The latest book briefing by Kevin J. Delaney focuses on Smarter Collaboration: A New Approach to Breaking Down Barriers and Transforming Work by Dr. Heidi K. Gardner and Ivan Matviak.

Here’s an excerpt from the article, which includes a summary and key findings from the book:

“Teams have often fallen short when ‘leaders failed to create the kind of environment where collaboration thrives—for example, devoting time for team members to learn about one another’s technical and market knowledge, and especially about how that expertise related to the current client’s specific needs,’ Gardner and Matviak write. Other times, ‘team members undermined one another’s ability to play to their own strengths. For example, they often mistakenly over relied on the inputs of higher-status team members rather than listening to people who knew the clients deeply or had other important ideas.’ (p. 40) In an analysis of team meetings Gardner conducted, individual members often caused the group to miss opportunities by talking over or ignoring their peers with expertise in the matter being discussed.”