Maybe we need more heavy hitters who can get us into the right accounts, and develop the right strategic partnerships. Kathryn did. Why do you think that they are making more progress than you are?
And Telecart is getting most of its revenue from professional services at this point. But could you start saying us and we instead of you?
Thanks for calling me on it. Sometimes I feel like a consultant myself. Right away she could sense the people in the room banding together to challenge her harsh critique. Even Jeff took issue. This might be a function of your not having worked in high tech. Nick fired away. Keep in mind, this is a tough market. Kathryn waited until no more comments came, and then responded.
But only for the good of the team, not for my own satisfaction. I can assure you of that. It was confusion. Martin, as serious as ever, cut through the tension. Jeff just smiled and nodded his head. As compelling as the points she was making were, Kathryn could see that members of the group were still try- ing to decide whether to embrace her ideas, or attack them.
It became immediately clear that the next move would be an attack. Maybe even a compliment if it were offered in the spirit of true curiosity. But in that moment, with the tone in which it was asked, and given the usually mellow nature of the person who posed the question, it was the harshest comment thus far of the off-site.
Had Kathryn been a less secure executive, she would have been rocked by the remark. And for a moment, she al- most let herself get disappointed that the goodwill she thought she was generating had dissipated so quickly. But then she realized that this was precisely what she needed in order to provoke real change in the group: honest resistance. Just above absence of trust she wrote fear of conflict. And not a lot of harmony, I might add. You have tension. But there is almost no constructive conflict.
Harmony it- self is good, I suppose, if it comes as a result of working through issues constantly and cycling through conflict.
Kathryn pressed her luck. Your frustration sometimes sur- faces in the form of subtle comments, but more often than not, it is bottled up and carried around. Kathryn was ready to take them on, but Jan and Carlos stepped in for her.
First Jan. How long have we been talk- ing about outsourcing IT? I think it comes up at every meet- ing, and half of us are for it, half are against it, and so it just sits there because no one wants to piss anyone off. Kathryn went back to the white board. Sounds like something my wife complained about before we got mar- ried.
Kathryn was ready for the reaction. They just need to be heard, and to know that their input was con- sidered and responded to. Kathryn went to the board to fill in the last empty box. Before she could, Martin had opened his laptop and started typing. Everyone froze. Kathryn stopped and looked at her chief technologist, who seemed clueless about the new sense of tension in the room.
And then suddenly it dawned on him. Kathryn laughed, pleased that her engineer was sud- denly enthusiastic about what was going on. We believe you. JR was big enough to admit it. Kathryn was glad to oblige. She went to the board for the last time and wrote avoidance of accountability. Before Kathryn could answer, Nick explained.
And who am I to tell Martin how to do his job, or Mikey, or Jan? On that note, Kathryn excused the team for their last break of the day. In theory, with Mikey and Martin now seemingly on board, it should have been relatively easy to make the team work. But Kathryn knew that reality did not usually match theory; she still had a long way to go. Two years of behav- ioral reinforcement around politics is a tough thing to break, and one lecture, no matter how compelling, is not going to do it.
The painful, heavy lifting was still to come. With just a few hours until the end of the first off-site, Kathryn was tempted to end the session early and send everyone back to work on a relative high. But that would have been a waste of two critical hours, she thought. But Kathryn was actually look- ing forward to this part.
If we cannot learn to engage in pro- ductive, ideological conflict during meetings, we are through. Our ability to en- gage in passionate, unfiltered debate about what we need to do to succeed will determine our future as much as any products we develop or partnerships we sign. Even the bad ones. But if you really think about it, meetings should be at least as interesting as movies. My son, Will, went to film school, and I learned from him that meetings and movies have a lot in common.
A movie, on average, runs anywhere from ninety minutes to two hours in length. Staff meetings are about the same. Are they actually starting to like me? Kathryn wondered in a brief and uncharacter- istic moment of insecurity. She went on. And yet meet- ings are both interactive and relevant. We get to have our say, and the outcome of any given discussion often has a very real impact on our lives. So why do we dread meetings? And to understand why, all we need to do is compare them to films.
Kathryn continued. What is that ingredient? Every great movie has conflict. Before we leave this meeting, we are going to establish something I call our overarching goal for the rest of the year. Someone take a stab. The question we need to answer is this: If we do anything between now and the end of the year, what should that be? Kathryn called them out.
What are you thinking? And yet, they are getting more traction than we are. Jan persisted. Even Jan nodded in concession. Kathryn made a quick comment. Keep going. Mikey rolled her eyes. We just need to sell. What do you think, JR? That seems like a distraction more than anything else—at least until we get rolling and the mar- ket takes shape.
