All In: How Obsessive Leaders Achieve the Extraordinary
Robert Bruce Shaw
HarperCollins (July 2020)

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” African proverb

In his previous book, Extreme Teams,  Robert Bruce Shaw observes, “Three guiding principles underlie the team environment at Whole Foods. First, the company believes that people are by nature social beings who feel most comfortable when part of a small group. From this perspective, building a company around teams is building a company based on human nature. Everyone in the company belongs to at least one team…A second management principle shapes how teams operate at Whole Foods. They company believes teams function best when they embrace a set off company-wide practices. Teams at Whole Foods have a great deal of authority to make decisions that benefit customers, team members, and the company…A third guiding principle at Whole Foods is a belief in the benefits of being open and transparent as a company. The goal is to create a ‘no secrets’ environment where information about its strategies and operations is available to all employees. The firm is designed to ensure that everyone is aware of how the company is performing and, in particular, how each team is performing.”

Shaw’s comments remind me of the fact that all great teams have effective leaders, whatever the given objectives may be. That was true of Thomas Edison and his Menlo Park Laboratory staff as well as of those associated with Disney animators who created classics such as Bambi and Pinocchio, and of those involved with Lockheed’s “Skunk Works,” the Manhattan Project, and Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). Each of these teams was led by someone that Duncan would characterize as “obsessive.”

In his latest book and, in my opinion, his most valuable thus far, Shaw explains how and why obsessive leaders are the key to achieving extraordinary results. The title, All In, emphasizes the importance of everyone being  totally engaged in the given enterprise.

Note: When a breakfast of eggs and ham is prepared, a chicken is involved but a pig is engaged.

Great leaders attract followers. Years ago, Jackie Huba and Ben McConnell wrote a brilliant book in which they explain how to create “customer evangelists.” Heaven knows, all organizations need need them and never have enough pf them. They also need “employee evangelists.” I am again reminded of the defeated gladiators in one of Kirk Douglas’ best films who proudly assert “I am Spartacus!”

Most of the companies annually ranked among those most highly  admired and best to work for are also annually ranked among those most profitable with the greatest cap value in their industry segment. Why? Their workers may not shout “I am Container Store!” or “I am Southwest Airlines!” but they are proud about where they work, feel appreciated, and are obsessed about what they do and how well they do it. Their obsession is measured and focused, as is their leader’s and their immediate supervisor’s. Only then can inviduals communicate, cooperate, and collaborate effectively.

To his credit, Shaw includes some caveats:

1. Obsession is not the only factor to achieve something extraordinarily significant.
2. Obsession is not always needed.
3. Obsession is not entirely or always understandable or manageable.
4. Experiences in a person’s life do not inevitably result in a productively obsessive personality.
5. There is a risk when glorifying obsessive leaders (e.g. Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs, Elan Musk) and their achievements which can distort what we can learn from them.

I agree with Robert Bruce Shaw that becoming obsessed to the point of ignoring everyone and everything else is seldom  (if ever) beneficial. A passionate commitment (being “all in”) must never preclude collaboration with others, compromise to achieve consensus, and subordinating one’s personal priorities and agenda to the best interests of the given enterprise.

This is a thoughtful and thought-provoking book whose insights are especially relevant now as COVID-19 continues to disrupt and destroy so much of a social order that had been healthy and stable only a few months ago. Yes, we need purpose-driven heroes and heroines but they will be most effective as members of the “extreme teams” to which I referred earlier.