Ken always says that his job is to create the best team possible, not to shepherd the careers of individual athletes. And I’m referring to collective results- the goals of the entire team.” “We are going to the top of the chart now to talk about the ultimate dysfunction: the tendency of team members to seek out individual recognition and attention at the expense of results. Kathryn described the next dysfunction by going to the white board and writing the phrase inattention to results at the top of the triangle. Take this simple exercise seriously, and be willing to put yourself out there.” “I don’t want you to give me some generic weakness, and I don’t want you glossing over your strengths because you’re too modest or embarrassed to tell us what you think you’re really good at. She then asked everyone to spend five minutes deciding what they believed were their single biggest strength and weakness in terms of their contribution to DecisionTech’s success or failure. And the only way to do that is to overcome our need for invulnerability.” Remember, teamwork begins by building trust. But t his stuff won’t stick unless we understand how to apply it completely.”įor the next few hours, the group reviewed the material they had covered the previous day. I know that you’re all probably starting to wonder, ‘Didn’t we do this yesterday?’ And I realize it’s repetitive. One of these was the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. They spent the next several hours, working through lunch, reviewing their individual behavioral tendencies according to a variety of diagnostic tools that they had completed before coming to Napa. That means everyone needs to be fully engaged in whatever we’re talking about.”īefore we get into any heavy lifting, let’s start with something that I call personal histories.” Kathryn explained that everyone would answer five nonintrusive personal questions having to do with their backgrounds: But there are a few that I’m a stickler about.īasically, I want you all to do two things: be present and participate. I don’t have a lot of rules when it comes to meetings.

Theoretically, if everyone is completely on the same page and working in lockstep toward the same goals with no sense of confusion, then I suppose a lack of debate might be a good sign.” They admit their mistakes, their weaknesses, and their concerns without fear of reprisal.” “They are unafraid to air their dirty laundry. Great teams do not hold back with one another,” she said. Over the years I’ve come to the conclusion that there are five reasons why teams are dysfunctional. Honestly, this one explains every broken team I’ve ever been a part of. Lencioni examines the five levels on which a team can fall apart, and explains how to establish the opposite: a team with high trust, that engages in constructive conflict, commits to decisions, holds each other accountable, and is focused on results.

The 5 dysfunctions of a team