Patrick Lencioni's The Five Dysfunction Of A Team

Patrick Lencioni is an American writer, who focuses on writing books particularly in relation to business and team management. He is best known for ‘The Five Dysfunctions of a Team’, an allegory following the journey of DecisionTech’s new CEO, Katheryn Peterson. In this tale, Lencioni revels the basics of teamwork by creating a fictional business, in which is struggling to grow as a company, due to lack of commitment by its employees. The company fails to accept responsibilities and to come to any agreements, ultimately, resulting a plummeting disposition. Furthermore, throughout the fable, the five dysfunctions of a team become more evident, in which are, absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment avoidance of accountability and

Unity of direction within the senior staff is paramount for the survival of any organization, the organic structure within the organization or hierarchy is there to provide the necessary pathways for information flow (Crainer, 2003). Organizations have strategic plan and visions to direct the works required to fulfill the goals of the organization when there is turmoil with the managing group this will cascade to the lowest levels and cause disruptions (Bethel University, 2014-B). Sam’s always right and dissension to Kerrie’s authority creates a hostile environment (Bethel University, 2014-A). Kerrie’s initial non-authoritarian approach with the senior management team fueled Sam’s negativism and blatant disrespect of authority with Kerrie and his peers. With Dave’s survey of the senior management team, Kerrie learns more about what they expected and modified her approach (Crainer,

After the introductions have been completed, the group leader briefed the members on the purpose of the meeting, the directions of focus, and what the members’ responsibilities were concerning interaction for the betterment of the DOC members were. This step lists the objectives of the group as well as short and long-term goals. This step also lists the SOA, DOC requirements that must be accomplished during this meeting(Alaska administrative code, 2013). Moreover, failure of the team is also expressed as not an option here.

I find it peculiar that Mr. Coutu in his article “Why Teams Don’t Work” left out the social and interpersonal aspects of effective teams. In my experience, I find that the degree to which team members lookup to, respect, love, and maybe despise each other play a crucial role in the outcome of the given task.

I enjoyed reading your post. It sounds like you’ve been reading The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. I find myself relating characters and situations in the book to staff members and circumstances at my school. You mentioned that during staff meetings, teachers “do not engage in heated debates to really figure things out”, that’s the case in my school as well. During staff meetings, our principal encourages the staff to speak freely and offer opinions regarding certain decisions, but normally everyone just agrees with whatever the speaker says. The textbook offers suggestions for developing trust that I found useful, “To provide leadership needed for a school to become a learning community, they must be open to engaging in dialogue with

If we were randomly asked to define the word “team” many of us would have numerous variations of this multifaceted word; some would proclaim it means helping others, backing one another while others might define it as unanimity or culpability. The French associate the word team, with the slogan “Esprit de corps” a majestic word that was adopted by the United States Marine Corps. This matchless catchphrase means: “a sense of unity, of enthusiasm for common interests and responsibilities.” As early as childhood it has been ingrained into us that teamwork is congenial and effortlessly achieved. When in fact it wasn’t until society was introduced to Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team, written by Patrick Lencioni, did civilization start to realize that teamwork is hard to measure and even harder to achieve because the has been loosely used as well as misinterpret. Lencioni understands that teamwork is a difficult thing to measure and achieve, his book reminds us that the power that comes from teamwork cannot be denied. It would be hypothesized that through the authors’ comprehensive exploration and methodical examination, he reveals ways for civilization to comprehend the term as well as employ each other successful; conversely this can’t be done until the dysfunctional factor is properly identified and controlled. Hence the reason for his in-depth plunge in explaining the five dysfunctions and method that can be utilized by teams to overcome the dysfunctionalities.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, is a narrative encompassing the successes and struggles of a group of executives working at fictional Silicon Valley company, Decision- Tech, Inc. Lencioni begins his story with the recognition: "Not finance. Not strategy. Not technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because it is so powerful and so rare," and it is under this premise that the entirety of "The Fable" presented by Lencioni will carry itself out, focusing on the hardships and intricacies of successfully operating a business that has so many expectations to fulfill (Lencioni VII).

The Ideal Team Player and The Five Dysfunctions of a Team are authored by Patrick Lencioni. In the book, he references the importance and dysfunctions of teams in today’s business world.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni explains the biggest downfalls of collaborating teams and suggestions that are provided to help combat these and improve team effectiveness. The five dysfunctions

Following spring break, varsity team members became unhappy and critical of one another. These behaviors were an early indication of a lack of trust needed to be addressed immediately. Trust is paramount in crew. It is important for team members to trust others to correct mistakes, allowing the boat to regain balance and maximum speed (Snook & Polzer, 2004). The early lack of trust among Varsity team members later resulted in a fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results by team members. This was verified by a diagnostic tool described Lencioni’s book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. In order to have been successful, the Varsity team would have to trust one another, engage in unfiltered conflict around team issues, commit to decisions and plans of action, hold one another accountable, and focus on the achievement of collective results (Lencioni, 2002).

According to the writer, things can go wrong because power plays a big role in a team. In health care for example, quality and safety are the two big priorities. However, flaws still arise. Typically, the complications arise because of the problems in the team, not with the people’s ability. There was a situation wherein a misunderstanding between the surgeon and the assistant was narrated in the article. There was a misunderstanding due to the fact that the surgeon had just transferred from the other team. It simply tells us that teamwork was not applied in this situation. The author gave emphasis on the importance of developing a team mind. The three C’s were stated in the article pertaining to teamwork. One of which is collaboration that

A 10-12 PLC team was surveyed on their personal beliefs about how their team functions. The survey results were calculated and evaluated using Lencioni?s (2002) five Dysfunctions of a Team. Although this is a particularly close-knit team a Lack of Accountability was found to be the major weak area. Three suggestions are offered to aid in the team?s ability to hold each other and themselves accountable to the goals of the team to achieve better results.

Without trust you cannot lead. Without trust you cannot get extraordinary things done.” (Kouzes & Posner, 2007, pg. 224) Building a team is necessary because it allows leaders to essentially flatten their organizational structures. In doing so leaders all but eliminate delays in responding to customers needs. Organizations also increase the intellectual diversity of their organizations by including constituents in the decision making process. “The key design principle here is to maximize the “surface area” of the organization by connecting as many employees as possible with the external environment.” (Lawler & Worley, 2009, pg. 197)

Kerrie Peterson, the General Manager of Corporate Lending at Access, faced a huge challenge when she committed to decreasing her operating budget by fifteen percent, the equivalent of seventy-five million dollars (Lester, 2006). She had to depend on her senior team leaders to create, plan, and implement changes though she was not sure they were up to the challenge. Some of the team members were hired in after she took the position and two of them had been with the company for years. Kerrie knew they had not bonded as a team and that it was crucial that everyone was on board.

According to the author, a cohesive team is enforceable based on the establishment of trust, as an underlying basis for its actions and operations. The members of the team are delineated to be inherently vulnerable and learn to actually engage in constructive disputes. Lencioni differentiates artificial harmony with healthy conflict. He explains that a healthy conflict emanates as a result of strategies and ideas as opposed to personal differences. Members of the management teams may strongly disagree on diverse and dynamic ideas but once decisions have been arrived at, they come together and focus on the greater good, achievement of the organizational goals.