It all seems academic to me. Does anyone here believe that the key to the next nine months has something to do with market share, customers, revenue, et cetera? JR, how about you? But frankly, I think that is far less important at this point than proving to the world that there are customers out there who are interested in our products.
Revenue is not as important as closing deals and getting new customers. We will definitely have a revenue goal. Someone tell me why market share is the right answer. They want marquee company names and people who are willing to vouch for us. Kathryn challenged her. Some- one tell me why this should be our collective, overarching goal. Car- los volunteered. It will give our employees confidence. It will pro- vide more product feedback for Martin and his engineers.
And it will give us references to go out and get more cus- tomers next year. She wanted specifics. Jan lobbied for the most, followed by Nick and Mikey. JR was frustrated and argued hard for the fewest, wanting to keep his quota low so as not to discourage his salespeo- ple. Jeff, Carlos, and Martin were somewhere in between. As the debate seemed to be running out of steam, Kath- ryn jumped in. And we are probably not going to agree completely, which is fine, because there is no science here.
And JR, I can appreciate your desire to keep your folks motivated, but ten is not enough. Our competitors are doing more than double that, and the analysts will throw up all over us if we come in at ten. We will have eighteen new customers by December Over the next hour they drilled down on the issue of new customers, discussing what each per- son, from marketing to finance to engineering, would need to do to make eighteen deals possible.
With fifteen minutes to spare before the off-site was to officially end, Kathryn decided to bring things to a close. Kathryn asked one final question. She decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and take the muted compliment to heart.
And then JR spoke. We accomplished a lot here, and getting clarity around our major goal is really going to help. And she was right. JR continued. Maybe we can just see how things go.
Martin, Mikey, and Nick were cautiously nodding their heads in agreement. Whatever sense of accomplishment that Kathryn had felt just a few minutes earlier had diminished significantly. Kathryn used the opportunity to prepare her team for what was to come.
We have more money, better technology, and more talented and ex- perienced executives than our competitors, and yet we are behind. What we lack is teamwork, and I can promise you all that I have no greater priority as CEO than making you, I mean, us, more effective as a group.
I will be encouraging conflict, driving for clear commitments, and expecting all of you to hold each other accountable. Even most of the staff members seemed to be sobered by the likely prospect of ongoing pain. They would have been shocked, however, to know that the colleague would not be Mikey.
The few glimmers of hope that did surface—like Car- los and Martin having a joint customer satisfaction meeting with their staffs—were enough to get employees whisper- ing about what was going on.
Based on the hallway demeanor she observed, Kathryn felt as though the team had completely forgotten about their two days in Napa. There was little interaction, and al- most no signs of willingness to engage with one another. The team seemed as though they were embarrassed by hav- ing exposed themselves and were pretending that it had never happened at all. But Kathryn had been through this many times before. She had no idea that she was about to hit an artery.
Nick had called a special meeting to discuss a possi- ble acquisition. He invited anyone on the team who was interested to attend but made it clear that he needed Kath- ryn, Martin, JR, and Jeff to be there. Jan and Carlos also showed up. Where do they get these names? In any case, I think we should consider acquiring them. Martin asked another question before Nick could an- swer the first one. And their technology is apparently good enough for those customers. Kathryn frowned.
And are they all in Boston? But in the heat of real-world decision making, restraint was not her best quality. We would be increasing the size of the firm by 50 percent and adding a whole new set of products. We have to be visionaries here. Kathryn pushed on Nick. And I. This has nothing to do with public rela- tions or advertising. This is strategy. But she decided it could wait for a few minutes. I also believe that the issues we currently have around politics would only be ex- acerbated by an acquisition.
Before he could say something he would regret, Jan jumped in. I think you should defer to Jeff and me when it comes to things like this. Kathryn was sure that someone would pounce on Nick for his mini-tirade. She was wrong. Let me know if you need my input. That made it more difficult, but necessary nonetheless. The question was whether she should do it privately, or in front of the rest of the group. Kathryn asked the rest of the group if they would leave Nick and her alone.
As soon as they were gone, Kathryn spoke, but in a con- fident and relaxed way, far more in control than Nick had expected.
She is part of this team, and you have to take your issues to her directly, or to me. But just for a moment. Then he regained his frustration and shot back at Kathryn. It could be strategic for us. I moved my family halfway across this damn country with the expectation that I might someday be able to run this place, and now I am bored, helpless, and watching my peers screw this thing up.
