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Product Description
Once again using an astutely written fictional tale to unambiguously but painlessly deliver some hard truths about critical business procedures, Patrick Lencioni targets group behavior in the final entry of his trilogy of corporate fables. And like those preceding it, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team is an entertaining, quick read filled with useful information that will prove easy to digest and implement. This time, Lencioni weaves his lessons around the story of a troubled Silicon Valley firm and its unexpected choice for a new CEO: an old-school manager who had retired from a traditional manufacturing company two years earlier at age 55. Showing exactly how existing personnel failed to function as a unit, and precisely how the new boss worked to reestablish that essential conduct, the book's first part colorfully illustrates the ways that teamwork can elude even the most dedicated individuals--and be restored by an insightful leader. A second part offers details on Lencioni's "five dysfunctions" (absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results), along with a questionnaire for readers to use in evaluating their own teams and specifics to help them understand and overcome these common shortcomings. Like the author's previous books, The Five Temptations of a CEO and Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive, this is highly recommended. --Howard Rothman
In The Five Dysfunctions of a Team Patrick Lencioni once again offers a leadership fable that is as enthralling and instructive as his first two best-selling books, The Five Temptations of a CEO and The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive. This time, he turns his keen intellect and storytelling power to the fascinating, complex world of teams. Kathryn Petersen, Decision Tech's CEO, faces the ultimate leadership crisis: Uniting a team in such disarray that it threatens to bring down the entire company. Will she succeed? Will she be fired? Will the company fail? Lencioni's utterly gripping tale serves as a timeless reminder that leadership requires as much courage as it does insight. Throughout the story, Lencioni reveals the five dysfunctions which go to the very heart of why teams even the best ones-often struggle. He outlines a powerful model and actionable steps that can be used to overcome these common hurdles and build a cohesive, effective team. Just as with his other books, Lencioni has written a compelling fable with a powerful yet deceptively simple message for all those who strive to be exceptional team leaders.
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Customer Reviews: - Great Book!
I had to read this book for a class of mine and fortunately I loved it. The lessons are told through fictional characters; however, it's easy to see how the dysfunctions can apply towards your own teams....more info - Best book I've read all year
I read a great number of titles on leadership, organizational development, and team building.
This book, told as a fable, is a very quick read and will seem unlike any other book of this sort you've read. As you read it, you'll feel as though the author has been following you through your life at work. It's a very eerie feeling when you realize that each of the characters already works with you at your office.
I particularly enjoyed the focus on organizational alignment, team building, and healthy conflict. These are essential ingredients to the recipe for an excellent team!
I've recommended this book to several other executives where I work and have received 5 star ratings in return. ...more info - Good information, but a little too trite
The author has great information to share, but takes the allegorical device a little too far. It is easy to read, but the "cuteness" took away from the message. It is a decent primer for the issues that cause teams to break down, but the fixes are a little utopian....more info - Seagate spends $2 million annually to teach these lessons
Intrigued by an article in the 5.26.08 issue of Fortune magazine, p113-122, I had to read this book. The article was about how Seagate spends $2 million each year for the "lord of all lords" team building exercise for 200 of it's employees (mostly engineers) -- and each day of the week-long journey is based upon one of "The Five Dsyfunctions of a Team." Before employees arrive at the event, they are asked to read the book -- a fast read -- which explains, with an easy-to-relate-to story line, each one of the five:
Absence of trust, which leads to invulnerability of team members
Fear of conflict, which leads to artificial harmony
Lack of commitment, which breeds ambiguity
Avoidance of accountability, which leads to low standards
Inattention to results, which leads to status/ego being all too important
Then all 200 of them are put through the paces at the event in about every way you could imagine to get out of their comfort zone like never before and to really understand, at the cellular level, how to trust others, why conflict is good, how to really commit, how to be both accountable and results-oriented. Each day, they do team building exercises on one of the 5, and then have a team competition at the end of the event.
The article starts out "Everyone here's going to die." The CEO tells them "Yes, everyone in this room will die - at some point ... Are you doing what you want to do in your life? Or are you just blowing through?" Watkins continues. "I'm challenging your life right now. What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail?..."
While most of us have been exposed by now to some type of team building event, I doubt there is one that is so life changing as this one. Seagate could have used any one of a number of books or team building programs -- or could have designed their own -- but they chose this one. Great testimony for how powerful it can be if an organization can overcome these team dysfunctions.
Enjoy,
Sally...more info - There's a lot of common sense material here, but Lencioni does organize it well...
