The Hindu Business Line : Fixing a fractured team

Ultimate competitive advantage is not in finance, strategy or technology, but in teamwork, says Patrick Lencioni in The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, from Wiley India (www.wileyindia.com) . The `leadership fable' has Kathryn Petersen, the new CEO of DecisionTech, as the protagonist. "If you could get all the people in an organisation rowing in the same direction, you could dominate any industry, in any market, against any competition, at any time," urges the intro.

DecisionTech has `a series of ongoing disappointments' manifesting as slipping deadlines, and resignations of key employees. "Backstabbing among the executives had become an art ... Everything seemed to take too long to get done, and even then it never felt right." Executives were called `the staff'; no one referred to them as a team! They had `undeniable intelligence and impressive educational backgrounds', and they never openly argued during meetings. But "an underlying tension was undeniable," discovered the new CEO. Decisions never seemed to get made; discussions were slow and uninteresting, with few real exchanges; and everyone seemed to be desperately waiting for each meeting to end."

Kathryn lights the fire by announcing an off-site, to get the act together as a team, even if it meant not selling anything. "A fractured team is just like a broken arm or leg; fixing it is always painful, and sometimes you have to rebreak it to make it heal correctly. The rebreak hurts a lot more than the initial break, because you have to do it on purpose," is the wisdom that the board chairman receives from Kathryn when he tries to suggest that she must try to build a few bridges before setting any on fire! The off-site was not about `catching each other falling out of trees,' or `holding hands, singing songs, or getting naked,' but about working on a pyramid with five sections, each representing a dysfunction. `Absence of trust' lay at the base.

"Great teams do not hold back with one another. They are unafraid to air their dirty laundry. They admit their mistakes, their weaknesses, and their concerns without fear of reprisal." Absence of trust accounts for `lack of debate' in staff meetings and other interactions. Such lack of debate may be a good sign "if everyone is completely on the same page and working in lockstep toward the same goals with no sense of confusion". What a rare phenomenon! Kathryn lays down two ground rules for the meetings: "Be present and participate." Means? "Everyone needs to be fully engaged in whatever we're talking about." Check if that happens in your meetings? The remaining four dysfunctions are fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results. Familiar occurrences in your workplace? If so, you may urgently need to hire a Kathryn... or get Lencioni by your side.

ManageMentor@TheHindu.co.in

D. Murali