The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

“If everything is important, then nothing is.”

The worst enemy of a team that is susceptible to this dysfunction is ambiguity, and timing is one of the most critical factors that must be made clear. What is more, committing to deadlines for intermediate decisions and milestones is just as important as final deadlines, because it ensures that misalignment among team members is identified and addressed before the costs are too great.

As simple as it seems, one of the best tools for ensuring commitment is the use of clear deadlines for when decisions will be made, and honoring those dates with dis-210
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Understanding and Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions cipline and rigidity.

Like a vortex, small gaps between executives high up in an organization become major discrepancies by the time they reach employees below.

greatest consequences for an executive team that does not commit to clear decisions is unresolvable discord deeper in the organization

That’s because they understand the old military axiom that a decision is better than no decision.

All great relationships, the ones that last over time, require productive conflict in order to grow. This is true in mar-riage, parenthood, friendship, and certainly business.

She believed that the larger the company, the smaller the team should be at the top.

“Are you saying that Fred’s behavior alone hurt the production of the group by 50 percent?”
“No. Not Fred’s behavior.”
People seemed confused.
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Heavy Lifting
“My tolerance of his behavior. Listen, they fired the right person.”

Though it always amazed her, Kathryn knew from past experience that the departure of even the most difficult employees provoked some degree of mourning and self-doubt among their peers.