I’m back!! And I’m pleased to say that my audiobook habit has well and truly stuck.
What started as a way to make better use of my time in the car has turned into a core part of how I learn, reflect and stay curious about leadership and teams.
Why do good teams still struggle to perform?
That’s the question at the heart of my next book that’s earned its place on my ‘most recommended’ list; The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni.
At under five hours of audio, it’s a short listen, but don’t let that fool you… it’s packed with insight about why teams struggle, and what they can do about it, so it stays with you.
I first picked it up because I wanted to use its ideas within our own content. Since then, I’ve recommended it to a wide range of learners, including a semi-pro female football player in a leadership role, who used the book to help her team work better together on and off the pitch. That, for me, really brought home how universal these concepts are.
A leadership fable that actually lands.
Rather than a traditional business book, Lencioni tells the story through a fictional executive team and their new CEO.
It’s a narrative format, which makes the ideas incredibly easy to follow and, importantly, easy to remember, something I’ve found really useful when bringing these concepts into conversations with teams.
The five dysfunctions (simplified).
Through the story, he introduces five core dysfunctions that hold teams back:
- Absence of Trust
This sits at the base of the model. Without trust, people don’t feel safe being open or vulnerable. They hide mistakes, avoid asking for help, and protect themselves instead of the team. - Fear of Conflict
If trust is missing, conflict becomes something that is avoided, rather than something healthy. Teams avoid the “difficult conversations”, which means all the real thinking happens outside the team, not in it. - Lack of Commitment
When people haven’t been able to properly debate and challenge, they might nod along, but they’re not truly bought in. That fake harmony leads to unclear or half‑hearted decisions. - Avoidance of Accountability
If there’s no real commitment, it becomes much harder to hold each other to account. People stay in their lane, and poor behaviours or underperformance slip by unchallenged. - Inattention to Results
At the top of the pyramid is a subtle but powerful dysfunction: focusing on ego, status or individual goals instead of collective results. It is about the ‘me’, rather than the ‘we’. The team stops acting like a team.
Put simply: most team problems are about how people relate to each other.
Why this model works so well.
What I like about Lencioni’s model is how clearly he shows these dysfunctions stacking on top of each other. You can’t fix accountability if you haven’t tackled commitment. You can’t get real commitment if you’ve avoided conflict. And you’ll never get healthy conflict without trust.
It also makes it incredibly practical. In our work with teams, it gives a simple way to diagnose what’s really going on beneath the surface and where to focus first.
Personal key takeaways.
Listening to this book, I found myself replaying moments from teams I’ve worked in and with, mentally mapping them against the model. A few things really stood out for me, and are shaping how I show up in my work:
- Trust is about vulnerability, not “niceness”
Lencioni talks a lot about vulnerability‑based trust, which is the willingness to ask questions or admit mistakes that really resonated with me, like: “I got that wrong”, “I need help”, or “I don’t know”. It’s not about everyone getting along all the time; it’s about creating psychological safety, where people can be honest without fear. - Healthy conflict is a sign of a healthy team
This beautifully builds on something I reflected on from my previous book review, ‘Multipliers’; that great teams don’t avoid challenge, they lean into it and are willing to lean into debate. I’ve been more deliberate about engaging in healthy conflict, and less quick to smooth over disagreements for the sake of comfort. Asking questions such as: “Are we having the conversation we actually need to have?”, “What are we not saying out loud?” and “Are we debating to win, or debating to find the best answer?”. - Clarity is the foundation of accountability
One thing the book really highlights is that accountability starts with crystal‑clear expectations. If people don’t fully understand what’s been decided, we can’t be surprised when follow‑through is sporadic. This has made me even more committed to summarising decisions, next steps and who owns what within my team. I’ve become more deliberate about ending conversations with: “What have we agreed?”, “Who owns what?”, “What happens next?”. - The model works beyond the boardroom.
The semi‑pro footballer I mentioned earlier is a great example. She used the five dysfunctions with her team to start conversations about trust, communication and shared goals. It’s something we see time and again, the language is simple, but it opens powerful conversations in all sorts of team environments, from corporate teams, sports squads and even families. Essentially anywhere people are trying to achieve something together. It’s led me to think more about questions like: “Where else could this language help unbox a conversation?”, “How comfortable are we talking about how we work together, not just what we’re working on?” and “What would change if we made these dynamics more explicit?” - Spoiler alert – there’s practical hints and tips at the end.
Once the fable is finished, Lencioni goes on to explore ways in which to overcome each of the dysfunctions. Since reading this book, I have revisited these chapters when exploring dysfunctions with teams to see which techniques work best for them. Many of them are easy to apply and make a real difference, I’ve found it useful to ask: “Which of these dysfunctions feels most familiar to us right now?”, “Where would focusing our attention make the biggest difference?”
or “What’s one small thing we could try this week to shift this?”.
A few lines that stuck with me.
Lencioni has a way of distilling big ideas into simple, memorable phrases. A few that landed for me:
“Trust is the confidence among team members that their peers’ intentions are good, and that there is no reason to be protective or careful around the group.”
“When there is trust, conflict becomes nothing but the pursuit of truth, an attempt to find the best possible answer.”
“The enemy of accountability is ambiguity.”
These quotes (and others) are easy to bring into workshops or team discussions, as they are relatable and tend to spark honest reflection.
Rich’s rating.
I’d give The Five Dysfunctions of a Team a solid 90 out of 100.
It’s short, engaging and highly practical, it’s a model I’ve found myself coming back to in real team conversations. The fable format makes it an easy listen, but the underlying model is robust enough to use in real leadership development, team coaching and everyday conversations about how we work together.
If you’ve read or listened to The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and want to compare notes, or if you’re curious about how to use the model with your own team then I’d love to hear from you.
Jo and I are also running a webinar on team effectiveness where we will be discussing this model, if you’d like to reserve a space then register by clicking here.
Drop me a message on LinkedIn or send me an email. Let’s keep building teams that trust, challenge, commit and deliver together!
