Excellent management read. Lencioni tells a story of a dysfunctional executive team and how the team was moved to effectiveness by a new CEO. This story is followed by short summary of the dysfunctions and how to approach them. A short book with valuable info.
I wish I had read this book when I was actively managing teams. There were some things I did by instinct that follows Lencioni's advice but a few practices undermined the team particularly my predilection to avoid conflict.
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
By Patrick Lencioni
Members of teams with an absence of trust…
- Conceal their weaknesses and mistakes from one another
- Hesitate to ask for help or provide constructive feedback
- Hesitate to offer help outside their own areas of responsibility
- Jump to conclusions about the intentions and aptitudes of others without attempting to clarify them
- Fail to recognize and tap into one another’s skills and experiences
- Waste time and energy managing their behaviors for effect
- Hold grudges
- Dread meetings and find reasons to avoid spending time together
Teams that fear conflict…
- Have boring meetings
- Create environments where back-channel politics and personal attacks thrive
- Ignore controversial topics that are critical to team success
- Fail to tap into all the opinions and perspectives of team members
- Waste time and energy with posturing and interpersonal risk management
A team that fails to commit…
- Creates ambiguity among the team about direction and priorities
- Watches windows of opportunity close due to excessive analysis and unnecessary delay
- Breeds lack of confidence and fear of failure
- Revisits discussions and decisions again and again
- Encourages second-guessing among team members
A team that avoids accountability…
- Creates resentment among team members who have different standards of performance
- Encourages mediocrity
- Misses deadlines and key deliverables
- Places an undue burden on the team leader as the sole source of discipline
A team that is not focused on results…
- Stagnates/fails to grow
- Rarely defeats competitors
- Loses achievement-oriented employees
- Encourages team members to focus on their own careers and individual goals
- is easily distracted
