The Five Dysfunctions of a Team By Patrick Lencioni

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The Five Dysfunctions of a Team By Patrick
Lencioni

• Leadership Team Book Review

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Overview

• The author uses a leadership fable to address the
  complexity of teams.
• The fable reveals the five dysfunctions that may
  cause teams to struggle.
• Review of the Fable
• Analysis of the Model
• Application of the Model

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The Fable Setup

• Decision Tech had
• Executive team talent
• More resources
• Better core technology
• yet underperformed its competition due to team
  dysfunction.
• The fable is told from the perspective of
  Kathryn, the CEO that is hired to turn the
  company around.
• Stereotype team members expose the human flaws
  and dynamics that undermine teams.

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Symptoms of Problems at Decision Tech

• Critical deadlines slipped
• Turnover of key employees
• Low morale
• Political environment
• Dull, ineffective meetings tense, no arguments
  or hostility, no decisions were made, things did
  not get done.

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Katheryn New CEO

• Industry outsider with no high tech experience.
• Non stellar pedigree
• Earned a 3 year business school diploma
• Performed stints in military, teaching, and
  manufacturing.
• Blueish collar executive
• Old (57 years)
• Katheryn did not fit the Silicon Valley executive
  stereotype.
• Disciplined, tenacious, had a winning spirit
• If she can build teams, then anyone can apply
  these team building principles.

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The Model
Inattention to Results
Avoidance of Accountability
Lack of Commitment
Fear of Conflict
Absence of Trust
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Absence of Trust

• Stems from unwillingness to be vulnerable about
  weaknesses or mistakes.
• Invulnerability make it impossible to build a
  foundation of trust.
• Employees must get comfortable being vulnerable
  around each other.
• No retribution
• Minimizes politics
• Requires turning off competitive instincts
• Morale on distrusting teams is low turnover is
  high.

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Teams with Absence of Trust

• Conceal weaknesses
• Hesitate to ask for help, or to give help
• Dread meetings and avoid spending time together
• Jump to conclusions about intentions.
• Fail to tap into others skills and experiences.

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Suggestions for Improving Trust

• Normally earned slowly through shared
  experiences.
• Jump start by
• Personal Histories Exercise
• Team Effectiveness Exercise
• Personality and Behavioral Preferences Exercise
  (Meyers Briggs Type Indicator)
• 360 Feedback (Divorce from compensation.)
• Experiential Team Exercises

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Fear of Conflict

• Artificial Harmony
• Teams that lack trust are incapable of engaging
  in unfiltered and passionate debate of ideas.
• Resort to veiled discussions, guarded comments,
  and politics.
• Constructive conflict clarifies issues.
• Lack of healthy conflict, leads to the third
  dysfunction.

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Teams that Fear Conflict

• Have boring meetings
• Create environments where back channel politics
  and personal attacks thrive
• Ignore controversial topics that are critical to
  team success.
• Fail to tap into all the opinions and
  perspectives of the team members.
• Waste time and energy with posturing and
  interpersonal risk management.

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Suggestions for Improving Fear of Conflict

• Recognize the need for constructive conflict.
• Mining for conflict
• Dig and extract buried disagreements.
• Real Time Permission
• Recognize when the level of discord is
  uncomfortable interrupt and ask if them if it is
  necessary.
• Leader should avoid premature termination of
  conflict and allow natural resolution.

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Lack of Commitment

• Ambiguity
• Without having aired opinions, team members
  rarely buy in and commit to decisions.
• Agreement may be feigned.
• Avoid consensus. Instead disagree and commit.

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A Team that Fails to Commit

• Creates ambiguity among the team about direction
  and priorities
• Watches windows of opportunity close due to
  excessive analysis and unnecessary delay
• Breeds lack of confidence and fear of failure
• Revisits discussions and decisions again and
  again
• Encourage second-guessing among team members

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Suggestions for Improving Commitment

• Cascading Messaging
• Review what key decisions need to be communicated
  to employees.
• During this review decisions and actions are
  clarified, and leaders are aligned.
• Deadlines (intermediate and final)
• Contingency and Worst Case Scenario Analysis
• Low-Risk Exposure Therapy
• Practice making team low-risk decisions after
  through discussions but little analysis. Then
  evaluate decision.

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Avoidance of Accountability

• Low Standards
• Without committing to a clear plan of
  action/objective, people hesitate to call peers
  on actions and behaviors that are counter
  productive to the good of the team.

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A Team that Avoids Accountability

• Creates resentment among team members who have
  different standards of performance.
• Encourages mediocrity
• Misses deadlines and key deliverables
• Places undue burdens on the team leader as the
  sole source of discipline.

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Suggestions for Improving Accountability

• Publication of Goals and Standards
• Creation of clear measurable objectives
  (Ambiguity is the enemy.)
• Hold Simple and Regular Progress Reviews
• Adds structure
• Teammates should communicate regarding peers
  progress.
• Use Team Rewards Instead of Individual Rewards
• Peers would be more likely to hold another
  accountable.

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Inattention to Results

• Placing self before team
• Ego
• Career Development
• Recognition
• Placing ones divisions needs ahead of the
  collective goals of the team.
• Need to do what is necessary to achieve the
  objective.

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Teams Not Focused on Results

• Stagnates/fails to grow
• Rarely defeats competitors
• Loses achievement-oriented employees
• Encourages team members to focus on their own
  careers and individual goals
• Is easily distracted

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Suggestions for Improving Results

• Public Declaration of Results
• Announce expectations of success
• Well do our best prepares one for failure.
• Results-Based Rewards
• Tie compensation to achievement of specific
  outcomes.

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Building the Team

• Annual planning meeting (3 day, off-site)
• Strategic planning, succession planning,
  cascading messaging,
• Quarterly staff meeting (2 day, off-site)
• Financial, strategic, employee performance, key
  issue resolution, tactical issues, and cascading
  messaging
• Weekly staff meeting (2 hours, on-site)
• Goal progress, key activity review, cascading
  messaging
• Ad hoc topical meeting (2 hours, on-site)

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ConclusionCohesive Teams

• Trust one another
• Engage in unfiltered conflict around ideas
• Commit to decisions and plans of action
• Hold one another accountable for delivering
  against those plans.
• Focus on the achievements of collective results.

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Questions?

• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
• Patrick Lencioni
• President of the Table Group