The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team

I came across this very beautiful book recently in my many Webcrawler searches for random way to increase my knowledge and productivity. The name of the book is The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and it was written by Patrick Lencioni.

Note: The summary of the five dysfunctions is taken directly from Wikipedia, cut and past style - mostly because I find that typing becomes a very weary task for me after searching for countless hours on the interweb.

1) Absence of Trust

The first of the dysfunctions, absence of trust, stems from teams unwillingness to be vulnerable within the group. Team members who are not genuinely open with one another about their mistakes and weaknesses make it impossible to build a foundation for trust.

2) Fear of Conflict

This failure to build trust is damaging because it sets a tone for the second dysfunction: fear of conflict. Teams that lack trust are incapable of engaging in unfiltered passionate debate of ideas. Instead, they resort to veiled discussions and guarded comments.

3) Lack of Commitment

A lack of healthy conflict is a problem because it ensures the third dysfunction of a team: lack of commitment. without having aired their opinions in the course of passionate and open debate, team members rarely, if ever, buy in and commit to decisions, though they may feign agreement during meetings.

4) Avoidance of Accountability

Because of this lack of real commitment and buy-in, team members develop an avoidance of accountability, the fourth dysfunction. Without committing to a clear plan of action, even the most focused and driven people often hesitate to call their peers on actions and behaviors that seem counterproductive to the good of the team.

5) Inattention to Results

Failure to hold one another accountable creates an environment where the fifth dysfunction can thrive. Inattention to results occurs when team members put their individual needs (such as ego, career development, or recognition) or even the needs of their divisions above the collective goals of the team.

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So now your thinking, WHY? What does this have to do with marketing. Well that's quite simple. Marketers, for the most part, are the most "extroverted" people in existence. Marketing is not done in a dark room at the bottom of a set of unlit stairs by a person hunched over an enormous desk - that's accounting silly.

All jokes aside, Marketing is a team effort and cannot be exercised in a vacuum. Teams in the field of Marketing can consist of many different internal and external groups that you, as a Marketer, will have to work with peacefully and productively to reach objectives and reach goals.

Acquiring as many skills as possible, relating to teamwork and cooperation, and learning how to avoid these "team pitfalls" is just as important as knowing your target market or properly implementing your marketing mix...

...hmmmm the Four P's, sounds like fun. There's a can of worms I'll be taking on in the next couple of days.