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

Kimberly Douglas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 27, 2009

How can you tap into your team’s creativity to tackle today’s toughest business challenges?

In The Firefly Effect, Kimberly Douglas presents inspiring yet pragmatic insights into getting your entire team firing on all cylinders and aiming in the right direction. Comparing the difficult act of harnessing and capturing creativity to the act of catching fireflies on a summer night, she will explain:

• What to do when the fireflies don’t show up (or when creativity dries up)
• How to know when it’s time to find a new meadow (or a new approach, place or process)
• What to do if the leader is keeping too tight a lid on the jar (and team innovation is gasping for air)
• How to get inventive when it rains on your firefly hunt (or parade of ideas)
• What happens when everyone is too busy to join in (and group problems remain unresolved)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for the Firefly Effect

"Insightful, fun, and transformative, Kimberly Douglas weaves practice and analogy into chapters that will spark the creativity of individuals, leaders, teams, and their organizations!" -Marshall Goldsmith NYT and WSJ #1 bestselling author of What Got You Here Won't Get You There

"The Firefly Effect debunks the myth that creativity is an exclusive gift, shared by a select few. It provides real-world tools to unleash and direct the creative spark¿that lives in everyone and make teams more effective by celebrating and leveraging their differences." -Brad Shaw Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications and External Affairs, The Home Depot

"The Firefly Effect brings it all together. For seasoned leaders to emerging leaders, Kimberly Douglas outlines the tools, processes, and methods—along with the rationale to know which to apply and when. The Firefly Effect is the first book that simplifies the complexity of team dynamics and exposes the fun of creating great teams." -Haven Riviere Vice President, Marketing Operations, The Coca-Cola Company

From the Inside Flap

The Firefly Effect

Build Teams That Capture Creativity And Catapult Results

Creative, effective teams often make the difference between stunning success and abject failure in business. But, like catching fireflies on a warm summer night, chasing creativity and bottling it up in your teams is no easy task. The Firefly Effect explores that metaphor to reveal what it takes to build the kind of teams that collaborate and create effectively and profitably.

In this practical yet inspiring guide, human resources consultant and business expert Kimberly Douglas explains how business leaders like you can capture those creative fireflies and build them into teams that produce tangible, long-term results. The Firefly Effect is what happens when you ignite the creative spark in enough of your group to create a blaze of new and innovative thinking. It leads your people and teams into a zone of intense teamwork and dedication, enthusiasm for achievement, unfettered creativity, and contentment with a job well done.

The Firefly Effect leads to much more than just great business results; it also leads to employees who are proud of their jobs and invested in something more meaningful than mere "work." When done right, the Firefly Effect:

Lets individuals rediscover their unique and creative talents and best apply them within your organization

Turns business leaders from autocrats into consensus-building role models

Leverages the talents of individuals into a collective that focuses on critical business challenges rather than petty personal issues

When you roll all those things together, you can achieve virtually anything.

In each chapter of The Firefly Effect, you'll find inspiring stories, practical tools, and real guidance for building teams that truly work together.

Plus, you'll learn:

What to do when the creativity dries up

How to know when you need a new approach

What to do when team leaders start to stifle creativity

How to synchronize everyone's effort to deliver powerful impact and stunning success

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (April 27, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470438320
• ISBN-13: 978-0470438329
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 0.9 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #778,117 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kimberly Douglas, SPHR, President of FireFly Facilitation, Inc., is an internationally recognized team effectiveness expert. She uses her knowledge of organizational psychology plus her corporate HR executive experience to show leaders how to ignite innovation on their teams. Over the past 25 years, she has worked with hundreds of leaders at organizations such as AT&T, Coca-Cola, Home Depot, United Way, UPS, and even the U.S. Marine Corps--to dramatically improve their business performance. Visit us online for team resources you can use.... www.FireFlyFacilitation.com.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Building Teams that Capitalize on the Innate Creativity of Everyone on the Team November 10, 2009

By Michael Mckinney

Format:Hardcover

* 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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical creativity June 29, 2009

By Rebecca Gregory

Format:Hardcover

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Anna Kindley June 29, 2009

By Anna

Format:Hardcover

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.