From High-Performance Teams to Evolutionary Learning Communities: New pathways in organizational development

Developments in organizational thinking often lead to new forms of organizational structure. Increases in organizational complexity and operational connectivity have intensified the need for coordinated decision taking at and among all levels of organization. This means that the ability to work in teams has become a core competence in work environments where collaboration is at a premium. Empowered teams consist of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose or a set of performance goals for which they hold themselves mutually accountable. The power and authority traditionally held exclusively by the manager is passed to the team. Contemporary organizations often demonstrate examples of such work teams, showing exceptional job performance and production of innovative solutions. Consequently, there has been great interest in understanding what makes these teams what they are, and how they function. This article reports on the characteristics of high-performance teams found in the study of a particular case and explores the possibilities and implications for developing high-performance teams into evolutionary learning communities. The significance of this research resides in the focus it lends to advancing beyond the traditional operational benchmark of the high-performance team to a new benchmark identified as the evolutionary learning community. Organizations that embrace this new construct not only raise the bar in terms of team standards for efficient, effective and efficacious operations but also create organizational dynamics that foster quality of work life and business cultures that are vibrant, alive and thriving.