Nov 15 2007
WCBA - Patrick Lencioni Highlights The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
At the World Congress for Business Analysts (WCBA) today, Patrick Lencioni from The Table Group, Inc. spoke about dysfunctional teams. Patrick wrote The Five Dysfunctions of a Team in 2002 and his latest book, The Three Signs of a Miserable Job, just came out in September.
Patrick started out by saying that “life is simple and hard” and that “it’s important to do simple things well day in and day out.”
He then went on to discuss the two key requirements for success:
- Be Smart - which means a company should be good at strategy, marketing, finance, technology
- Be Healthy - which means that a company should have minimal politics and confusion, high morale, high productivity, low turnover
He expounded on the keys to creating a healthy organization:
- Build and maintain a cohesive leadership team
- Create organizational clarity
- Over-communicate clarity
- Reinforce clarity through human systems
Finally, Patrick wrapped up with the five dysfunctions of a team - presented in a triangle with “Absence of Trust” at the bottom. The role that a leader should take is noted in parentheses:
- Absence of trust (go first)
- Fear of conflict (mine for conflict)
- Lack of commitment (force clarity and closure)
- Avoidance of accountability (confront difficult issues)
- Inattention to results (focus on collective outcomes)
Teamwork is a choice - you have to sign up for the costs and sacrifices in order to gain the benefits.