Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable - Free Essay with a Book Analysis

The book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: a Leadership Fable was written by renowned author Patrick Lencioni. The main idea of the book by the remarkable author is to create or perfect the coherence needed in teamwork to improve the overall result. Notably, Patrick singles out main features that topple a team and offers possible solutions to prevent such situations. Such features include, mistrust among the team members, conflict between the members, absence of commitment and lack of accountability. The significant of the theme in this book is the realization of the strength of teamwork and the resultant success contributed by teams in the contemporary society (Lencioni, 2012). The main audience of the work of Patrick is team leaders and members of a team as well. This target group is significant for a team success due to the basic role contributed and involvement. The book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team is a theory book due to the specific skills presented by the author and the leadership fable that Patrick engages in the niche of teamwork.

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Patricks book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team is very interesting due to the styles he uses in his writing. One of the styles that dominate is the use of a fable to communicate his message to the targeted audience. Patrick creates a leadership fable that arouses a suspense emotion to the audience. Patricks main character Kathryn Petersen is the CEO of a Tech organization, in the fable the audiences attention is captured by Patrick due to the suspense of the fate of the Tech Company and the CEO (Lencioni, 2012). Patrick explains the five dysfunctions that lead to a stumble or struggle in teams. However, Patrick creates an applicable model for the team leaders to strengthen any given team.

Another significant point discussed by Patrick is the great effect that is created by mistrust among the team members in any given team. Trust is basic requirement in a team since the team should operate as one body. This lack of basic trust among the members mostly arises from the team members openness of the individual weaknesses. This vulnerability affects the team negatively because of the time resource and energy lost during the defensive actions of the individuals. Team members should take advantage of the uniqueness of the specific members due to the different talents individuals possess (Lencioni, 2012). A good way to promote the effectiveness of the team is by sharing experiences and investing in credibility among the team members.

Lack of commitment is another good point to present in our discussion. This means that every team members should be free to air the personal opinions to prevent ambiguity during decision making. This is significant in the coherence of the team because it enhances transparency and gives the team members confident due to the moral support from members. Team members should take conflict positive since during decision making it leads to good decision making. This conflict stirs up debate that leads to productivity in the decision making (Lencioni, 2012).

Lencioni writes in the context of business environment from a real life point of view. The pivotal focus of his work develops from challenges of team leadership in an imaginative organization. The ideology of imagination is evident in the sense that the author discusses of a fictional scenario to prove his argument or present his work. He views a team leader in his created scenario as the central unit that lacks coordinated support systems from team members. This reference situation is basic in team leadership as demonstrated by Lencioni given that he quickly points that team leadership is an interdependent structure or system model (Lencioni, 2007). A point to note is that the area of focus generally targets his audience in the sense that he talks of leadership skills that trigger team success.

The contents of the book are detailed to cover a wider scope that generally elaborates the challenges that affect team leadership and management. The said Topical issues discussed in the book include inattention to the eventual results within the working environment. In the said topic, Lencioni illustrates the extent to which accountability would affect an organization. He advices his audience on the essence of prioritizing the eventual goal targeted by team members working together. He says in his statements that achievement of the overall organization depends on a teams focus on the eventual result. Such a viewpoint is salient in the delivery of set objectives within an organization (Lencioni, 2012). The effect of such a strategy directly reflects to the overall working relationship among individuals. In this regard, the book addresses organizational matters on the context of proper team leadership, coordination and management that flows from the top personnel in the organization.

Commitment is another topical matter addressed by Lencioni in his book. The author talks of productive conflict as an operating framework for the team leadership. A point in case is where the other speaks of commitment with confidence among members. This statement implies that the author points to the sense of engaging team members in healthy arguments before settling in the final decision. The effect of engaging in such a discussion is for the good of the team in general. This approach is effective as discussed by Lencioni given that he elaborates the role played by a leader when he sets matter straight. A conclusive ideology presented in this segment is that opinion matters when it comes to dealing with team. According to the author, the essence of employing such skills is to enhance the power of decision making within a majority group (Perrecone, 2008). A point in case is where the author sets a reminder that reasonable persons require an audience instead of a proposed discussion. The final discussion point presented in the book centers around the concept of understanding team members to facility the effect delivery of set goals. In lieu of such realization, Lencioni has provided helpful team leadership theories that would effectively enhance team management and organizational success in any business environment.

The book by Lencioni is a very informative piece of work that dwells largely on education any leader on how to manage a team and how to work with team member. The author provides practical guides namely the five dysfunctions. He explains emergent challenges in team management in the context of highlighting issues among individuals working together. Additionally, the author proceeds to explain the role of a given team leader and his position in managing team members. For example, he speaks of the benefits of highlighting set goals to the team members and the significance of communicating strategies to the same team members. His chapter entitled The March has relevant ideology that represents how his team has evolved over time. He points to the reader how Carlos, a character in the book has evolved overtime to effectively serve his company (Lencioni, 2012). This example is a learning platform for his audience in the sense that he introduces a concept and further proves the effectiveness of his concept if well employed in any organization. As an opinion the author has credible information acquired over years that he presents to his audience in a creative way.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick is a very enlightening book and should be used as a master piece by any given team. The significant of the book is the relevance in the modern business society. Lencionis work is also significant to the contemporary society of team leadership. This presumption develops from the fact that he points to the ultimate reality of teamwork. His context of presentation has a positive effect to any audience in the sense that he justifies several points of team management. Firstly, he elaborates that effective teamwork develops from established principles maintained over duration of time. Secondly, he points to the fact that team success requires incorporating common sense with other uncommon levels of individual discipline and prolonged persistence. In this regard, imperfection plays a dominant role given that the team members are human beings who are subject to defectiveness. The lesson learnt eventually is the essentials of team dynamics on a broader perspective.

References

Lencioni, P. (2007). The five dysfunctions of a team: Participant workbook. San Francisco, Calif: Pfeiffer.

Lencioni, P. (2012). The five dysfunctions of a team: A workshop for team leaders. San Francisco, Calif: Pfeiffer.

Perrecone, M. R. (January 01, 2008). The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable. Nephrology Nursing Journal, 35, 1, 76-76.