Kathryn calmly addressed his comment. I was just venting and. Tell them what you just told me, about feeling underutilized and moving your family across. Nick continued. Kathryn finished his thought. Maybe you should quit? You have to decide what is more important: helping the team win or advancing your career. Kathryn checked her watch and decided to get started. He chose the one away from the CEO. Given what had happened earlier in the day, Kathryn was not about to scold Nick for being late.
The rest of the team seemed to understand her restraint. Instead, she launched into the meeting. But the way he had just interrupted Kathryn—and after arriving late to her first official staff meeting—seemed particularly audacious to the staff. Inside, they were boiling with antici- pation. I was out of line. I should have made sure that Mikey was there, and that comment I made about her was not fair.
Nick addressed her. He continued. I need to find a way to contribute to this team, and this company. And I need you guys to help me. Otherwise, I should leave. Being wrong notwithstanding, she was suddenly thrilled that he was staying.
The room was silent, not knowing how to respond to the statement that was out of character for both Nick and the team. Kathryn wanted to congratulate Nick for being so open but decided to let the moment speak for itself. When it became clear that the team had fully digested the magnitude of the situation and had nothing more to add, Kathryn went ahead and broke the silence. Until she completed her thought. But only for a few long seconds. Kathryn waited. Mikey spoke first. Are we mak- ing things better, or worse?
The momentum in the room seemed tangible now, and it was moving away from Kathryn. Then Martin finished. And that he preferred having a brand name behind him. He felt like we were pounding on him. And you headed a sales team earlier in your career. He wanted to take on a more corporate, central leader- ship role.
I felt like I was being pigeon-holed in sales and field ops. Jan slapped her forehead. Martin added a final bit of humor. I could feel a group hug coming on any minute. Especially if the call came from an executive. Especially the CEO. Brendan arrived promptly and quickly identified the problem. When he informed Kathryn that he would need to take the computer with him to fix it, she agreed but explained that she would need it back before the end of the week.
You have another off-site coming up. In fact, she was glad that employees knew how her team was spending her time while they were out of the office. But his next comment gave her reason for concern. Why is that? She wondered how many other employ- ees in the company knew details about what was happen- ing at the off-sites. Kathryn kicked off the event with her usual speech. What, if anything, did you tell your people about the first off-site session we had?
I just think we need to get clear on our behaviors as a team. Not a single thing. Mikey went next. No one laughed. Martin suddenly became defensive. Kathryn almost laughed. In fact, I should have been more explicit last time about our need to do so. Then Jan spoke.
She resorted to bluntness. Mikey responded first. Jan spoke next. Jan smiled and nodded her head. My en- gineers know that I protect them from distractions and ob- stacles, and they work their butts off for me as a result.
My people are extremely loyal. I would think that you would want us to be good managers. You see, it leads to confusion about who their first team is. And all of this relates to the last dysfunction—putting team results ahead of individual is- sues.
Your first team has to be this one. Jan spoke first. She squinted, as if dreading having to hold the line. But you do have to be willing to make it secondary.
And for many of you, that might very well feel like abandonment. Jeff tried to lighten the mood. You guys were my first team. As much as Jeff was joking, they could see that there was a kernel of truth to what he said, and they felt sorry for him. Kathryn felt the need to drive a point home. Kathryn could see doubt on their faces. Kathryn always preferred that kind of doubt. I mean, if you would have told me that JR would quit and that we would already have someone like Nick in his place, I would have accused you of engineering the whole thing from the beginning.
But I think we may be in pretty good shape. Still, we have a long way to go to make our numbers. We seem to be moving in the right direction and definitely having more productive conflict.
Except that it came from Carlos. Carlos frowned. And he was right. I guess we have a pretty big engineering organization. Almost a third of the company, I think.
And, well, we could probably use more resources in sales, marketing, and consulting. He preferred what he liked to call a Sarcratic approach— a sarcastic version of the Socratic method. And I salivate over the thought of using our money for better marketing and advertising. His disgust was not lost on anyone in the room. Kathryn set the tone for what was about to happen. We owe it to our shareholders, and our employees, to figure out the right way to use our money.
This is not a religious battle. She directed her statement at Martin. We are a product company. Listen, I go on as many sales calls as anyone else around here. And I speak to analysts. Mikey piled on, but more gently than usual. It was as though he could easily deflect the insecure rants of Mikey, but was being trapped by the fairness and logic of Jan and Kathryn.
Jan bailed him out. Kath- ryn put the conversation back on topic and directed her leading question toward Martin. After Martin had finished, Kathryn gave the group two hours to discuss the relative merits of expanding or reduc- ing the resources allocated to engineering and how to use them in other areas.
During that time, the team argued ve- hemently at times, changed their minds, retrenched on their original opinions, and then decided that the right answer was not so apparent after all. Perhaps most important of all, every member of the team, including Kathryn, at one time picked up the marker and went to the white board to explain a point.
