The Five Dysfunctions of a Team is a book by Patrick Lencioni, first published in 2002. It was a best seller when it was released as is considered a staple of management books.

The lessons from the book fall squarely in the organizational domain of the Leadership Lattice. It focuses on the 5 things that lead to teams not working well together. They are:

  • Absence of trust—unwilling to be vulnerable within the group
  • Fear of conflict—seeking artificial harmony over constructive passionate debate
  • Lack of commitment—feigning buy-in for group decisions creates ambiguity throughout the organization
  • Avoidance of accountability—ducking the responsibility to call peers on counterproductive behavior which sets low standards
  • Inattention to results—focusing on personal success, status and ego before team success

The lessons from Five Dysfunctions do fit within the framework of the leadership lattice, reinforcing it as a learning framework for management and leadership.