The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

A Leadership Fable

By: Patrick Lencioni

Narrated by: Charles Stransky; introduction by Patrick Lencioni

Length: 3 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's Summary

In keeping with the parable style, Patrick Lencioni begins by telling the fable of a woman who, as CEO of a struggling Silicon Valley firm, took control of a dysfunctional executive committee and helped its members succeed as a team. Story time over, Lencioni offers explicit instructions for overcoming the human behavioral tendencies that he says corrupt teams (absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability and inattention to results). Succinct yet sympathetic, this guide will be a boon for those struggling with the inherent difficulties of leading a group.

Building a cohesive team is not complicated, declares Lencioni. Departing from the dry, theoretical writing of many management books, he presents his case in the context of a fictional organization, and in doing so succeeds at communicating his ideas. The scenarios are recognizable and can be applied anywhere teamwork is involved, whether it is a multinational company, a small department within a larger organization, or a sports team. At the end of the story, the main points are summarized, and clearly expressed suggestions and exercises are offered to help bring about change. Concise and easy to follow, this program is recommended for anyone who is a member of a team that needs improvement.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team is also available in print from Wiley.

©2002 Patrick Lencioni
(P)2002 Random House Inc.

Critic Reviews

"A gripping analysis of what makes teams work effectively. This fine work is a must-read for any leader that has come to grips with the fact that no one makes progress - much less succeeds - alone." (James Amos, president and CEO, Mail Boxes Etc.)

The BEST book on teamwork available!

One of the great things about fables is the ability to identify with characters. Lencioni makes it easy to gauge where you are in your success and/or failure in building an awesome team. You will NOT be an effective leader without overcoming the 5 dysfunctions of a team.

A coherent framework for thinking about teams

This was a worthwhile listen - short, sweet, and a great distillation of what most experienced team leaders have in their head as common sense. The five dysfunctions are real, readily applied in the real world, and I have yet to find a colleague who didn't immediately appreciate this way of looking at how people work together to solve problems.

Constantly wondering why your team isn't as effective as it should be? Listen to this book. I did, and it really helped me in how I lead my team (I am VP-Technology for a professional services firm). This is the first audio title, after 3 years of audible.com, that made me want to go out and get the hard copy of the book for my office reference bookshelf.

Clear Headed Guidance on Building Teams

This book uses a story about a newly created management team as the backdrop for it's lessons. If you liked the clear and concise story approach used in "Who Moved My Cheese?" or "Fish!" you'll enjoy this audiobook. There is a good summary at the end which is well worth sitting down and taking notes from.

Great approach to the topic

At first I was annoyed by the fact that 80% of the book is a fictional account of an executive team working through the dysfunctions. But I've found that the story (and lessons) has stuck with me much better than had this been a straight non-fiction leadership book. I look forward to more books from this author.

Simply stated

Lencioni does a wonderful job of characterizing the different personalities that are found within most organizations. You'll recognize co-workers in an instant! Lencioni breaks down the pitfalls of a team to five key points...and hits the nail on the head. I've begun to build my management team around these five principals and have experienced great success.

Double thumbs up!

Good concepts and great medium to convey them...

Truly enjoyed the story. Leadership concepts conveyed in the book are, quality, basic ideas and to the point, re-iteration and real-life scenarios have been plugged in very well.
The usage of a storyline to convey the theme is quite effective for some folks, giving the content more "spice", other readers/listeners who do not like story based books might want to skip out on this one. The narrator does a great job as well, kudos to him and the authors.

Excellent. Engaging. Uplifting

I strongly recommend this book. Situations were fictional but realistic. This is my first "non-fiction" fiction book and I like it! This is filled with positive energy.

Entertaining Education

The business fable is entertaining education. A great listen. I wish Patrick Lencioni had many more.

Almost Useful

I have to agree with the Five Dysfunctions of a Team:
Absence of trust, Fear of conflict, Lack of commitment, Avoidance of accountability, Inattention to team results
But the solutions proposed in this book, although they might help, seem inefficient and out of date. I have gone through almost identical programs with teams, and there was a little short term benefit but the techniques did not lead to lasting, meaningful change. Years later (after several intervening ineffective management initiatives) we adopted Scrum development which led, almost immediately, to evolutionary positive enduring change (which adds up quickly to substantial change). The off-sites in pretty places and trust-chairs described in this book are very slightly helpful, but Scrum is the first fully fleshed out system I have actually seen work.

Great Approach to Team Building

This book is written as a fable about a high tech firm that is struggling to make head way in its market, and the key issue is that the leadership team does not function effectively as a team. Lencioni uses this fable approach because it makes it easier for the reader to identify with the characters, and thus, the learning sinks in more effectively. The approach certainly worked for me. As the story evolves, Lencioni reveals each of the five dysfunctions (absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results) and how this particular leadership team overcomes these dysfunctions. He emphasizes that creating functional teams is an on-going process and not a one shot deal and that the process isn't linear - there is often back sliding and then movement forward again. At the end of the book, he includes a guide for using the model which covers an overview of the five dysfunctions, details of how to overcome each dysfunction, and a discussion of how the five are integrated. He emphasizes that the model is simple in theory, but it is difficult in practice.

Concise and useful

Like the way he introduces the concept in a story and then gives practical tips on its implementation.
One to keep and return to.

Compelling listen

Thought provoking listen, which had me hooked. Most of the book revolves around the goings on in a fictional - and, of course, dysfunctional - company; many of the scenarios raised in the will resonate. (The last part of the book, which goes through each of the five dysfunctions in a more formal way perhaps works less well in audio-book form.)

A Must Listen for Anyone in Leadership...

Toxic work cultures kill...people's drive, their capacity for creativity, their spirit and their joy.

So why do business leaders still tolerate the poison apples?

1. Failure to recognise the culprit/s
2. Inability to challenge bad behaviour
3. A stupid misconception that it will all work itself out
4. An equally stupid belief that friction is good ...(yes really)
5. Lack of a back bone

If you're working in a toxic hell-hole - give your boss and your colleagues this - if you can expense it - even better, if not, it's worth the investment!

If only listening to this was mandatory for all managers / leaders....

well worth a listen. focused at senior managers

good listen and interesting story, as a manager of a large team of field based engineers it would prove difficult to implement some of the model. but a good book.

loved it

Great book. Brilliantly explained principles on team development and performance. A must for every manager. Thank you Audible.

Powerful

Love the way this book is written as a story. It makes it easier to digest. It provokes some powerful questions about the teams you work in but provides the insight to help make them. It's logical and easy to understand. It's a must if you want to take your team to the next level and beyond.

3rd time’s a charm!

I have the hard copy and audio and have “read it” every time I’ve changed roles (typically a promotion) it’s helped give insight into how to deal with my Geo, Functional and Leadership (my 1st) teams.

Everyone in a management/leadership position esp in software companies should read this! ;-)

A must-read for all would-be leaders

This is both easy listening & hard at the same time! Patrick Lencioni tells a story that models how to encourage teamwork, including an excellent demonstration of how to handle tricky responses & characters. It's easy to listen to as it's in story form; hard because, whilst the ideas are simple, the practice of them is hard, ongoing work - but as the book shows, the rewards are worth it. The excellent summary & overview of the 5 key points at the end is a very helpful recap.

Very accurate story and usful tips

Easy listen, story line, clear tips. This book good for evey leader, if you want to learn how build a team.

Nice simple story, great narration

Really good story - simple but illustrates a good number of points. Narration was good, easy to follow,