The Fantastic Four who Reviewed the Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable
Hobbies: Travel, Horses, Cooking, Computing, Videos/Movies
Thoughts on 5 Dysfunctions: I really love 5DOAT. This book applies to groups/teams from many different walks of life. In fact, a friend gave me a copy as a gift. She had used it successfully with her church that was going under.
School: Ranum Middle School
Hobbies: Reading, Gardening, Painting, NOT cooking
Thoughts on 5 Dysfunctions: As a teacher for eleven years, I have attended my fair share of team building trainings. Though all well intended, none have been particularly effective. One of the biggest problems is that the team being focused on was always too large. This philosophy is intended on a small group. When you bring too many participants into the picture,
it is nearly impossible to be honest and to reach agreement. Another aspect of our trainings that fell short was the stringent way in which the leader or
leaders approached the instruction of the philosophy they were presenting. There was no room
for flexibility. If a leader cannot be flexible and adjust presentation, the team members will not
buy into the system, and the team building fails. Though I haven’t seen this philosophy in action, the fable seemed quite realistic, including both the highs and lows of the process. Overall, I think this philosophy has strong merit. It is logical, straightforward, and reasonable.
School: Grand Mesa Middle School
Hobbies: Hiking, Reading, Playing with my dogs, and driving to Denver to see my sweet sweet love muffin.
Thoughts on 5 Dysfunctions: I like the theories in the book, but I wonder how well they will work in a school setting. Tenure does not allow for us to make personel changes that might be necessary in order to do what is best for the group. However, I like that the model is based on mutual trust, respect and willingness to work toward a common goal. Often in education we are all paddling in our own direction and the boat doesn't move. This philosophy is a great way to get everyone paddling in the same direction.
School: Castle View High School
Hobbies: Travel, Sports, Hiking, Reading and Sarcasm
Thoughts on 5 Dysfunctions: I really appreciate the work that Lencioni did with this book. The narrative structure adds an element to leadership books that is rarely seen. The book was interesting from beginning to end, and I was able to finish it in a single evening (this is far from common for me). One might overlook that statement, but because leadership skills are an ever-changing thing it is nice to have a quality resource to return to for refreshing important principals that may have waned. I believe my favorite part of the book was a single sentence where Lencioni defined politics in order to identify how politics on the part of an individual detract from a team: "Politics is when people chose their words and actions based on how the want others to react rather based on what they really think" (p.88). So true.
To see our more detailed analysis, please visit the Philosophy Assessment page!
