The Five Dysfunctions Of A Team: A Leadership Fable

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team (2002) is a leadership book written by Patrick Lencioni, an American author and speaker who specializes in business consulting and organizational health. Lencioni sheds light on the fundamental challenges that hinder team success. These dysfunctions are interconnected, each building upon the other. The first dysfunction is the absence of trust, where team members hesitate to express vulnerability by openly sharing their weaknesses and concerns. This lack of trust forms a barrier to effective communication, representing the second dysfunction. Without trust, team members struggle to engage in healthy conflict, which is vital for generating innovative ideas and making informed decisions—this constitutes the third dysfunction, fear of conflict. Individuals in such teams tend to avoid constructive debates, opting instead for superficial harmony. Consequently, the fourth dysfunction arises: a lack of commitment. When team members evade conflict and debate, they find it challenging to fully commit to decisions. Finally, the fifth dysfunction manifests as an inattention to results, as individual ego and self-interest override collective success. Lencioni’s book offers valuable insights and practical strategies to address these dysfunctions, fostering the development of high-performing teams.

In addition to The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Lencioni is also known for many of his other books, including The Five Temptations of a CEO (1998), The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive (2000), Death by Meeting (2004), and The 6 Types of Working Genius (2022).

This study guide refers to the 2002 Jossey-Bass edition of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.

Summary

In the introduction to this book, Lencioni argues that because teams are made up of imperfect human beings, they have a tendency to be dysfunctional. This, however, does not mean that achieving a healthy team dynamic is impossible. This is the point of “The Fable,” the fictional narrative that comprises the first half of the book. In the second half, “The Model,” he discusses the dysfunctions in greater detail and in terms of real-world situations.

“The Fable” concerns a company called DecisionTech, once a rising star among Silicon Valley start-ups and now plagued by ineffective leadership. Its main protagonist is Kathryn, a 57-year-old woman with experience in building teams, who has been hired by DecisionTech to identify what is preventing the company from achieving its goals and shift its culture so that it can once again be successful. This narrative arc is divided into four parts, which follow Kathryn’s work at DecisionTech.

Described as a talented, authentic leader with a particular knack for injecting new life and morale into teams of various kinds, Kathryn has been brought to DecisionTech by the chairman of the board, who has full confidence in her ability to address the issues that have led to the executive leadership team’s poor performance. Its members include Jeff Shanley, former chief executive officer (CEO), now head of business development; Michele “Mikey” Bebe, head of marketing, with a proven track record of results; Martin Gilmore, head of engineering and the inventor of the DecisionTech flagship product; Jeff “JR” Rawlins, head of sales, who is known for his pragmatic approach; Carlos Amador, head of customer support, who has a team-oriented mindset; Jan Mersino, chief financial officer (CFO), with a keen mind for financial infrastructure; and Nick Farrell, chief operating officer (COO) and the newest addition to the team. After spending her first weeks observing these individuals and interactions, Kathryn concludes that the team they form is more dysfunctional than any she has seen during her career.

In Part 2, Lencioni describes an off-site retreat in Napa Valley, where Kathryn has the executive leadership team begin to identify and address the attitudes and behaviors that are causing problems. Throughout the retreat, Kathryn focuses on building trust within the team by encouraging each member to share their personal histories, and she also introduces various team-building tools that can help them. Not all participants in the retreat are receptive. Mikey, in particular, displays a lack of trust and remains disconnected from the activities.

As the off-site meeting progresses, Kathryn emphasizes the team’s lack of attention to results and leads a brainstorming session to determine actionable measures for greater profitability. Encountering resistance and defensiveness from Mikey, Kathryn clarifies the importance of adopting common goals and measurements, while also exposing the politics of the team. Despite initial skepticism, most of the team begins to grasp the relevance of Kathryn’s approach. To conclude the retreat, she introduces the concept of productive conflict and asks the team to identify an overarching goal. After a vigorous debate, they settle on acquiring 18 new customers by the end of the year. By the end of the retreat, Kathryn acknowledges the progress made but also the challenging work that lies ahead.

In Part 3, having established the need to confront unhealthy team dynamics head-on, Kathryn then pursues difficult conversations with those on the team who still seem to be pushing back in an unproductive manner. In addition to Mikey, JR has also openly expressed cynicism about Kathryn’s approach and even hostility toward her during the retreat. Soon after, both he and Mikey resign. Even as Kathryn realizes that losing two team members will have a significant impact on the company, she also believes that their departure will ultimately help the team more than hinder it.

In Part 4, Kathryn names and describes the dysfunctions she has observed—the “five dysfunctions” of the book’s title. While the DecisionTech team comes to understand what has held them back, they also realize that the biggest challenge moving forward will be maintaining discipline and holding each other accountable to team goals. Acknowledging that much work is still ahead, Kathryn assures them that they are heading in the right direction.

Following “The Fable,” Lencioni presents “The Model,” in which he defines the five dysfunctions in greater detail and provides positive counterexamples that serve as aspirational goals for teams. He also offers a diagnostic tool that teams can use to assess their effectiveness (or lack), as well as further suggestions for how to overcome each one of the five dysfunctions in real-world scenarios.