Rating: 
Summary: Really understands team dynamics
Review: This book does 3 things that really hit home for me and justify the 5 star rating I gave it: it's completely in touch with REALITY, it's brilliantly SIMPLE in it's presentation of both the problem and the diagnosis and it's 100% APPLICABLE to every management situation I've ever been part of. Too many times, I've encountered management books or consultants who will assemble a list of things to do that's too long to act upon, out of touch with the reality of working on the planet earth or narrow in their application (eg - how to lead teams to develop better software). Lencioni takes the universe of issues that prevent apparently smart managment teams from succeeding and distills it to the most important 5. As you read this book, I can guarantee you'll have that "I've been in this situation before" feeling. The characters are people I've seen repeatedly in my business career, the situations so familiar they made me laugh. The best aspect of Lencioni's analysis of the dysfunctions is that he takes you materially beyond the diagnosis and offers a real world approach to treating the problem.
Rating:
Summary: Pure Gold
Review: Patrick Lencioni has written the most practical and helpful guide I've ever read on the subject of team building. Through the power of a story you will learn how to take your team through the stages of trust building, instigating healthy conflict, producing commitment, establishing accountability, and achieving common objectives. I've applied these principles to my teams with revolutionary results. Attending one of his lectures on the subject was even more helpful than the book. Yet, the book is a wonderful augment to his teaching. If you want to build a healthy and an effective team I highly recommend "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team." When it comes to team building, the material is pure gold.
Rating:
Summary: Better business book
Review: I liked this quick read and the survey at the end of the book- practical- applicable and a great discussion book for any team- and any leader...
Rating:
Summary: Inspirational
Review: According to Lencioni, "the ultimate test of a great team is results," and in this fable told in the style of similar books, such as The Goal, and The Present, the author discusses how to build and profit from teams. This book is not about teamwork, so much as the deliberate creation of teams to analyze and resolve problems within an organization. The book is highly readable and informative for any executive aspiring to learn about teams or share an inspirational book with his or her workforce. Lencioni identifies 5 reasons teams fail: lack of commitment, failure to embrace conflict, lack of results focus, lack of accountability, and lack of trust. The author concludes his book and his philosophy with the statement success is a matter of "embracing common sense with uncommon levels of discipline and persistence." Read this book and share it with your fellow employees. I would also recommend you read Goldratt's book The Goal (ISBN: 0884270610) in conjunction with this book.
Rating:
Summary: Things to look for and fix on teams at all levels
Review: This book is great because the simple narrative makes the 5 different disfunctions more concrete by showing exactly how they can manifest in a team. These are common issues not only executive-level teams, but also teams of lower-level folks like myself, working on individual features of a product. Some of the higher-level concepts like understanding what your 'first team' are a little bit less relevant, but most of the book is still very pertinent and easy to directly apply. The worksheets and exercises he has in the back are also great, no-nonsense ways to bring your team back on track. The only things I might've liked to see are some more information around what can go wrong when you try to "correct" the particular issues and maybe some more concrete details on what it means to be a leader by his definition. It's a bit vauge in places and seems to be more a matter of reporting structure than technical / feature leadership (i.e. a team of all true peers but where one person is the technical / business expert), though he works to call out some of the details at the end.
Rating:
Summary: Help for Dysfunctional Teams
Review: Patrick Lencioni has written an exceptionally interesting fable on optimal team performance. He has prescribed guidelines for team success and applied them in an interesting, easy to read story with a twist. He has defined easy to follow principles that with practice can lead any group or team, large or small to be great.
The book begins with a story of a potentially great company with a dysfunctional executive staff. Even though this company assembled some of the best executives and attracted top tier investors (compared to their closest competitors), the company was on a downslide. Morale was slipping and key employees were leaving. The CEO (and co-founder) was relieved of his title by the board and the search for his successor began.
This company, Decision Tech, was a high profile, two years old company with much at stake. The chairman of the board pushed for hiring Kathryn, an ancient fifty-seven years old by Silicon Valley standards. Employees and the executive staff were stunned with the news of the new hire.
The story develops by weaving Lencioni's team dysfunctions into its web. The fable is enticing and not typical of your "how to produce" guidelines book. The author keeps your interest while at the same time introducing and teaching his methods.
At the end of the story, Mr. Lencioni reviews all levels of team dysfunctions and summarizes and reiterates each. Therefore reinforcing his principles and eliminating confusion.
This is the first book I have read by this author. I found it entertaining, yet very informative. I enjoyed the novel format while receiving important informational steps for success in a team or group.
I would highly recommend this book to any person or group seeking to improve or turn around the team in which they belong. It would be a great tool for corporate teams or even the local high school basketball team. All teams would greatly benefit from Mr. Lencioni's advice.
Rating:
Summary: Chief Innovation Officer, SmartLeadership.com
Review: This book is helpful to anyone who serves on a team and specifically helpful for team leaders. You will see yourself and your team in this book. More than that, you will find specific steps you can take to make your team better. Through a real life fable, Pat leads you through the steps you need to take to move a team from dysfunction to health. You will find a clear model as well as examples that are as relevant as your last meeting. As I read this book I discovered: 1. A vocabulary I can use with my team to discuss dysfunction.
2. A self-analysis that will get the discussion started.
3. A clear model for implementation. As a team leader, this book challenged me to: 1) Lead selflessly
2) Take risks
3) Encourage conflict
4) Embrace the power of meetings
4) Direct my team around a common theme This book is simple, practical and filled with wisdom. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book
Review: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team is an interesting, easy to read fictional story about a Silicon Valley company in a turnaround situation. Lencioni did a really good job of creating characters that everybody can relate to. The one theme that I took from this book is the importance of open, frank communication between team members. That is the core of the five dysfunctions. Most of the time when people are in a group setting, their primary goal is not to get the job done right, but instead it is to not offend other members of the group. This leads to some terrible decision making since nobody ever objects to bad ideas for fear of making another co-worker look bad. This book drives home the important point that conflict in groups is good as long as it is respectful because it leads to much better decision making. In addition, as another reviewer mentioned, one of the most impressive parts of the book is that the author doesn't shield you from the fact that there is going to be some pain and struggle when working through problems. As a reader, there are a few times when I genuinely wondered: "Are they going to make it?" This is important since in real life you will probably wonder the same thing when you hit some obstacles along the way. I highly recommend this book. Greg Blencoe
Author, The Ten Commandments for Managers
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous book
Review: This ficitional tale goes to the heart of team disfunction and provides clear solutions. The ficitional leader restores trust, deals with conflict, inspires commitment, creates stategies for accountability, and is attentive to results. Some words of advice from a CEO of a Fortune 500 company who deals with these issues on a daily basis. If you are a team leader or part of a team, you must get this book. If you want to give each of your team members the mental resource to be their best and optimize results, add Optimal Thinking--How To Be Your Best Self to your reading list and give it to all your team members.
Rating: 
Summary: Five Dysfunctions of a Team - 31/2 Stars
Review: The fictitious story used to expand on the five dysfunctions was very entertaining at the least. Ultimately, the principles outlined in the book are the utopia of teamwork. However, they are not really practical. I find myself after reading through the book still waiting for the true message on team work that I could really apply in the real world. The author does attempt to expand on his view at the end of the book but falls really short in my opinion of adding any real value.
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