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The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable, by Patrick Lencioni. 2002. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. 229 Pages. Hardcover. $24.95.
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team is the most helpful and easy-to-read instructional text I have seen. Designed to provide a functional model for developing effective teams, the book serves as a resource that can guide both experienced and novice leaders. While the narrative presented focuses on a CEO and her executive team of vice presidents and chief officers, the strategies outlined can be applied to teams of varying sizes and levels as well-from large corporations to small committees within informal organizations. Everyone can find new wisdom, whether leading a team or being part of a team. This book is presented in two main sections: A narrative story that provides a realistic representation of the teamwork model in action, and a handbook-style overview of the model itself. Set in a struggling Silicon Valley start-up, the story follows the journey of Kathryn, a newly-hired CEO tasked with turning the company around. She identifies the dysfunctional executive team as the root of the problem and endeavors to increase the effectiveness of their teamwork.
Through a series of off-site retreats she introduces her model of the five dysfunctions of a team. They are absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results....