5 Dysfunctions Of A TEAM

I urge everybody to read Patrick Lencioni's book "The 5 Dysfuctions of a Team" that's #2 this week on our reading list. I didn't put it on the list but i'm happy to see it there.

I had an opportunity to meet him, shake his hand and gush to him personally on how his book didn't make me feel stupid, and that's the best part about how he writes. He's sooo relatable. And he writes on a fictional style, i.e. he tells a story, and you learn the organisational lessons via the stories he tells. It's great. I also have his latest book on '3 Signs of a Miserable Job'. LOL. I was happy to read that I don't find the 3 signs in my current job. =)

Anyhow, I really agree with his book, that Trust is an important issue for teams. And if you don't have trust, then you won't be able to get a team who takes ownership. And for that trust to be built, we have to be able to be honest, and point out our teams weaknesses and flaws. Not in a personal fashion, but because everybody's behaviour on the team affects the team.

I've long had a similar theory about it. I called it 'Throw S*&T at each other'.

I've always believed that if we all threw S&%T at each other, and not in any personal fashion, and if all that S!*T is out in the open, then teams can grow out of the trust that you have after experiencing S*&T madness together. Then all the issues are out in the open, people don't skirt the issues, and then you can really get things going and the team to gel. And we should never be afraid to tell people the truth, and be upfront about it rather than be polite about things, and bitch behind people's backs.

Of course my theory never went down well with people. Maybe cos they didn't understand me really. When I read Lencioni's book, it hit me! --> I was right about my theory. It's just that Lencioni managed to express it in a much much better way than me.

Well, it's no wonder that he's raking in the millions and not me huh? =P