Extra-Dependent Teams

'It is very rare to discover original thinking which encourages you to challenge the conventional theory of team leadership, management and development. David combines academic rigour and depth with a practical guide for the application of this new mental model in real business situations. A must read for all Team Leaders, Managers and Team Members.' - Gina Lodge, Chief Executive Officer, The Academy of Executive Coaching

'We've been so conditioned to expect and to accept the value of traditional team-working that it takes something like David Kesby's Extra-Dependent Teams to break the spell. David's explanation of how most of us actually work together presents a picture with which I instantly identified. Once David has distinguished traditional team-working from extra-dependent working, his advice on how to manage and lead in that context feels applied and intuitive. The way in which he reframes the reality of how many of us work in a networked world speaks to many of the challenges and opportunities of the modern workplace: lack of employee engagement, stubbornly poor organizational performance and a struggle to deal effectively with ambiguity and complexity.' - Jonathan Norman, Manager, Major Projects Knowledge Hub

'A fascinating synthesis of the work on teams and communities of practice. It will help managers benefit from key insights and approaches from both sides. We especially appreciate the emphasis on the importance of identity-a central aspect of our learning theory that has not been embraced in business to the same extent as communities of practice. If the reframing of communities of practice as extra-dependent teams helps managers understand and leverage the nuances of their differences and complementarity with traditional teams, David will have made a great contribution to the literature on organizations in the 21st century.' - Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner, co-authors of Learning in Landscapes of Practice