The first fable about this book is that it is only for leaders. This book, which won't take you long to read, is for anyone who relies on their relationships with others. The lessons are applicable across a wide variety of relationships: family, friends, teammates, employees, business partners, clients and prospects. First, lets look at the five dysfunctions as described by the author:

1. The first dysfunction is absence of trust amongst team members. Essentially, this stems from their unwillingness to be vulnerable within the group. Team members who are not genuinely open with one another about their mistakes and weaknesses makes it impossible to build a foundation of trust.
Cohesive teams trust one another.

2. This failure to build trust is damaging because it sets the tone for the second dysfunction, fear of conflict. Teams that lack trust are incapable of engaging in unfiltered and passionate debate of ideas. Instead, they resort to veiled discussions and guarded comments.
Cohesive teams engage in unfiltered conflict around ideas (not people and personality).

3. A lack of healthy conflict is a problem because it ensures the third dysfunction of a team: lack of commitment. Without having aired their opinions in the course of passionate and open debate, team members will rarely, if ever, buy in and commit to decisions, though they may feign agreement during meetings.
Cohesive teams commit to decisions and plans of action.

4. Because of this lack of real commitment and buy-in, team members develop an avoidance of accountability, the fourth dysfunction. Without committing to a clear plan of action, even the most focused and driven people often hesitate to call their peers on actions and behaviors that seem counterproductive to the good of the team
Cohesive teams hold one another accountable for delivering on those plans.

5. Failure to hold one another accountable creates an environment where the fifth dysfunction can thrive. Inattention to results occurs when team members put their individual needs (such as ego, career, recognition or reward) or even their division above the collective goals of the team.
Cohesive teams focus on the achievement of collective results.
The takeaway:

We are often thrown into situations where there is no formal leader yet we still need to work together towards some outcome or result. The concepts in this book can help us create better outcomes and experiences for ourselves and those around us. On a recent project, I was the informal leader of a small team. We had a sufficient level of trust, although not an exceptional level. However, what we did have was an up-front team contract which we had all developed together and agreed to. A few weeks into the project, one of the team members started missing deadlines and dropping out of the team communication. The other team members wanted to just "work around her" and finish the project. I was afraid that if we allowed that to happen we would be hurting our morale and our project. Instead, I raised the issue with the wayward team member. I reminded her that we had prior agreement about how we were going to work together and that the team needed her to be there and deliver. I gave her the opportunity to explain what had happened and I asked her questions to help her explain the situation. I didn’t argue with her explanations and I didn’t dismiss it as excuse making. When she was done, I quickly summed up what had happened and I asked her to tell me how we could prevent a similar situation in the future. Essentially, we went through a micro-version of the five dysfunctions. Not only did she become a solid contributor, but the act of calling her on the behavior established a deeper layer of trust among the whole team.

The lessons from this book can help you manage your relationships more effectively.

Copyright © 2008 Bobbi Kahler. All Rights Reserved.