The Team That Managed Itself: A Story of Leadership

By: Christina Wodtke

Narrated by: Samantha Desz

"In this new book, Christina has tackled what I consider the most important problem in the tech industry. Only a small fraction of product teams are working at their potential, and while there are many reasons, this is the responsibility of management, or the lack thereof. People that care enough to provide the level of coaching to help their people become first competent, and then exceptional at their craft." (Marty Cagan, author of Inspired and founder of the Silicon Valley Product Group)

"What if you could learn the secrets of self-managing teams like the best ones you hear about in tech startups? And what if you could learn them through a simple and compelling story about someone like you who is dealing with familiar challenges every day? And what if you could learn them from someone who has spent decades practicing, learning, and teaching these principles to those great teams? That’s exactly what you’ll get in Christina Wodtke’s tour de force, The Team that Managed Itself." (Bruce McCarty, internationally renowned speaker and author of Product Management and founder of Product Culture)

An actionable leadership book in the form of a fable...

In The Team That Managed Itself, Christina Wodtke teaches leaders how to build and lead high performing teams based on her long career in the trenches in Silicon Valley. Her book is engaging, actionable - and built around a story you’ll want to listen to.

After her boss leaves suddenly, Allie finds herself responsible for the casual gaming titan Quiltworld and the dozens of people working on the highly dysfunctional team. Can Allie learn to competently hire, fire, and give feedback in time to make the product’s big sales goals? Or will the team, the buggy code, and the beloved game fall apart while Allie’s job goes up in smoke?

Learn to lead a team along with Allie as she tackles one challenge after another while the clock ticks down.

How do you build the right team and choose the goals to pull them to greatness, even if you’re dealing with a toxic environment? How do you keep your people moving in the right direction without burning out or burning it all down? As Allie finds out, even in the face of overwhelming pressure it’s about setting expectations, giving good feedback, checking in against goals, and learning as a team. Leading so well that your team learns to manage itself? That’s no fable. Learn how from Christina Wodtke.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 Christina R Wodtke (P)2019 Christina R Wodtke

Interesting approach

I’ve never listened to (or stuck with) a book that used this approach before. It was an interesting way to showcase management structures and ideas. I’m not sure I could stomach listening to it again nor could I easily suggest it to someone else but it made some interesting points.

Perfect Compliment to Radical Candor

Christina is a fantastic storyteller... more importantly what she had to say is desperately needed by many businesses. Do your team a favor and read this.

I wish I had this book when I started managing...

This book should be required reading for anyone who is a member of a team ... so, that's basically everyone! Similar to one of the author's other books, Radical Focus, this work is two books in one ... a business novel and a concise accumulation of best practices. This time, the subject is team management. There is so much useful information here! If you lead a team, this book will give you a great ROI for the time you invest listening to it.

Part of the Story

I really enjoyed this book more than others like it. I felt like I was along for the ride as opposed to being told about something happening in the past. Hearing it all happen, reacting to it real time and making the characters real had me invested. I would typically get bored and found myself looking for my time to listen.