King Arthur's Round Table : How Collaborative Conversations Create Smart Organizations [Hardcover]

David Perkins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 27, 2002 | ISBN-10: 0471237728 | ISBN-13: 978-0471237723 | Edition: 1

Your organization functions and grows through conversations–face-to-face and electronic, from the mailroom to the boardroom. The quality of those conversations determines how smart your organization is. This revelatory book shows you how the Round Table of Arthurian legend can help foster collaboration and transform today’s world of business, nonprofits, and government.

"When I want a group to work effectively, I turn immediately to my colleague of thirty-five years, David Perkins. This book is a distillation of his knowledge and wisdom."
–Howard Gardner
author of Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences and Intelligence Reframed

"David Perkins applies his wit and inventive mind to create a fresh perspective on the world of collaboration in organizations. His archetypes and toolboxes offer valuable insights to anyone facing the challenges of collaborative problem solving."
–David Straus
author of How to Make Collaboration Work

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

One of the most familiar stories of Arthurian legend involves King Arthur’s Round Table. Arthur’s table was a significant innovation: Rather than issue proclamations from the end of a long table, a round shape brought him closer to his court and facilitated collaboration. Arthur’s table also allowed him to easily call on his knights’ particular expertise at the precise moment he wanted it.

The Round Table can teach us much about effective communication, collaboration, and organizational structure. By reducing hierarchy and making interactions easier, Arthur discovered an important source of power–organizational collaboration. This new collaboration was much more powerful than the old hierarchy and allowed Arthur to fulfill his dream of a united England. The simple innovation of the Round Table became perhaps Arthur’s greatest asset.

In King Arthur’s Round Table, renowned Harvard professor David Perkins uses the metaphor of the Round Table to uncover the importance of effective collaboration and communication in today’s intelligent organizations. Traditional steep hierarchies and departmental silos are insufficient for dealing with the complexities of modern business, since leaders must rely on the input and expertise of those around them. Like Arthur, today’s successful business and government leaders understand that communication and collaboration must be fostered and that the decision-making process must be opened to anyone who can offer insight and wisdom.

Managers today know that they must embrace collaboration to succeed, but they often don’t know how to do it. Using examples from the past, the modern world of corporations, nonprofits, and governments, and everyday life, Perkins shows how the Round Table metaphor serves the needs of modern organizations. He offers a practical methodology that maximizes the intelligence level of a group while ensuring good group communication. It’s an invaluable tool for companies struggling to stay ahead of the competition and for any organization wherein efficiency and group morale are imperative to success.

In King Arthur’s Round Table, Perkins shows how applying the cooperative ethic to your business, government, or nonprofit organization can be its greatest strength.

From the Back Cover

"When I want a group to work effectively, I turn immediately to my colleague of thirty-five years, David Perkins. This book is a distillation of his knowledge and wisdom."
–Howard Gardner
author of Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences and Intelligence Reframed

"David Perkins applies his wit and inventive mind to create a fresh perspective on the world of collaboration in organizations. His archetypes and toolboxes offer valuable insights to anyone facing the challenges of collaborative problem solving."
–David Straus
author of How to Make Collaboration Work

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (December 27, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471237728
• ISBN-13: 978-0471237723
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #769,482 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Holy Grail of Collaboration Revealed, April 28, 2003

By 

Bob Wiele (Collingwood, ON, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: King Arthur's Round Table : How Collaborative Conversations Create Smart Organizations (Hardcover)

David Perkins is brilliant. This book is collaboration for smarties. It aims high and delivers the Holy Grail for real seekers. Wise, clever and rich in truths, it is a new theory based upon lots of research and practice. I found it very helpful and stimulating - a treasure trove of insights, principles and things you can do to create better conversations and help teams & organizations act more intelligently. Perkins lays out an elegant set of principles on the practice of intelligent action and how the most intelligent solutions emerge from people in constructive dialogue together. He shows what makes for progressive and regressive action. He hits a home run by illustrating how both people smarts and process smarts are essential for success.If you are a leader, coach, consultant or educator and really want to find new ideas on how to build a collaborative culture, buy this book, read it carefully and you will find the Holy Grail! It's a real gem!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book for company leaders, April 24, 2003

By 

Christopher Carr (Boston, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: King Arthur's Round Table : How Collaborative Conversations Create Smart Organizations (Hardcover)

I read a positive review of this book in a business column in my local paper and ordered it. I enjoyed reading the book and especially like the metaphor the author used. Who doesn't know about King Arthur and the Round Table? And what a great metaphor to use in relaying the concept of good communication in the business world. There are good tips throughout the book on how to bring your company together and how to make it work. I recommend this book and Good to Great for every manager or director.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Making smarter decisions, February 17, 2003

By 

S. M. Felton "samton" (Southwest Harbor, ME United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: King Arthur's Round Table : How Collaborative Conversations Create Smart Organizations (Hardcover)

The first part of Perkins' title, "King Arthur's Round Table," made me nervous when a review copy arrived. I thought, "Ye gods; another "ten leadership secrets of King Kong," or other inappropriate individuals. Attila the Hun also comes to mind. But I remembered Perkins' earlier works - some, such as Archimedes' Bathtub," are gems. So I looked further. For those of you truly interested in using collaborative conversations to help make better decisions while building a "smart" organization, Perkins new book is a must.