just gets the mind going in some good thoughts. a great, quick read to plug some new ideas into one's head. i recommend.

I read a great number of titles on leadership, organizational development, and team building.

This book, told as a fable, is a very quick read and will seem unlike any other book of this sort you've read. As you read it, you'll feel as though the author has been following you through your life at work. It's a very eerie feeling when you realize that each of the characters already works with you at your office.

I particularly enjoyed the focus on organizational alignment, team building, and healthy conflict. These are essential ingredients to the recipe for an excellent team!

I've recommended this book to several other executives where I work and have received 5 star ratings in return.

I read a great number of titles on leadership, organizational development, and team building.

This book, told as a fable, is a very quick read and will seem unlike any other book of this sort you've read. As you read it, you'll feel as though the author has been following you through your life at work. It's a very eerie feeling when you realize that each of the characters already works with you at your office.

I particularly enjoyed the focus on organizational alignment, team building, and healthy conflict. These are essential ingredients to the recipe for an excellent team!

I've recommended this book to several other executives where I work and have received 5 star ratings in return.

One of the strongest books in Patrick Lencioni's growing body of publications, "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team" offers a solid Model for the practice of management. Utilizing Lencioni's "fable" storytelling framework, a clear articulation of the Model underlying the fable and the uncommon approach of showing what does *not* contribute to good teamwork (as opposed to what *does* work), this is an interesting and useful book for managers.

Readers with managerial responsibilities should find the Model espoused in this book both useful and straightforward. As in other Lencioni publications, this Model is simple to understand, but difficult to implement. While challenging in that respect, the principles put forth in this book make sense and are well articulated.

Intrigued by an article in the 5.26.08 issue of Fortune magazine, p113-122, I had to read this book. The article was about how Seagate spends $2 million each year for the "lord of all lords" team building exercise for 200 of it's employees (mostly engineers) -- and each day of the week-long journey is based upon one of "The Five Dsyfunctions of a Team." Before employees arrive at the event, they are asked to read the book -- a fast read -- which explains, with an easy-to-relate-to story line, each one of the five:

Absence of trust, which leads to invulnerability of team members
Fear of conflict, which leads to artificial harmony
Lack of commitment, which breeds ambiguity
Avoidance of accountability, which leads to low standards
Inattention to results, which leads to status/ego being all too important

Then all 200 of them are put through the paces at the event in about every way you could imagine to get out of their comfort zone like never before and to really understand, at the cellular level, how to trust others, why conflict is good, how to really commit, how to be both accountable and results-oriented. Each day, they do team building exercises on one of the 5, and then have a team competition at the end of the event.

The article starts out "Everyone here's going to die." The CEO tells them "Yes, everyone in this room will die - at some point ... Are you doing what you want to do in your life? Or are you just blowing through?" Watkins continues. "I'm challenging your life right now. What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail?..."

While most of us have been exposed by now to some type of team building event, I doubt there is one that is so life changing as this one. Seagate could have used any one of a number of books or team building programs -- or could have designed their own -- but they chose this one. Great testimony for how powerful it can be if an organization can overcome these team dysfunctions.

Enjoy,

Sally

Intrigued by an article in the 5.26.08 issue of Fortune magazine, p113-122, I had to read this book. The article was about how Seagate spends $2 million each year for the "lord of all lords" team building exercise for 200 of it's employees (mostly engineers) -- and each day of the week-long journey is based upon one of "The Five Dsyfunctions of a Team." Before employees arrive at the event, they are asked to read the book -- a fast read -- which explains, with an easy-to-relate-to story line, each one of the five:

Absence of trust, which leads to invulnerability of team members
Fear of conflict, which leads to artificial harmony
Lack of commitment, which breeds ambiguity
Avoidance of accountability, which leads to low standards
Inattention to results, which leads to status/ego being all too important

Then all 200 of them are put through the paces at the event in about every way you could imagine to get out of their comfort zone like never before and to really understand, at the cellular level, how to trust others, why conflict is good, how to really commit, how to be both accountable and results-oriented. Each day, they do team building exercises on one of the 5, and then have a team competition at the end of the event.

The article starts out "Everyone here's going to die." The CEO tells them "Yes, everyone in this room will die - at some point ... Are you doing what you want to do in your life? Or are you just blowing through?" Watkins continues. "I'm challenging your life right now. What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail?..."

While most of us have been exposed by now to some type of team building event, I doubt there is one that is so life changing as this one. Seagate could have used any one of a number of books or team building programs -- or could have designed their own -- but they chose this one. Great testimony for how powerful it can be if an organization can overcome these team dysfunctions.

If you're interested, the link to the article is below -- you may have to copy and paste in your browser.

[...]

Enjoy,

Sally

"A camel is a horse designed by a committee," is one popular business quip. Insert the word "team" for "committee" and you have the attitude that many business people harbor about such groupings. This book, however, suggests that there are five common dysfunctions of teams and offers specific ways to attach each pitfall.

The author presents the lesson in a business fable, using a fictional Silicon Valley company that is struggling. The book closes with some specific prescriptions for overcoming each of the five dysfunctions.

