Customer Reviews

The Orange Revolution: How One Great Team Can Transform an Entire Organization

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Those who have read any of Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton's previous collaborations, notably Managing with Carrots: Using Recognition to Attract and Retain the Best People (2001) and The Carrot Principle: How Great Managers Use Employee Recognition (2007), already know that they have exceptional reasoning and writing skills, their observations and recommendations are research/evidence-driven, and they are world-class pragmatists, determined to know what works in the business world, what doesn't, and why so that they can share what they have learned with as many people as possible.

In The Orange Revolution, they share the results of a 350, 000 person survey (involving participants from 28 different industries) to identify the characteristics of the most effective teams. By now, we know a great deal about great non-athletic teams such the Disney animators who created so many film classics (e.g. Snow White, Pinocchio, Bambi, and Dumbo), the Manhattan Project, Lockheed's "Skunk Works," and Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). In fact, some of the most important business books written in recent years have focused on teamwork and they include several written by these authors: Chip and Dan Heath (Switch), Jon Katzenbach (The Wisdom of Teams and Managing Outside the Lines), John Kotter (A Sense of Urgency and Buy-In), Patrick Lencioni (The Five Dysfunctions of a Team), and James O'Toole (Leading Change). All are worthy of careful consideration as primary sources for teams involved in change initiatives.

So, why another book on change? No other book of which I am aware, on the subject of breakthrough teams, is driven by research/evidence to the extent this one is. Nor is there a book of which I am aware that explains more thoroughly than this one does what motivates members of breakthrough teams. In The Orange Revolution, Gostick and Elton limit their attention to such teams. (You know when I think about it, ALL teams should achieve breakthroughs to ensure that their organization remains competitive.) They base their observations, insights, and recommendations on the results of the aforementioned survey. "What we found was unexpected - and eye-opening. We were able to statistically establish a pattern of characteristics displayed by members of the best teams, as well as a set of rules that great teams live by. Even more rewarding was the realization that these qualities could be shared with other teams." The business subjects and themes that Gostick and Elton rigorously examine include these:

o Commitments all breakthrough team members share

o The transformational common causes these teams establish

o The four top obstacles related to neglect of leadership basics

o The "Basic 4+ Recognition" formula to achieve enhanced business results

Note: This formula is based on a ten-year study on which The Carrot Principle is based.

o The five areas most likely to indicate positive and productive employee engagement

o How breakthrough team members communicate effectively

o Six "secret" ingredients to achieving world-class results

o Common consequences when violating the "No Surprises" rule

o "Tips on how to ensure an effective recognition program

o Seventeen of the most common teamwork challenges and how to respond to each

o How to establish and then sustain a breakthrough teamwork culture

o How to recruit, hire, train, and retain high-potential workers

o How to develop effective breakthrough leadership at all levels and in all areas

This list is incomplete but, I hope, gives some idea of the nature and extent of the business subjects and themes on which Gostick and Elton focus. They cite hundreds of real-world situations, many of which feature exemplary organizations that are consistently ranked among the best to work for, the most highly admired, etc. It is no coincidence that they are also among the most profitable with the greatest cap value within their respective industries. For example, American Express, Best Companies Group, Friendly Ice Cream Corporation, Medical City Dallas Hospital, Nash Finch Company, NBA, Royal Australian Navy, and Zappos.

I highly recommend this book to leaders in organizations in which there is an urgent need for what can be accomplished by breakthrough teamwork. The wider, higher, further, and deeper that teamwork extends, the greater the number and impact of the breakthroughs that result from results-driven, highly-motivated collaborators who, in Teresa Amabile's widely-quoted words, "do what they love and love what they do."

In my opinion, this is the best book that Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton have written...thus far. They invite those who read this book to visit carrots.com/orange to obtain several free resources: "The Orange White Paper: Teamwork and Your Bottom Line," "Weekly Esprit de Corps: Fresh Cheering Ideas in Your Inbox," "Film #1: WOW," "Film #2: No Surprises," and "Film #3: Cheer."