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable, is a "how-to" book on facilitating positive group dynamics, but in story form. That is, author Patrick Lencioni makes up a senior leadership team with problems, and walks the reader through the thought-processes, actions, and results obtained of Kathryn Petersen, the new CEO of DecisionTech.
That story is pages 3-184 of the book.
Pages vii-ix is Lencioni's introduction. He attempts to set the stage for the importance of the topic: "Not finance. Not strategy. Not technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because it is so powerful and so rare" (p. vii). This seems like management mumbo-jumbo. I'd say that product, niche, and marketing have a LOT to do with "the ultimate competitive advantage." Teamwork didn't help the Kodak film division, or American Motors, or the manufacturers of VHS or vinyl records technology. Or Enron.
"The fact remains that teams, because they are made up of imperfect human beings, are inherently dysfunctional" (p. vii). A number of authors use this concept of "imperfect human beings" as a straw person. There is no such thing as a "perfect human being." So is Lencioni saying teams made up of identical robots are inherently functional?
Back to the story.
The story includes an endorsement of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (p. 54, 199). "Emotional intelligence." Arrrgh! Many people also refer to an astrologer's forecast every day!
The author discusses a "team" versus "a collection of individuals" (p. 83). Interesting.
"If we cannot learn to engage in productive, ideological conflict during meetings, we are through" (p. 101). Again, interesting.
Then the author's team framework ideas start on page 185. Pages 188-189 are really the heart of this book, because they deal with the five dysfunctions:
1. absence of trust
2. fear of conflict
3. lack of commitment
4. avoidance of accountability
5. inattention to results
Here's the most powerful thought I got from this book:
"It is... ironic that so many people avoid conflict in the name of efficiency, because healthy conflict is actually a time saver. Contrary to the notion that teams waste time and energy arguing, those that avoid conflict actually doom themselves to revisiting issues again and again without resolution. They often ask team members to take their issues 'off-line,' which seems to be a euphemism for avoiding dealing with an important topic, only to have it raised again at the next meeting" (p. 203).
Okay, I'm going to work on this.
I think I started reading this book with a negative attitude ("Not another book on..."). However, the fable was entertaining and easy to read. The wrap-up at the end was short and to the point. The five dysfunctions probably will give the reader (even me) something to try, or at least observe. I'd like the MBTI de-emphasized, or at LEAST critiqued, but perhaps managers feel at home with this labeling exercise.
Mildly recommended....more info - Great for Managers
I highly recommend this fast reading, very interesting and informative book to any managers that have a group struggling to work effectively and together as a team. I have begun addressing and discussing the dysfunctions with my team and have seen results and changes already. Great book!...more info - Great book and easy to read
When I read this book I thought of our dysfunctional executive team and quickly understood what it will take to create a "real" team. Every CEO and Board of Directors members should read this book and take an honest look at his/her team to see if they have a dysfunctional team. I have consulted for over 20 good size organizations, advising executive teams and my experience indicates that about 70% fit the dysfunctional profile. ...more info - Excellent resource but don't ignore your gut feelings
I can't say anything new that hasn't already been covered here. This is an excellent book, particularly for the business owner, manager, or empowered supervisor. If you hold these positions and follow the guidelines of this book you will have a more responsive workforce. If you are an employee working for a employer who follows the advice in the book, you will gain much insight and useful information as well. However, if you are an employee in a bad group situation, many suggestions covered in this book are merely bandaids for problems that may be unsolvable. If you're working for a person who is authoritarian or insecure there is little in this book that will help you change their approach to management. Perhaps you should focus an equal amount of time in considering a job change. Life is too short to work for team leaders who won't use the good advice in the book. ...more info - Great Business Book
I am the CEO of a family company. The history and the bad blood goes back to childhood. We all get along, but we all sabotage each others progress. There are walls up between the group, and we have hit the wall in our growth. After purchasing this book for the group i believe we seen the light of our misgivings, and can proceed to grow to the next level. The book has a strong message, if you execute upon it.
...more info - Still applicable two years after reading especially after merger
I brought my "Five Dysfunctions of a Team" by Patrick Lencioni book into the office last week and wanted to draw on the examples from the book in relation to a reporting problem we were having. I read it a few years ago but it just jumped out as still applicable once I picked up the book again. I once heard someone say it is the books that stand the test of time not the books on the current best sellers list that are worth reading. This is one of those books, as it was still valuable two years later.
