A colleague asked me to share my thoughts on building a "better team". I confess, I stumbled on the word "better". Better than what exactly? Sure, in the essence of kaizen (a Japanese term encapsulating the idea of continuous improvement), a team can always be better. But I find it more valuable to think about a team as being "effective". \r\n What makes a team effective? And effective at what, exactly? I started managing early in my career. I had a wonderful manager who foresaw how my style and approach would be useful in managing staff. I made mistakes and learned from them. I also did things that were successful, and observed others do the same.…