The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
A Leadership Fable
Author: Patrick Lencioni
Length: 229 pages (~5 hour read)
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle, Audible
Grab your copy of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team on Amazon here.
Why This Book Matters
If your business strategy looks solid on paper but your team can’t seem to execute it—this is the book to start with. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team pinpoints the invisible barriers that hold teams back: lack of trust, fear of conflict, avoidance of accountability, and more. Lencioni uses a leadership fable to illustrate how even talented, well-meaning people can struggle to function as a true team. This book is ideal for business owners dealing with silos, drama, poor communication, or a sense that everyone is rowing in different directions.
Core Idea
A company can only grow as fast as its team can align. Lencioni identifies five predictable dysfunctions that undermine teamwork—and provides a practical model for building a high-trust, high-performance culture. The path to fixing your team doesn’t start with more meetings or better software. It starts with vulnerability, clarity, and the willingness to engage in productive tension.
Key Tactics & How to Apply Them
1. Build Vulnerability-Based Trust
Teams break down when people don’t feel safe being real.
How to apply: Leaders must go first—admit mistakes, ask for help, share weaknesses. Use personal history exercises or team assessments to create shared understanding and safety.
2. Encourage Healthy Conflict
Fear of conflict leads to fake harmony—and poor decisions.
How to apply: Normalize disagreement. In meetings, push for debate instead of consensus. Reward candor, not politeness. Assign a “conflict miner” to draw out hidden concerns.
3. Create Commitment Through Clarity
Teams don’t need full consensus—they need clarity and buy-in.
How to apply: End every meeting with a recap of decisions and next steps. Ensure everyone leaves with shared understanding, even if they initially disagreed.
4. Hold Each Other Accountable
When accountability is only top-down, teams underperform.
How to apply: Encourage peer-to-peer accountability. Publicly share goals and progress. Make expectations visible so it’s easy—and normal—to call each other out.
5. Focus on Collective Results
Ego and siloed goals ruin team performance.
How to apply: Tie rewards to team outcomes, not just individual performance. Regularly ask, “Are we winning as a team?” Shift attention from personal wins to shared victories.
Real-World Example
A fast-growing agency had strong individual contributors but couldn’t scale. Meetings were tense, no one challenged bad ideas, and departments blamed each other for delays. After applying Lencioni’s model, the leadership team invested in trust-building retreats, redefined meeting norms, and made team-wide goals the focus of bonuses. Within a year, employee retention improved, client delivery times dropped, and morale soared. They didn’t change the talent—just how the team worked together.
When to Use This Book
Your leadership team avoids hard conversations or decisions
You sense hidden tensions, politicking, or silo behavior
Accountability is inconsistent and usually comes from the top
People are busy, but the team isn’t achieving real results
You want to turn a group of talented individuals into a true team
Grab your copy of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team on Amazon here.