What I'm Reading Wednesday!

Hola! Hope you're all having happy Wednesdays. Mine has been pretty good, beginning with a P90X arms and shoulder workout with my co-workers - woo! Then just work, work, work before heading out early for a doctor appointment and then heading home to the fam -not a bad day!

So yesterday at work I got back to my desk from a meeting and was greeted with a copy of Patrick Lencioni's The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. We have a teambuilding exercise coming up and my boss had left it there for reading material. Well, when I got home, I curled up in bed and thought i'd read a few pages and see what it was all about. Before I knew it, I was done. Great, short, impactful read! Basically, it tells the story of a new leader being brought into an organization that is desperately needing a more solid executive team. It walks through, mostly in first person, how she introduced the dysfunctions, ingrained them in the team and improved teamwork (sometimes in very 'wow' ways). It's not one of those - here are the 5 dysfunctions - go and prosper! Instead, it's a real-life look at how they work, how they can be applied, why they should be applied and more. For those, like me, who did want to know what they are, here they are:

1. Absence of Trust (invulnerability) - moving towards teams where people admit mistakes, ask for help, seek input, give others the benefit of the doubt and look forward to collaborating.
2. Fear of Conflict (artificial harmony) - moving towards solving problems and discussing critical problems - lively meetings with interesting conversations and shared perspectives.
3. Lack of Commitment (ambiguity) - moving towards a team with common objectives and clarity around priorities
4. Avoidance of Accountability (low standards) - holding people accountable; asking tough questions; ensuring that poor performers want to improve
5. Inattention to Results (status and ego) - moving towards a focus on collective results, rather than individual wins.

And a little image if you prefer it - can see how they build on each other:

source: tomorrowsreflection.com 

It covered why these are important, the benefits of employing them vs. the problems of not, how they interrelate and how to work towards avoiding them. All in all, I give this book a 5/5 - fresh perspective, interesting content, actionable, etc.!

Q: Do you have a favorite teambuilding, management or workplace book?!


Q: What's the best book you've read so far this year? This is only the second book i've read - eek! I haven't even reviewed the other - i'm so behind!