Risks

Risks association with low-performance teams:

• Lack of shared cross-functional accountability, which encourages functional allegiance at the expense of product or customer allegiance.
• Lack of core-team authority, which breeds teams that "wait to be told what to do," slowing cycle time and impeding innovation.
• Loss of high value talent.
• Inability to respond effectively to change.

Opportunities

Opportunities associated with high-performance product development teams:

• Better decisions faster:
• Core team model with shared accountability drives focus on the product/customer
• Core team works within boundary conditions -- faster decisions on all issues that fall inside the boundaries
• Clear roles with respect to who makes the decision, both inside and outside of boundaries
• Ability to adapt to change quickly and efficiently
• Greatly-reduced errors in execution:
• Less time wasted on chaos; more time spent on creativity/innovation
• Teams positioned for success; increased likelihood of creating winners reliably