How NASA Builds Teams: Mission Critical Soft Skills for Scientists, Engineers, and Project Teams

INTRODUCTION

The Vision—Moving Your Team’s Performance into the Top 20 Percent

You now have access to what I believe is the most effective teambuilding system in existence. No, it is not this book, How NASA Builds Teams. It is this book combined with (free) assets available at www.4-DSystems.com. I know this because we have developed nearly 200 NASA project, engineering, and management teams over the past five years.

I urge you and your teammates to begin improving your team’s performance by reading, and perhaps discussing, How NASA Builds Teams. Equally important, go to www.4-DSystems.com and initiate your 15-minute online Team Development Assessment to benchmark your team’s current performance relative to high-performing teams. After you and your teammates digest your Team Development Report, conduct analogous Individual Development Assessments to see how each of you contributes to your team’s behavioral norms. If you then decide that you want to work in a productive and rewarding environment, repeat these assessments every three to six months. Our experience with NASA teams suggests that your team will reach, and sustain, the performance of the top quintile (top 20 percent) of the teams (300) in our database. Even if you start in the bottom quintile, you can improve performance by one quintile per assessment cycle.

Your team will increasingly attract and retain top talent. You will efficiently solve technical problems, meeting your milestones in an atmosphere of mutual respect. ...