I read Patrick Lencioni’s book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, today. The whole thing. I started reading it on the train into work and I finished it on the train home. And it was difficult to not pick it up during work.
Patrick writes in an engaging tone that reels you in. He tells the story of Kathryn, a CEO hired into a start-up company, which after 2 years is in steady decline, to turn around a dysfunctional executive management team and ultimately the fortunes of the company.
Here are 2 conclusions Patrick draws from the story that resonate with me:
Teamwork ultimately comes down to practicing a small set of principles over a long period of time. Success is not a matter of mastering subtle, sophisticated theory, but rather of embracing common sense with uncommon levels of discipline and persistence.
Teams succeed because they are human. By acknowledging the imperfections of their humanity, members of teams overcome the natural tendencies that make trust, conflict, commitment, accountability, and a focus on results so elusive.
