Hot Spots

Book: Hot Spots: Why some teams, workplaces and organizations buzz with energy - and others don't" by Lynda Gratton.

Description

Summary by Stephan Dohrn in Cooperation Commons:

For Hot Spots to emerge in an organization it takes acooperative mindset, boundary spanning, an igniting purpose and productive capacity. Gratton describes all 4 elements, and then goes on to explore what can be done to create an environment that allows these features to emerge. She emphasizes the need for leaders to create an organizational environment "where individuals have choices regarding participation and opportunities to indulge their passion and volunteer their knowledge."

To do so organizations need replace rules and directives (i.e. a culture of competition and control) with commitments and open conversation (culture of volunteering). Taking cases from BP, OgilvyOne, Nokia, Linux, and others, Gratton shows what effect such a shift can have.

As most management books, this is is written for an audience that has the power to change organizations (i.e executives) and does not offer examples for change from within.

More Information

The introductory chapter of Hot Spots can be accessed at: http://lyndagratton.com/downloads/hot-spots-chapter-1.pdf.