After pondering our problems due to recent mergers I think this case study illustrates many of the larger issues post merger companies have had and will continue to have in my now merged together company. These problems will never go away in most companies, especially in the era of so many mergers, so periodic review and trying to improve them will be a constant struggle.
...more info - Fable or Research? Which Should Be the Basis For Your Management Decisions?
Although this book contains some good ideas, it is not based on research on teams. Some of its suggestions have even been proven wrong. Instead of this book, I highly recommend Richard Hackman's "Leading Teams," which is based on decades of research, is very readable (no academic jargon), immensely practical (especially if you use some of the free tools he offers on his website), and won the best book of the year award from the Academy of Management....more info - Great Leadership Book
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable
Exceptional book-simple, easy read and gets the points of why you have dysfunctional teams. It really hit home for me. ...more info - The Five Disfunctions of a Team
It's all about TEAM WORK. It shows how disfunctional most companies are.
It can be used in any situation. It makes sense all working together for the common good....more info - Lose Yourself in a Story
The introduction asserts that we learn more effectively by losing ourselves in a story, and I agree. It asserts that genuine teamwork remains elusive and describes the 5 dysfunctions that build on one another. 1. Absence of Trust 2. Fear of Conflict 3. Lack of Commitment 4. Avoidance of Accountability 5. Inattention to Results. Everyone will see themselves in the story and can benefit from the guidance given. ...more info - Logical and right on
I've been in management for 18 years and have personally been pretty successful in developing teams. Reading this book put things in clear perspective, in a fashion in which I've not thought before. The message is concise, the story an easy and attention-grabbing read. The concepts presented as they were, created an "a-ha" moment... or maybe (hitting my own head) a "Duh" moment - I wish I'd thought of that!
The ironic part is that I work in an environment where, in general, the management team is REALLY dysfunctional. (The test in the book confirmed it!) The behaviors described relative to the 5 levels of the "pyramid" indicating functional / dysfunctional teams were right on.
I shared and discussed the ideas with for my 4 managers, discussed how we (the 5 of us) could be an even BETTER team together despite the overall condition of the larger group (and gave them copies of the book). I was surprised at the receptiveness of the idea given the state of our overall work environment at the moment. (I thought they might think I was being a bit hokey by introducing concepts I had read in a book.)
In addition to focusing on our interactions with each other, I encouraged them to take it to the next level in sharing with their teams. I have since had others in the organization ask to read my copy of the book. Hmmm... Well worth the investment to me. Practical, applicable, easy to understand. Can a management book get any any better? :)
...more info - Spiritual leadership is the key.
The Five Dysfunctions of Leadership was given to me at a company leadership course. While the course itself was excellent the book is not the most technical of leadership guides. It uses a fictional premise to guide readers through a corporate teams rebuilding phase. It does a good job of giving the reader some insight concerning the thinking process leaders' face when rebuilding a dysfunctional team of capable individuals. It also does a good job of addressing the patient compassion leaders sometimes need to display when nurturing stubborn but talented team members. It does not, however, have the depth to serve as a legitimate all in one guide for corporate team building. For one, it approaches the subject matter from and elementary view. Relationships will always be complicated and conflict cannot be avoided. It also fails to capture the diversity element most companies face these days. Although it's not completely devoid of helpful information and can be read quickly, I do not recommend buying this book. Because it can be read so quickly, you'd be better served by setting aside a few hours at your local library for reading this book. ...more info - "Five Dysfunctions" Book May Help Streamline Your Teams
I read "Five Dysfunctions of a Team" the first time several years back when I was researching leadership and team dynamics. I've always enjoyed building teams and understanding why some work and some don't. This book explores the topic and describes a simple formula for identifying what works, what doesn't work, and what to do about it.
The book calls subtitle is "A Leadership Fable." It's two hundred or so pages are written in large print so you can get through the whole thing in a few hours. It's about a fictitious Silicon Valley technology company that is clearly struggling. The board has decided to demote the company's founder and replace him with an outsider. The new CEO, Katherine, makes a point of spending her first few weeks observing the executive management team. It's an interesting bunch, but no more interesting than a lot of the people I've worked with over the years.
She takes little action until she holds her first executive off site retreat a few weeks into her tenure. There she tackles the team problems head on. She gets the push back you would expect from a team that's been doing things wrong for a while, but by addressing the shortcomings the team starts making progress. The team takes some forward strides, then falls back. Some of the team members embrace the changes, others dislike it and quit. As the story progresses, she shows the team (and the reader) how a lack of trust among team members leads to poor results and what are the root causes that need to be addressed. Using a simple pyramid drawing, she shows how the concepts work together for success.