At first, glancing at the book title, I thought it was an indictment of teams.

I was wrong. Rather, it indicts dysfunctional teams and is very BIG on teams as a way to get business done. Teams are "in" in modern business thought, like it or not. Anyone in a work setting who is part of a team (just about anyone, huh?) might benefit from reading his. One caveat is the sheer amount of time consumed by the process. Though we are assured that the time "investment" in team-building will pay off with later gains, it will still be a powerful temptation for harried managers to wonder how they are ever going to get the rest of their :"real work" done while they are stuck hour upon hour in the team meeting process.

Lencioni is not suggesting that everyone sit in a circle, hold hands and sing "Kumbaya." Nor does he endorse other vogue-ish practices such as Outward Bound or falling blindfolded into the arms of waiting teammates to develop trust. Rather, he offers practical ideas to cement effective teams.

I'd love to comment further, but I'm overdue for another ... team meeting!

I can't say anything new that hasn't already been covered here. This is an excellent book, particularly for the business owner, manager, or empowered supervisor. If you hold these positions and follow the guidelines of this book you will have a more responsive workforce. If you are an employee working for a employer who follows the advice in the book, you will gain much insight and useful information as well. However, if you are an employee in a bad group situation, many suggestions covered in this book are merely bandaids for problems that may be unsolvable. If you're working for a person who is authoritarian or insecure there is little in this book that will help you change their approach to management. Perhaps you should focus an equal amount of time in considering a job change. Life is too short to work for team leaders who won't use the good advice in the book.

I had to read this book for a class of mine and fortunately I loved it. The lessons are told through fictional characters; however, it's easy to see how the dysfunctions can apply towards your own teams.

Although this book contains some good ideas, it is not based on research on teams. Some of its suggestions have even been proven wrong. Instead of this book, I highly recommend Richard Hackman's "Leading Teams," which is based on decades of research, is very readable (no academic jargon), immensely practical (especially if you use some of the free tools he offers on his website), and won the best book of the year award from the Academy of Management.

Easy read. Points made in book are easily transferable to your team. Drives home the importance of a functional team.

I highly recommend this fast reading, very interesting and informative book to any managers that have a group struggling to work effectively and together as a team. I have begun addressing and discussing the dysfunctions with my team and have seen results and changes already. Great book!

Just finished reading Lencioni's the other book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Although it is not a sequel to his previous books, it is termed the third in the trilogy which includes The Five Temptations of a CEO and the Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive. The thoughts are continuous. One could spot the consistency in Lencioni's theories and also his style in presenting them in fables. Reading through the story, managers could project themselves in the position of the characters, and experience the familiar scene in their own office.

The story is about how a newly appointed CEO tried to re-establish the dysfunctional management team of the company, the ways that teamwork could elude even the most dedicated individuals, and how could it be restored.

In a series of off-site management meetings, the CEO asked the team to examine their interpersonal behaviours and to create healthy conflict and accountability among the group. She tried hard to prevent members from sliding back into old habits, and lost a couple executives in the process.

The five dysfunctions are -

absence of trust,
fear of conflict,
lack of commitment,
avoidance of accountability,
inattention to results.

1. The first dysfunction is an absence of trust among team members. Essentially, this stems from their unwillingness to be vulnerable within the group. Team members who are not genuinely open with one another about their mistakes and weaknesses make it impossible to build a foundation for trust.

2. This failure to build trust is damaging because it sets the tone for the second dysfunction: fear of conflict. Teams that lack trust are incapable of engaging in unfiltered and passionate debate of ideas. Instead they resort to veiled discussions and guarded comments.

3. A lack of healthy conflict is a problem because it ensures the third dysfunction of a team: lack of commitment. Without having aired their opinions in the course of passionate and open debate, team member rarely, if ever, buy in and commit to decisions, though they may feign agreement during meetings.

4. Because of this lack of real commitment and buy-in, team members develop an avoidance of accountability, the fourth dysfunction. Without committing to a clear plan of action, even the most focused and driven people often hesitate to call their peers on actions and behaviors that seem counterproductive to the good of the team.

5. Failure to hold one another accountable creates an environment where the fifth dysfunction can thrive. Inattention to results occurs when team members put their individual needs (such as ego, career development, or recognition) or even the needs of their divisions above the collective goals of the team.

Members of a truly cohesive teams trust one another, engage in unfiltered conflict around ideas, commit to decisions and plans of actions, hold one another accountable for delivering against those plans and focus on the achievement of collective results.

Trust is the first dysfunction presented in the story. Great teams require members to make themselves vulnerable to one another and be able to expect that their vulnerabilities will not be used against them. It is only when members of a team are comfortable having their colleagues know their weak points that they will be able to work together making their greatest concern the job at hand, not protecting themselves.

The second dysfunction presented is inattention to results, which is the tendency of team members seeking out individual recognition and attention at the expense of the team's collective results. It is like a coach speaking individually to members of a football team during half-time, without them knowing what everyone else was talking about, indicating that such behavior would represent a collection of individuals, not a team.

