The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: Notes on Lencioni

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni The true measurement of a team: results. To get results, you have to address the issues stopping the team from acting like a team. First Dysfunction: Absence of Trust (Invulnerability) Trust is the foundation of teamwork. The failure is members not understanding or opening up to one another. Trust is critical to team building. Great teams do not hold back. They are not afraid to air dirty laundry, admit mistakes, or share concerns without fear of judgment. What it looks like: say what you mean. Be comfortable challenging one another. Second Dysfunction: Fear of Conflict (Artificial Harmony) If we do not trust each other, we will not engage in open, constructive ideological conflict. We will fake harmony instead. Build trust by sharing life stories. Childhood, hobbies, first job, family dynamic. Eat pizza, drinks, Chinese, other family-style foods. Less formal. Less threatening. Repeat the exercises until it sticks. Be willing to put yourself out there. Third Dysfunction: Lack of Commitment (Ambiguity) The failure to buy in. You need to debate and argue so managers can speak their minds. Without proper debate and deliberation, they will not commit. And when something fails, they will say they never agreed in the first place. If someone disagrees with the plan, let them propose a counterplan or voice their concerns. But make it clear: voice it now, loudly. Because they will be committing to the plan and held accountable for results. Fourth Dysfunction: Avoidance of Accountability (Low Standards) Once the team decides on a course of action and everyone has bought in, you have to hold each other accountable for the deliverables at the quality you agreed on. That means tough talks with peers. Put the interpersonal discomfort aside. If you cannot engage in productive debate and conflict in meetings and one-on-ones, expect non-commitments, disengagement, and other destructive behavior that pushes the goal further away. Fifth Dysfunction: Inattention to Results (Status and Ego) Team members chase individual recognition at the expense of collective results. No matter how good an individual feels about their situation, if the team loses, everyone loses. Great players’ egos are tied to a clear result: winning. They just want to win. Groups of good players are not teams. They are competitors looking out for themselves. Smaller, less talented players who play like a team beat faster, more talented, better-funded groups that never mastered playing together. Make the results so clear that no one would even consider doing something purely to boost their status or ego. Goals and results need to be simple enough to understand, specific enough to act on, and tied closely to daily work. Running Meetings Be prepared. Be present. Participate. Stay fully engaged. Speak up when an issue should be a one-on-one or a different meeting. When employees make passive-aggressive, snarky, or rude remarks, ask: “Is your intention to help the team, or are you trying to make us more dysfunctional?” When a company has a collection of good leaders who do not act like a team, it creates confusion about who their first team is supposed to be.