 2009-01-08 - Not finance. Not strategy. Not technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage...
Not finance. Not strategy. Not technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because it is so powerful and so rare. (pg. vii) Many leaders seem to grasp this truth, while at the same time surrender to the impossibility of actually making it happen. It is rare, because teams are made up of imperfect human beings, therefore are inherently dysfunctional. However, the situation is far from doomed. Building a strong team is both possible and remarkably simple, but it is painfully difficult. Success comes only for those groups that overcome the all-too-human behavioral tendencies that corrupt teams and breed dysfunctional politics within them.
Lencioni weaves a story of a Silicon valley high-tech (and high-ego/ high-pride) company that is struggling and is in a dire need for a change of direction. The old CEO, Jeff who was 37-year old, was leaving the company and the board was looking for a replacement. Kathryn, the new CEO, was a cultural mismatch: she was old, worked in low-tech companies, had a career in the military, did not go to school to Harvard or Stanford, she was a woman, overall cultural mismatch for the young high-tech company, an old school, blue-collar executive. But, Kathryn was very successful with relatively modest training. She had an amazing gift for building teams. She was calm and confident. At the beginning, she did nothing at all: interview with each of her direct reports, walked the halls, chatted with staff members, listened and took notes. She wondered more than few times if she should have taken the job, but the prospect of letting the chairman down discomforted her a bit. And, so the story moves on.
The five dysfunctions described in the book are: (1) lack of trust - shown in various ways, such as conceal their weaknesses and mistakes from one another, jump to conclusions for one another, waste time and energy managing their behaviors for effect, etc. (2) Fear of conflict - ex. lots of back-channel office politics because people are afraid to bring issues for open discussion, ignore controversial topics, even though those are most often the real problems that ought to be solved, etc; (3) lack of commitment - excessive analysis, second-guessing, fear of failure, etc. (4) avoidance of accountability - encourages mediocrity, leaders as sole source of discipline instead of the whole team, etc. (5) inattention to results - encourages team members to focus on their own career vs. the success of the team. Besides illustrating these dysfunctions in the story and how to address them, the end chapter of the book analyzes them in more depth. This book ought to be a required reading for all business students and all employees/ employers who have to work in teams (which is just about everybody).
If you work in a Christian ministry or you are a Christian, consider this secular story as a modern-day parable dealing with dysfunctions (sins) of teams and how to address them. Most of the concepts have their Christian parallels (Book of Proverbs, New Testament), such as: lack of trust = lack of faith, fear of conflict = fear of being reproved in love (or to give reproof) perhaps due to our own pride, lack of commitment = putting hands on a plow and looking back, avoidance of accountability = avoiding to show fruit of the Spirit and fruit of repentance, inattention to results = similar to previous, plus not loving others as you love yourself. If you analyze it carefully, you will see that I do not equate the terms loosely, but rather quite closely to the Biblical meaning. Highly recommended.
You may also like to read: The Three Signs of a Miserable Job: A Fable for Managers (And Their Employees), The Richest Man Who Ever Lived: King Solomon's Secrets to Success, Wealth, and Happiness.
2009-01-07 - Perfect
Book arrived in perfect condition and within days of ordering! I would definitely buy from this seller again.
2008-12-28 - Easy Read: Important Topic
This is a great book and worth reading if you work in a team setting. It applies to any organization. The Five Dysfunctions was given to me by business associate. I read it and found the information very useful, especially in a leadership setting. I subsequently purchased copies for the Leadership Team. Everyone read it without the normal complaints. In fact, several said it was one of the easiest business books they have ever read. We used the content for an offsite discussion. It opened up a lot of "unsaids" and helped our team work towards a more productive and effective working relationship. Lencioni hits the nail on the head to start with Trust (the first Dysfunction). He accurately explains that this area must be addressed first.
I especially like the Team Assessment on pages 192 and 193 (15 easy to fill out questions). The book is worth it for this tool alone. Our initial Team Assessment did not score as well as I had hoped - it was a much needed wake up call. After a lot of discussion and effort, we have made progress by working on the 5 Dysfunctions.
Six months later, we have improved our score. More important, we have improved our ability to function well as a team. The Five Dysfunctions is a useful catalyst to help improve team effectiveness but you have to be willing to work on it - not in one meeting, in every meeting. The book provides a common language that facilitates communication and provides five simple areas to focus on.
2008-12-22 - A Must Read for Team Success
Do you want to overcome poor team dynamics to enjoy success and enjoy coming into work? Have everyone on your team read this book.
2008-12-20 - An Essential Read for Leaders
As a manager at fortune 500 company with over 50 billion in revenue, I had never encountered a dysfunctional team until this last spring.
I read a number of books on teamwork and leadership and "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team" shows the importance of trust, debate, commitment, and accountability better than any other book I read. The story is engaging and the lesson invaluable. This is a must read for leaders.
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