The third dysfunction identified and explained is the fear of conflict. Meetings are the most important setting for conflict. Meetings are boring because we have adopted a practice of avoiding conflict in meetings and not engaging in dialog to help expand commitment to goals and our understanding of what needs to be done.

The fourth dysfunction in the story is lack of commitment, which is prone to occur when a team has not openly and passionately explored all the options. Team member rarely buy in and commit to decisions even though they may feign agreement during a conflict-less meeting.

The final dysfunction discussed in the story is avoidance of accountability. Since the team has not truly engaged in an open dialog and has not truly committed to an action plan, it is difficult for peers to call one another on actions.

Lencioni aptly summarized the consequential impact of the dysfunctions of a team starting from the absence of trust. Because we need to appear invulnerable, we create an absence of trust. Because we fear conflict, we have artificial harmony on our team. Because we lack commitment, we encourage ambiguity. Because we avoid accountability, we ensure low standards. Because we seek personal status and ego we are inattentive to results of the team.

This book was an excellent reasource for team building. We used it on a couple off site meetings and it really helped get us moving towards working out our issues. It helps put everyone on the same page and eliminates finger pointing. I've loved all of his books so far.

this was one of the best books I've read for teams and it was such an easy read.

If you are in search of a book on teamwork, then I highly recommend The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. I started out reading this book because of a class assignment and turned out really enjoying it. I found the book to be a very easy and interesting read that I could relate to. Patrick Lencioni wrote this book as a fictional story that illustrates the reality of teamwork and the issues teams' experience. In this book, Patrick explains the five dysfunctions of a team and also briefly explains how to overcome the dysfunctions. The suggestions to overcome the dysfunctions are brief, but he did write a book called Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team that goes explains them in more depth. The Five Dysfunctions explained through out this book are set up like a pyramid. They include: Absence of Trust, Fear of Conflict, Lack of Commitment, Avoidance of Accountability and Inattention to Results.
I recently transferred departments at my place of employment and in just the past month and a half I have witnessed a department spiraling out of control. We are without a full-time supervisor and director and I could not pinpoint the exact problem until I read this book. Our team is experiencing every dysfunction that Lencioni explains in his book. I wish I could buy a copy if this book for each of my co-workers because I feel they would benefit just as much as I did from this book and I believe it would open up their eyes to what are department is experiencing and solve many of the issues.
I will be graduating in December with my degree in Health Administration and I already have more confidence that I will be a better team leader because of Lencioni's book. I will keep this book and use it as a tool to help teach my future co-workers about the dysfunctions and the importance of being a team player rather than an individual player out to better their own career and goals. I plan on reading more books written by Patrick Lencioni and highly recommend his work to anyone interested in learning more on teamwork and leadership.

Great business training material that uses leadership interactions so the audience can walk through the dysfunctions of a team and the complexity of improvement.

When I bought this book, due to a friend's recommendation, I was not sure that this was the right book. His recommendation was right on. This book gives an excellent picture of how a team should operate and how 'poison' can ruin good teamwork.

I saw Lencioni locally and received one of the books by attending. The Five Dysfunctions is the best of four but all are great. I'm using the principles at work and with my softball team. In a nutshell results depend on accountability depends on clarity depends on conflict depends on trust. I have always struggled to identify dysfunction. Understanding function causes the dysfunction to stand out clearly! Enjoy this wonderfully written fiction and the critical concepts it reveals! An easy read and difficult to put down.

The Five Dysfunctions is the product of long-term work on teams distilled into a few key bullet points and then expanded again into the fictional story of a team that fell into dysfunction and then recuperated.

The five issues, which are the real take-away from the book, are Absence of Trust (manifested as invulnerability), Fear of Conflict (manifested as artificial harmony), Lack of Commitment (manifested as ambiguity), Avoidance of Accountability (manifested as low standards), and Inattention to Results (manifested as a pursuit of status and ego) (p. 97). These five build upon each other like a pyramid, in that order.

The fictional account of a team discovering and discussing these issues takes up the first 185 pages. Lencioni then, in 40 pages, summarizes them all in the form of what is probably lecture notes, along with practical tips to what a leader and the team must do to address and fix the dysfunctions. For the time it takes, those 40 pages say the same if not more than the story, and are worth the read without the narrative. However, the narrative is of course more entertaining.

Pragmatically, Lencioni has tapped into the behavior patterns that really are the bane of every manager's existence. And while every manager can probably see them intuitively, most of us haven't taken the time to name them and articulate the issues and solutions. So for that, Lencioni has done what a lot of good leadership books do: opened our eyes to the obvious thing that was right in front of us all along. For that, it's a worthwhile read, but again, the shorter second section will suffice for reading the book.

James W. Miller is the author of God Scent

I'm an organizational development consultant and I've used Lencioni's model as the basis for my course in team building in the United States, Italy and South Africa. I find that people all over the world relate to his insights, identify with the dysfunctions described in the book and have some "Ah Ha" moments regarding how to work together better.

Very good service from Amazon to replace an order that had been lost between the USA and Belgium.

Much appreciated.
DL

This book does a fine job of breaking down complex organizational cancers (such as silos and cliques) to reveal both their symptoms and root-causes. In addition to uncovering these issues through story-based lessons, the suggestions at the tail of the book on how to embrace and combat these problems are very helpful. I would recommend this book for new and experienced managers and their team members alike.

