Tool 05/30 - Lencioni's five dysfunctions of a team

The objectives of this short ten minute exercise -

1. To learn a tool that will be helpful in work life 
2. To apply the learning
3. To use this as a morning ritual to start a great day 

Step 1 - the warm up

Keep your journal and the pen at hand

Sit in a relaxed position with an intent to go into a ‘flow state’ to learn something new

Take three deep, powerful breaths to lock in your focus and start the next step

Step 2 - the learning

About the five dysfunctions of a Team

Lencioni's Five Dysfunctions of a Team, introduced in 2002 by Patrick Lencioni in his book, outlines the common pitfalls teams face: absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results. It’s used to build cohesive, high-performing teams by addressing these dysfunctions through structured interventions.

Situations (examples) where this tool can be best used

• Cross-functional team delivering a major initiative
• Product development team struggling with deadlines
• Sales team losing market share

The top three mental muscles (competencies) developed by practicing this tool

• Team Building - Creating and sustaining a cohesive, high-functioning team
• Communication skills - Conveying ideas effectively and listening to others
• Conflict resolution - Managing disagreements constructively for positive outcomes

A corporate story to understand the usage of this tool

Jeff Bezos (Amazon) story

Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, built one of the most successful companies in the world by emphasizing strong team dynamics.

1. Absence of Trust
   Bezos fostered a culture of openness where employees were encouraged to speak up, share ideas, and acknowledge weaknesses. By prioritizing transparency, Amazon reduced the absence of trust, building teams that could collaborate effectively.
2. Fear of Conflict
   Bezos encouraged constructive conflict, promoting debates to ensure the best ideas surfaced. He famously welcomed "disagree and commit" attitudes, where teams could disagree in meetings but unite behind decisions once made.
3. Lack of Commitment
   Bezos instilled a sense of purpose, aligning teams around a shared vision. His ability to make clear, data-driven decisions helped ensure strong buy-in, increasing commitment at all levels of the organization.
4. Avoidance of Accountability
   At Amazon, accountability was embedded in performance metrics. Bezos promoted a culture where individuals took ownership of results, driving continuous improvement.
5. Inattention to Results
   Bezos always focused on long-term goals, ensuring that teams remained committed to Amazon’s overall mission, even as short-term challenges arose.

A story from the World Wars

My personal story

The context

When we planned a training on Performance Management System, we had an idea - why don't we ask the Managers to conduct the training?

We spoke to them and told them that we will train them to give a TED-talk like talk. 

We (the L&D team) created a great team of trainers and gave them an opportunity to take a nice training session. This is how we avoided the team dysfunctions - 

Trust - We trusted them to deliver and they trusted us for our support

Conflict - We created the whole plan and discussed it in detail with the team and their Manager. This helped us avoid future conflicts 

Commitment - We agreed to provide mentorship since they were doing this for the first time. We planned a number of mock sessions to give them confidence

Accountability - We were accountable for the success of the training but we documented their responsibility and explained the plan in detail

Attention to results - We created all the templates and presentations. Ultimately we created future trainers as part of this programme

Step 3 - the reflection

Sit back, go down memory lane, think of various events in your work life where you could have used this learning.

If nothing comes to mind, think of a situation that would help you answer any one of these interview questions.

1. “Can you describe a time when you turned a dysfunctional team into a high-performing one?” - Use this framework to explain how you identified and addressed key issues
2. “How do you align a team toward achieving its goals?” - Prepare the answer using Lencioni’s Model
3. “How do you deal with team members who prioritize personal goals over team results?” - Describe how you reinforce a team-first mindset. Share an example where you emphasized shared success and created recognition systems to encourage team-oriented behaviors

Step 4 - the practice

Apply your learning to the situation you selected above.

• Absence of trust
• Fear of conflict
• Lack of commitment
• Avoidance of accountability
• Inattention to team results

Step 5 - the victory lap

Celebrate your achievement for a minute. Maybe a quick victory lap doing some energizing exercise?

**

To those who felt, “The sheer number of tools and frameworks available can make it difficult to decide which ones to use, leading to decision fatigue.” - Do you feel that the last ten minutes were worth the effort? 

This exercise is not only about management tools. It’s about building a neural pathway at the start of the day. And it’s about my mantra for creating small daily acts of feeling successful and happy. 

Don’t forget to carry this image 👇 in your mind. There could be a great situation where you may want to use the tool. Keep a log of all such situations. It will help you when you want to train someone.

My congratulations for your first dose of the day of success and happiness. Have a great day ahead.