Based on: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
“If you could get all the people in an organization rowing in the same direction, you could dominate any industry, in any market, against any competition, at any time.”
Patrick Lencioni, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
About Teamwork
Teamwork has received alot of attention over the years from scholars, coaches, teachers, and the media. Despite this it has become very hard to implement with many Team leads in Organizations having no clue where to start.
In his book The Five Dysfunctions of a team, Patrick Lencioni argues that building a strong team is very possible and remarkably simple, But painfully difficult.
He argues that teamwork boils down to mastering a set of behaviours that at once sound simple, but are extremely difficult to put into practice on a daily basis. Success in building effective teams is accessible to those that overcome these behaviours that corrupt teams and breed dysfunctional politics.
AS DIFFICULT as it is to build a cohesive team, it is not complicated. In fact, keeping it simple is critical, whether you run the executive staff at a multinational company, a small department within a larger organization, or even if you are merely a member of a team that needs improvement
Patrick Lencioni, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
Five Dysfunctions of a team
- Absence of trust
The first dysfunction is an absence of trust among team members. Essentially, this stems from their unwillingness to be vulnerable within the group. Team members who are not genuinely open with one another about their mistakes and weaknesses make it impossible to build a foundation for trust.
- Fear of Conflict
This failure to build trust is damaging because it sets the tone for the second dysfunction: fear of conflict Teams that lack trust are incapable of engaging in unfiltered and passionate debate of ideas. Instead, they resort to veiled discussions and guarded comments.
- Lack of commitment
A lack of healthy conflict is a problem because it ensures the third dysfunction of a team: lack of commitment. Without having aired their opinions in the course of passionate and open debate, team members rarely, if ever, buy in and commit to decisions, though they may feign agreement during meetings.
- Avoidance of accountability
Because of this lack of real commitment and buy-in team members develop an avoidance of accountability, the fourth dysfunction. Without committing to a clear plan of action, even the most focused and driven people often hesitate to call their peers on actions and behaviours that seem counterproductive to the good of the team.
- Inattention to results
Failure to hold one another accountable creates an environment where the fifth dysfunction can thrive. Inattention to results occurs when team members put their individual needs (such as ego, career development, or recognition) or even the needs of their divisions above the collective goals of the team.
The model
Behaviors of a Cohesive Team
Note: These characteristics are not mutually exclusive, like a chain with just one link broken, teamwork deteriorates if even a single dysfunction is allowed to flourish.
- They trust one another.
- They engage in healthy conflict around ideas.
- They commit to decisions and plans of action.
- They hold one another accountable for delivering against those plans.
- They focus on the achievement of collective results.
SUMMARY
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni is a must read for all members and leaders of teams who look forward to building a cohesive environment to achieve the organizations goals.
Success is not a matter of mastering subtle, sophisticated theory, but rather of embracing common sense with uncommon levels of discipline and persistence.
By acknowledging the imperfections of our humanity, members of functional teams overcome the natural tendencies that make trust, conflict, commitment, accountability, and a focus on results so elusive.