounds, Frontiera and Leidl demonstrate these six stages by citing examples like Domino’s Pizza, the Indianapolis Colts, the Philadelphia Eagles (a personal favorite) and event the State of Michigan’s attempt to turnaround its economy. Team Turnarounds promises to deliever a proven method for turning around any team. I’m not sure that the lessons here will help every turnaround situation, but they can’t hurt. In addition, the stories in Team Turnarounds are entertaining and filled with ideas on how to turn your own team around, or sustain its success.
