One Mission

How Leaders Build a Team of Teams

By: Chris Fussell, Charles Goodyear, General Stanley McChrystal - foreword

Narrated by: Chris Fussell, General Stanley McChrystal

Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's Summary

From the coauthor of New York Times best seller Team of Teams, a practical guide for leaders looking to make their organizations interconnected and unified in the midst of sudden change. 

Too often, companies end up with teams stuck in their own silos, pursuing goals and metrics in isolation. Their traditional autocratic structures create stability, scalability, and predictability - but in a world that demands rapid adaptation to a new reality, this traditional model simply doesn’t work. 

In Team of Teams, retired four-star General Stanley McChrystal and former Navy SEAL Chris Fussell made the case for a new organizational model combining the agility, adaptability, and cohesion of a small team with the power and resources of a giant organization. Now, in One Mission, Fussell channels all his experiences, both military and corporate, into powerful strategies for unifying isolated and distrustful teams. This practical guide will help leaders in any field implement the Team of Teams approach to tear down their silos improve collaboration, and avoid turf wars. By committing to one higher mission, organizations develop an overall capability that far exceeds the sum of their parts. 

From Silicon Valley software giant Intuit to a government agency on the plains of Oklahoma, organizations have used Fussell’s methods to unite their people around a single compelling vision, resulting in superior performance. One Mission will help you follow their example to a more agile and resilient future. 

©2017 Chris Fussell, C. W. Goodyear; Foreword copyright 2017 by General Stanley McChrystal (P)2017 Penguin Audio

Critic Reviews

“One Mission sets out the most exciting prospect for re-engineering a twenty-first-century company. For me, this was not a book for bedside reading. I read it upright, taking notes, inspired with thoughts for my own enterprise. Assuming I have the discipline to follow through, these few hours of reading will prove the highest ROI on my time in a dozen years.” (David G. Bradley, chairman of Atlantic Media)

“One Mission is required reading for anyone leading people. Fussell’s vivid account of how a team of teams model turned the tide on the battlefield is both inspiring and instructional in helping leaders to navigate the transition from twentieth-century bureaucracy to twenty-first-century complexity.” (Doug McMillon, president and CEO of Walmart) 

“Leaders from all sectors will recognize themselves and their organizations in the pages of One Mission. Fussell is an engaging writer, weaving together stories of his military past with tales of the many businesses that he was worked with. The result is a valuable, practical manual of how to make the necessary changes to become a Team of Teams.” (Anne-Marie Slaughter, president and CEO of New America, author of The Chessboard and the Web) 

Some good ideas, struggled with narration

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I'm not sure I haven't been able to get through it all yet. I've listened to the first third or perhaps more and ran out of steam due to production quality.

How could the performance have been better?

Nothing against Chris Fussell's voice, but wow, the production quality was sub par. It's obviously spliced together with abrupt intonation changes. I think the audio book would be much better if either Chris had more practice at narrating, or the changed the narrator to be the same as Team of Teams (which had outstanding narration).

Any additional comments?

The production quality was too distracting to get through the book. I feel it was therefore a waste of money. I would have preferred to invest in the paper book, and probably would have gotten more value out of it.

Perfect companion to team of teams

Perfect companion to team of teams. Provides material to enact empower execution. Great leadership resource!

very dull and mostly obvious

unless you are at least a middle manager at a large Enterprise this book is somewhat pointless. Most of its points are more or less common sense and obvious, though I'm sure many people will find Value in at least parts of this book.

Outstanding book

This book is a revolution of organizational structure. It is a break from all the many books about leadership, and instead is a blueprint for adapting organizations to meet true outcomes, leadership on a larger scale. Read it!

Just Can't Get Through This Book

What disappointed you about One Mission?

Listening to this book is like sitting through a calculus lecture. It seems to just be suspended above the drain but cannot be flushed. In the end, it offers no real practical advice in accomplishing it's stated goal of building a team of teams.

Has One Mission turned you off from other books in this genre?

No. I recognize this is just an author trying to capitalize on the success of other SEAL officers to make a buck

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Not much.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I guess it could have been longer so I guess a redeeming quality was that it wasn't.

A high performing team is superior to any individual, no matter how capable.

Chris Fussell tells a compelling story for how teams and organizations can succeed in the complexity of our 21st century world with real world stories and unique insights that demonstrate the philosophy of elevating the team by empowering its members with the trust, common purpose, shared consciousness and empowered execution required to address today’s challenges. The tangible and practical “how to” advice in this book will be invaluable to emerging leaders looking to create these conditions in their own organizations.

Essential for any aspiring or failing leader

Chris and team do a great job of breaking down the essentials of the team of teams approach.
I'd love to see a follow up book with some ROI's.
Not because I don't believe the approach, but I think most managers are curious how to argue and pitch the idea.
It will be interesting to see how long it takes companies to realize this methodology is what they actually need to maintain their businesses.

Fast and wordy

It feels a tough it's filled with a lot of jargon, though it's not particularly difficult to understand. I think it's just the military officer way of speaking. The concepts and models are good and I hope that a lot of inspiring leaders get through this.

Specific"How To" & "Why" of strategies and tactics

Relevant & engaging material and presentation; good enough to be finished in a few days. Noted specific areas to come back for notes, special attention & deeper thought.

A must read for Leadership

Tactical applications over a broad spectrum of industries to transform your organization to greater highs.