Running head: HIGH PERFORMING TEAMS
November 6, 2007
High Performing Teams
MLE 605
High Performing Teams
Introduction
The article I chose to review gives an overview of how IBM was able to create high performing teams that managed projects that produced results well beyond what was expected. The process to accomplish these incredible results was applied to 20 engineering projects at IBM. These incredible results are described as breakthroughs. Breakthroughs which originated in the mid-1980’s produced outstanding results for IBM as well as many other companies. The breakthrough methodology will be explained as well as what results IBM and other professionals can expect when it is used with high performing teams (Scherr, 2005).
Breakthrough Methodology
The breakthrough methodology started when an IBM leader noticed that another small, fairly new company was able to attain incredible productivity levels without compromising quality. The product, quality of work, and experience of this company was very similar to IBM’s. This challenged the IBM leader to ascertain how this company was able to produce these incredible results and bring the methodology to IBM. The methodology consisted of: breakthrough principles, commitment, teamwork, and critical success factors (Scherr, 2005).
A number of other professionals state that innovation cannot be intentionally planned. They argue that breakthroughs do not happen by design. Instead they occur by mishap, erratic, and unpredictable actions. This argument was dismissed by the IBM professionals involved in incorporating the breakthrough principles. The breakthrough principles implemented to produce incredible results for IBM will be discus ...