Carrying forth the successful theme created in their best seller, "The Carrot Principle," the co-authors set out to identify the characteristics and rules that govern great teams. They gathered data from over 350,000 surveys and captured their findings in what they call the "Orange Revolution Model." As expected, there is a healthy dose of recognition mixed in, but there is also much more. You'll learn about the importance of purpose or common cause, the foundational characteristics of great teams encapsulated in "The Basic 4," and how to weave in "The Rule of 3." The authors also apply the same principles as a guide for living our lives.

It's a refreshing, easy, and entertaining read with a lot of good pointers and helpful examples. One important take-away is that the characteristics of great teams are not flashy. They are incredibly fundamental. Too many managers try to leap frog the fundamentals in search of breakthroughs when it's the fundamentals that are required if one has any hope of achieving the coveted breakthrough.

--Nick McCormick, Author, "Acting Up Brings Everyone Down" and "Lead Well and Prosper"

As mentionned in " The Orange Revolution ", " The way to win in a sea of sameness is to execute better ". This book will help you do it. In many areas. I realy appreciate when they say : " A leader's greatest success comes by lifting someone else into the spotlight ". One of the greatest key to Success.

Norman Lacasse

Author

Master Of Service

The Orange Revolution: How One Great Team Can Transform an Entire Organization. I feel like I'm swimming against the five star tide here, but I am only assigning this four stars.

On the positive side, this is a well-researched book with its analysis from 350,000 people involved in "Best Company" surveys. The book examines the factors that engaged those folks and produced the highest employee rankings. They are the "Basic 4 + Recognition" as the book calls it:

1. Good goal setting (goals appropriate to team strengths; realistic; uplifting)

2. Good communication (problem identification; ideas shared freely; useful info passed on; took time to listen to team members)

3. Trust in what the company/department/team says

4. Accountability (everyone holds everyone else accountable)

+ Recognition (The most powerful of all of these factors; includes, especially, peer-to-peer recognition)

The authors provide deep research around these points, and companies that excel on all of these factors generally have highly engaged workforces.

The book further moves onto "The Rule of 3: Cultivating a Team", which are "Wow" (how can we be excellent), "No Surprises" (open, forthright, positive communication), and "Cheer" (root for each other). More helpful information.

They then move deeper into "Wow", with "Six Secret Ingredients to World Class Results"; deeper into "No Surprises" with eight topics, and "Cheer" with five tips and many stories.

If you are following the numbers here, that's a lot of material covered here - perhaps too much. On the other hand, focussing on the eight key ideas (Basics + Recognition & The Rule of 3) can probably advance your team or company a great deal. Still, I have to say at times that I felt I was being asked to work a multiplication table.

So, following the admonition to "Cheer", I find this is a compelling business book, particularly on the recognition portions.

Following the authors' suggestions relating to communication and accountability, I found the book lacking in these areas:

1. I don't believe they show the subtitle can be achieved, unless the (effective or unit) CEO was on board with this "orange revolution" type idea, or the particular team was absolutely fundamental to the organization. I do not recall a single story where an entire organization was transformed without this factor in play. Therefore, I don't think they actually met the implied promise of the book, which left me deeply disappointed. Oddly, had this been subtitled differently, I think I would have ranked the book at a "five star". The lack of meeting this promise made me want to rate the book as a "three star". So I compromised and arrived at four star.

2. The book was fawning at points; examples include the constant contact with so-and-so CEO or VP, rather than having a mix of the workers on the ground, supervisors, AND some senior level managers discuss their "Orange Revolution" experiences. Anyone who has seen the disconnect between the "utopia" that managers and executives live in (as surveys show) compared to the "reality" that working-level stiffs live in (as surveys show), has to feel somewhat jaded about the constant and almost total ignoring anyone below a senior authority position.

Finally, in the same fawning vein, refering to the NBA as the "world's preeminent sports league" (page 31) is laughable. According to a 2008 article I read, the LEAST valuable NFL franchise is worth more than the MOST valuable NBA franchise. Even MLB franchises are, on average, worth about 25% more than the average NBA franchise. Assuming that franchise values reflect who is "preeminent" and who isn't, the NBA clearly is not.

