Part memoir, part instruction manual, Team of Teams tells the story of the cultural transformation the US military was forced to undergo to overcome the security threat posed by Al Qaeda in Iraq.
Conventional military strategy was overturned by the arrival of commercial mobile communication technology and the internet. Ensuing hyperconnectivity gave terrorists an extraordinary edge in self-organising, forcing an entire rethink of how military information is shared and leveraged.
As markets are rendered equally complex by the twin forces of globalisation and digital technology, we can learn a lot from McCrystal’s determination to break down information silos and embed a culture of trust and mutuality, to enhance collaboration in pursuit of a greater prize.