Customer Reviews

The Firefly Effect: Build Teams That Capture Creativity and Catapult Results

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* Do you think there is untapped talent and unspoken knowledge on your team?
* How much of your team's energy is wasted with irrelevant, personality-based infighting?
* Do your team members hold themselves accountable for living up to their commitments?
* Which department does your team have the greatest conflict with?
* Do you see the spark of creativity going on around you, perhaps that others aren't seeing . . . yet?

Everyone has the ability to be original--to do something no one else would think of--to be creative. Many of us downplay our creative ability or find ourselves in an environment where our contribution isn't valued as it should be.

"A lone firefly--like the lone genius--does not ignite the imagination of others," writes Kimberly Douglas in The Firefly Effect. "It takes the brilliant light of many, and the creative effort of the entire team, to truly spark innovation with impact." The job of the leader is to "create a safe environment in which every member of the team can knowingly and proudly claim those differences, and apply them in an optimal way to achieve the goals of the team." The leader must provide the processes that will allow every other member of the team to see each other in this new light.

These differences can create heat. "Fireflies know how to shine without creating heat--without wasting energy on unnecessary conflict." Differences should compel us to look at individual differences more creatively. The team's focus is key. "One of the most important things that a leader can do is keep the team focused on the real competition; those who exist outside the walls of the organization.... Making this the focus keeps people from clashing within the group. When this focus is lost, infighting and bickering among the team members thrives." This means learning to communicate more and better. It means learning to view conflict in a new way; not as a destructive, inevitable evil, but rather as a constructive source of creative abrasion.

The Firefly Effect is about releasing that spark of creativity that exists inside all of us and channeling it in a productive way. Douglas provides down-to-earth, tested and practical methods for inspiring your team and leveraging their innate abilities. She shows how you and your team can capitalize on what is right about the people on the team.

The Firefly Effect is a changed mindset about working with others. It is a dynamic that is on display anytime you see children chase fireflies.

* Few children chase fireflies alone. The excitement come from the sharing of effort and results with others.
* Everyone is clear on what the goal is--to catch fireflies--and enthusiasm remains high, because their target is so well understood and so simple.
* Each individual knows his or her task. No one needs--or wants--a dictating leader. (See chapter 13: What to Do if the Leader is Keeping Too Tight a Lid on the Jar?)
* Children do not criticize one another on a good firefly hunt. Everyone is clearly giving his or her best effort.
* The group eagerly seeks out new and better ways to realize a successful result.
* In the end, there is joy in what they accomplished together.

Douglas provides much to think about and implement:

Two key components drive powerful teams: where they're going and how they're going to work together to get there. The answers to these questions are inextricably tied. It simple means asking, you want to capitalize on team members' unique differences to what end? You want to promote creativity and innovation targeted toward which business objectives, problems, or opportunities?

The team leader's job is to create the fertile environment and clarify the landscape so that everyone knows what is important. Set the stage for the team's success, and make effective functioning a priority. People can then make their own decisions--from compliance to commitment, from forced effort to discretionary effort--based on the best possible information that you can give them.

You tend to have a very different perspective from the top--directing the change happening to those below you--then when you are the person to whom this change is being made. Your role as the leader is to...help them see your perspective and perceive how these seemingly disparate projects and initiatives all fit under the large umbrella of a critical new strategic direction. Without this common understanding, you lose the power of their coordinated, focused efforts.

In the end, Douglas illuminates the idea that "a single person has a substantial amount of power to truly make a difference in an organization by first believing in something, and then taking action on it." That's leadership.

I enjoyed Kim's book very much. These are the ideas that resonated most with me.

We all have creativity within us. As she said, creativity doesn't always take the form of fine art. In a practical day-to-day sense it is about looking at something differently and taking a new or different approach. It made me appreciate my own creativity.

Conflict and creative abrasion. That really opened my eyes to how conflict can be constructive. Intellectually I know that, but this concept drove it home. Last night at a meeting we experienced some conflict and this concept helped provide some perspective for me.

Change is necessary. It is to be expected and used creatively. I sometimes resist change, and this was an especially useful thing for me to hear right now.


Kim's writing is solid, eloquent and frequently elegant. She told some good stories that illustrated her points well. I enjoyed the references to SHRM Atlanta because it brought the book closer to home for me. I feel like Kim opened herself a lot in this book and I appreciate getting to know her better as a result.

As an HR professional, I have worked in different industries and with people in all areas of the supply chain. My career experience includes top Fortune 100 companies such as Pepsico-Frito Lay, Delta Airlines, Kraft Foods and recently, Novartis Pharmaceuticals. The Firefly Effect, is a book that I highly recommend in today's complex work environment. If you work in R&D, manufacturing, distribution, sales, marketing, HQs or any other part of an organization this book is for you. The Firefly Effect is a simple message on how to engage teams and inspire through leadership. Kimberly Douglas shares real life experiences, practical tools, and inspirational insights through the metaphor of fireflies. It is for all the above reasons, that this book will help you as an individual at any level find life's innovative spark.