The book reads well and illustrates the lessons very clearly. It doesn't seem contrived. On the contrary, it sounds more like real life than I would like to admit. What I most like about the book is that it breaks down the issues that makes teams work and shows how the dysfunctions, if allowed to fester, lead to poor performance. It can easily be used to teach leaders to explore where they may want to make changes for making poor teams better and good teams great.
When I interviewed with my current boss, I noticed she kept a copy on her shelf. After working with her a few months, I asked to borrow it. It was a good refresher and helped me put into words what I know in my gut and how to put it into practice.
...more info - Review - The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
Although this book is a quick read it lends itself completely to those in the corp, education or .org world or anyone looking for some easy, clear and doable steps to a better functioning team. The fable format was interesting and intriguing. The context of the book and its issues comes to life in most board rooms across the country and world. You will use the simple strategies recommended in this book for life. READ THIS BOOK, you will not be disappointed....more info - The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
These are books on cds. I enjoy them very much because you can listen to them in your car. The narrator is very well spoken and the information you get from them are very valuable to understanding the dynamics of a group. I highly recommend them....more info - Quick, Easy Read...Read it Twice To Apply
The fictional style of Lencioni's book makes it a quick and easy read. I would have given it 5 stars, but the fictional team in the book was meade up of pretty high level players, and the average team us made up of middle management. I found to really comprehend all the dynamics of a team, and apply it to your own - read it twice. The first time, I overlooked areas that I thought initially didn't apply to my own team. While not every team can take the approach that was taken in the book to display and uncover their disfunctions, the second time you read it you can determine creative ways to uncover and resolve what may apply to your own group. ...more info - Great lessons woven into a short story
I really enjoyed listening to this on the CD edition. The author makes the plot interesting without too much unnecessary fluff. Almost everything in the story has some bearing on the lesson point being conveyed.
The characters are very contemporary - one uses his laptop during meetings, another is very judgmental, another one too quiet, etc. The protaganist, Kathryn is a team building leader - very reflective and results oriented. She knows she needs to do the leg work to make a team before the real results start tallying up. This is more important than her trying to be just one more product expert or financial wizard. She gets pressure from the board of directors, her direct reports and other sources. She is not perfect but she is terrific. Great model of how an executive should be.
The team goes through the usual roller coaster ride of present day corporate life - opportunities to acquire competitors, opportunities to be acquired, pressing sales calls that could theoretically change the whole game, employee distractions, etc.
My favorite lesson from the book is the cascading messages. Meetings are usually about decisions, but those decisions are not firm enough until the message to communicate the decision is concrete. This usually invokes more debate since it crystalizes the decision in a way that the team must agree upon since they will deliver it. This one thing would substantially improve many of the meetings I attend. And I intend to start using it.
There is a good summary of the five dysfunctions given as regular discourse, outside the story, at the end of the book.
This book is new generation business management writing at its best....more info - 5 Dysfunctions applied in a call center
As a call center manager, I found this little fable to be very useful. In call centers, we have metrics coming out of our ears. Because there is always a call that needs to be answered, people in call centers are very fact-based, action oriented individuals. That is why the fable format of this book is so useful. It takes us away from the graphs and charts and makes us look at something in a different way. Once we do that, the material in the book is able to put to use.
It is a quick, easy read. Team dynamics is a complex subject so don't look for this book to solve your problems. Some readers may think that it causes problems when in reality, the problems were always there but nobody talked about them. This book can open up a team and provide a common language.
...more info - Excellent guidebook for managers and team members....
"A camel is a horse designed by a committee," is one popular business quip. Insert the word "team" for "committee" and you have the attitude that many business people harbor about such groupings. This book, however, suggests that there are five common dysfunctions of teams and offers specific ways to attach each pitfall.
The author presents the lesson in a business fable, using a fictional Silicon Valley company that is struggling. The book closes with some specific prescriptions for overcoming each of the five dysfunctions.
At first, glancing at the book title, I thought it was an indictment of teams.
I was wrong. Rather, it indicts dysfunctional teams and is very BIG on teams as a way to get business done. Teams are "in" in modern business thought, like it or not. Anyone in a work setting who is part of a team (just about anyone, huh?) might benefit from reading his. One caveat is the sheer amount of time consumed by the process. Though we are assured that the time "investment" in team-building will pay off with later gains, it will still be a powerful temptation for harried managers to wonder how they are ever going to get the rest of their :"real work" done while they are stuck hour upon hour in the team meeting process.
