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The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable (精装)
by Patrick M. Lencioni
| Category:
Leadership, Organizational effectiveness, Management, Teamwork |
| Market price: ¥ 258.00
MSL price:
¥ 228.00
[ Shop incentives ]
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| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
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MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
An excellent management manual outlining the problems and conflicts that often prevent teams from working together to achieve their stated goals. |
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AllReviews |
1 2   | Total 2 pages 13 items |
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James Amos (President and CEO, Mail Boxes Etc.), USA
<2006-12-27 00:00>
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. |
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Geoffrey A. Moore (Chairman, The Chasm Group, Author of Crossing the Chasm and Inside the Tornado), USA
<2006-12-27 00:00>
Every manager and executive will recognize themselves somewhere in this book. Lencioni distills the problems that keep even the most talented teams from realizing their full potential. Even more important, he shows - in prose that is crisp, clear, and fun to read - how to solve them. |
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Phillip Hildebrand (Executive Vice President, New York Life Insurance), USA
<2006-12-27 00:00>
This book is as thought-provoking, insightful, and rich with ideas as The Five Temptations of a CEO. I've used it with my team and it works! |
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Jean Kovacs (President and CEO, Commergent Techonologies), USA
<2006-12-27 00:00>
Compelling and incisive, this will become the definitive guide on how to build and manage successful teams. |
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-27 00:00>
Pat Lencioni is the president of a management consulting company in San Francisco and has written two very successful books on leadership. Lencioni excels at using the business fable, a genre I expect can be traced back to Eli Goldratt and The Goal. I have read (or attempted to read) many business fables that have a composite CEO trying to turn around a metaphorical company. One of the biggest problems I sometimes have with this genre is that the author is too distracted by the moral of the story to concentrate on actually telling a good story and creating memorable characters. The characters in this book ring true, are completely recognizable, and fully-realized. The book itself is well-written; and, I believe, ranks with the best of the genre.
It is the story of a person hired by the board of directors to come in and fix a young company. The crux of the company s problem is well-articulated in this passage spoken by the new CEO:
We have a more experienced and talented executive team than any of our competitors. We have more cash than they do. We have better core technology. And we have a more powerful board of directors. Yet in spite of all that, we are behind two of our competitors in terms of revenue and customer growth. How can we fix that?
The answer? Teamwork. And the book uses a great tool, The Model, to show how this transformation is accomplished. To support the fable s lessons, Lencioni uses a section for an overview of the model, another for a team assessment, and one that deals with understanding and overcoming five dysfunctions of a problem company. This book works for the CEO, the supervisor, or the small businessperson. We all need knowledge on building and using teams...
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Larry Ragels (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-28 00:00>
This deceptively lite read is mostly the fictional account of DecisionTech, a Silicone Valley start-up with lots of money, loads of talent -- and poor teamwork. As a result, according to the book, even with all that talent and money: "Everything seemed to take too long to get done, and even then it never felt right."
The story begins when Kathryn, a 57 year old former auto executive, comes out of retirement to head the struggling DecisionTech. Kathryn, who knows little about technology, is guided by her theory that management teams fail because of five basic dysfunctions: Absence of Trust, Fear of Conflict, Lack of Commitment, Avoidance of Accountability, and Inattention to Results.
The first and most basic dysfunction, Absence of Trust, is said to be demonstrated by 'invulnerability,' which is really a misnomer for what is meant is an unwillingness to be vulnerable within the group, not "invulnerability" -- like superman! In Kathryn's group of executives, lack of trust was demonstrated by an avoidance of debates during staff meetings and other interactions. Under Kathryn's tutelage, all that changed. "You are fighting [about issues]," Kathryn tells her executives after they get the hang of it. "That's your job. Otherwise, you leave it to your people to try to solve problems that they can't solve. They want you to hash this stuff out so they can get clear directions form us." Later on in the book Kathryn's creator makes a point of saying that the five dysfunctions form an interrelated model, making susceptibility to even one of them potentially fatal to the success of a team.
The second dysfunction confronted by Kathryn is Fear of Conflict, which is rooted in Absence of Trust. On Kathryn's team, it was noted that though they didn't argue very well, frustrations sometimes surfaced in the form of subtle comments. "But more often than not," Kathryn saw, "it is bottled up and carried around." For this reason, the evidence for Fear of Conflict was said to be "artificial harmony."
