Customer Reviews

Nice Teams Finish Last: The Secret to Unleashing Your Team's Maximum Potential

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Interesting book, great insights. Miller suggests that too many teams are too nice to each other, and I must agree. I've seen it happen, but in this book, I learned why. Partly because of the various typical types of personalities on a team (he describes 9), and partly from myths that many people have about what teamwork is supposed to be (like being a team player means being agreeable to anything--not true!). I suspect on the surface most teams think they are good, but if you look, you'll find they are being too nice by not giving honest feedback, or by creating work processes that go around someone or something rather than resolve it.

After describing what nice teams are, and how the opposite is just as bad, he says that there's a middle place (he calls it "bold") where the good from both extremes is brought into balance for a healthy and effective team. Then he describes 4 principles on how to get to that balancing point. The last few chapters are explanations of how to apply those general principles into real team settings.

The last chapter was a bit of a surprise. The book has quite a few exercises and activities and examples (so it's very hands-on, how-to, and a pretty easy read), but in the last chapter there are very specific, concrete ideas for how to start practicing this stuff. Everything from baby step exercises to those that are would be a real stretch for most the teams that I've been a part of. I really liked this.

Be warned, though...if your team problems are not about being too nice, this book may not be for you. He goes after nice teams. Before you dismiss it, check it out, though. Many teams fool themselves into thinking they are all direct and upfront but in reality, they are sidestepping issues and whitewashing conflict. Speaking of that, this is not a book on how to handle conflict either, so don't buy it for that (try "getting to Yes") either. This is more about working on a team so you can avoid some of the nasty conflict that blows up when teams are too nice. Definitely worth a read.

I cannot say enough good about this book and the principles it teaches, from the first page to the last. Brian Cole Miller has a voice which speaks directly to me and my team. He writes clearly with descriptive language that makes its point over and over again throughout his book. I quickly "bought into" the author's premise of NICE and FIERCE teams and could clearly identify the problems associated with each of these teams and their members (9 personality types, which the author describes for each of the three teams he writes about). The descriptors raised my awareness of myself and the members of my own team, which is NICE. I was fascinated to compare the 9 types of a NICE team to the BOLD team and determine how much more effective we could be if we would shift our attitudes to BOLDness. Miller states: "BOLD teams realize that it's not just what they do that's important: It's how they do it too. The what and how are interdependent." He then proceeds to explain just how BOLD teams manage to be so effective.

I particularly liked the last chapter. It summarized all the concepts taught about the BOLD teams through demonstrating how to move your team to become a BOLD team. I appreciated the systematic instructions on how to move the team from either end of the spectrum to BOLD without it being formula-matic. All the activities and discussion questions are suggestions and examples which can help lead a team to success. There is lots of room for the team leader or the group as a whole to determine what to do and how to go about practicing the new skills. The premise of taking on small chunks at a time is so critical for success, and Miller emphasizes that repeatedly. If you try to do too much too fast, it will be overwhelming and you will give up.

This book is a must-read for all team players who are searching for the skills to increase productivity, collaboration, and effectiveness. So if you are looking for a way to help your team be more effective and successful, not just for the time being, but for the future, this is the book to give you the insights and direction in assisting the team to make the needed changes.

Just like his other books, Miller has hit the head on the nail again! This book has helped me and my team deal with issues that would get in the way of building a cohesive group. In fact, it seemed like we were dysfunctional and were doing tasks that could have been addressed easier and better if we had started to read the book first. Our company bought this book for everyone in our team and we seemed to have a better understanding of each other and team-building. Also, the book is VERY easy to read and practical. That's why I give it 5 stars!

I admit, when I first heard about this book, I thought it didn't apply to my team...if anything we're too mean! But after reading the first chapter, I realize I was wrong. We may be mean, but w'ere mean behind each other's backs. In front of each other, we do just as the author suggests: we play too nice. So no one gives each other real feedback, at least not directly to each other. We do it behind each other's backs and then justify it as "merely venting." And we don't have honest debates or differences of opinions about our work, we nod and pretend to go along, and the gripe about poor decisions later. Anyway, this book described how most teams I've ever been on tend to operate. More importantly, it then described how to get a team moving away from that nicey niceness to be more bold with each other. (Miller says the opposite of nice is fierce--I'd call it mean--and then says the ideal is in between the two--balancing the good from the nice teams like being concerned for other people's feelings, with the good of mean teams, like being truly honest and direct with each other, and thus achieving bold.)

