Wednesday, August 19, 2009

The 5 Dysfunctions


Back in my working days I picked up a book by Patrick Lencioni that I'm sure most of you are familiar with. The title is The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team. The principles apply to work but more so to life in general and more specifically to families.

The 5 areas are simple ~Trust~Conflict~Commitment~ Accountibility~ Results with the foundation being trust. That seems to be what all relationships turn on, if it is there then the relationship has security, if it is not there, the relationship crumbles. Let me take the 5 points a step further for consideration and thought.

These are the things that keep us from achieving the relationships we want to have.

~Trust - The absence of Trust=invulnerabilty
~Conflict- The fear of conflict=Artificial Harmony (or the excuse to walk away)
~Commitment- The lack of commitment=Ambiguity (you get out of it what you put in)
~Accountability - Avoidance of accountability=low standands (you have to be brave enough to accept your responsibility and also strong enough to hold others accountable for theirs, but it has to be = on both sides)
~Results - Inattention to results = status and ego, both of which are artificial and only important to you.

If you haven't read the book, read it. Although it is written in a business story form, the application is much broader than that.

3 comments:

Carole said...

Words well spoken.... where can I get the book?

Ann said...

Any book store like Barnes and Noble will have it.

Karen M. said...

I think it all boils down to this: "You get what you give" it is plain and simple yet profound. You can't get when you don't give. Life moves too fast. I would love to spend a week in your library. I use my "Aim for the Heart" book almost on a daily basis.