The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable  New York Times Bestseller  Authored by Patrick Lencioni Present.  Copyright 2002 Published by Jossey-Bass

What are the Five Major Dysfunctions of A Team or an Organization?  Come up with a short list of 5 to 10 dysfunctions of a team that you have been on or one that you have seen previously?

Five Major Dysfunctions According to Lencioni  1. Absence of Trust  2. Fear of Conflict  3. Lack of Commitment  4. Avoidance of Accountability  5. Inattention to Results

Five Major Dysfunctions According to Lencioni  1. Absence of Trust Trust is the foundation of real teamwork. Great teams do not hold back on one another. Look at your vulnerability. What is your greatest strength and your greatest weakness?

Five Major Dysfunctions According to Lencioni  2. Fear of Conflict Have you ever been a part of a team where people are afraid of confrontation? How are people going to be held accountable for their actions? Doesn’t everyone on the team want to become the best they can? What if they are doing something, or acting in a way, that unknown to them, is hurting the group. Should they be told?

Five Major Dysfunctions According to Lencioni  3. Lack of Commitment My favorite saying is; “it is never a matter of time it is only a matter of commitment.” Have to have clarity and buy in. Clarity comes when everyone is clear on the direction the team is heading. When they have buy in everyone has to be bought into the same plan and direction. Worse thing for a team to have is ambiguity when it comes to ideas and deadlines.

Five Major Dysfunctions According to Lencioni  4. Avoidance of Accountability Biggest dysfunction that happens with number 4 is that the group possesses low standards. Once everyone knows what they have signed up for they then need to hold each other accountable even with awkward conversations between one other.

Five Major Dysfunctions According to Lencioni  5. Inattention to Results Status and Ego of the teams individuals. The individual can never be bigger than the team. This becomes a dysfunction when members of the team care about something other than the collective goals of the group.

Roles of the Leader to Change and Avoid these Dysfunctions  The most important action that a leader must take to encourage the building of trust on a team is to demonstrate vulnerability first.  The team leader must create an environment that does not punish vulnerability.  They also must be genuine.  Staged things don’t work; it will never pass the sniff test.

Roles of the Leader to Change and Avoid these Dysfunctions  First Dysfunction of an Absence of Trust  A leader must demonstrate restraint when their people engage in conflict, and allow resolution to occur naturally, as messy as it can sometimes be.  A leader must also model appropriate conflict behavior.

Roles of the Leader to Change and Avoid these Dysfunctions  Second dysfunction of fear of conflict.  More than any other member of the team, the leader must be comfortable with the prospect of making a decision that ultimately turns out to be wrong.  A leader cannot place too high a premium on certainty or consensus.

Roles of the Leader to Change and Avoid these Dysfunctions  Fourth Dysfunction of Avoidance of Accountability.  Once a leader has created a culture of accountability on a team they must be willing to serve as the ultimate arbiter of discipline when the team itself fails.  The team must have a shared responsibility in holding each other accountable where the leader doesn’t hesitate to step in when necessary.

Roles of the Leader to Change and Avoid these Dysfunctions  Fifth Dysfunction of Inattention to results  The leader must set the tone for a focus on results.  The team leader must be selfless and objective, and reserve rewards and recognition for those who make real contributions to the achievement of group goals.

Other Thoughts of Team Building  Team work comes down to practicing a small set of principles over a long period of time.  Success is not a matter of mastering subtle, sophisticated theory, but rather of embracing common sense with uncommon levels of discipline and persistence.

A Positive Way to Look at how a Functional Team Operates  1. They trust one another.  2. They engage in unfiltered conflict around ideas.  3. They commit to decisions and plans of action.  4. They hold one another accountable for delivering against those plans.  5. They focus on the achievement of collective results.