The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable

by Patrick Lencioni

those that avoid conflict actually doom themselves to revisiting issues again and again without resolution.

The first step is acknowledging that conflict is productive,

Mining Members of teams that tend to avoid conflict must occasionally assume the role of a “miner of conflict”—someone who extracts buried disagreements within the team and sheds the light of day on them. They must have the courage and confidence to call out sensitive issues and force team members to work through them.

recognize when the people engaged in conflict are becoming uncomfortable with the level of discord, and then interrupt to remind them that what they are doing is necessary.

it is key that leaders demonstrate restraint when their people engage in conflict, and allow resolution to occur naturally,

The two greatest causes of the lack of commitment are the desire for consensus and the need for certainty:

reasonable human beings do not need to get their way in order to support a decision, but only need to know that their opinions have been heard and considered.

it is better to make a decision boldly and be wrong

What the leader cannot do is place too high a premium on certainty or consensus.

the most effective and efficient means of maintaining high standards of performance on a team is peer pressure.

there is nothing like the fear of letting down respected teammates that motivates people to improve their performance.

Team members should regularly communicate with one another, either verbally or in written form, about how they feel their teammates are doing against stated objectives and standards.

it must be clear to all team members that accountability has not been relegated to a consensus approach, but merely to a shared team responsibility,

letting someone take home a bonus merely for “trying hard,” even in the absence of results, sends a message that achieving the outcome may not be terribly important after all.

Success is not a matter of mastering subtle, sophisticated theory, but rather of embracing common sense with uncommon levels of discipline and persistence.

Kathryn understood that a strong team spends considerable time together, and that by doing so, they actually save time by eliminating confusion and minimizing redundant effort and communication.