Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Field Guide for Leaders,…

For all the attention that it has received over the years from scholars, coaches, teachers, and the media, teamwork is as elusive as it has ever been within most organizations. The fact remains that teams, because they are made up of imperfect human beings, are inherently dysfunctional.

This was not bad, and I really thought it was going to be when I realized three quarters of the book was a fictional story about a CEO implementing the model of team dynamics the book espouses. The above quote from the introduction made me feel much better; it's rare for a management book to begin with a frank recognition of the darkness of the human heart. However, the model boils that down to only five main dysfunctions, and I question whether the treatments offered for them are really all that effective (although just walking the talk and becoming effective at discipline are a world of good medicine, there can be no doubt). That said, it's a quick read and the concepts (which take about twenty pages to actually lay out) may be made marginally more memorable by the 'fable,' but you could also go straight to page 187 (in the edition I read) and finish the book from there. I will say that it is refreshing to read a management book that has one simple, straightforward model, giving it a chance of actually being used. Also, it is not a baloney bunch of corporate speak; it is good sense. (If good sense were practiced by any significant population of leadership out there, we could dispense with this whole genre, but it isn't, so maybe a few folks will read this and improve.)

**Edited 6/30/15 to fix typo**
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This is an excellent book to read for any team - including family teams, although the book is written from a business perspective, particularly for executives.

The bulk of the book is in a story from of a CEO and her reports as they work out the issues they have as a dysfunctional team. This helps to illustrate the five dysfunctions. The last part of the book then reinforces the ideas behind each dysfunction and what can be done to address the dysfunction and become a strong, flexible team that produces high level results. ( )

Excellent overview of why teams fail to coalesce into operational units. Good for politics too - was particularly enlightening about the local Collingwood Council's dysfunctions. ( )

1/31/13