BOOK REVIEW

Monday, October 25, 2010

THE ORANGE REVOLUTION
How One Great Team
Can Transform an Entire Organization
by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton

OVERVIEW:   From New York Times bestselling authors and renowned leadership consultants Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton comes a groundbreaking guide to building high-performance teams. What is the true driver of a thriving organization's exceptional success? Is it a genius leader? An iron-clad business plan? Gostick and Elton shatter these preconceptions of corporate achievement. Their research shows that breakthrough success is guided by a particular breed of high-performing team that generates its own momentum--an engaged group of colleagues in the trenches, working passionately together to pursue a shared vision. Their research also shows that only 20 percent of teams are working anywhere near this optimal capacity. This book will help your team become one of them.

AUTHORS:  Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton are coauthors of The Carrot principle and The Daily Carrot Principle which are sold in more than fifty countries around the world. Gostick is the leader of O.C. Tanner Company's employee engagement training and publishing practice. Elton is a popular lecturer on motivation, and an influential voice in global workplace trends. He is O.C. Tanner's lead employee engagement consultant and researcher, working with numerous Fortune 100 clients.

MY REVIEW: Why would a retired minister be interested in a book like this? Good question. I am interested because I still love and work with the church at every opportunity. I want to do everything I can to encourage young ministers as they work with their congregations. I recommend this book to anyone who is a member of a team, works with teams or wants to be a part of a team. Gostick and Elton use a wealth of specific stories from the breakthrough teams they studied to reveal in detail how these teams operate and how managers can transform their own teams into such high performers by fostering: Stronger clarity of goals, greater trust among team members, more open and honest dialogue, stronger accountability for all team members and purpose-based recognition of team member' contributions. These are all thing that will benefit the church. Is this a good book for those in the business world? Absolutely! My interest is mainly in helping the church but I also am thrilled to see businesses succeeding. So again, I recommend this book without hesitation.

Note: This book is based on a 350,000 person survey into the characteristics of the most effective teams)