The Five Dysfunctions Of A Team: A Leadership Fable

Part 2 begins with a conflict between a sales opportunity the DecisionTech team wants to pursue and the retreat that Kathryn has organized in Napa Valley. When Kathryn asks the team to reschedule the sales meeting, she encounters significant resistance. From the team’s point of view, the off-site meeting seems secondary in comparison with a major sales opportunity, particularly given DecisionTech’s recent struggles. Calmly but firmly, Kathryn reiterates that her primary responsibility is to rescue the company from its downward trend and emphasizes that this primary objective takes precedence over any individual sales opportunity, no matter how appealing it may be.

During the retreat, Kathryn discusses the purpose of the gathering and the problem she perceives within the team. Right away she identifies a lack of trust among them, which she relates to their inability to engage in healthy debate. As she establishes ground rules for the meeting, including being present and engaged, she encourages the team to spend time getting to know one another.

Kathryn then facilitates the team’s efforts to arrive at shared goals. Initially, they identify these goals without much conflict, but Kathryn points out that these initial goals reveal a lack of information flow, which prompts her to continue emphasizing the importance of consensus-driven goals.