The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

is the title of a great book by Patrick Lencioni. The subtitle is "a leadership fable" and pages 1-185 form a story of how a new CEO starts to turns around a dysfunctional group of individual high achievers who are not pulling together as a team. Each "chapter" is rarely more than four pages long and the story moves along at a brisk and enjoyable pace.

The last forty odd pages explain the five dysfunctions model:
  1. Absence of trust (invulnerability)
  2. Fear of conflict (artificial harmony)
  3. Lack of commitment (ambiguity)
  4. Avoidance of accountability (low standards)
  5. Inattention to results (status and ego)
Just one quote this time:

Politics is when people choose their words and actions based on how they want others to react rather than based on what they really think.