the presentation will be on the following case(The 2008 Olympic Redeem Team) from the book PROJECT MANAGEMENT BY ERIK W.LARSON & CLIFFROD F.GRAY P.392-393*:
with two aditional recources and speker explantions from power point notes
the case should be summrized brefiely with clear words.
The 2008 Olympic Redeem Team*
In the 2004 Olympics in Athens, 12 years after Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan led the U.S.
Dream Team to Olympic gold in Barcelona, the U.S. Basketball Team, composed of NBA stars,
lost not once but three times to international competition. For the first time in Olympic history the
United States settled for a bronze medal in men’s basketball. Basketball was no longer
America’s game.
An autopsy of the debacle in Athens turned up a severe case of negative synergy. The causes were many.
The team featured only three holdovers from the group that had qualified the previous summer. Seven of the
original invitees withdrew. In the end, 14 players turned down Uncle Sam, invoking excuses from family
obligations to nagging injuries to the security situation in Greece. As a result, coach Larry Brown took charge
of a team with an average age of 23 years, and it showed. Behind the scenes, problems of dress and
punctuality festered and, on the eve of the games, Brown wanted to send several players home. The milliondollar
players were overconfident and assumed that their individual brilliance would prevail. An overreliance
on one-on-one basketball and poor team defense doomed them as they lost games to Puerto Rico, Lithuania,
and Argentina.
Enter Jerry Colangelo, 68, former coach, player, and president of the Phoenix Suns. “The way they
conducted themselves left a lot to be desired,” he says of the 2004 team. “Watching and listening to how
people reacted to our players, I knew we’d hit bottom.” Colangelo told NBA commissioner David Stern that he
would only assume duties as managing director if he was given complete control. As a measure of how
abysmal the situation was, he immediately got what he asked for.
In 2005 Colangelo met face-to-face with every prospective national player, to hear in their own words why
they wanted to represent their country. The few good men to set things right wouldn’t be paid or guaranteed
playing time, much less a starting spot. A key recruit was superstar LeBron James, who had been tagged
“LeBronze” after his performance on the disappointing 2004 team. Colangelo says, “I got buy-in. Halfway
through my talk with him, LeBron said, I’m in.” Kobe Bryant soon followed and all but 2 of the 30 top NBA stars
accepted Colangelo’s offer.
Mike Kryzewski, the college coach at Duke, was hired with one project objective in mind—win the gold
medal. To do so he had to change the attitude of team USA. They had to subordinate their superstar egos and
buy in to the concept of team ball. A blessing in disguise was being knocked out of the 2006 world
championship by a Greek team. The players came away from that disappointment committed to team ball as
extra passes became the staple in practices. The change in attitude was evident in more subtle ways. The
USA on the uniforms was bright red, while the players’ names were muted blue. The players no longer
referred to hoops as “our game” and spoke about how it had become the world’s game. Even the team’s
official slogan (United We Rise) and unofficial nickname (the Redeem Team) implied room for improvement.
page 393
Dusan Vranic/AP Images
The team bought into a common objective. Team USA marched to the final gold medal game by beating
opponents by an average margin of 30+ points. Experts marveled not so much at the victory margin but at
how well they played as a team. “Our goal is to win a gold medal and be humble about it,” said Jason Kidd,
six-time all-pro point guard, “and if we do it by 50, to make sure it’s because we’re playing the right way.”
Nothing exemplified the right way more than a moment in the final, in which flawless ball movement from the
Redeemers for 16 seconds, without a dribble being taken, culminated with Dwight Howard receiving a perfect
pass for an uncontested dunk.
In the end, they didn’t dominate the gold medal game. Spain proved to be inspired opponents. They simply
closed the game out and for the first time since NBA players have gone to the Olympics, the USA played as a
team rather than showboating individuals.
*Alexander Wolff, “The Redeem Team: New Nickname, New Outlook for U.S. at Olympics,”
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/alexander_wolff/07/22/redeem.team0728/index.html; Greg
Varkonyi, “The Redeem Team Played Like a Dream in the Olympic Basketball Final,”
http://www.sportingo.com/olympic-games/basketball/a10072_redeem-team-played-like-dream-olympicbasketball-
final.
Although less visible than in team sports, positive and negative synergy can also be
observed and felt in the daily operations of project teams. Here is a description from one
team member:
Instead of operating as one big team we fractionalized into a series of subgroups. The marketing people stuck
together as well as the systems guys. A lot of time was wasted gossiping and complaining about each other. When
the project started slipping behind schedule, everyone started covering their tracks and trying to pass the blame on to
others. After a while we avoided direct conversation and resorted to e-mail. Management finally pulled the plug and
brought in another team to salvage the project. It was one of the worst project management experiences in my life.
Fortunately, the same individual was also able to recount a more positive experience:
There was a contagious excitement within the team. Sure, we had our share of problems and setbacks, but we dealt
with them straight on and, at times, were able to do the impossible. We all cared about the project and looked out for
each other. At the same time we challenged each other to do better. It was one of the most exciting times in my life.
The following is a set of characteristics commonly associated with high-performing
teams that exhibit positive synergy:1
1. The team shares a sense of common purpose, and each member is willing to work toward
achieving project objectives.
2. The team identifies individual talents and expertise and uses them, depending on the
project’s needs at any given time. At these times, the team willingly accepts the influence
and leadership of the members whose skills are relevant to the immediate task.
3. Roles are balanced and shared to facilitate both the accomplishment of tasks and feelings
of group cohesion and morale.
4. The team exerts energy toward problem solving rather than allowing itself to be drained by
interpersonal issues or competitive struggles.
Explain how . Differences of opinion are encouraged and freely expressed.
page 394
6. To encourage risk taking and creativity, mistakes are treated as opportunities for learning
rather than reasons for punishment.
7. Members set high personal standards of performance and encourage each other to realize
the objectives of the project.
8. Members identify with the team and consider it an important source of both professional
and personal growth.
High-performing teams become champions, create breakthrough products, exceed customer
expectations, and get projects done ahead of schedule and under budget. They are bonded
together by mutual interdependency and a common goal or vision. They trust each other and
exhibit a high level of collaboration.
11.1 The Five-Stage Team Development Model
LO 11-2
Distinguish the different stages of team development.
Many experts argue that just as infants develop in certain ways during their first months of
life, groups develop in a predictable manner. One of the most popular models identifies five
stages (see Figure 11.1) through which groups develop into effective teams (Tuchman, 1965;
Tuchman & Jensen, 1977):