The Firefly Effect is a one stop resource for consulting advice, psychological insights and action planning to help individual leaders and teams improve effectiveness and productivity. Any reader will be impressed with the wealth of knowledge and practical application that the author shares throughout the book.

I recommend reading the final chapter first. It will ground your perspective for all that is offered in this inspiring analogy of Fireflies and how leaders can capture "jars of energy" for self and the teams they lead!

I was amazed when I first heard about the fireflies of Thailand and Malaysia, where remote riverbanks are lit at night by tens of thousands of insects blinking in unison. Back in the 1960s, a researcher traveled up one of those rivers, captured several hundred fireflies, went back to the city and turned them loose in his hotel room. Over several hours, the insects' random blinking gradually transformed into the same sort of simultaneous flashes that the researcher had witnessed in the wild.

Kimberly Douglas links this extraordinary natural phenomenon with the day-to-day challenges of getting teams of people to focus their creativity on a common goal. At its core, her "Firefly Effect" is a guidebook. She interweaves original ideas with real-life anecdotes from the business world, ultimately demonstrating how teams of people can transform chaos into synchronicity and confusion into synergy.

Keep your highlighter handy because you'll use it often.

Kimberly Douglas is a master facilitator who has captured her intellectual capital in her new book. Having worked with Kimberly on many occasions and seen her in action, I was amazed at her ability to put on paper the secrets of her success in facilitating teams to achieve great results!

Using the metaphor of a firefly throughout each chapter, Kimberly outlines the role of the leader, the rationale for her approach, tools, techniques and tips to create an environment where teams can overcome silos, build trust, handle conflict, and achieve a new level of creativity and results.

If you are someone who wants a bird's eye view of each chapter to determine if you'll read the rest of the book, go to Chapter 21 - The End of the Day. As a leader of a team, you need to be asking yourself these questions and if you don't know the answers, then this book is for you!

This is the one reference book you need to keep handy. I've seen it work - Kimberly has revealed all her secrets to improve the effectiveness of any team.

Some authors come up with a clever title and then write the book to make the content support the moniker. Not Kimberly Douglas. She has been "the firefly lady" for as long as I've known her, several years at least. Now, she has finally put into book form the great information and guidance she has been successfully sharing with clients for decades.

If you've ever been on a project team that just "clicked" perfectly, that was creative, fun to participate in and productive, you've probably wondered to yourself, "Why can't they all be like this?" In this book, Kimberly argues that they can. She has created a step-by-step guide to harnessing the unique talents of each individual on a team in a way that honors their need to contribute in a meaningful way while ensuring egos don't clash. She teaches how everyone can benefit from one another, and how to get the project done on time, within budget and in an exceptional way.

Using the firefly as a clever metaphor, Kimberly takes into account just about every problem that arises on a team and offers solutions through real-life case studies and anecdotes. Can't think of anything creative? Wish you had been put on a different team? Think a team mate isn't pulling his or her weight? Maybe it's the boss who is the problem Or perhaps the team is dysfunctional because people on it don't believe in the mission of the work they're suppose to be doing together. This book addresses all that and more with actionable advice you can put to work immediately.

The Firefly Effect is the kind of book managers will want to give their staffs and staffs will want to give their managers. I hope they do, too, because, as Kimberly points out, successful teams are never one-sided.

I usually do my reading a Kindle 2, but this is one book I keep close at hand and refer to the many highlighted passages as I go about my workweek.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book because it balanced stats as well as common sense pointers that I intend to apply back in the office. Mrs. Douglas has found a creative way to remind us we need to keep the main thing the main thing.

Well Done,

Van Clark
Senior Vice Presient & Human Resource Manager
First National Bank of the South

As a clinical social worker in a large hospital, I lead and participate in many different kinds of teams. This book gives creative ideas of how to get the spark back in dull, unproductive teams.... Barbara Harter, ACSW, LCSW.

I have never thought of myself as a creative being, which has likely held me back in some regards. After reading only the first chapter of Kimberly Douglas' The Firefly Effect, it became very clear to me that each of us is creative! I now look at myself differently - as well as those on my team.

Now that I am armed with the firm belief that each of us has a creative spirit, I will have a greater confidence in my abilities when tackling new problems. The Firefly Effect not only gave me this confidence, but also provided real-life tools and techniques for tapping into this creativity and putting it to work!

Kimberly's style makes this an easy read - it's as if she's sitting next to you having a conversation. The Firefly Effect is a must-read for any leader who is looking for a practical, yet unique guide for maximizing a team's effectiveness.