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    Smart Teams by Dermot Crowley Summary

    Smart Teams
    Dermot Crowley
    3.62 (68 Reviews)
    LeadershipProductivityCorp CultureRelationship
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    Overview of Smart Teams

    "Smart Teams" reveals how to eliminate workplace friction that silently kills productivity. Dermot Crowley's 2018 guide has become essential reading for business leaders seeking the elusive balance between communication and efficiency. What hidden productivity killer is your team facing right now?

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    Best quote from Smart Teams

    “

    The best results come when everyone does what's best for both themselves and the group.

    ”
    Explore Your Way of Learning
    Smart Teams isn't just a book — it's a masterclass in Leadership. To help you absorb its lessons in the way that works best for you, we offer five unique learning modes. Whether you're a deep thinker, a fast learner, or a story lover, there's a mode designed to fit your style.

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    Break down key ideas from Smart Teams into bite-sized takeaways to understand how innovative teams create, collaborate, and grow.

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    In today's workplace, genuine productivity feels increasingly elusive. We've mastered personal productivity hacks yet still drown in emails, meetings, and urgent requests. Why? Because we're missing the crucial piece: team productivity. The counterintuitive truth is that slowing down actually helps teams accomplish more. Think of productivity like sailing a boat-when barnacles build up on the hull, you expend enormous energy just to maintain speed. Similarly, our workplaces accumulate productivity-killing friction through rushed communications, pointless meetings, and constant interruptions. The solution lies in what Dermot Crowley calls "game theory productivity," inspired by Nobel Prize winner John Nash. The best results come when everyone does what's best for both themselves and the group. Most of us operate with either a selfish mindset (focusing solely on our own productivity regardless of how it affects others) or a selfless mindset (helping everyone else at the expense of our own work). Neither works. Instead, we need a "serving mindset" that balances personal efficiency with team effectiveness. Consider how often you send rushed, poorly written emails that create extra work for recipients, or accept meeting invites when you know you can't attend. These seemingly minor behaviors compound across an organization, creating massive productivity drains. When everyone operates with awareness of how their actions affect the group, productivity increases exponentially-like removing those barnacles from the boat. Suddenly, everything moves with less effort.

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