The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else In Business

by Patrick Lencioni

When people leave a meeting without active commitment around a decision, they don’t go back to their offices and design a plan to sabotage the idea. That happens only on television and in the movies, and it makes for great theater. In real life, what actually happens is far more boring—and more dangerous. Most leaders have learned the art of passive agreement: going to a meeting, smiling and nodding their heads when a decision is made that they don’t agree with. They then go back to their offices and do as little as possible to support that idea. They don’t promote it on their own team, and they certainly aren’t willing to run out onto the tracks waving their arms to prevent a train wreck. Instead, they sit back and watch problems develop, quietly looking forward to the day when things go badly and they can say, “Well, I never really liked that idea in the first place.” The impact of this is often embarrassing and costly for the organization.