What is bothersome about the examples I note above, is that they leave the impression that perhaps, just perhaps, the authors might not be entirely truthful - or the book isn't as solid factually as it should be. It leaves you wondering about whether there is some other agenda to the book (the fawning - are they looking for more consulting work?); and why obviously verifiable statements aren't true (NBA as the world's preeminent sports league)?

Either way, this is not an impression you'd like to leave your readers with.

Notwithstanding the couple of irritating carbuncles I discuss above, this is an otherwise solid book and anyone would be foolish not to follow their advice when trying to re-build or re-energize their organization.

I love this book, so much so that I purchased it for every member of my team and my boss. I can't say enough positive things.

First, the book is highly readable. It's not full of mumbo-jumbo, psycho-babble or cute catch phrases. It's quite simply a practical guide based on thorough research. Its written in an everyday voice, very much like I were reading a novel, that I find interesting. It's not pretentious, condescending or overbearing.

Second, the book gives practical examples of what does and what doesn't work. They name names of those that DO work. They don't name names of those that don't work, which I do like. They also remain very professional about the criticism. It's not about making the team looking bad. It's teaching a lesson so other people on other teams don't make the same mistakes.

I have found that I now think differently in the team environment. I approach problems regarding issues and complexities differently. And, I know that my team members do too. I can see the difference. It's exciting and profound for my team. We're taking a product that everyone is required to use, but also hates, and we're changing attitudes because of our attitude and our new way of operating - a direct result of the information in this book.

If you're interested in improving your team and you're interested in approaching it in a different way, I think you'll find value in this book.

It is simply wonderful. Gives you tools for yourself and to share with others that might have same focus or drive when it comes to customer service or just to make your office or company to run smoothly.You clients will love it!

To call a `management' book a page-turner seems contradictory but that is precisely what this book is: Each page makes you want to read more.

While there is no shortage on books on "management" in general and "teams" in particular, what makes this book different are the first hand examples, the organizations cited, the mindset change that occurs when high-performing real teams are formed, their characteristics, how they function, their strengths, and the optimistic and uplifting message in how one great team can transform an entire organization.

Since the findings and conclusions are supported by detailed statistical analysis of over 350,000 participants from 28 industries, it is very likely that the industry that your company belongs to is most likely represented in this book.

Here is a small sampling of quotes that await you:

- Every person in the company has a voice in deciding the overarching cause.

- They thought creatively to solve a problem.

- They functioned as a support for each other, keeping cool when things looked bad.

- Each member of the crew was extremely proficient at his job, and each trusted the others implicitly, and each was ready to sacrifice for the whole.

There are very specific steps for you as a leader (of any portion of your company) that you can use to form great teams - regardless of the size of the team.

Here are two of the attributes of companies where high performing teams can form:

- I feel I can trust what this organization tells me

- Leaders of this organization are open to input from employees

As with some books in this genre, there is information about free resources awaiting those that buy the book, tools you can use for your own company. These resources augment steps senior leadership in any organization can take to truly transform their own organization from the grounds up.

I'm still reading this book, but so far I love it. wonderful insights about the dynamics of teams. I see so much of my current team in some of the descriptions, I am excited to try implementing some of these techniques. I've raved about it so much that 2 other people have asked to borrow my copy!

This book certainly disrupted my Saturday morning routine.

Saturday mornings I normally wake up about the same time I do on the weekdays, pick up whatever book I'm reading, turn on my book light so that I don't wake up my husband, and read for about half an hour or so before I can fall back to sleep again.

This morning, however, I started reading The Orange Revolution and I wasn't able to go back to sleep! I've only been able to get through the first 16 pages so far, because I'll read something that will trigger an idea, and then find that even though I've read another 3 paragraphs I don't even remember what they were about because I was thinking about ways to implement what I read 3 paragraphs ago.

I must admit that the idea of reading a "business" book wasn't all that appealing to me, but I've still got enough of that student mentality running through me that when it was suggested that I read this book, I just looked at it as an assignment and got started. The Orange Revolution, however, has already addressed so many of the gaps that I've personally felt in my work environment, and has gotten so many wheels turning on ways to fill those gaps, that at just 16 pages in, I am already recommending this book.

This is an excellent book that teaches you not only the importance to Team Building, but the dynamics to make it happen!