4-Mat Book Review: Lencioni

Overcoming The Five Dysfunctions of a Team:

A Field Guide for Leaders, Managers, and Facilitators

Liberty University

ABSTRACT

Overcoming The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Field Guide for Leaders, Managers, and Facilitators is a book written by Patrick Lencioni that discusses some strategies for overcoming five dysfunctions of a team that he outlines in this book. In order to be an effective team, the members must collectively be willing to work together to accomplish the goals that have been set. According to Lencioni (2005), “dysfunction one is the absence of trust - members of great teams trust one another on a fundamental and emotional level, dysfunction two is the fear of conflict - teams that trust one another are not afraid to engage in passionate dialogue around issues and discussions that are key to the organization's success, dysfunction three is the lack of commitment - teams that engage in unfiltered conflict are able to achieve genuine buy-in around important decisions, dysfunction four is the avoidance of accountability - teams that commit to decisions and standards of performance do not hesitate to hold one another accountable, and a dysfunction five is the inattention to results - teams that trust one another, engage in conflict, commit to decisions, and hold one another accountable are very likely to set aside their individual needs and agendas and focus on what is best for the team” (p. 7).

There may be other dysfunctions that a team may encounter but these are the ones that this author identified. According to Lencioni (2005), “a team is relatively a small number of people (anywhere from three to twelve people) that shares common goals as well as the rewards and responsibilities for achieving them” (p. 9). No matter the size of the team, the members must have the ability to function and work together toward a common goal successfully. This book can be a useful tool for both team leaders and team members to utilize that may be...