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| The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable | 
 enlarge | Author: Patrick M. Lencioni
Publisher: Jossey-Bass
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $9.44
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (224 reviews)
Sales Rank: 382
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 240
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.8 x 1
ISBN: 0787960756
Dewey Decimal Number: 658.4036
UPC: 723812391165
EAN: 9780787960759
ASIN: 0787960756
Publication Date: March 19, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 There's a lot of common sense material here, but Lencioni does organize it well... November 12, 2008
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable, is a "how-to" book on facilitating positive group dynamics, but in story form. That is, author Patrick Lencioni makes up a senior leadership team with problems, and walks the reader through the thought-processes, actions, and results obtained of Kathryn Petersen, the new CEO of DecisionTech.
That story is pages 3-184 of the book.
Pages vii-ix is Lencioni's introduction. He attempts to set the stage for the importance of the topic: "Not finance. Not strategy. Not technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because it is so powerful and so rare" (p. vii). This seems like management mumbo-jumbo. I'd say that product, niche, and marketing have a LOT to do with "the ultimate competitive advantage." Teamwork didn't help the Kodak film division, or American Motors, or the manufacturers of VHS or vinyl records technology. Or Enron.
"The fact remains that teams, because they are made up of imperfect human beings, are inherently dysfunctional" (p. vii). A number of authors use this concept of "imperfect human beings" as a straw person. There is no such thing as a "perfect human being." So is Lencioni saying teams made up of identical robots are inherently functional?
Back to the story.
The story includes an endorsement of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (p. 54, 199). "Emotional intelligence." Arrrgh! Many people also refer to an astrologer's forecast every day!
The author discusses a "team" versus "a collection of individuals" (p. 83). Interesting.
"If we cannot learn to engage in productive, ideological conflict during meetings, we are through" (p. 101). Again, interesting.
Then the author's team framework ideas start on page 185. Pages 188-189 are really the heart of this book, because they deal with the five dysfunctions:
1. absence of trust
2. fear of conflict
3. lack of commitment
4. avoidance of accountability
5. inattention to results
Here's the most powerful thought I got from this book:
"It is... ironic that so many people avoid conflict in the name of efficiency, because healthy conflict is actually a time saver. Contrary to the notion that teams waste time and energy arguing, those that avoid conflict actually doom themselves to revisiting issues again and again without resolution. They often ask team members to take their issues 'off-line,' which seems to be a euphemism for avoiding dealing with an important topic, only to have it raised again at the next meeting" (p. 203).
Okay, I'm going to work on this.
I think I started reading this book with a negative attitude ("Not another book on..."). However, the fable was entertaining and easy to read. The wrap-up at the end was short and to the point. The five dysfunctions probably will give the reader (even me) something to try, or at least observe. I'd like the MBTI de-emphasized, or at LEAST critiqued, but perhaps managers feel at home with this labeling exercise.
Mildly recommended.
 Great inspiring leadership book October 13, 2008
Wonderful and inspiring book. I also would recommend the newly published, "Running with the Rhinos" as well for good companion book. Running with the Rhinos: Courageous Leadership for a Complex World
Good for team improvement October 4, 2008
This is an easy read. The principles are applied within a story. Useful tool to use for improving team moral.
 The best book on teamwork October 1, 2008
This was a great book, an easy read that was packed with information and suspense. After reading the fictional part of the book, I found the in depth descriptions of each dysfunction at the end of the book very important and informative. Also what makes this book so good is the fact that almost anyone in any team building situation can relate to the book. As a high school senior who is involved in sports, is involved in many activities at my school and who has a weekend job that is focused around teamwork, reading this book has been beneficial and inspirational to me. As I look back at things I have done and been involved with and also ahead to future endeavors, I realize not only the importance of teamwork but how to take the idealistic thought of a perfectly functioning team and turn it into reality. Almost anything that you do has some sort of team aspect. If you can conquer the 5 dysfunctions by taking conflict head on and trusting others while at the same time doing not what is best for you but what is best for the team, I think that you will truly understand and retain the true meaning and importance of this book.
Not my favorite business leadership book September 16, 2008
I think I enjoyed the concept of this book more than the actual implementation. Told like a fairy tale, the book tells the story of a team in trouble and a company facing internal failure. A professional "team builder" is hired as CEO to restructure and revitalize the team.
The new CEO struggles to establish a team mentality among her newly acquired executives. Rampant mistrust and confidence issues are paralyzing them. The author chronicles the steps Kathryn takes to overcome these obstacles and begin establishing a self-sufficient group.
In theory, if your team is suffering these sorts of issues, the book should work. This book was required reading for my workplace, and while I found it to be an easy, entertaining, and perhaps even insightful read, I couldn't quite relate to it. Yes, the same sorts of issues are prevalent on my own team at work. However, Kathryn was dealing with eight or nine team members. There are many more on mine. Technically, it should work no matter the size of the team. The problem is convincing everyone on board that this is a good plan.
I would recommend reading the book if for no other reason than to gain more insight into the workings of a team...particularly the ones that aren't working.
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