I recently came across this excellent essay by Blas Moros about the principles that guide great teams. It’s a summary of the book The Dream Machine, which details the stories and people from the days of ARPA and PARC. Specifically, how their leaders JCR Licklider and Bob Taylor created environments of consistent innovation.
These principles are below but the essay is worth the read many times over.
- Getting the air right - creating and fostering the right environment, the right culture.
- Attracting, retaining, and inspiring the best people, and then giving them the freedom and autonomy to run
- Providing a grand vision which get people to go all-in
- Creating a self-sustaining and self-organizinggroup that can prosper even when the leader steps away.
- Invert! Always Invert - As important as what to do is what not to do.