Changes between Initial Version and Version 7 of Management/TheFiveDysfunctionsOfaTeam

Timestamp:

Feb 19, 2017, 1:56:46 AM (8 years ago)

Author:

Vijay Varadan

Comment:

--

Management/TheFiveDysfunctionsOfaTeam

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+= The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
+**Author**: Patrick Lencioni[[br]]
+Feb 02 2017
+
+[[Image(htdocs:images/books/the-five-dysfunctions-of-a-team.jpg, align=center, nolink)]]
+
+[[PageOutline(2-5, Contents, inline, unnumbered)]]
+
+== Review
+=== Verdict: [[Image(htdocs:icons/green-up-arrow.png, inline, nolink)]] **Recommended**
+This book is well worth the 5 hours I spent reading it. In my 10+ years of managing teams, I have encountered these dysfunctions & (bad?) behaviors in mid-level & senior-level management teams. So, even though the example used is of an executive team (C-level), the methods in the book to root out the behaviors applies at all levels of management. This would've been an invaluable read for me 12 years ago.
+
+=== The Good
+* The fable style of writing is engaging without dramatics. Clean & crisp; a fast read. I quite enjoyed it.
+* There's a separate section "The Model" which outlines the five dysfunctions, symptoms thereof, their impact & an outline of potential solutions which are practical. So, if you don't like fables, skip directly to this section.
+* I've used most of the techniques suggested to overcome the dysfunctions & can confirm that they work in practice. A few were new to me & I'll have to see how well they apply.
+
+=== The Bad
+* The fable style of writing may not appeal to some folks, in which case skip to "The Model" section for the actual meat of the information. To be honest, I liked the fable style.
+* The information within each dysfunction section within "The Model" section could be better structured to clearly & succinctly separate out causes, motivations behind behaviors indicative of causes, mitigation. Though there are separate sub-sections, the information still feels scattered about & repeated (repetition may be due to inter-relatedness, not sure).
+
+=== The Ugly
+* Nothing.
+
+== Notes
+**Disclaimer**: These are primarily written for my own future reference, but they may be useful to you, either to decide if you want to read / buy the book or as something to revisit. The information is not comprehensive, not in the least - so, please don't use it as a substitute for actually reading the book. As with all my content, some is verbatim from the original source, opinion may be interspersed & of course, **YMMV**.
+
+=== Pyramid of 5 Dysfunctions
+[[Image(htdocs:images/books/five-dysfunctions-pyramid.png, align=center, nolink)]]
+//[https://iawir.wordpress.com/2012/07/26/the-five-dysfunctions-of-a-team/ Image source]//
+
+=== 1. Absence of Trust
+//Trust is the confidence that their peers' intentions are good, & that here is no reason to be protective around the group.//
+
+==== Causes
+* Instinctively, people compete with peers, don't want to seem weak by asking for help, are protective of their reputation & minimize / hide mistakes.
+
+==== Members of Teams with an Absence of Trust
+* Conceal their weakness & mistakes from one another.
+* Hesitate to ask for help or provide constructive feedback.
+* Hesitate to offer help outside their own areas of responsibility.
+* Jump to conclusions about the intentions & aptitudes of others without attempting to clarify them.
+* Fail to recognize & tap into one another's skills & experience.
+* Waste time & energy managing their behaviors for effect.
+* Hold grudges.
+* Dread meetings & find reasons to avoid spending time together.
+
+==== Members of Trusting Teams
+* Admit weaknesses & mistakes.
+* Ask for help.
+* Accept questions & input about their areas of responsibility.
+* Give one another the benefit of the doubt before arriving at a negative conclusion.
+* Take risks in offering feedback & assistance.
+* Appreciate & tap into one another's skills & experiences.
+* Focus time & energy on important issues, not politics.
+* Offer & accept apologies w/o hesitation.
+* Look forward to meeting & opportunities to work as a group.
+
+==== Overcoming Absence of Trust
+* Requires shared experience over time, multiple instances of follow-through (build credibility), & an in-depth understanding of what each team member brings to the table.
+* Personal histories exercise: Low risk, share information about non-sensitive information like number of siblings, hometown, unique challenges of childhood, favorite hobbies, first job & worst job. Encourages greater empath & discourages inaccurate behavioral attributions.
