Org-Fitness Today!

High Performance Teams and The Five Dysfunctions of Teams

I have been reading a book based on Patrick Lencioni's, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. This is really more like a guide or how-to book titled: Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Field Guide.

If you have ever read any of Lencioni's books, you know he writes in an entertaining and I feel effective manner using a fable to tell his story. I first read the original Five Dysfunctions a couple of years ago and felt it was an excellent story and that he had effectively identified and labeled some critical stages teams go through. I've used some of his work in discussion with teams over the last couple of years.

According the Lencioni, the Five Dysfunctions are:

1. Absence of Trust
2. Fear of Conflict
3. Lack of Commitment
4. Avoidance of Accountability
5. Inattention to Results

In his book, the model used is shaped like a pyramid with Absence of Trust being on the bottom or at the foundation and Inattention to Results is at the top. There is also an assessment tool for teams to measure or see where they are in relationship to these five dysfunctions. Whenever I mention or go through these five dysfunctions, people seem to resonate with them and I see lots of heads nodding.

I am currently designing a 4-hour training called High Performance Teams using this and other models. I will also have a longer--one to two day off-site training available for teams that are really committed to going beyond the status quo. Creating a highly effective team is never easy, as we sometimes describe the HURT 100 course, "we wouldn't want it to be easy," It is doable though!

Please comment and let me know your thoughts and interest on this topic.

Cool Site: Bob Sutton's Work Matters

Bob Sutton is an author and professor. He has co-authored several popular business books including The Knowing-Doing Gap and Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense. I'll add more later however if you are curious, check out his site Work Matters.

Organizational Change: No One Said it Would Be Easy or Fast!

Organizational change remains one of the top items discussed and debated related to creating successful companies. We all know change is constant and in many cases, moving at a pace that many of us find difficult to keep up with.

In a recent article in Red Herring, a study conducted by IBM found that 80 percent of CEO's were dissatisfied with their organizations ability to manage change. The article goes on to talk about how very few CEO's actually take responsibility for championing innovation.

Steve Shapiro: A "Cool Friend" of Tom Peters

Over at Tom Peters site, he has interviewed author Steven M. Shapiro, in Tom's Cool Friends section. Steven is the author of Goal-Free Living: How to Have the Life You Want NOW!

What I took from this interview is another confirmation that there is a huge chunk of the population out there that is unmotivated by goals. I want to read this book to learn more.

So much of what takes place in the workplace and in business in general is goal orientated. This is a good thing or a lot of work might not ever get finished or accomplished.

However, mangers and leaders must learn that many people have other factors which motivate them. Learning about what motivates people is a key management or leadership competence. This gets into an area we'll save for another day. Click here to read the interview with Steven.

The E-Myth Manager

I just finished reading Michael Gerber's, The E-Myth Manager: Why Management Doesn't Work--and What to Do About It. I've listed it on the lower right side of my blog under the Have You Read This?

This is one of the best books I've read on how to work with managers and develop them to be self-motivated and driven. I'll be writing more on this and incorporating many of the principles of this work into my own training, consulting, and coaching business.

I've ordered some other related resources from Michael Gerber and look forward to reading those as well.

Lose Five Pounds in Two Days??

As many of you know, I like to run. I post the following with this disclaimer: Don't try this diet without the proper training.

This post has more to do with extremes: read with caution, act with even more caution. Dean Karnazes, ultra runner and author (Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner), was recently quoted describing this diet:

Lose five pounds in two days, the Dean Karnazes way

1. Eat eight PowerBars; one large pizza; four bananas; two grilled chicken sandwiches; one large bag of Doritos; one cheesecake; five large chocolate chip cookies; two cinnamon buns; four peanut butter and honey sandwiches; three large beef burritos; one bag of pretzels; one Thai chicken wrap; one ice cream sandwich; two servings of macaroni and cheese; one chocolate eclair; three doughnuts; three bags of trail mix; three bags of french fries; one bag of chocolate espresso beans.

2. Drink one Slurpee; two smoothies; one large chocolate malt; 30 bottles Pedialyte.

3. Run 200 miles in 46 hours, 17 minutes.

Total calories consumed: 27,934

Total calories burned: 44,000

Total weight loss: 16,066 calories or roughly five pounds

Here's a link to a recent article on Dean as he tours the country promoting his book.

I would not expect Dean to see his eating habits as a serious way to lose weight and neither would I expect you to take it that way.

Losing weight means eating healthier, exercising more, and making wise choices.

So eat the apple for a snack and get out there and do something--walk, run, ride, swim or paddle.

Are We Really a Team?

How many times have we heard managers drone on about the expectations and qualities around a work group in relationship to teams and teamwork?

Since the idea of teams and teamwork have become so popular in the workplace over the last 20 years, organizations large and small have tried to align themselves around teams. Sometimes it has been successful and other times not.

Why doesn't every work group function as a high performance team?

• Lack of trust
• No common goals
• Lack of interdependence: in other words, survival of the strongest, smartest, and sometimes least ethical or moral individuals
• Poor communication
• Independent performance expectations or measures

The list can go on and on. Sometimes I think it would be best for managers to climb off the team soapbox and just admit the work group is not a team.

Patrick Lencione, author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team was recently interviewed by Kim George, VP of Connectivity for CoachVille. In this interview, Patrick expresses some of his thoughts along a similar thread. I highly recommend his book. You can click on the above graphic of it and go straight to Amazon if you are interested in purchasing it.

For more information on CoachVille, click here.

To read the interview, click here.