Virtuoso project teams, MIT Sloan , September 20, 2007

Notes edited from IMD/MIT Sloan DSI program

Bill Fischer is professor of technology management at IMD. Bill Fishers studied management of the creative processes. His case studies shows that all-stars teams are required for great changes and great successes. And he brings a combination of academic research with his own real world experience from activities in healthcare, in telecommunications and in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America.

If you believe the future of telecommunication is that of a new media they you should like the examples from the book Virtuoso teams co-authored by Bill Fischer and Andy Boynton
because they offer examples ranging from entertainment (West side story and Miles Davis) and to telecoms technology (in the days of Edison).

Available vs. obtainable talent
Virtuoso teams are elite teams put together for one-time-only efforts to create big change. Such change is difficult to develop and execute. It needs the best talent a company has to offer to have the best chance of success. In other words, an elite group with a license to really deliver big change, staffed with the very best performers that the company can place in each position, including going outside of the organization to get them. These teams are intense and intimate, and they work best when members are forced together in cramped spaces under strict time constraints. They assume that their customers are every bit as smart and sophisticated as they are, so they don’t cater to a stereotypical “average.” Leaders of virtuoso teams put a premium on great collaboration and they’re not afraid to encourage creative confrontation to get it.

How does this approach differ from the conventional team approach? Larger organizations are reluctant to acknowledge elites, because it is easier to manage human resources through egalitarianism and harmony. In addition, in most companies, talent is the property of groups, functions, regions, etc, and not visible or movable within the broader corporation. Therefore traditional teams are typically made up of whoever’s available and achieve average results.

Directive leadership
The example closest to telecoms technology is that of Thomas Edison whose virtuoso team leader skills included :

• Committed systemic vision (end to end services)
• Team diversity and skills (he assembled engineers, mathematicians, technicians, business people)
• Open business organization : flat hierarchy meritocracy and rewards and communications
  Fast prototyping
• Communications and marketing (he pre-announced products to create demand and also innovated in business models)

Individual talent within a team context
Another virtuso team example made a breakthrough in the entertainment industry. West Side Story went against all of Broadway musical traditions of the 1950s. Blood on stage, racial violence, dissonant music changed the face of American shows and the subsequent movie got 10 Oscars. The team of virtuosos included classic composer Leonard Bernstein, choreographer Jerome Robbins, writer Arthur Laurents, and lyricist Stephen Sondheim. Do you remember the Maria song ?


Another musical example comes from Miles Davis musical re-invention during his career. He surrounded himself with great musicians like Bill Evans and ensured that even rehersals would add surprise and drama. This has been documented in Kind of blue: the making of the Miles Davis masterpiece, Ashley Kahn and the video below from Ken Burn's Jazz.

Innovation teams at IDEO
We looked at a video on IDEO, a design industry leader and promoter of the concept of ‘design thinking’, a term given to the introduction of design methods and culture into fields beyond traditional design, such as business innovation. In telecoms they are known as having worked on the Helio device design. We also had a teleconference with a lead designer.

Teamwork ; The key soft skill is teamwork not creativity. Innovation is a team sport. They stress importance of human empathy : we help client to innovate up to the CEO agenda. If you want to innovate you need inspiration requires contact with human beings. Thru interviews with customers and observations you get ideas. You need to get out into people’s houses, offices and conduct dialogs with a view to identify problems and headaches. Make sure everybody knows what the customer experience is.

Analysis : Then comes the ability to synthesize for decision making. It’s the art of making meaning and finding directions from a mass of ambiguous information. Some points are important, some other not. Start by aggregation of information. Innovation can be big or small; breakthrough innovation, looking for large revenue. Walk out the room with one or three messages for executives, package the idea in such a way that it can be communicated to all stake holders.

Prototyping : IDEO value proposal is 'think to build', having researchers in the same building where implementation occurs provides a high degree of immediacy. The approach is to get a prototype to the market as soon as possible. What is a prototype : right things but not the overall service and using available tools like photography, Flash animations. People are scared to show an innovation to upper managers unless its ready. Foster a culture of prototyping : failures become variations, options, choices. Prototype reduces the costs of failures that can be corrected before people are emotionally connected to features.