Book Review: "Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team – A Field Guide" by Patrick Lencioni

I’m on record as hating, wait, no… make that HATING management books that are written as ‘fables’, ‘parables’, ‘novelettes’, or that look remotely like children’s books.

My skeptic-meter goes straight to red when I see books like “Whale Done”, “Who Moved My Cheese”, “The Offsite ”, “Our Iceberg is Melting”, or any of Patrick Lencioni’s ‘Leadership Fables’ in the business section of my favorite bookstore.

Obviously, that’s my problem, as many love the story format. By not reading these books there’s a risk that I’ll miss out on some good ideas.

In the case of “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” that’s exactly what happened. I tried to read the book three times, laughed my ass off by the end of page two (and not in a good way), and put the book down. As a result, I missed out on a very useful model.

Fortunately, this Field Guide was released for folks like me.

Title: "Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team"
Author: Patrick Lencioni
Genre(s): Business, Teams, Training, Facilitation
Summary: to quote the back of the book - "practical guidance for overcoming the Five Dysfunctions"

Favorite Quotes: I'll give you three:

1. “The key ingredient in building trust is not time. It is courage."
2. "Lack of conflict is precisely the cause of one of the biggest problems that meetings have: they are boring."
3. "Peer pressure and the distaste for letting down a colleague will motivate a team player more than any fear of authoritative punishment or rebuke.”

Strengths: The model is clear and intuitive. It resonates. Lencioni gives concrete examples and actions for overcoming the dysfunctions.
Weaknesses: It’s boring, where's the drama? No, I kid… I kid... Seriously - this book is perfect. Pair It with Lencioni’s hugely entertaining DVD and you’ve got a winning workshop for your team.

Conclusion: The ‘Five Dysfunctions’ is one of my (and my clients) favorite workshop tools. This Field Guide delivers the model effectively, with no fat.

Post-it Flags: 21 flags
* Each time I find an interesting quote, model, image, or idea in a book, I mark it with a Post-it flag. The more flags, the more value I found in the book.