+* Team effectiveness exercise: Team members need to identify sinble most important contribution that each peer makes to the team **and** one area that must be improved / eliminated for the good of the team.
+* Personality & behavioral preference profiles: e.g. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), Everything DiSC - provide practical & scientifically valid behavioral descriptions of team members. Tools require participation of a licensed consultant to avoid misuse.
+* 360-degree feedback: Higher risk since peers needs to make specific judgments & provide constructive criticism. Must be divorced entirely from compensation & formal performance evaluation to avoid political undertones, & fear impact on compensation & on repercussions.
+* Experiential team exercises: Not sure what these are. Need to investigate.
+* Revisit individual developmental areas to ensure momentum is sustained - atrophy can lead to erosion of trust.
+* Leader must demonstrate **genuine** vulnerability first to encourage building of trust.
+* Leader must create an environment that does not punish vulnerability - no chastisement from anyone for admission of weakness / failure, discourages trust, however subtly.
+
+==== Connection to Fear of Conflict
+Fear of punishment due to misinterpretation of what is said as destructive / critical when engaged in a passionate debate.
+
+=== 2. Fear of Conflict
+//Healthy long-term relationships require productive conflict, especially in business.//
+
+==== Causes
+* Desire to avoid hurt feelings.
+* Misguided thinking that avoiding conflict increases efficiency.
+
+Productive ideological conflict is very different from destructive fighting & interpersonal politics. Ideological conflict is about concepts & ideas, not personality-focused, mean-spirited attacks.
+
+==== Teams that Fear Conflict
+* Have boring meetings (? don't get this point).
+* Create environments where back-channel politics & personal attacks thrive.
+* Ignore controversial topics that are critical to team success.
+* Fail to tap into all the opinions & perspectives of team members.
+* Waste time & energy with posturing & interpersonal risk management.
+
+==== Teams that Engage in Conflict
+* Have lively, interesting meetings (? again, don't get this point).
+* Extract & exploit the ideas of all team members.
+* Solve real problems quickly.
+* Minimize politics.
+* Put critical topics on the table for discussion.
+
+==== Overcoming Fear of Conflict
+* Mining: Members of teams which tend to avoid conflict need to extract buried agreements, call out sensitive issues & force the team to work through them - requires objectivity & commitment to stay with the conflict till resolved.
+* Real-time permission: coach one another not to retreat from healthy debate. Remind people when they become uncomfortable with level of discord that it's necessary - need to be careful not to come across as patronizing.
+* Other tools: Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, commonly know as TKI - Need to investigate, no idea about this tool.
+* Leader should forego the desire to protect members from harm - avoid prematurely interrupting disagreements which prevents team members from developing conflict management skills.
+* Leader should demonstrate restraint & allow resolution to occur naturally - can be messy.
+* Leader should actively take on conflict when necessary & productive.
+
+==== Connection to Lack of Commitment
+How can a team buy into a decision & confidently commit to anything until it has engaged in productive conflict & members' perspectives & opinions have been considered?
+
+=== 3. Lack of Commitment
+//Commitment = clarity + buy-in//
+
+==== Causes
+* Desire for consensus.
+* Need for certainty.
+
+Dysfunctional teams try to hedge bets & delay important decisions till they're certain of correctness. Analysis-paralysis breeds lack of confidence. Primary reason for dangerous ripple effects on subordinates - clashes will occur when employees reporting to different execs are marching to different tunes.
+
+==== A Team that Fails to Commit
+* Creates ambiguity among the team about direction & priorities.
+* Watches windows of opportunity close due to excessive analysis & unnecessary delay
+* Breeds lack of confidence & fear of failure
+* Revisits discussions & decisions again & again
+* Encourages second-guessing among team members
+
+==== A Team that Commits
+* Creates clarity around direction & priorities.
+* Aligns the entire team around common objectives.
+* Develops an ability to learn from mistakes.
+* Takes advantage of opportunities before competitors do.
