Dysfunctions begin with trust
I like to put insightful ideas on my wall and look at them regularly. Here's one of them - business management author Patrick Lencioni's 5 Dysfunctions of a team:
Every team, even musical ones, wrestle with these common pitfalls. What I love about this is that each dysfunction is interconnected. It's a chain reaction from the first to the fifth:
Absence of trust: When we don't trust each other, we're less likely to be open in communication and feel safe in collaboration.
Fear of conflict: When we are afraid to safely disagree or challenge each other, we avoid conflicts and difficult conversations that are crucial for problem-solving and decision-making.
Lack of commitment: Without open and honest conflict, it's difficult for us to reach consensus and commit to a shared goal or decision.
Avoidance of accountability: When we are indecisive about commitment, it's hard to hold ourselves accountable to reach a shared goal.
Inattention to results: When we avoid accountability, we put our own needs above the collective goals of the group.
My biggest takeaway is that often we focus on solving dysfunctions 3, 4, or 5 when the issue is really 1 or 2. So we need to investigate the real source of the problem along the chain.
I've noticed that the culprit is often the absence of trust. Without it, we can't have productive conflict, nor solid commitment, nor expectation of accountability, which all lead to less effective results.
If we only try to improve results or enforce accountability without resolving any of the previous dysfunctions, we may be in trouble.
How might this framework help you diagnose a challenge you're currently experiencing?
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