Summary of Patrick Lencioni's 'The Five Dysfunctions of a Team'

1. Leadership Session

2. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

3. People not willing to be open about
mistakes and weaknesses make it
impossible to build a foundation of trust
within a team
1. Absence of Trust
Dysfunction Triangle
Dysfunctional teams
don’t WIN!

4. “Vulnerability based trust is….
Where they say and genuinely mean things like ‘I
screwed up’, ‘I need help’, ‘Your idea is better
than mine’, ‘I wish I could learn to do that as well
as you do’ and even, ‘I’m sorry’”
Patrick Lencioni

5. ➔ Conceal their weaknesses and
mistakes from one another
➔ Hesitate to help or provide
constructive feedback
➔ Hesitate to offer help outside their
own area of responsibility
➔ Jump to conclusions about the
intentions and aptitudes of others
without attempting to clarify them
Teams that Lack Trust…...
➔ Fail to recognise and tap into one
another’s skills and experiences
➔ Waste time and energy managing
their behaviors for effect
➔ Hold grudges about past conflicts
and disagreements
➔ Dread meetings and find reasons
to avoid spending time together

6. ➔ Admit weaknesses and mistakes
➔ Ask for help
➔ Accept questions and input about
their areas of responsibility
➔ Give one another the benefit of
the doubt before arriving at
negative conclusions
➔ Take risks in offering feedback
and assistance
Teams that Trust…...
➔ Appreciate and tap into one
another’s skills and experiences
➔ Focus time and energy on
important issues, not politics
➔ Offer and accept apologies
without hesitation
➔ Look forward to meetings and
other opportunities to work as a
group

7. A Leader’s Role in Building Trust
Tools
➔ Personal Histories Exercise
➔ Personality Profile (MBTI)
➔ Organise regular events where
your team socialises outside the
work environment
Actions
➔ Lead by example
➔ Protects the team by accepting
responsibility for mistakes
➔ Focuses on long term success
➔ Quickly resolve issues
**A culture of distrust sets a tone for the second disfunction → Fear of conflict

8. 2. Fear of Conflict
Teams that lack trust are incapable of
engaging in an unfiltered and
passionate debate of ideas. Instead,
they resort to veiled discussions and
guarded comments and progress is
delayed.
1. Absence of Trust
Dysfunction #2

9. “Contrary to popular wisdom and behaviour,
conflict is not a bad.
In fact, the fear of conflict is almost always a sign
of problems”
Patrick Lencioni

10. ➔ Have boring meetings
➔ Create environments where hidden politics and personal
attacks thrive
➔ Ignore controversial topics that are critical to team
success
➔ Fail to tap into all the opinions and perspective of team
members
➔ Waste time and energy with posturing and interpersonal
risk management
Teams that Fear Conflict…...

11. ➔ Have lively, interesting meetings, with lots of opinions and
unique perspectives
➔ Extract and exploit the ideas of all team members
➔ Solve real problems quickly
➔ Put critical topics on the table for discussion
Teams that Engage in Conflict…...

12. A Leader’s Role in Embracing Conflict
Tools
➔ Understanding personality/
behavioral preference profiles
➔ Disagreement “Root Causing”
➔ Confidence and courage
Actions
➔ Admit that it’s okay to have conflict
around ideas and strategies
➔ Allow conflict resolution to occur
naturally as often as you can
➔ During conflicts remind the team that
it’s healthy and necessary
➔ Protect team members from harm by
maintaining focus on ideas
➔ Engage in healthy conflict when
necessary as an example
**A lack of healthy conflict is a
problem because it ensures the third
dysfunction of a team- Lack of
Commitment

13. 2. Fear of Conflict
Without having aired their opinions in
the course of passionate and open
debate, team rarely buy in and
commit to decisions, though they may
feign agreement during meetings.
1. Absence of Trust
Dysfunction #3
3. Lack of Commitment

14. “In the context of a team, commitment is a
function of two things: clarity and buy in. Great
teams make clear and timely decisions and move
forward with complete buy-in from every member
of the team, even those who voted against the
decision”
Patrick Lencioni

15. ➔ Create ambiguity on company direction and priorities
➔ Miss opportunities because of too much analysis
➔ Breeds lack of confidence and fear of failure
➔ Discusses and reviews decision again and again
➔ Encourage second guessing among team members
Teams that lack Commitment…...

