The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Introduction

The Fable

Luck

Part One: Underachievement

Part Two: Lighting the Fire

Part Three: Heavy Lifting

Part Four: Traction

The Model

An Overview of the Model

Team Assessment

Understanding and Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions

A Note About Time: Kathryn's Methods

A Special Tribute to Teamwork

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Patrick Lencioni is president of The Table Group, a San Francisco Bay Area management consulting firm, and author of the best-selling books The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive and The Five Temptations of a CEO. In addition to his work as an executive coach and consultant, Pat is a sought-after speaker. Prior to founding The Table Group, he worked at the management consulting firm Bain & Company, Oracle Corporation, and Sybase, where he was vice president of organizational development. He is on numerous advisory boards and sits on the National Board of Directors for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America. Over the years, Pat has worked with hundreds of executive teams and CEOs-all struggling, at one time or another, with the potential for dysfunction among their teams. Pat lives with his wife, Laura, and their twin boys, Matthew and Connor, in the San Francisco Bay Area. You can reach him at The Table Group's web site, www.tablegroup.com, or at patricklencioni@tablegroup.com.

"Succinct yet sympathetic, this guide will be a boon for those struggling with the inherent difficulties of leading a group." "Concise and easy to follow, this book is recommended for academic and public libraries with management collections and for anyone who is a member of a team that needs improvement." (Library Journal, April 15, 2002) "...there is a lot of good sense in this book...certainly offers some useful pointers..." (Supply Management, 28 March 2002) "...is worth exploring..." (Progress, Summer 2002) "...an entertaining quick read filled with information easy to digest..." (The star online, 12 August 2003)

In keeping with the parable style, Lencioni (The Five Temptations of a CEO) begins by telling the fable of woman who, as CEO of a struggling Silicon Valley firm, took control of a dysfunctional executive committee and helped its members succeed as a team. Story time over, Lencioni offers explicit instructions for overcoming the human behavioral tendencies that he says corrupt teams (absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability and inattention to results). Succinct yet sympathetic, this guide will be a boon for those struggling with the inherent difficulties of leading a group.
 
Building a cohesive team is not complicated, declares Lencioni, president of his own management consulting firm and author of The Five Temptations of a CEO. Departing from the dry, theoretical writing of many management books, he presents his case in the context of a fictional organization, and in doing so succeeds at communicating his ideas. The story is about a female CEO who is hired to bring together a dysfunctional executive staff to work as a team in a company that just two years earlier had looked promising. The scenarios that follow are recognizable and can be applied anywhere teamwork is involved, whether it is a multinational company, a small department within a larger organization, or a sports team. The five dysfunctions discussed are absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results. At the end of the story, the main points are summarized, and clearly written suggestions and exercises are offered to help, bring about change. Concise and easy to follow, this book is recommended for academic and public libraries with management collections and for anyone who is a member of a team that needs improvement. --Bellinda Wise, Nassau Community Call. Lib. Garden City, NY (Library Journal, April 15, 2002)
 
"...there is a lot of good sense in this book...certainly offers some