The third dysfunction is Lack of Commitment, which stems from artificial harmony. "Without having aired their opinions in the course of passionate and open debate, team members rarely, if ever, buy in and commit to decisions, though they may feign agreement during meetings," the author says. As one of Kathryn's fictional executives claims, there is a need to "weigh in" before you can really "buy in."
The forth dysfunction is Avoidance of Accountability. Without a shared group commitment to common goals, team members are reluctant to hold each other accountable. The result is low standards, because no one is sure exactly what the standards are.
Inattention to Results is the fifth and last dysfunction. This is evidenced by "status and ego," the tendency of executives to put personal goals and personal safety ahead of team success. At the floundering DecesionTech, one executive noted "it seems like we're all scrambling for lifeboats on the Titanic." Maybe it's not that desperate, noted the wise heroine, "but you're all trying to stand as close to them as possible just in case."
Following the fictional account, the Five Dysfunction model demonstrated by Kathryn's adventures at DecisionTech is explained in a short narrative by its real inventor, author Patrick Lencioni. There are also brief sections on Team Assessment, and Understanding and Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions.
Of course, in the fictional account, Kathryn saves DecisionTech and most of the executive team. But does the model really work? Almost anyone can recognize the Five Dysfunctions; any leadership team that doesn't see them probably really is fiction. But if the theory is correct, and it appears eminently reasonable to this reviewer, this book can help make such dysfunctions function.
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Mathew Edwards (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-28 00:00>
Through a fable narrative medium ... a quick read - couldn't put it down until done later in the evening. I've read and re-read this book multiple times because it just plain makes sense.
Trust - absent trust, there is no team. This is the breakpoint element of the book. Think about it .. have you ever worked on a team that was in fact - not a team, but a group of people appearing to be heading in somewhat the same direction? Lencioni builds a pyramid showing fundamental behavioral components of a successful team all built upon trust. Absent trust ... you get it.
Eye opening. I've recommended this book to executives and teams over and over again. No one is too busy to read this book ... and if they are ... it supports the precepts mentioned in this book and others written by this author. Lencioni sticks to one idea, develops it, makes it easy to read, understand and apply. The book is worth more money than charged.
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K. Smith (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-28 00:00>
This is just a great book for any person. We all are members of teams in our lives, whether that's in business, family, sports, whatever.
The book is geared toward a business situation and that's where it shows the most relevance. It's written as a novel for most of the book and that was an interesting approach. The author does a great job of doing this and making his points understood very well by the different characters. You are instantly able to relate your life to the situation by picturing the different characters as the good, and bad, people on the teams in your life.
A valuable, although at times difficult, part of reading this book for me was seeing how I often do a lot of things wrong in the teams that I'm part of. After reading this book I'm much more aware of things that I do and have started to watch for those in order to put the team first. A very enlightening experience.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who leads a team, or is part of one that is looking to make improvements.
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Siriam (MSL quote), UK
<2006-12-28 00:00>
I have read enough management books to I hope know the good from the bad - the fact that this book is the first one which after having read it I then immediately started to read all over again, makes it for me a unique offering. This is due to:
1. The subject is one which applies in so many work situations that its potentially wide application cannot be denied. The comments made by other reviewers as to recognising the many different types of personalities involved and the five individual issues from their own experiences demonstrates the consistency of the problems being identifiable under many different factual scenarios.
2. The book is written in a very easily assimilated style and precise chapters per point plus the use of a fictional parable style story makes it come alive in a way that rarely happens in most management books.
3. The analysis of the five issues having been gone through is then in a summary end piece restated not only as to their individual relevance but also how they inter-relate and practical methods of addressing each is provided - this hands on solution solving makes the book a very powerful basis for personal decision making using the tools provided.
In part the impact of the book on myself may reflect that I read it as I was starting to grapple with one of the most difficult teams I have had to ever lead in over twenty years of management roles. That this book provided me with a number of options to consider and apply in making progress reflects the true value of the lessons it shares. |
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Jennifer (MSL quote), Australia
<2006-12-28 00:00>
I've been reading management-related literature for over 25 years. What makes this book stand out is the identification of some simple core messages (note: simple, not easy).
The most important single message in this book, for me, was the reminder that we each belong to a number of different teams simultaneously and that managers are first and foremost part of the management team. This can be a tough lesson for new managers who often need to make a transition from subject matter specialists to people managers with little effective preparation.
This book does not provide the answers. What it does provide is a number of the issues that need to be considered, and a recognition that team building and people management are important tools.
Highly recommended - both to experienced and new managers. |
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1 2 | Total 2 pages 13 items |
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