Lencioni is not suggesting that everyone sit in a circle, hold hands and sing "Kumbaya." Nor does he endorse other vogue-ish practices such as Outward Bound or falling blindfolded into the arms of waiting teammates to develop trust. Rather, he offers practical ideas to cement effective teams.
I'd love to comment further, but I'm overdue for another ... team meeting!
...more info - Useful Model for Managers
One of the strongest books in Patrick Lencioni's growing body of publications, "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team" offers a solid Model for the practice of management. Utilizing Lencioni's "fable" storytelling framework, a clear articulation of the Model underlying the fable and the uncommon approach of showing what does *not* contribute to good teamwork (as opposed to what *does* work), this is an interesting and useful book for managers.
Readers with managerial responsibilities should find the Model espoused in this book both useful and straightforward. As in other Lencioni publications, this Model is simple to understand, but difficult to implement. While challenging in that respect, the principles put forth in this book make sense and are well articulated....more info - Recommended for managers including executives
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable is a relatively easy and enjoyable read. Lencioni, rather than focus on what makes teams effective discusses Five Dysfunctions which impact team performance. He makes the book compelling by using a fable about a ficticious Silicon Valley IT company, DecisionTech, and its new CEO, Kathryn, as a vehicle to describe these dysfunctions and strategies to address them.
DecisionTech has strong competitive advantages including a leading technology, talented executive staff, and solid financial backing. However after two years, the company is underperforming and lagging its two closest competitors. The chairman of the board makes a controversial decision to bring in an outsider as CEO, Kathryn, who has a good track record with operations but no IT experience. The rest of the fable is about how she observes the dynamics of the executive team and concludes a reason for underperformance is that they act more as individuals with their own agendas and little mutual trust. She confronts the staff in a series of off-site meetings where she discloses the causes of their poor team performance and challenges them to work together to meet corporate goals. I won't ruin the plot by giving too many details, but not all the staff survives as she struggles to address the issues facing DecisionTech.
The dysfunctions (absence of trust --> fear of conflict --> lack of committment --> avoidance of accountability --> inattention to results) build from the bottom up - in other words if you don't have trust among team members you won't be successful in addressing the other issues.
One key point that Lencioni makes in the fable is that managers generally think of their direct reports as being the primary team they need to be focused on. Though this is extremely important, he emphasizes the primary team is really the peers of the manager because this extended team needs to work together to meet enterprise goals which sometimes requires reallocation of resources amongst groups for success to be achieved.
At the back of the book, Lencioni summarizes strategies for recognizing and overcoming these dysfunctions. Overall a good book - five stars.
...more info - Great practical insight for Executive Teams
I'm using this book as a part of a team coaching assignment with an Executive Team and it is providing extremely beneficial insight to members as they examine ways to become a more effective team....more info - Know in advance if you're getting into a job with a great team dynamic!
`The Five Dysfunctions of a Team' highlights the difference between an effective team and one that just isn't working. Patrick Lencioni explains that the five dysfunctions include an absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability and inattention. He uses an example of a collapsing firm to demonstrate these problems.
After reading this book, recognizing whether or not any group you are involved or will be involved in is a functional one will be a fast realization.
On an individual level, knowing what you can do to make a team function more effectively can be a valuable skill to bring to the table. Knowing how to recognize a team you want to be involved in or not is also a must when seeking a new workplace.
Danny Iny
Author of the free eBook "Forget Everything You Know About Looking For a Job... And Actually Find One!"
HuntingToHired, www.HuntingToHired.com...more info - Solid.
Easy read. Points made in book are easily transferable to your team. Drives home the importance of a functional team. ...more info - A Great Tale
I was skeptical when I bought this book as it was for a teamwork course I had in B-school, and I was not too thrilled with the course itself to begin with. However, I finished reading this book within 48 hours of having recieved it.
Lencioni presents his theory on the five dysfunctions in a compelling story that takes us through the experiences of a new chief executive aiming to turnaround a company.
Written clearly, the book helped me understand the concepts described much better as I could easily relate to my own experiences at work and school. A great book!...more info - Very inspirational
This book is a must have for rooting out dysfunctional dynamics in team situations. The ideas are simple and somewhat common sense. That is probably why we as humans often ignore the signs. I recommend this to anybody who want to maximize the potential of their team. It is a very quick read. ...more info
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