If you have problems with your work teams, this is a good read and one I would recommend. It is good to change things up, but I'm just not a fan of "fables." This is part of the reason why I couln't give it five stars - it just makes it difficult when referring back to points you took notes on. Overall one of the better ones. There are a lot of teamwork books out there. Most of them are not worth the money. Maxwell's Law's of Teamwork is a good one and so is The Team Approach: With Teamwork Anything Is Possible. If you're an big basketball fan, you might like The Magic of Teamwork by Pat Williams.

Very surprised how good this book actually was. I couldn't put it down and I'm not a big reader!!! Can't wait to try this out with my team!!

Manager required me to read this book. I was able to read it in about 3 hours and thought it moved at a steady pace. Through the illustrations I was able to learn how teams functions are where things go wrong.
Overall I liked the book and would recommend it to others interested in teh subject.

This book was excellent in both content and approach. I am so tired of all the politcally correct rhetoric surrounding "team building" that it was refreshing to read something that approached the topic from a useful, actionable perspective. In my book Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual: WHAT IT TAKES TO REACH THE C-SUITE AND STAY THERE I also spend time addressing the importance of team building when it is something more than just a buzz word...

I bought this book for a work project, and the book was advertised as being used, with a bent page or two. The book looked flawless when I got it, and the story was very well told, too. An entertaining, informative read that I would recommend for anyone's workgroup.

I am not a novice, and I learned things about executive team management that I did not know before.

The five dysfunctions of a team is a business novel about a small company in silicon valley. The company is not getting the results they expect, so therefore Katerine is hired as a new CEO. After two weeks of observation, she concludes the management does not work as a team and she starts to try to create a team out of the executive group.

She introduces the five dysfunctions of a team to the group. These are:

- Lack of trust
- Lack of conflict
- Lack of commitment
- Lack of accountability
- Lack of focus on results

Going over these one by one and using team building exercises, Katerine builds a team and gets the results she wants.

At the end of the book, the five dysfunctions are summarized and the tools used by Katerine are clarified and explained.

The five dysfunctions is a well written and useful book. The five dysfunctions are clearly visible in teams I worked with myself. Making the book a story makes it very easy to read.

I considered the book to have two major drawbacks. The first one is that is has a strong focus on executive teams. I'd rather hear a story about an operational team. Especially considering that executive teams are rare. The second is the focus on tools for building teams. Several other excellent team literature has strong criticism on these tools. It gives the impression that if you just take the tools, they will solve the dysfunction and voila, a well working team. Of course, it's not that simple (nor does the author day that, but the book does seem to suggest it because of it's focus on tools).

Conclusion. A well written book on teams, fun to read, useful, though not the best.

Another great reading book. My team has benefitted from this well written, interesting fable.

These are books on cds. I enjoy them very much because you can listen to them in your car. The narrator is very well spoken and the information you get from them are very valuable to understanding the dynamics of a group. I highly recommend them.

Although this book is a quick read it lends itself completely to those in the corp, education or .org world or anyone looking for some easy, clear and doable steps to a better functioning team. The fable format was interesting and intriguing. The context of the book and its issues comes to life in most board rooms across the country and world. You will use the simple strategies recommended in this book for life. READ THIS BOOK, you will not be disappointed.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable
Exceptional book-simple, easy read and gets the points of why you have dysfunctional teams. It really hit home for me.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable is a relatively easy and enjoyable read. Lencioni, rather than focus on what makes teams effective discusses Five Dysfunctions which impact team performance. He makes the book compelling by using a fable about a ficticious Silicon Valley IT company, DecisionTech, and its new CEO, Kathryn, as a vehicle to describe these dysfunctions and strategies to address them.

DecisionTech has strong competitive advantages including a leading technology, talented executive staff, and solid financial backing. However after two years, the company is underperforming and lagging its two closest competitors. The chairman of the board makes a controversial decision to bring in an outsider as CEO, Kathryn, who has a good track record with operations but no IT experience. The rest of the fable is about how she observes the dynamics of the executive team and concludes a reason for underperformance is that they act more as individuals with their own agendas and little mutual trust. She confronts the staff in a series of off-site meetings where she discloses the causes of their poor team performance and challenges them to work together to meet corporate goals. I won't ruin the plot by giving too many details, but not all the staff survives as she struggles to address the issues facing DecisionTech.

The dysfunctions (absence of trust --> fear of conflict --> lack of committment --> avoidance of accountability --> inattention to results) build from the bottom up - in other words if you don't have trust among team members you won't be successful in addressing the other issues.

One key point that Lencioni makes in the fable is that managers generally think of their direct reports as being the primary team they need to be focused on. Though this is extremely important, he emphasizes the primary team is really the peers of the manager because this extended team needs to work together to meet enterprise goals which sometimes requires reallocation of resources amongst groups for success to be achieved.

At the back of the book, Lencioni summarizes strategies for recognizing and overcoming these dysfunctions. Overall a good book - five stars.

