Page 17 - Gears and Ears May 2014

Book Review

The Five
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team:
Team:
Dysfunctions
The
of
a
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team:Five Dysfunctions of a Team:
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team:
A Leadership F Fship F Fable
A A LeaderLeadership able
ship
Fableable
able
A A Leader
Leadership
by Patrick M. Lencioni
In The Five Dysfunctions of a Team Patrick Lencioni once again offers a leadership
fable that is as enthralling and instructive as his first two best-selling books, The Five
Temptations of a CEO and The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive. This
time, he turns his keen intellect and storytelling power to the fascinating, complex
world of teams.
Kathryn Petersen, Decision Tech's CEO, faces the ultimate leadership crisis: Uniting
a team in such disarray that it threatens to bring down the entire company. Will she
succeed? Will she be fired? Will the company fail? Lencioni's utterly gripping tale
serves as a timeless reminder that leadership requires as much courage as it does
insight.

Throughout the story, Lencioni reveals the five dysfunctions which go to the very heart of why teams even the
best ones-often struggle. He outlines a powerful model and actionable steps that can be used to overcome
these common hurdles and build a cohesive, effective team. Just as with his other books, Lencioni has written
a compelling fable with a powerful yet deceptively simple message for all those who strive to be exceptional
team leaders.

Amazon.com Review
Once again using an astutely written fictional tale to unambiguously but painlessly deliver some hard truths
about critical business procedures, Patrick Lencioni targets group behavior in the final entry of his trilogy of
corporate fables. And like those preceding it, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team is an entertaining, quick read
filled with useful information that will prove easy to digest and implement. This time, Lencioni weaves his
lessons around the story of a troubled Silicon Valley firm and its unexpected choice for a new CEO: an old-
school manager who had retired from a traditional manufacturing company two years earlier at age 55. Showing
exactly how existing personnel failed to function as a unit, and precisely how the new boss worked to reestablish
that essential conduct, the book's first part colorfully illustrates the ways that teamwork can elude even the
most dedicated individuals--and be restored by an insightful leader. A second part offers details on Lencioni's
"five dysfunctions" (absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and
inattention to results), along with a questionnaire for readers to use in evaluating their own teams and specifics
to help them understand and overcome these common shortcomings. Like the author's previous books, The
Five Temptations of a CEO and Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive, this is highly recommended. --
Howard Rothman --This text refers to the Hardcover edition
.
From Publishers Weekly
In keeping with the parable style, Lencioni (The Five Temptations of a CEO) 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. 100,000 first printing. --This text
refers to the Hardcover edition.