The focus on how-to is good. The assessments are helpful. The suggestions in the last chapter for what to do next (if you're a team leader) are really good--there are dozens of ideas of varying difficulty, so it's good to have choices about how aggressively (or not) you go after this bold concept with your team. We've tried just one strategy about giving feedback and over the last few weeks are amazed with the progress we've made AS A TEAM just doing that one thing!

How would you best describe your team's work dynamic? Sugar and spice and everything "Nice"? "Fierce" as a fever? Or "Bold" as brass? This book's main premise is that teams are often too nice or too fierce, when instead they should be bold to succeed and get their work done. Management and training consultant Brian Cole Miller, a bestselling author, explains how to create a bold team. He organizes his ideas by identifying the roles participants play and by discussing the myths and truths about how best to manage teams. His suggestions for giving feedback, making requests and handling conflicts are especially helpful. Miller's examples are basic and instructive, and he writes in a straightforward style. getAbstract recommends his book to anyone charged with leading or managing a group of people for the first time, and to seasoned leaders and managers who seek a skills review to bring their teams to new levels of performance.

Nice Teams Finish Last: The Secret to Unleashing Your Team's Maximum Potential has one of the great provocative titles in recent memory. Wherever he is, Leo Durocher must be smiling.

Legendary sportscaster Red Barber interviewed Durocher in 1946 and asked if a team was more likely to win if the players got along well. Durocher made his famous comment that "Nice guys finish last."

Miller makes a slightly different point. He says that, "I've never seen a NICE team consistently exceed expectations or blow the competition out of the water."

Using that premise he delivers a book with a lot of helpful material. But he misses opportunities to be even more helpful and useful.

The book opens with an Introduction. Then, the first three chapters describe different kinds of teams.

Chapter 1. NICE Teams Are . . . Well, NICE!
Chapter 2. The Opposite of NICE Is MEAN, Isn't It?
Chapter 3. The Sweet Spot Between NICE and FIERCE: BOLD

Most of us spend an awful lot of time working in or with teams. So I know that you'll recognize the three types of teams that Miller describes. For the NICE and FIERCE teams, Miller outlines seven myths and tells you why they're false. For the BOLD teams, he offers seven truths about why bold teams are more successful.

This is well done, but it could have been better.

The unsupported assumption is that NICE teams are the big problem. In my experience, the teams Miller describes as FIERCE are the problem often enough to merit equal billing. I would have preferred to have some substantiation for Miller's assertion that NICE teams are much more prevalent than FIERCE ones.

Miller has his own descriptions of nine types of team players. Before you read the first three chapters, you need to jump to the appendix and work through a "Team Member Style Assessment" to find out which one you are. About half of chapters one through three use the style assessment as the lens through which to view the team. Miller doesn't suggest this until the end of chapter one, however.

My suggestion: after you read the Introduction, work through the "Team Member Assessment." Then read chapters one through three.

Earlier in chapter one, Miller suggests that you go to the appendix "NICE Team Assessment." The idea is that you'll answer a few questions and find out what kind of team you're part of.

The problem is that the questions only determine whether or not your team is NICE. The score can suggest that you have a FIERCE team, but that won't mean much because you will have done the assessment before you read the chapter on FIERCE teams.

My suggestion: don't bother with this "assessment." You won't miss much. It would have been far more helpful if the author had created an assessment of your team type. It could have been presented after the first three chapters and used later in the book as a starting point for meaningful change.

Chapter 4, BOLD Principles, is where Miller tells you that NICE and FIERCE are two ends of a spectrum, with BOLD in the middle. There are four "BOLD Principles" that provide a framework for all the advice about communication that comes later. Here they are:

Assume Innocence
Build a Bridge
Speak Your Truth
Invite Dialogue

The next three chapters, BOLD Feedback, BOLD Requests, and BOLD Disagreements, layer on specifics to help apply the principles from chapter four. Unfortunately, the detailed instructions are not up to the quality of the first part of the book. If you're looking for details about giving feedback (positive and negative), making helpful comments in team meetings, and expressing disagreement, you'll need to look elsewhere.

The same is true for the planning sheets in the appendix. They could have been better rendered as step-by-step instructions instead of "forms" that aren't very helpful as bound-in pages in a 6 X 9 book.

Chapter 8, Become BOLD, offers six basic steps to help you apply what you've learned. Step 1 is "Have everyone on the team read this book." The good news is that you don't need to do that.

