The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

HR manager Paul Knoch reviews the book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. The review counts this business fiction as a quick, informative read that would be of use to almost any HR practitioner who must work with a team of employees.

Have you ever wondered why your team of smart, competent, generally pleasant people can’t seem to come together as a cohesive, effective team? Building a strong team requires much more than simply having good people on board. Our natural tendencies often lean more towards dysfunction than cooperation. Turf wars, tension, and cynicism can erode a team’s ability to cooperate. Over time, this lack of cooperation will eventually lead to devastating results.

In The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable, Patrick Lencioni explores five basic principles of effective teams in the context of a “leadership fable.” Essentially, Lencioni weaves his business concepts into a fictional account of a new CEO, Kathryn Peterson, who inherits a team of talented but uncooperative staff. The disarray of the team is such that despite having the best people, strongest financing, and top product, the company is struggling to survive.As a new leader, Peterson is well aware that her own job is on the line if she cannot turn her team around and begin producing clear results.

In The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Lencioni reveals a powerful model of how a successful team works. What stands out is how elegant and simple the ideas in this book are. Lencioni starts with the foundational level of trust. A team must have trust before anything else can be accomplished. This is not a book of arcane theories and philoshical musings. Every page contains practical and powerful ideas that can be applied to any team.

If you have never read any of Lencioni’s books, you might be skeptical of how informative or enjoyable “business fiction” could be. Fortunately, Lencioni includes enough realistic characters (many will remind you of team members you have worked with) and interesting twists and turns to keep the reader engaged. Lencioni also wisely avoids trite or simplistic resolutions. You’ll wince at some of the challenging situations he places his new CEO in. With short chapters and brisk action, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable could be easily read over a weekend.

At the end of the book, Lencioni includes a more straightforward discussion of his concepts along with several exercises that you can use to help your team become more effective. A team assessment questionnaire, which can be used to gauge the health and strength of a team, is also included. This book is a terrific resource for anyone who leads a team or wants to understand how successful teams work.

Paul Knoch is the HRmanager for Cannon Beach Christian Conference Center and is a frequent poster on the HRHero.com Employers’ forum. Paul and his wife Carol live in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with their two daughters ages 4 and 12.