Burst

BURST: Bursting the Bubble of 5 Teamwork Myths corrects 5 influential, pervasive, and incorrect beliefs about working well with others. Much of what is taught about teams is pure hogwash, but we practice it and teach it over and over. We need to burst the bubble and correct these commonly-held but delusional beliefs that guide the way we work in teams. This eBook bursts five bubbles: 1. Teams are best built on trust and relationships 2. You can empower others 3. Teams need to establish a leader 4. Conflict indicates a lack of unity 5. Teamwork requires people to set aside their self-interests As these bubbles burst, you'll think differently about working in teams, and be equipped to work better together in all sorts of teams and small groups. From the Foreword: If you have ever suffered through a bad team meeting (especially if you were leading it) you will appreciate this book. If you’re serious about improving your team’s relationships and productivity, this eBook will help you identify five ways of thinking about teams that will actually make a difference. Most of us who participate in and/or lead teams search for ideas that will help us build effective teams (or at least avoid another disastrous team experience). Ideas are plentiful, but good ideas – ideas that work – are like diamonds in a coal mine. Sadly, many of us have used ideas that sounded good until we tried them and, too late, discovered they were really bad ideas. Ryan has surfaced some bad ideas about teams. That’s a good idea. But he has replaced them with good ideas about teams. And that’s a great idea. When I read BURST, I found that five ideas I thought were good ideas aren’t so good. And I found five better ideas. It’s often tough to clearly identify a bad idea. But it’s even tougher to find a good idea to replace the bad one. I once heard Tom Peters say that anyone can smell a rotten egg but not everyone can lay a better one. Ryan has sniffed out some eggs that many of us didn’t recognize as rotten. That’s great insight. But he didn’t stop after he showed us five ideas that won’t work. He took the next step and told us what will work better. So if you’re weary with un- or counter-productive team experiences, it’s time to replace some bad ideas with some really good ones. - Dr. Sid Buzzell, General Editor, The Leadership Bible; Author, Handbook to Leadership: Leadership in the Image of God; Dean and Professor, School of Theology at Colorado Christian University

Burst corrects 5 influential, pervasive, and incorrect beliefs about working well with others. We work poorly in teams precisely because we think poorly about teams and teamwork. Much of what is taught about teams is pure hogwash, but we practice it and teach it over and over. We need to burst the bubble and correct these commonly-held but delusional beliefs that guide the way we work in teams. This eBook bursts five bubbles: 1. Teams are best built on trust and relationships 2. You can empower others 3. Teams need to establish a leader 4. Conflict indicates a lack of unity 5. Teamwork requires people to set aside their self-interests As these bubbles burst, you'll think differently about working in teams, and be equipped to work better together in all sorts of teams and small groups. From the Foreword: If you have ever suffered through a bad team meeting (especially if you were leading it) you will appreciate this book. If you’re serious about improving your team’s relationships and productivity, this eBook will help you identify five ways of thinking about teams that will actually make a difference. Most of us who participate in and/or lead teams search for ideas that will help us build effective teams (or at least avoid another disastrous team experience). Ideas are plentiful, but good ideas – ideas that work – are like diamonds in a coal mine. Sadly, many of us have used ideas that sounded good until we tried them and, too late, discovered they were really bad ideas. Ryan has surfaced some bad ideas about teams. That’s a good idea. But he has replaced them with good ideas about teams. And that’s a great idea. When I read BURST, I found that five ideas I thought were good ideas aren’t so good. And I found five better ideas. It’s often tough to clearly identify a bad idea. But it’s even tougher to find a good idea to replace the bad one. I once heard Tom Peters say that anyone can smell a rotten egg but not everyone can lay a better one. Ryan has sniffed out some eggs that many of us didn’t recognize as rotten. That’s great insight. But he didn’t stop after he showed us five ideas that won’t work. He took the next step and told us what will work better. So if you’re weary with un- or counter-productive team experiences, it’s time to replace some bad ideas with some really good ones. - Dr. Sid Buzzell, General Editor, The Leadership Bible; Author, Handbook to Leadership: Leadership in the Image of God; Dean and Professor, School of Theology at Colorado Christian University

Ryan T. Hartwig, PhD is a practical academic reframing the collaboration conversation in the church. Through research, teaching, writing, and coaching and consulting, he’s trying to help church and ministry leaders create effective, healthy leadership and ministry teams, design collaborative organizational structures, lead with impact, and facilitate life-changing small groups. Ryan serves on the faculty at Azusa Pacific University in Los Angeles, California. He teaches classes in group communication, organizational communication, leadership, research methods, public speaking, and persuasion. He earned a PhD in Group and Organizational Communication from the University of Colorado at Boulder, a MSEd in Higher Education Administration from Purdue University, and a BA in Communication and a BS in Interdisciplinary Studies from Colorado Christian University. Prior to becoming an academic, Ryan led, trained, and developed leadership and ministry teams focusing on community development, discipleship, missions, leadership development, fund-raising, and marketing, for roughly 15 years in universities and churches. Ryan journeys through life with his wife Jill and their 3 daughters, and lives in La Verne, California.