If anyone yawned, it was because they were exhausted, not bored. Finally, it was Jeff who offered a solution. Nick then suggested rede- ploying the engineers from those projects and training them to assist sales reps with product demonstrations. Within minutes, the group had agreed, laid out an ag- gressive time line for implementing the change, and stared in amazement at the complex but workable solution on the white board in front of them. So she asked Nick to lead the team in a review of their progress around their eighteen-deal goal.
He went to the board and wrote the four key drivers that the group had agreed to focus on during the previous off-site: product demonstrations, competitive analysis, sales training, and product brochures. Nick went right down the list. It turns out to be a little eas- ier than we thought, so we should be done a week or two early. Carlos has been a big help. How about com- petitor analysis?
Nick decided to be constructive. Just tell me who needs to be more responsive. And Ken. For the moment, he seemed to be considering it objectively.
Martin jumped in. The fact is, Carlos is a vice president of the company, and he needs to prioritize better according to what we agreed to do, and he needs to chal- lenge people in the organization who are not responding to his requests. But this could apply to anyone.
Some people are hard to hold accountable because they are so helpful. Others be- cause they get defensive. Others because they are intimi- dating. Push with respect, and under the as- sumption that the other person is probably doing the right thing. But push anyway. And never hold back. Then she asked Nick to continue. He gladly obliged. Especially if closing those eighteen deals is really our top priority. Mikey still seemed peeved. Go ahead. Containing any frustration that he might have felt, he pushed on.
Unfortunately, the next five min- utes would make that harder than she would have liked. Nick was a little surprised. Kathryn could sense that most of them were pleased by the quality of the material. But Nick seemed uncomfortable. But if you want to have some- one in your department add their two cents, that would be fine. Nick seemed torn between being impressed by what he was looking at and insulted by the way it was being presented to him. Jeff tried to make the awkward situation better.
In a rare moment of impulsiveness, Kathryn decided that she could not wait any longer. Except Mikey. How can I get out of this? Mikey seemed to have no idea what was about to hap- pen. She would find out soon enough. She had to see this coming, Kathryn moaned to herself.
Of all the people on this team, you think that I. She had dealt with enough obliviously difficult executives in her ca- reer to stand firm in the midst of their shock. But Mikey was cleverer than the average executive.
Calmly, Kathryn explained. During meetings, you have an extremely distract- ing and demotivating impact on all of them. Including me. Slightly frazzled, she tried to clarify. Or my experience. My job is to build an exec- utive team that can make this company work. And I honestly believe it will be better for you too. Kathryn sensed that she was coming to terms with the situation, even ac- cepting it.
When she re- turned a few minutes later, she seemed more emotional and determined than ever. But with complete sincerity and sympathy, she responded. Kathryn clarified the situation. And it would have to change fast. But she defended herself nonetheless. However, the executives are not working together as a team and therefore impact the entire organization in a negative way. 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 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. 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. The conclusion of the story is that every team needs these five characteristics and you cannot have effective teams with attention to results without a foundation of trust, conflict, commitment and accountability.
Every layer needs to be build on asolid based layer below, just like with a pyramid. While we see the image of the pyramid is regularly used in trainings, on the work floor, …, we also notice the reluctance of taking actions for improving upon it. It all starts with a team assessment to find out where the focus areas are for your team, and an action plan for improvement.
A typical work point in teams is the lack of trust , which results in non-constructive or no conflict at all. With a question list of only 15 questions with answers on a scale of three you can assess your team effect-ability.
Every project on GitHub comes with a version-controlled wiki to give your documentation the high level of care it deserves. Among the five dysfunctions of a team, Patrick Lencioni cares about the 'Absence of Trust' the most. In his opinion, it is very important for the members of team to trust each other. Teams which share personal insights and experiences always show better results!
Conflict is nothing bad. Artificial harmony does nobody any good. So, dare to disagree. Healthy conflict usually results in commitment.
Lack of conflict and discussion, in other words, means lack of commitment to the final decision. Of course, you need to take full responsibility, i. The worst thing that can happen to a team is to become a group of individuals. Trust Each Other 2. Master the Art of Disagreement 3. Fully Commit to an Agreed Plan of Action 4. Hold Yourself and Others Accountable for that Plan 5. First of all, it should be a group of people who trust each other.
They are in it together, and they need to have that in mind at all times. They must accept the risk of being vulnerable — in the name of the higher cause. Teams built on trust know that disagreements are the only way to make some progress. And commitment brings responsibility with itself. Finally, cohesive team means a many-minded organism which functions as if a single mind.
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