What's Pinnacol Reading?

On Friday I attended the Pinnacol Book Club discussion of our most recent book "The Five Disfunctions of a Team" by Patrick Lencioni. Written in the form of a business fable, the book chronicles the efforts of a newly-hired CEO of a start-up California Tech company to pull together her group of executives into a high performing business team.

The book is an easy and entertaining read and makes the case for the cause of dysfunctional teams being a combination of factors that build upon each other:

• Absence of TRUST
• Fear of CONFLICT
• Lack of COMMITMENT
• Avoidance of ACCOUNTABILITY
• Inattention to RESULTS

Overall the Pinnacol Book Club gave the book 3 1/2 out of 5 stars. Reviewers on Amazon give it 4 1/2 stars so I guess our Book Club members are a tougher audience! What struck most of the group was that the protaganist, the newly-hired CEO Kathryn, always had the perfect response as her team's weaknesses were unveiled, and we all sensed that, unlike the book, what happens in real life would never be so scripted. Despite its shortcomings, the book certainly shed light on many of the things that can and do go wrong in teams without the members even being aware.

Here's a sample of some reviews from our Book Club Members:

"None of the concepts were earth-shatteringly new, but they were all good reminders of the basic things that really matter.  The "fear of conflict" dysfunction was one I've thought about quite a bit.  Disagreeing with my team or my peers feels bad, but if everyone has a trusting relationship to start with, disagreeing can be very productive.  If there's a good healthy debate about an issue among a group of smart people, you're bound to come out with a better decision than you would if just one smart person made it."

"Overall this book was interesting, presented good concepts and ideas. It was a quick read that held my interest. The only thing I struggled with a little was it almost seemed too neat and convenient at times. Kathryn always seemed to know exactly what to say and how to present her arguments. Additionally, everyone seemed so at ease with making major life changes so quickly and effortlessly without as much pushback as expected. I did take some positive take away that can be applied in a personal setting: conflict can be positive and constructive and maintain commitment to an idea, project or job task."

"The Five Disfunctions of a Team was an easy ready and I enjoyed the story format of the book.  Overall, the concepts are good and the model is right on.  I would have liked to have read a factual story about a dysfunctional team/organization that turned itself around and sustained it's functionality over time.  I certainly agree that trust is the basis for all team success and think the author identified 4 other dysfunctions that quickly tear down a team's ability to be effective.  They build on each other but must constantly be revisited to ensure one dysfunction doesn't creep back in to the dynamics of a team."



Have you been reading any good business-related books? Let me know if you have a suggestion for what our Pinnacol Book Club might want to read in the future.