The US Government trained them to be the best super spies that the CIA had ever seen. They do not exist except for the darkest of hours. Now the timing is crucial for the CIA and NSA to move on a plot to put a terrorist leader into power of the free world. The president is not Senator McNeal, who the American people had voted for in the last election. He is in fact the leader of a terrorist organization that wants to take control of the free world. Only the CIA cant go through the usual channels to stop them. They must put all their trust in one team and pray for the best in their darkest hour. The team has been assembled and has not had action in four years now. All the hopes of the nation and security of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are up to Robert and Team X. Will they pull it off in the nick of time, or will they fail and its too late? Only time will tell, and they are our last and only hope to preserve freedom for the American people.

Why do good teams fail? Very often, argue Deborah Ancona and Henrik Bresman, it is because they are looking inward instead of outward. Based on years of research examining teams across many industries, Ancona and Bresman show that traditional team models are falling short, and that what’s needed--and what works--is a new brand of team that emphasizes external outreach to stakeholders, extensive ties, expandable tiers, and flexible membership. The authors highlight that X-teams not only are able to adapt in ways that traditional teams aren’t, but that they actually improve an organization’s ability to produce creative ideas and execute them—increasing the entrepreneurial and innovative capacity within the firm. What’s more, the new environment demands what the authors call “distributed leadership,” and the book highlights how X-teams powerfully embody this idea.

Dani Day recruits a new adult Team X, but Max, Cat, Ant and Tiger are reluctant to give their watches up and return to their boring lives. Can they prove to Dani that they would make a better Team X instead? This book is part of Project X Origins, a ground-breaking guided reading programme for the whole school.

The Provocative and Practical Guide to Coaching Agile Teams As an agile coach, you can help project teams become outstanding at agile, creating products that make them proud and helping organizations reap the powerful benefits of teams that deliver both innovation and excellence. More and more frequently, ScrumMasters and project managers are being asked to coach agile teams. But it’s a challenging role. It requires new skills—as well as a subtle understanding of when to step in and when to step back. Migrating from “command and control” to agile coaching requires a whole new mind-set. In Coaching Agile Teams, Lyssa Adkins gives agile coaches the insights they need to adopt this new mind-set and to guide teams to extraordinary performance in a re-energized work environment. You’ll gain a deep view into the role of the agile coach, discover what works and what doesn’t, and learn how to adapt powerful skills from many allied disciplines, including the fields of professional coaching and mentoring. Coverage includes Understanding what it takes to be a great agile coach Mastering all of the agile coach’s roles: teacher, mentor, problem solver, conflict navigator, and performance coach Creating an environment where self-organized, high-performance teams can emerge Coaching teams past cooperation and into full collaboration Evolving your leadership style as your team grows and changes Staying actively engaged without dominating your team and stunting its growth Recognizing failure, recovery, and success modes in your coaching Getting the most out of your own personal agile coaching journey Whether you’re an agile coach, leader, trainer, mentor, facilitator, ScrumMaster, project manager, product owner, or team member, this book will help you become skilled at helping others become truly great. What could possibly be more rewarding?

When you're a project manager with a team of people who don't technically report to you, your challenge is to get Results Without Authority. This book delivers proven techniques for controlling projects and managing diverse teams in a wide variety of situations, and bringing those projects to successful closure. The concepts in this book are essential for all project managers, with and without authority, because they offer a productive alternative to "command and control" management techniques that can easily backfire. Tom Kendrick's system will help you get successful project results from diverse, cross-functional, virtual, outsourced, and other types of project teams by showing how to establish and build: Control Through Process. Key project management processes, infrastructure, and the role of the project office. Control Through Influence. Productive leadership styles, reciprocity, and maintaining relationships. Control Through Project Metrics. Quantitative, predictive, diagnostic, and retrospective metrics for project control, motivating desired behaviors, and avoiding potential problems. Control Through Project Initiation. The role of the sponsor in project control, the importance of project vision, project launch documentation, and the project start-up workshop. Control Through Project Planning. Collaborative planning as the foundation of project control; planning as a key factor in setting baselines and establishing metrics. Control During Project Execution. Measurement and interpretation of project status, informal communication, and maintaining relationships as keys to maintaining control. Control Through Tracking and Monitoring. Controlling scope and other project parameters; formal project communication and reporting, rewards and recognition, and project reviews. Enhancing Overall Control Through Project Closure. Sign-off, evaluating retrospective project metrics, celebrating, and rewarding the team; improving long-term project control through lessons learned. Packed with invaluable guidance for controlling projects of all scopes and in any field, Results Without Authority will help novice and experienced project leaders get the best from their project teams.

The Second Edition of Leading Project Teams offers an accessible introduction to the important basics of project management while providing key issues and pointers on team leadership. Easy to read, this engaging book assumes little to no knowledge of project management. Leading Project Teams quickly leads the reader through the fundamentals including how to start a project, how to assign tasks, how to write clear project reports, and much, much more! New to the Second Edition: - New chapter on Risk Assessment - New coverage of running effective team meetings - Offers real world scenarios: Each chapter opens with a real-world project problem faced by a project leader. Selected from a wide range of industries--from academia to business to health care--each situation portrays how project work applies to real project problems in a variety of settings. - Identifies key expectations of project leaders: Concrete advice is given on leading project teams across a number of important leadership issues and on how project leaders should develop and guide project team members. - Provides quick-learning project tools: Many accessible tools are provided to help readers understand the basics of project management such as the work breakdown structure and project scheduling. Extensive coverage on team literature is offered to help students learn the basics of team construction and team dynamics.

Team X is an outstanding addition to the Oxford Literacy series and has been developed for the whole school - for the early years through to Year 6. Team X has been extensively researched and trialled in schools to make absolutely sure that it's what kids want! Team X builds fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Fluency and vocabulary are important skills and are both crucial stepping stones to comprehension, which for any reader may be considered the main goal of reading. Step 1: Listen to the audio bookAn adult mentor with a particular area of expertise (the eXpert) introduces themselves and relates the cluster theme to their own experience. The mentor reads all or some sections of the book. Step 2: Read the bookThe student then reads the book, either in a guided reading or independent reading situation. Step 3: Write your responses to the question on the activity cardFor all levels, there are two writing activities related to the content or theme of the book, often scaffolded, with a graphic organiser. There are also two additional activities that link to other curriculum learning areas.