Team of Teams

US Army General (Ret.) Stanley McChrystal, commander of US and coalition forces in Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010 and a senior fellow at Yale’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, credits a team of writers with collaborating on this unusual management guide. McChrystal draws on the varied experiences of his co-authors: Yale grad Tantum “Teddy” Collins, a Marshall Scholar in international affairs at Cambridge, and former SEALs David Silverman and Chris Fussell, both current McChrystal Group executives.

The structure and functional distinctions between commands and teams have serious ramifications for adaptability.Stanley McChrystal

You won’t be surprised that McChrystal, a man accustomed to being in charge and supported by an almost unlimited number of staffers should recognize how beneficial co-authors can be. However, you might be surprised that a former four-star Army general – and a former Pentagon, governmental and media superstar – would admit that he needed and accepted help and that he celebrates the help he received.