The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

A Leadership Fable

by Patrick Lencioni

Number of pages: 229

Publisher: Jossey-Bass

BBB Library: Leadership

ISBN: 9780787960759



About the Author

Lencioni is the founder and president of The Table Group, a firm dedicated to helping leaders improve their organizations’ health.

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Editorial Review

Perhaps more than any of the other dysfunctions, the leader must set the tone for a focus on results. If team members sense that the leader values anything other than results, they will take that as permission to do the same for themselves. Team leaders must be selfless and objective and reserve rewards and recognition for those who make real contributions to the achievement of group goals. Success is not a matter of mastering subtle sophisticated theory, but rather of embracing common sense with uncommon levels of discipline and persistence. Ironically, teams succeed because they are exceedingly human. By acknowledging the imperfections of their humanity, members of functional teams overcome the natural tendencies that make trust, conflict, commitment, accountability and focusing on results so elusive.  

Book Reviews

"The Five Dysfunctions of a Teamis a book for CEOs. It's a book for high school baseball coaches. It's a book for parents and parents-to-be and parents-who-plan-to-be. It's a book for anyone who's ever been involved in a team dynamic and felt that maybe not everything was running as well as it could. In other words, it's a book for all of us. And hey, who doesn't like a fable?" Intuit and QuickBooks

"The is a really great book on team dynamics and team work, in fact it’s one of the best books on the subject that I’ve read. The book is written as a fable which help one get a really vivid picture of how a healthy team interacts and what is feels like to be part of a successful team. Although written as a fable, the book provides practical advice, which leaders can use in their own teams." George Ambler

"Overall, Pat Lencioni is very successful with The Five Dysfunctions of a Team because it is practical. While it is not a piece of empirical research, the application of his model is beneficial nonetheless. He seeks to address team problems as they occur naturally in the working (or collegiate) environment, and provides a useful guide for how to break through them to form sustainable and productive teams." National Clearinghouse for Leadership Programs

"At first glance, Five Dysfunctions may seem simplistic — but that’s because the problems that tend to unravel work teams are, at their core, shockingly simple. Indeed, the more you complicate matters, the further away you get from actually fixing the problem. Lencioni’s advice isn’t just easy to absorb, it’s easy to implement." Agadvanced.com

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Wisdom to Share

Great teams ensure that everyone’s ideas are genuinely considered, which creates a willingness to rally around whatever decision is ultimately made by the group.

One of the most difficult challenges for a leader who wants to instill accountability on a team is to encourage and allow the team to serve as the first and primary accountability mechanism.

Perhaps more than any of the other dysfunctions, the leader must set the tone for a focus on results. If team members sense that the leader values anything other than results, they will take that as permission to do the same for themselves.

Team leaders must be selfless and objective and reserve rewards and recognition for those who make real contributions to the achievement of group goals.

Books by the same Author

There is a competitive advantage out there, arguably more powerful than any other. Is it superior strategy? Faster innovation? Smarter employees? No,  New York Times  best-selling author, Patrick Lencioni, argues that the seminal difference between successful companies and mediocre ones has little to do with what they know and how smart
The Advantage

There is a competitive advantage out there, arguably more powerful than any other. Is it superior strategy? Faster innovation? Smarter employees? No, New York Times best-selling author, Patrick Lencioni, argues that the seminal difference between successful companies and mediocre ones has little to do with what they know and how smart