The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Author: Patrick Lencioni
Published: 2002

Key Concept: The Five Dysfunctions Model

From Page...

Lencioni's model is at once both simple and complex.

At a glance, the Five Dysfunctions that he lays out are quite simple. Following just a quick glance at the model, anyone who has ever been a member of a team will say to themselves, "Yup, I've seen all of this before." But if you take the time to actually read Lencioni's fable - perhaps even twice - you will find there is much more to the model than meets the eye initially. And if you pay really close attention, you will see that this book also serves as a coaching manual for leaders of all and any teams.

Lencioni's Five Dysfunctions of a Team are as follows:

Lencioni Model

Here is a short summary of each dysfunction – what it is and evidence that it may exist within your team.

Dysfunction #1: Absence of Trust. This stems from a team member’s 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 of trust. Trust is the confidence among team members that their peers’ intentions are good, and that there is no reason to be protective or careful around the group. In essence, teammates must get comfortable being vulnerable with one another – trusting that their vulnerabilities will not be used against them.

The failure to build trust is damaging because it sets the tone for the second dysfunction.

Dysfunction #2: Fear of Conflict. Teams that lack trust are incapable of engaging in passionate debate of ideas. Instead, they resort to veiled discussions and guarded comments. In other words, they prefer to maintain a state of artificial harmony over one of honest and sometimes difficult discussions. Fear of conflict or honest debate creates 2 problems for teams: 1) It increases the likelihood of destructive, back channel sniping amongst and between members; and 2) It leads to sub-optimal decision making because the team is not benefiting from the true ideas and perspectives of its members.

A lack of healthy conflict and debate is a problem because it ensures the third dysfunction of a team.

Dysfunction #3: Lack of Commitment. Without having aired their opinions in the course of passionate and open debate, team members rarely, if ever, buy-in and commit to decisions, though they may feign agreement during meetings. Lack of commitment creates an environment of ambiguity and confusion in an organization, which can result in frustration among employees.

Because of this lack of real commitment and buy-in, team members develop the fourth dysfunction.

Dysfunction #4: Avoidance of Accountability. Without true commitment from each team member to a clear plan of action, even the most focused and driven people often hesitate to call their peers on actions and behaviours that seem counterproductive to the good of the team. This inability or unwillingness of peers to hold peers accountable eventually results in the team developing a habit of accepting low standards.

Failure to hold one another accountable creates an environment where the fifth dysfunction can thrive.

Dysfunction #5: Inattention to Results. This dysfunction occurs when team members put their individual needs (such as status, ego, career development, or recognition) or even the needs of the teams they lead (other teams) above the collective goals of the team they are a part of (Team One – for more information on Team One, please see the other Key Concept for this book). Not having a focus on the collective goals of the organization as a whole can result in the business suffering and the team unraveling.

...To Practice

There is no shortage of content in Lencioni's work that I believe would benefit anyone responsible for leading a team - especially those responsible for leading leadership teams (e.g. a CEO or Executive Director leading a senior leadership team).

Two of the most practical applications of this book - the most immediate and impactful applications - are its value as a diagnostic tool and the guidance it provides leaders when planning for and facilitating team retreats.

Diagnostic Tool

This model provides teams with a diagnostic tool of sorts. It allows you to assess the overall 'health' of your team. The literature is clear on this; today's highest performing organizations realize that no matter how 'smart' they are, they will not be able to take full advantage of their collective intelligence if their teams are not healthy. They acknowledge the need to create environments where it is safe to challenge one another and hold one another accountable for achieving their highest purpose.

Charles Duhigg provides us with detailed accounts and evidence of this in his New York Times bestseller Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business (his previous bestseller, The Power of Habit is also a great read).

Duhigg introduces us to Google's Project Aristotle, the 2012 initiative to study hundreds of Google’s teams and figure out why some stumbled while others soared. While the specific details of this study are outlined in Duhigg's book, the outcome was crystal clear. Psychological safety.

Psychological safety, as defined by Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson, is ‘‘a sense of confidence that the team will not embarrass, reject or punish someone for speaking up. It describes a team climate characterized by interpersonal trust and mutual respect in which people are comfortable being themselves.’’

Sound familiar?

Here's an even more surprising example. In his book, Duhigg introduces us to yet another organization that figured this out for themselves and which they credit with their sustained success for over 4 decades: Saturday Night Live!

We learn about the many tensions and infighting that occurred within and between the early creators and cast members of the show. We also learn about the large amounts of time they spent together and the true belief of all that the needs of the group were placed above individual egos. But these two important facts aren't what creator Lorne Michaels credited to their ultimate success.

As Duhigg puts it, "the SNL team clicked because, surprisingly, they all felt safe enough around one another to keep pitching new jokes and ideas. The writers and actors worked amid norms that made everyone feel like they could take risks and be honest with one another, even as they were shooting down ideas, undermining one another, and competing for airtime." (page 56)

If you are looking for a competitive advantage, there are few more powerful and impactful than being able to take full advantage of the knowledgeable and experienced colleagues and team members you have hired. Yet all too often, we put these smart and experienced people together on teams and don't give a moment's thought to how well that team will function - how healthy it will be. Once again, you will not be able to take full advantage of a team's collective intelligence if that team is not a healthy one.

Smart AND healthy - that should be the goal!

Back to Lencioni.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team provides some questions to help assess just how functional a team is. There are also additional questions to be found in Lencioni's supporting Field Guide. Examples of questions include the following:

Are team members passionate and unguarded in their discussion of issues?
Do team members call out one another's deficiencies or unproductive behaviours?
Do team members know what their peers are working on and how they contribute to the collective good of the team?
Do team members quickly and genuinely apologize to one another when they say or do something inappropriate or possibly damaging to the team?
Do team members willingly make sacrifices (such as budget, turf, head count) in their departments or areas of expertise for the good of the team?

Guidance for Retreats

Another valuable piece of advice Lencioni offers is that of team leaders regularly holding off-site retreats for their leadership teams, and having such retreats focus on both the health of the team, as well as the strategic needs of the organization.

Such retreats provide the time needed, away from day-to-day distractions, to delve into complex topics that need more than a few minutes within an otherwise packed agenda. They also allow for time to have deeper, more robust conversations on those important topics that warrant such time and attention. The topics that will have significant impacts on the success and/or direction of the company. Topics that shouldn't be rushed and that require thoughtful and attention-filled conversation from all members of the team.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team provides a roadmap for such off-site retreats for those teams and organizations not accustomed to having them. Once again, additional guidance, suggestions and tools can be found in the accompanying Field Guide.

Putting It Into Practice

Leaders: If your teams are not engaging in regular debate - regularly challenging one another's ideas, approaches and behaviours - and if your team members are rarely (and possibly never) holding their peers accountable, then you do not have a highly functional team. You may have a good team and a nice team, but not a team that is working as a collective to best serve the organization as a whole. They may be leading their respective portfolios/divisions very well, but possibly at the cost of the overall company achieving its goals.

If you would like to discuss any of the above concepts in more detail, or if you are planning a retreat for your team and looking for a facilitator, please feel free to reach out!

We'd love to hear your feedback on this post. Please send your comments to karen@karenfitzpatrick.ca

Other key concepts from this title

Team One