Extraordinary Groups: How Ordinary Teams Achieve Amazing Results

This title has come highly recommended to Lighthouse Resources. Many of us work in groups or teams and at times experience frustration that the group could be more alive, more fulfilling and more productive. Feelings of not being heard, lack or relevance to the task, a lack of learning or ineffective relationships can also be experienced by individuals in groups.  This book focuses on what groups that are inspiring, exciting or life changing are doing as a way of illustrating how the habits of these highly effective  can be replicated.

The collaboration that resulted in Extraordinary Groups began with a field study. Geoff Bellman and Kathleen Ryan dove beneath the surface of extraordinary group experiences, searching for the motives that cause some groups to be perform fantastically. Bellman and Ryan interviewed members from sixty groups on the theory that they could learn best from highly successful groups. They quickly confirmed people's ability to judge some few groups as far surpassing their expectations. At the same time, these people found it hard to describe just what made these group experiences so wonderful. The authors explored more deeply, listened to and analysed all the stories of extraordinary group success. Their work reveals what Extraordinary Groups have to teach us. They now know what needs to be done in the reach for outstanding results while transforming group members, individually and collectively.

Bellman and Ryan's study shows that transformation is rooted in satisfying core needs of group members, needs that individuals bring to any group they join. The book builds on their field study and offers many examples, exercises, and suggested actions. Their Group Needs Model is central to Extraordinary Groups. Viewing groups through this elegant framework allows readers to nurture extraordinary experiences in their teams. The model presents six core group needs in three pairs:

The Individual: Acceptance of self while moving toward one's Potential.

The Group: A Bond with others that grows while pursuing a common Purpose.

The World: Understanding the Reality of the world while collectively making an Impact.

Group experiences begin to stand out as something special whenever these needs are satisfied. And the more needs met, the more fulfilling! Regardless of the type of group-whether at work, home, play, or in the community, their Group Needs Model forms the foundation upon which sit many familiar methods in group dynamics, leadership, meeting management and team development. In addition to the six needs, the authors identify eight performance indicators shared by extraordinary groups. These indicators help readers visualize the behaviours, dynamics, and circumstances that support outstanding group achievement.