I've been in management for 18 years and have personally been pretty successful in developing teams. Reading this book put things in clear perspective, in a fashion in which I've not thought before. The message is concise, the story an easy and attention-grabbing read. The concepts presented as they were, created an "a-ha" moment... or maybe (hitting my own head) a "Duh" moment - I wish I'd thought of that!

The ironic part is that I work in an environment where, in general, the management team is REALLY dysfunctional. (The test in the book confirmed it!) The behaviors described relative to the 5 levels of the "pyramid" indicating functional / dysfunctional teams were right on.

I shared and discussed the ideas with for my 4 managers, discussed how we (the 5 of us) could be an even BETTER team together despite the overall condition of the larger group (and gave them copies of the book). I was surprised at the receptiveness of the idea given the state of our overall work environment at the moment. (I thought they might think I was being a bit hokey by introducing concepts I had read in a book.)

In addition to focusing on our interactions with each other, I encouraged them to take it to the next level in sharing with their teams. I have since had others in the organization ask to read my copy of the book. Hmmm... Well worth the investment to me. Practical, applicable, easy to understand. Can a management book get any any better? :)

I initially bought this book on disk for my husband, he travels and wanted something to listen to. He leads a large team and he had asked me to see if I could find this on cd. He really liked it, but I also really like it. I am a Realtor and would love to develop a top team, in a previous career I lead several teams and saw some of the dysfunctions. If you are in a leadership position I recommend this book on disk. Buy it and pass it around to your peers, it will help you get on the same page.

Yes, many companies spent 10s or even 100s of thousands of dollars on consultants, management development programs, structured team building training and the like. In light of this, it is true that this book from Patrick Lencioni may be viewed as a rather simplistic approach to an extremely difficult concept....effective team working.
Taken for what it is, this book offers some good insights, 'signs to look for' along with some some suggested ways-of-working that can easily be applied by any team leader from one day to the next without a lot of time spend on more formal training.
Bottom line, if you have tried all the suggestions in this book, and things still are not working....then it may be time to seek 'professional help'.
Torsten K. Gessner

I was a little skeptical of the book's usefulness, but I've seen some practical value in my management approach. It's easy to read, a little corny, but the fundamentals of team dynamics are worth thinking about.

I purchased this book along with several others. I can't even remember why I bought and assume it was due to Amazon's suggestions. It was one of the last books I read, but the only one I couldn't put down.

The software company I work at is doing agile programming and core to it is self-managing teams and core to that is trust. Not only has this had immediate impact for me and our team, it is a book that is quickly going around our office.

Like his other books, I recommend visiting his website and downloading some of the supporting documentation.

I have also purchased his suporting book on how to lead teams through the five dysfunctions and it is good as well.

I read this in a couple of hours and it was well worth it.

I think that the first line on page 88 pretty much sealed this as a classic in my library. What was it? Well you will need to read it.

This works for all teams from married couples to Girl Scout troops to the corporate world.

It would be helpful to anyone but a hermit.

My business partner and I made this required reading to all employees. We started with the management team and quickly found that establishing trust (the first step) across the team was the hardest. Once we accomplished this first step, the rest came much easier. Implementing and using the exercises in this book have helped align our company across all levels. It has helped catapult our growth in 2007.

While the model would be beneficial in training a group on team fundamentals, the writing and the story actually hinder the message.

"Relieved, Kathryn was more than happy to give Mikey everything she asked for. But she knew better than to say so right there. "I'm not sure about all of that, but I will see if I can make it happen."

I am not so naive that I think lies and manipulation doesn't happen from management to employees. I am surprised when it is from the hero in the model who touts team trust and commitment, then lies and pretends that she will work hard and go to bat for the employee being asked to leave. People who are honest when it works for them and not honest when that works for them aren't trustworthy. I lost respect for Kathryn right there on page 159.

How about: "Yes, I'm sure we can." Or "Let me give that to HR and have them get in touch with you" or "I will get back to you on the severance agreement." Those are truthful and authentic, not pretending that you are going to pull strings or go the extra mile when it's not true and you're actually relieved with what little the employee asked for. Does the end justify the means?

Sports Teams are about performance and not personalities that get along with everyone else on the team. Does every man on a professional football team get along with every other male on the team? If the team member they all dislike for whatever reason they dislike him, continually catches the football and scores... the team keeps him.

I do not see the conversations that happened between the CEO and an executive in The Five Dysfunctions (TFD) occurring in professional basketball. Can you see the coach telling Michael Jordan, you are excellent in your chosen field, but the other team members complain about your attitude and you did call one of them an S.O.B, so we're going to dismiss you from the team. In TFD their personality and attitudes, not their performance was the issue for dismissal.

There are several instances where the writer sets the stage for some dramatic event. They never happen. The chapters involving the CEO Kathryn and the executive Mikey are anti-climatic.

