Essay on
The five dysfunctions of a team
Patrick Lencioni
Lencioni's model of five dysfunctions is what we have spoken about so many times in TAP. I wanted to find out first hand what this theory is about.
The five dysfunctions of a team are dysfunctions that do not allow a team to achieve team work. Lencioni observed these when working with CEOs of different companies.
The first one is the absence of trust. The team members do not feel safe with each other and do not open up. When trust is there, we know there is no harm coming our way, we can relax, open up and cooperate together. When we feel safe and trust other team members, we get vulnerable and know our vulnerabilities will not be used against us. And of course, when we feel the opposite way, when we have to pay attention to how we act and what we say so we do not get judged in some way, we cannot invest enough energy and focus on the work we are supposed to do with each other.
The second one is fear of conflict. Conflicts are important for us in order to grow. Whether it comes to work or personal relationships. In many environments, conflicts are taboo. We want to stay as smiley and on top of everything as possible. However, unresolved “hard feelings” can create long term problems when in reality it can be fixed in a matter of one conversation. How to go about this is amazingly written by Kim Scott in Radical Candor with her model of feedback giving. That gave me a valuable clue on how to approach this (essay: https://tiimiakatemia.cz/cs/esej/Candor%2520is%2520a%2520gift_NR4.php)
The third dysfunction is lack of commitment. Commitment is needed from team members in order to move on with decisions. We have to make a commitment for the decisions of our team, even if we disagree at first. The danger comes in when we crave constant consensus. Always agreeing? That cannot happen in reality. What is important though, is to take everyone's ideas into consideration so they feel valued. Another problem comes when we need certainty. That means, we cannot always be certain whether our decision is good or bad. What is stronger in the great teams is that a decision is better than no decision. We can find out soon enough that we need to change direction, but it is always better than to stand in one place.
The fourth dysfunction is avoidance of accountability. I see this one very similar to the fear of conflict. This one is about avoiding difficult conversations. Sometimes we need to call each other out on what we dislike. This can be difficult when we are very close to each other and have personal relationships within the team. What is important to keep in mind is that we will strengthen our relationships by holding one another accountable.
And last but not least we have the inattention to results. In practice that means - members care more about other things than the collective goals. That can sometimes be overshadowed by the attention on team and individual status. Many teams are not focused on goals but simply on existence.
