• Intangibles

  • Unlocking the Science and Soul of Team Chemistry
  • By: Joan Ryan
  • Narrated by: Joan Ryan
  • Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
  • 5.0 out of 5 stars (1 rating)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Intangibles  By  cover art

Intangibles

By: Joan Ryan
Narrated by: Joan Ryan
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $23.22

Buy for $23.22

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Award-winning sportswriter Joan Ryan whisks readers from the sports field to the research lab on an ambitious quest to understand the seemingly indefinable phenomenon called team chemistry.

Nearly ten years in the making, Intangibles is packed with stories and characters from the usually hidden subculture of locker rooms worldwide, and threaded with fascinating insights about the human mind and human relationships. Ryan pulls from a range of science disciplines – neuroscience, sociology, psychology and more – to debunk the notion that team chemistry is just a throwaway explanation for every fun-loving, underdog team that wins. Instead, she makes the case that team chemistry is a biological construct with a single function: to elevate performance.

Ryan introduces us to the seven archetype characters who seem to emerge on almost every team with good chemistry, and two outlier archetypes she describes as ‘Super-Carriers’ and ‘Super-Disruptors’ of chemistry. Along the way, the author finds herself having to challenge her assumptions about situations and people, leading, for example, to the surprising discovery that difficult star players are not the Super-Disruptors one often imagines they are. She finds, too, that dysfunctional, contentious teams that still manage to win do have team chemistry, just a different variety.

A ground-breaking examination that promises to transform how sports and business leaders think about high performance, Intangibles finally proves how all of us affect one another, profoundly influencing who we are and how we function within our own teams of colleagues, friends and family.

©2020 Joan Ryan (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"[A] fascinating mix of reportage and clinical research...Ryan’s cogent, persuasive effort will give sports fans much food for thought." (Publishers Weekly)

"Nuanced...complex...All of this makes for a mind-opening study that extends far beyond the confines of any ballpark." (Booklist)

"The result is a book mixing the deeply emotional with the highly technical, presented with the kind of sensitive, authoritative touch readers came to expect from Ryan." (San Francisco Chronicle)

More from the same

Narrator

What listeners say about Intangibles

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.