Book Review: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni

A lot of my internship includes learning whether it's about ministry, myself, or the great God I serve. Part of my job includes reading three books and writing a small paper on what I thought about it and what I learned and this was my first book.

It's call The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni. It's not necessarily a Christian book, but I think that it was very beneficial to read. Lencioni described the five dysfunctions through telling a story of a company. They had an extremely dysfunctional executive board that did not work together well. That same company decided to bring in a woman named Kathryn to help them become a team and be more competitive in their market. I have to say that this was much easier to read than if Lencioni had simply written about the dysfunctions and how to fix them. I found myself engaged in the story and able to identify with some of the team members. It also helped me to picture what these dysfunctions looked like on our staff and how I could be a better teammate. 

The five dysfunctions include:

1. Absence of Trust which leads to Invulnerability

2. Fear of Conflict which leads to Artificial Harmony

3. Lack of Commitment which leads to Ambiguity

4. Avoidance of Accountability which leads to Low Standards

5. Inattention to Results which leads to Status and Ego

Kathryn was definitely my favorite character. She had so much wisdom throughout the entire process of creating a team. Lencioni let us in on her past as well that helped her to gain that wisdom. She was a volleyball player, a teacher, a mom, and a business woman. All of her different experiences allowed her insight into different situations and gave her the authority to speak into the teammates' lives. She also employed incredible restraint when in meetings. She allowed the teammates to fight things out when necessary. I envy her ability to restrain herself when leading meetings. I struggle with that because 1) I like to control things and 2) I like to talk. I'm working on it though, and hopefully this summer I will learn and grow a lot!

The way that Lencioni explains everything is so easy to follow and I really enjoyed it. Our whole staff is reading it together and we will have a meeting to discuss it, so I'm excited to see what other people thought as well.