The Five Dysfunctions of a Team Book Review

I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book. Perhaps because it was very different to what I was expecting.

Initially, I was a bit skeptical when I heard that it was written as a story (think The Phoenix Project & Who Moved my Cheese) rather than a straight non-fiction book, but I am happy to admit that my skepticism was unwarranted. My version is also in small hardback form that I like.

What I really like about this book is that the short chapters, complimented by the fast pace in which the story is set and unfolds. It is quite a quick read - as you want to keep reading to find out what happens to the team.

It is about a company that should be more successful than it is, and realising the problem may be with the directors / heads of departments, a new, veteran (actually retired) CEO is asked to join the company and put it back on the right track.

The story follows the new CEO taking the heads of functions (Sales, Marketing, Operations etc) to multi-day retreats, which after observing their methods and interactions introduces them to the Five Dysfunctions of a Team, shares with them what they are doing wrong and how they could be working together better.

And by the end of the story, the heads of departments (that still remain!) are a better team for it. It's a story about personalities as much as it is about strategy.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Throughout the story, the author can't help but make the reader vested in the personalities of the leaders. You will identify with the different personalities in the story, whether it is the supercilious marketing exec thinking they are superior to the others, or the laconic, matter of fact product focused operations director.

Looking back, there are many levels to this story. The reluctance of the CEO to return to a senior leadership position, the necessity of injecting the business with new, outside blood, and the reminder that businesses are really just the sum of its people.

The first observation that the new CEO shared with the heads was that she noticed a lack of trust between them.

Absence of Trust

This absence of trust, results in them not being empathetic to each others motivations or understanding that they all have a shared goal. She encourages them to be more open about themselves and be more vulnerable as the desire to feel invulnerable can cause people to hide mistakes or refrain from asking for help.

More importantly, she shares that trust is the basis on which all else is built, as without trust, how can any relationship be sustained or grow?

Fear of Conflict

Another thing the new CEO encourages is the voicing of more disagreements, and engaging in more discussions with different viewpoints in aid of coming up with more balanced solutions.

Because of a fear of conflict, often a sort of artificial harmony sets in where other departments don't challenge (in a good way) each other or hold each other accountable.

Healthy debates are often required and with the right people, who engage with the process without being defensive, can be highly beneficial.

Lack of Commitment

When teams are debating and engaging more with each other, they are more likely to stick to their mutual commitments because of stronger relationships and greater respect and understanding.

The CEO shares that a lack of commitment can manifest in a number of ways from including always talking about the same item in different meetings without a decision being made and being stuck to. Without commitment to decisions or courses of actions, objectives and priorities cannot be created and are unclear.

What I particularly liked was how the CEO had all the departments list the things that "could be prioritised and measured" (product quality, features, sales leads, marketing etc) and had them pick together one to collectively focus on for the next quarter.

And most importantly, having everyone committed to a course of actions brings collective buy-in and engagement.

Avoidance of Accountability

Without actions being committed to, it is impossible to keep people and teams accountable to to those decisions and objectives. It is important that poor performance is discussed and addressed even when uncomfortable, that everyone is held to the same level of accountability and people know what they are accountable for.

With an avoidance of accountability, there is a lack of ownership and objectives are missed.

Inattention to Results

The CEO warns of the danger of putting their own results ahead of their teams. That is, having too much vested interest in how the success or failure of a project effects their own metrics or career opportunities than the overall business. This is the danger of ego that I have seen some people fall into, where people state that they did all their tasks, so if the project fails it is nothing to do with them. Worse, when a project succeeds and they over represent their contribution - we've all seen people who didn't lift a finger, pose on project photos on LinkedIn!

By focusing on results, teams can consistently keep engaged, know what they are trying to achieve and measure their effectiveness.

Summary

While the pyramid diagram in the book suggests a linear relationship between the five dysfunctions, the author admits that they are all cyclical and interconnected.

In summary, a team that

• displays sufficient vulnerability to trust each other

• respects each other to have constructive debates instead of avoiding conflict

• Makes decisions and commits to them

• keeps themselves and each other accountable

• focusses on team and business results, without ego

Is likely to succeed over teams that don't.

If you work with others. Get this book. Read it. I gave a careers talk at a local college recently and this is one of the books I recommended under the topic of people/teamwork.

This book will be going very high on my all time favourite book list.

I am currently reading: The Four Steps to the Epiphany by Steve Blank and Start Now, Get Perfect Later by Rob Moore.

Note: None of this article was generated with AI. Every sentence, point, word and grammar mistake is a painstaking, original construct of my personal creativity.

-- Lee