The descriptions of types of teams and general principles are good enough that you can move to assessing where your team is now (using the "NICE Team Assessment" or not). Then the steps of talking about the team, deciding what kind of team you want to be, working at it, and assessing your progress fall right into line.

There's good material in this chapter about taking some of the basic BOLD principles and using them outside the team. That would be an excellent use of what's here.

There's a huge upside to this book, but there are several things that I wish were different. I've mentioned some of them already. Here are some things that were overlooked that I think would have made this a better book.

There's nothing about applying these concepts to virtual teams.
There's nothing about applying these concepts to cross-cultural teams.
There's nothing on what to do when one member of the team is a problem.
There's nothing on what to do when there's turnover in team membership.

The bottom line is that this is a four star book that could easily have been a five star book. But what's here is valuable. If you want to improve the effectiveness of your team, Brian Cole Miller's Nice Teams Finish Last will give you some ideas, structure, and language.

It's only human to want others to see our good side especially when we want to belong to their group.
Now, Discover Your Strengths Unfortunately the flip side of that attractive quality (our "bad" side) is what most sticks in others' minds - once they see it. That's a side effect of the Fight or Flight syndrome. We are hardwired to react sooner, more intensely and longer to a negative experience than a positive one. Unfortunately hot buttons we evoke in others are often blind spots to us. In an increasingly connected world more work gets done in groups.

More teams will be self-organized, initiated by someone who wants to seize an opportunity - with the right teammates. Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations If you want to be a sought-after team player it's worth recognizing both sides of your behavior when in groups.

Experienced team builder and author of Nice Teams Finish Last, Brian Cole Miller describes nine personality types - and how they can strengthen or weaken a team. Which one(s) best describes you?

The Peacemaker: Focuses on team harmony and unity

"How can things run smoothly? How can we come together on this?" She makes teammates feel understood, calm and accepted. Yet, focused on others, she may lose her perspective and be indecisive or flip-flop.

The Champion: Focuses on power in influence

He is intense, confident, action oriented - and proud of being candid. He may hold back and/or hold a grudge if his behavior is not appreciated.

The Perfectionist: Concerned with the pursuit of excellence

She works hard, creates structure and maintains high standards for herself and the group. She may slow the group's ability to move forward and be critical of others who do not live up to her high standards.

The Energizer: Primarily concerned with innovation and enjoyment

She looks for the biggest possibilities and can lighten the mood when the going gets tough. She tends to see options through a rosy lens. She may over-promise and under-deliver. She thinks quickly yet she may not always follow through.

The Guardian: Focused on trust and security

He is responsible, hardworking, loyal, a good listener and supportive and protective of teammates. Yet he can be plagued with uncertainty and doubt, overly pre-occupied with the potential downsides of decisions and persistently asking questions to support the group yet, in fact, be irritating them and holding them back from taking action.

The Observer: Wants information to understand and be objective

She is open-minded, unbiased and thinks more information is often the answer because she is analytical so she often protects the group from hasty decisions. In so doing she looks detached and may make the others not feel understood or appreciated. In fact, they make think she believes she is smarter than them.

The Individualist: Longs for uniqueness and self-expression

Because he is deeply introspective he can imagine options that may not occur to others. He is an apt synthesizer of others' ideas and apparently unrelated facts. He asks a lot of "how" questions. Since he values authenticity he may inadvertently insult others in the name of honesty. He's inclination towards complexity may distract the group's focus on the core goals and thus make them impatient with him.

The Achiever: Focuses on productivity and results

She is hardworking and competent, doing more than her fair share. She values productivity and seeks shortcuts because she prefers action over-extended analysis so she can keep team momentum going. Her instinct towards speed may make others feel rushed and may lead to poor group decisions.

The Helper: All about teammates and their needs

He is among the first to sense discord and seek to resolve it and thus can be a balm on the team. He values camaraderie so he's more likely to remind others of their value to the team, thus keeping them high-performing and happy. Yet because he does not place a high value on facts or getting things done his teammates may resent him for not being more task-oriented and doing his fair share of work.

On page 56 of his book Miller suggests way each kind of personality can both play to their strengths and turn their weaknesses into assets for the team.

"Teams that try to avoid conflict, end up under-performing. There's a sweet spot between no conflict and too much conflict, where we are maximally effective." ~ Brian Cole Miller

Miller offers four principles for "bold" (rather than lower-performing "nice") team behavior:
1. Assume innocence 2. Build a Bridge 3. Speak your truth 4. Invite dialogue

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable (J-B Lencioni Series)