16. ➔ Have clear directions and priorities
➔ Are aligned around objectives
➔ Develop an ability to learn from mistakes
➔ Seize opportunities before the competition
➔ Moves forward without hesitation
Teams that are Committed…...

17. The Leader’s role in Generating Commitment
Tools
➔ Consistent Messaging
➔ Contingency and worst case scenario
analysis
➔ Delegation in Low-Risk Situations
➔ Visual Management
Actions
➔ Create certainty through commitment
to actions
➔ Set and honor clear deadlines
➔ Push group for closure of issues
➔ Adhere to schedules
**Because of this lack of real commitment and buy in team members then develop-
Avoidance of Accountability

18. 2. Fear of Conflict
Without committing to a clear plan of
action, even the most focused and
driven people often hesitate to call
their peers on actions and behaviors
that seem counterproductive.
1. Absence of Trust
Dysfunction #4
3. Lack of Commitment
4. Lack of
Accountability

19. “At its core, accountability is about having the
courage to confront someone about their
deficiencies and then to stand in the moment and
deal with their reaction, which may not be
pleasant”
Patrick Lencioni

20. “Some people are hard to hold accountable
because they are so helpful. Others because they
are intimidating”
Patrick Lencioni

21. ➔ Creates resentment and different performance standards
for different staff members
➔ Resents decisions but won’t vocalise their concerns
➔ Encourage mediocrity and settles for the satisfaction of
simply ‘getting it done’
➔ Misses deadlines and deliverables
➔ Push all the burden of discipline to the leader
Teams that avoid accountability…...

22. ➔ Ensure that poor performers feel pressure to improve and
keep up with the rest of the team
➔ Identify quickly problem by questioning one’s approach
without hesitation
➔ Establish respect among the team who are held to the
same standard
➔ Avoid excessive bureaucracy around performance
management and corrective action
Teams that are accountable…..

23. The Leader’s Role in Generating Accountability
Tools
➔ Publish goals and standards: no one can
ignore them and everyone has an
understanding of the expectations
➔ Progress review team member should
comment on their peer performance
against objectives and standards
Actions
➔ Encourage and allow team to serve as the
first and primary accountability mechanism
➔ Serve as the arbiter of discipline when the
team fails
➔ Reward team instead of individuals
**Failure to hold one another accountable creates an environment where the
fifth dysfunction can thrive- Inattention to results

24. 2. Fear of Conflict
Inattention to results occurs when team
members put their individual needs
(such as ego, career development, or
recognition) or even the needs of their
divisions above the collective goals of
the team.
1. Absence of Trust
Dysfunction #5
3. Lack of Commitment
4. Lack of Accountability
Inattention
to Results

25. “A functional team must make the collective
results of the group more than individual
members goals”
Patrick Lencioni

26. ➔ Stagnate and fail to grow
➔ Rarely defeat competitors
➔ Loses achievement-oriented employees
➔ Encourages team members to focus on their own careers and
individual goals rather that the company goal
➔ Is easily distracted
Teams that are inattentive…..

27. ➔ Retain achievement orientated employees
➔ Minimises individualistic behavior
➔ Enjoys success and suffers failure acutely
➔ Benefits from individuals who subjugate their goals/interests
for the good of the team
➔ Is collectively focused on the company mission
Teams that focus on collective results…..

28. The Leader’s Role in Focusing on Results
Tools
➔Make a public declaration of results
➔Result based rewards
Actions
➔ Set the tone for a focus on results by
focusing on results
➔ Must be selfless and objective

29. Summary: Cohesive team behaviours
1. Trust each other
2. Engage in unfiltered ideas
3. Commit to decisions and plans of action
4. Hold one another accountable for delivering against those plans
5. They focus on the achievement of collective results
Simple in theory, complex in practice!!!!