The storyteller tries to build Mikey up with sentences like: "But Mikey was cleverer than the average executive." (Really, that's the sentence.) The story goes on to explain that the CEO thought Mikey was coming to terms with the dismissal.... and ends the chapter with "But she was wrong."
I was waiting for something "dramatic" to happen, here it is:

Mikey then says her husband is an attorney and it won't be easy to make a case for termination. The CEO explains then your behavior would have to change, because you don't like to be criticized, don't apologize, roll your eyes and called a team member an SOB. Mikey was "stunned" and "Confronted with stark evidence, she realized the weight of her dilemma." She resigns and leaves before any co-worker could see her.
Yea, that's cleverer. Stark evidence of what? Not having "artificial harmony?" (One of the five dysfunctions)

I think it would help if any book written on Team Building would begin by defining what the author means by the word "Team." Not just reference Sports Teams as an analogy.(This book references a basketball team) Even though you can pull examples of great coaching or instances from sports teams, the rules are different in sports teams and work teams. If the team concepts work so well, why don't all sports teams do well in their competitions? Maybe,it has more to do with the coaching (leaders, management) than the "team."

I understand this was to be a simple story to illustrate the Five Functions of a workgroup or team. I agree the five functions are valuable and foster a place of safety and creativity. Seeing them spelled out and discussed could benefit a team. Although is it really a revelation that any team would be a better team if they operated with the five functions than a team that didn't?

"Relieved, Kathryn was more than happy to give Mikey everything she asked for. But she knew better than to say so right there. "I'm not sure about all of that, but I will see if I can make it happen."

I am not so naive that I think lies and manipulation doesn't happen from management to employees. I am surprised when it is from the hero in the model who touts team trust and commitment, then lies and pretends that she will work hard and go to bat for the employee being asked to leave. People who are honest when it works for them and not honest when that works for them aren't trustworthy. I lost respect for Kathryn right there on page 159.

How about: "Yes, I'm sure we can." Or "Let me give that to HR and have them get in touch with you" or "I will get back to you on the severance agreement." Those are truthful and authentic, not pretending that you are going to pull strings or go the extra mile when it's not true and you're actually relieved with what little the employee asked for. Does the end justify the means?

Sports Teams are about performance and not personalities that get along with everyone else on the team. Does every man on a professional football team get along with every other male on the team? If the team member they all dislike for whatever reason they dislike him, continually catches the football and scores... the team keeps him.

I do not see the conversations that happened between the CEO and an executive in The Five Dysfunctions (TFD) occurring in professional basketball. Can you see the coach telling Michael Jordan, you are excellent in your chosen field, but the other team members complain about your attitude and you did call one of them an S.O.B, so we're going to dismiss you from the team. In TFD their personality and attitudes, not their performance was the issue for dismissal.

There are several instances where the writer sets the stage for some dramatic event. They never happen. The chapters involving the CEO Kathryn and the executive Mikey are anti-climatic.

The storyteller tries to build Mikey up with sentences like: "But Mikey was cleverer than the average executive." (Really, that's the sentence.) The story goes on to explain that the CEO thought Mikey was coming to terms with the dismissal.... and ends the chapter with "But she was wrong."
I was waiting for something "dramatic" to happen, here it is:

Mikey then says her husband is an attorney and it won't be easy to make a case for termination. The CEO explains then your behavior would have to change, because you don't like to be criticized, don't apologize, roll your eyes and called a team member an SOB. Mikey was "stunned" and "Confronted with stark evidence, she realized the weight of her dilemma." She resigns and leaves before any co-worker could see her.
Yea, that's cleverer. Stark evidence of what? Not having "artificial harmony?" (One of the five dysfunctions)

I think it would help if any book written on Team Building would begin by defining what the author means by the word "Team." Not just reference Sports Teams as an analogy.(This book references a basketball team) Even though you can pull examples of great coaching or instances from sports teams, the rules are different in sports teams and work teams. If the team concepts work so well, why don't all sports teams do well in their competitions? Maybe,it has more to do with the coaching (leaders, management) than the "team."

I understand this was to be a simple story to illustrate the Five Functions of a workgroup or team. I agree the five functions are valuable and foster a place of safety and creativity. Although is it really a revelation that any team would be a better team if they operated with the five functions than a team that didn't?

"Relieved, Kathryn was more than happy to give Mikey everything she asked for. But she knew better than to say so right there. "I'm not sure about all of that, but I will see if I can make it happen."

I am not so naive that I think lies and manipulation doesn't happen from management to employees. I am surprised when it is from the hero in the model who touts team trust and commitment, then lies and pretends that she will work hard and go to bat for the employee being asked to leave. People who are honest when it works for them and not honest when that works for them aren't trustworthy. I lost respect for Kathryn right there on page 159.

How about: "Yes, I'm sure we can." Or "Let me give that to HR and have them get in touch with you" or "I will get back to you on the severance agreement." Those are truthful and authentic, not pretending that you are going to pull strings or go the extra mile when it's not true and you're actually relieved with what little the employee asked for. Does the end justify the means?

Sports Teams are about performance and not personalities that get along with everyone else on the team. Does every man on a professional football team get along with every other male on the team? If the team member they all dislike for whatever reason they dislike him, continually catches the football and scores... the team keeps him.