+* Moves forward without hesitation.
+* Changes direction without hesitation or guilt.
+
+==== Overcoming Lack of Commitment
+* Cascading messaging: Explicitly review key decisions & agree to what to communicate to employees / other constituents.
+* Deadlines: Honor deadlines with discipline & rigidity. Also applies to milestones, since that's how misalignment is identified & addressed before costs become too great.
+* Contingency & worst-case scenario analysis: Reduces fear that costs of incorrect decision are survivable.
+* Low-risk exposure therapy: Teams with dysfunctions tend to overvalue research & analysis. Use low-risk situations to demonstrate success of decisiveness once they have had substantial discussion with sufficient information.
+* Leader makes the decision in case of impasse - //a// decision is better than //no// decision. Better to be bold & wrong, & to change direction just as boldly. No waffling!
+* Leader needs to push for closure on issues & must enforce adherence to schedules.
+
+==== Connection to Avoidance of Accountability
+How can someone be held accountable for something that was not made clear in the first place?
+
+=== 4. Avoidance of Accountability
+//Willingness of team members to call out one another for performance or behaviors that might hurt the team.//
+
+==== Causes
+* Members' interpersonal discomfort.
+* Tendency to avoid difficult conversations.
+
+==== A Team that Avoids Accountability
+* Creates resentment among team members who have different standards of performance.
+* Encourages mediocrity.
+* Misses deadlines & key deliverables.
+* Places an undue burden on the team leader as the sole source of discipline.
+
+==== A Team that Holds One Another Accountable
+* Ensures that poor performers feel pressure to improve.
+* Identifies potential problems quickly by questioning one another's approaches without hesitation.
+* Establishes respect among team members who are held to the same high standards.
+* Avoids excessive bureaucracy around performance management & corrective action.
+
+==== Overcoming Avoidance of Accountability
+* Publication of goals & standards: No one can ignore agreements kept in the open.
+* Simple & regular progress reviews: Ensures people take action despite inclination not to.
+* Team rewards: Create a culture of accountability by shifting rewards to team achievement instead of individual performance. Members will pitch in when another is not pulling his / her weight.
+* Leader needs to be careful to not be the only source of discipline - this is indicative of members not holding one another accountable.
+* Leader is arbiter of discipline when team fails - this should be the exception, not the rule. Be clear that accountability is a shared team responsibility, not relegated to a consensus approach.
+
+==== Connection to Inattention to Results
+Absence of accountability results in team members focusing on personal advancement instead of collective results.
+
+=== 5. Inattention to Results
+//Team members care about things other than collective group goals.//
+
+==== Causes
+* Lack of specific objectives.
+* Lack of focus on specific objectives.
+
+Results are not just profit, revenue or shareholder returns. Executives' goals (destination, strategy) & objectives (route, tactics) are representative of team results - these ultimately drive profit. Focus shifts to teams status & individual status when focus is not on outcome-based. Also, there is no cure for a lack of desire to win.
+
+==== A Team that is not Focused on Results
+* Stagnates / fails to grow.
+* Rarely defeats competitor.
+* Loses achievement-oriented employees.
+* Encourages team members to focus on their own careers & individual goals.
+* Is easily distracted.
+
+==== A Team that Focuses on Collective Results
+* Retains achievement-oriented employees.
+* Minimizes individualistic behavior.
+* Enjoys success & suffers failure acutely (meaning they are not oblivious when failing).
+* Benefits from individuals who subjugate their own goals / interests for the good of the team.
+* Avoids distractions.
+
+==== Overcoming Inattention to Results
+* Make results clear & only rewards behaviors & actions that contribute to those results.
+* Public declaration of results: Team works with strong desire to achieve published results.
+* Results-based rewards: Tie rewards, especially compensation, to achieving specific outcomes.
+* Leader must set the tone for a focus on results. A fish rots from the head down, so leader must value results.
+* Leader must reward & give recognition only to those who make real contributions to the achievement of group goals.