Five Dysfunctions

The Jenius ran across on article on NFL teams and their current passion for a business book, namely The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, written by Patrick Lencioni. Even before reading the book, the basic tenets of its premise are well worth looking into.

Told in the form of a fable (a format made popular again by Eli Goldratt's The Goal and the One Minute books), Five Dysfunctions centers on how a team goes from "worst-to-first," overcoming these five negatives:

1) Absence of trust

2) Fear of conflict

3) Lack of commitment

4) Avoidance of accountability

5) Not attending results

Without trust, no team spirit can emerge and no teamwork is possible. Fear of conflict, often an offshoot of lack of trust, stifles creativity and energy, destroying commitment. Without commitment, no one is accountable and results are basically random accidents in the dark rather than true outcomes.

So the first thing to do is build trust. Simple, right? Obviously not. Even a Fool can see when a team isn't meshing or making a real effort, but not even a Jenius can come up with the right solution every time.

Still, being aware of the problem and defining it is half the battle. At this point, a discussion about how the five dysfunctions apply to Puerto Rico would be like shooting Fools in a barrel, so let's aim (pardon the pun) a little higher: How can You create an effective team right now? One capable of tackling a worthy (in your estimation) goal?

Feel free to discuss amongst yourselves.

The Jenius Has Spoken.