I do not see the conversations that happened between the CEO and an executive in The Five Dysfunctions (TFD) occurring in professional basketball. Can you see the coach telling Michael Jordan, you are excellent in your chosen field, but the other team members complain about your attitude and you did call one of them an S.O.B, so we're going to dismiss you from the team. In TFD their personality and attitudes, not their performance was the issue for dismissal.

There are several instances where the writer sets the stage for some dramatic event. They never happen. The chapters involving the CEO Kathryn and the executive Mikey are anti-climatic.

The storyteller tries to build Mikey up with sentences like: "But Mikey was cleverer than the average executive." (Really, that's the sentence.) The story goes on to explain that the CEO thought Mikey was coming to terms with the dismissal.... and ends the chapter with "But she was wrong."
I was waiting for something "dramatic" to happen, here it is:

Mikey then says her husband is an attorney and it won't be easy to make a case for termination. The CEO explains then your behavior would have to change, because you don't like to be criticized, don't apologize, roll your eyes and called a team member an SOB. Mikey was "stunned" and "Confronted with stark evidence, she realized the weight of her dilemma." She resigns and leaves before any team member can see her.
Yea, that's cleverer. Stark evidence of what, not having "artificial harmony?" (One of the five dysfunctions)

I think it would help if any book written on Team Building would begin by defining what the author means by the word "Team." Not just reference Sports Teams as an analogy.(This book references a basketball team) Even though you can pull examples of great coaching or instances from sports teams, the rules are different in sports teams and work teams. If the team concepts work so well, why don't all sports teams do well in their competitions? Maybe,it has more to do with the coaching (leaders, management) than the "team."

I understand this was to be a simple story to illustrate the Five Functions of a workgroup or team. I agree the five functions are valuable and foster a place of safety and creativity. Although is it really a revelation that any team would be a better team if they had the five functions than a team that didn't?

"Relieved, Kathryn was more than happy to give Mikey everything she asked for. But she knew better than to say so right there. "I'm not sure about all of that, but I will see if I can make it happen."

I am not so naive that I think lies and manipulation don't happen from management to employees. I am surprised when it is from the hero in the model who touts team trust and commitment, then lies and pretends that she will work hard, go to bat for the employee being asked to leave. People who are honest when it works for them and not honest when that works for them aren't trustworthy. I lost respect for Kathryn right there on page 159.

How about: "Yes, I'm sure we can." Or "Let me give that to HR and have them get in touch with you" or "I will get back to you on the severance agreement." Those are truthful and authentic, not pretending that you are going to pull strings or go the extra mile, when it's not true and you're actually relieved with what little the employee asked for. Does the end justify the means?

Sports Teams are about performance and not personalities that get along with everyone else on the team. Does every man on a professional football team get along with every other male on the team? If the team member they all dislike for whatever reason they dislike him, continually catches the football and scores... the team keeps him.

I do not see the conversations that happened between the CEO and an executive in The Five Dysfunctions (TFD) occurring in professional basketball. Can you see the coach telling Michael Jordan, you are excellent in your chosen field, but the other team members complain about your attitude and you did call one of them an S.O.B, so we're going to dismiss you from the team. In TFD their personality and attitudes, not their performance was the issue for dismissal.

There are several instances where the writer sets the stage for some dramatic event. They never happen. The chapters involving the CEO Kathryn and the executive Mikey are anticlimactic.

The storyteller tries to build Mikey up with sentences like: "But Mikey was cleverer than the average executive."(Really, that's the sentence.) The story goes on to explain that the CEO thought Kathryn was coming to terms with the dismissal...... and ends the chapter with"But she was wrong."
I was waiting for something "dramatic" to happen, here it is:

Kathryn then says her husband is an attorney and it won't be easy to make a case for termination. The CEO explains then your behavior would have to change, because you roll your eyes and called a team member an SOB. Mikey was "stunned" and "Confronted with stark evidence, she realized the weight of her dilemma." She resigns and leaves before any team member can see her.

I understand this was to be a simple story to illustrate the Five Functions of a workgroup. I agree the five functions are valuable and foster a place of safety and creativity. Do they make a workgroup function like a sports team? I think it would help if any book written on Team Building would begin by defining what the author means by the word "Team." Not just reference Sports Teams as an analogy.(This book references a basketball team) Even though you can pull examples of great coaching or instances from sports teams, the rules are different in sports teams and work teams. If the "team concepts" work so well, why don't all sports teams do well in their competitions? Maybe,it has more to do with the coaching (leaders, management) than the "team."

"Relieved, Kathryn was more than happy to give Mikey everything she asked for. But she knew better than to say so right there. "I'm not sure about all of that, but I will see if I can make it happen."

I am not so naive that I think lies and manipulation don't happen from management to employees. I am surprised when it is from the hero in the model who touts team trust and commitment, then lies and pretends that she will work hard, go to bat for the employee being asked to leave. People who are honest when it works for them and not honest when that works for them aren't trustworthy. I lost respect for Kathryn right there on page 159.

How about: "Yes, I'm sure we can." Or "Let me give that to HR and have them get in touch with you" or "I will get back to you on the severance agreement." Those are truthful and authentic, not pretending that you are going to pull strings or go the extra mile, when it's not true and you're actually relieved with what little the employee asked for. Does the end justify the means?

