Is Your Team Dysfunctional? – The Five Dysfunctions
I am in the final chapters of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. If you are not familiar with Lencioni, he is most famous for his business books written in the form of fables. They are in fact quite entertaining while at the same time teaching invaluable business lessons.
The Five Dysfunctions follows the journey of a highly talented team at a tech company in Silicon Valley. The team is sorely underperforming considering their talent, capital, and market position. Kathryn, the new CEO joins the venture and begins to teach her executives what it takes to make a great team. Through as series of off-sites, she teaches them about the following dysfunctions of a team:
1. Absence of Trust – Members are unwilling or unable to believe that other members are out for the good of the rest of the team.
2. Fear of Conflict – Team members cannot endure mature “arguing” in order to arrive at the best decision for the company.
3. Lack of Commitment – Once a decision is reached, those who disagreed continue their disagreement rather than “buying in” for the sake of unity.
4. Avoidance of Accountability – Holding each other accountable for required results is too hard or uncomfortable for the team.
5. Inattention to Results – Focus get shifted away from results to feelings or egos.
As the team works through each of these issues in the context of the off-site meetings and real business scenarios, they are bonded in a way that positions them to be the leaders of their market for the long-term.
Building a good team is not easy. Identifying where your team is weak is the first step to creating an all-star team that can excel even in a difficult economy or highly competitive market.
Application Action: Identify one of these areas where you think your team struggles the most. Spend fifteen minutes with a pen and a paper brainstorming about how you could incorporate training in this area into your next team meeting.
To help you, I encourage you to buy a copy of the book or log on to Audible.com to download an audio copy.
Photo: spekulator
