Today's strategic environment is dominated by a need for "interagency" solutions. The activities of U.S. armed forces are "joint." The combatant command system is "unified." Global operations are "integrated" and conducted with "coalition partners." The U.S. National Security Strategy takes a "whole-of-government" approach. Success in the 21st Century requires the ability to work together.
Professor Richard Hackman, the Edgar Pierce Professor of Social and Organizational Psychology at Harvard, has done some of the finest and
most innovative work on understanding how people come together, synthesize their expertise, and create effective "teams" in real world settings. He has closely studied teamwork in a range of populations from virtuoso musicians to intelligence analysts, in the latter case conducting one of the only research studies on analytic teams. I listen very closely whenever Richard speaks, and I always benefit from his wisdom.The kind folks at The Situationist blog have graciously posted a video of Professor Hackman's recent lecture on "What makes an effective team", which he delivered to Harvard's Student Association for Law and Mind Sciences (SALMS). Thanks to them, you can benefit from Richard Hackman's insights HERE.