Sports Teams are about performance and not personalities that get along with everyone else on the team. Does every man on a professional football team get along with every other male on the team? If the team member they all dislike for whatever reason they dislike him, continually catches the football and scores... the team keeps him.

I do not see the conversations that happened between the CEO and an executive in The Five Dysfunctions (TFD) occurring in professional basketball. Can you see the coach telling Michael Jordan, you are excellent in your chosen field, but the other team members complain about your attitude and you did call one of them an S.O.B, so we're going to dismiss you from the team. In TFD their personality and attitudes, not their performance was the issue for dismissal.

There are several instances where the writer sets the stage for some dramatic event. They never happen. The chapters involving the CEO Kathryn and the executive Mikey are anticlimactic.

The storyteller tries to build Mikey up with sentences like: "But Mikey was cleverer than the average executive." The story goes on to explain that the CEO thought Kathryn was coming to terms with the dismissal...... "But she was wrong." I was waiting for something "dramatic" to happen, here it is:

Kathryn then says her husband is an attorney and it won't be easy to make a case for termination. The CEO explains then your behavior would have to change, because you roll your eyes and called a team member an SOB. Mikey was "stunned" and "Confronted with stark evidence, she realized the weight of her dilemma." She resigns and leaves before any team member can see her.

I understand this was to be a simple story to illustrate the Five Functions of a workgroup. I agree the five functions are valuable and foster a place of safety and creativity. Do they make a workgroup function like a sports team? I think it would help if any book written on Team Building would begin by defining what the author means by the word "Team." Not just reference Sports Teams as an analogy.(This book references a basketball team) Even though you can pull examples of great coaching or instances from sports teams, the rules are different in sports teams and work teams. If the "team concepts" work so well, why don't all sports teams do well in their competitions? Maybe,it has more to do with the coaching (leaders, management) than the "team."

"Relieved, Kathryn was more than happy to give Mikey everything she asked for. But she knew better than to say so right there. "I'm not sure about all of that, but I will see if I can make it happen."

I am not so naive that I think lies and manipulation don't happen from management to employees. I am surprised when it is from the hero in the model who touts team trust and commitment, then lies and pretends that she will work hard, go to bat for the employee being asked to leave. People who are honest when it works for them and not honest when that works for them aren't trustworthy. I lost respect for Kathryn right there on page 159.

How about: "Yes, I'm sure we can." Or "Let me give that to HR and have them get in touch with you" or "I will get back to you on the severance agreement." Those are truthful and authentic, not pretending that you are going to pull strings or go the extra mile, when it's not true and you're actually relieved with what little the employee asked for. Does the end justify the means?

Sports Teams are about performance and not personalities that get along with everyone else on the team. Does every man on a professional football team get along with every other male on the team? If the team member they all dislike for whatever reason they dislike him, continually catches the football and scores... the team keeps him.

I do not see the conversations that happened between the CEO and an executive in The Five Dysfunctions (TFD) occurring in professional basketball. Can you see the coach telling Michael Jordan, you are excellent in your chosen field, but the other team members complain about your attitude and you did call one of them an S.O.B, so we're going to dismiss you from the team. In TFD their personality and attitudes, not their performance was the issue for dismissal.

There are several instances where the writer sets the stage for some dramatic event. They never happen. The chapters involving the CEO Kathryn and the executive Mikey are anticlimactic.

The storyteller tries to build Mikey up with sentences like: "But Mikey was cleverer than the average executive." (Really, that's the sentence.) The story goes on to explain that the CEO thought Kathryn was coming to terms with the dismissal...... and ends the chapter with "But she was wrong."
I was waiting for something "dramatic" to happen, here it is:

Kathryn then says her husband is an attorney and it won't be easy to make a case for termination. The CEO explains then your behavior would have to change, because you roll your eyes and called a team member an SOB. Mikey was "stunned" and "Confronted with stark evidence, she realized the weight of her dilemma." She resigns and leaves before any team member can see her. Yea, that's cleverer.

I understand this was to be a simple story to illustrate the Five Functions of a workgroup. I agree the five functions are valuable and foster a place of safety and creativity. Do they make a workgroup function like a sports team? I think it would help if any book written on Team Building would begin by defining what the author means by the word "Team." Not just reference Sports Teams as an analogy.(This book references a basketball team) Even though you can pull examples of great coaching or instances from sports teams, the rules are different in sports teams and work teams. If the "team concepts" work so well, why don't all sports teams do well in their competitions? Maybe,it has more to do with the coaching (leaders, management) than the "team."

I bought this book because it is required for a graduate level education class that I am enrolled in. Although the story is set in the business world, the strategies suggested are also applicable to the educational setting as well.

This is a quick and easy read. I like that it is not preachy...it just tells a story and allows the reader to take what he/she needs to take from it.

This is an easy read -- but the concepts are powerful.

I took a highly disfunctional group of talented people -- and using the concepts presented, now have a high performance team.

Ok, it took several years -- and some effort -- but this book gave us a roadmap.

Go to their website -- and use the on-line Team assessment to measure you're progress.

Seriously, this book really helped us -- and we are really doing great! No lie...