Daryl's Blog

I'm in a privileged position; going around the country, looking at teams of different shapes and sizes. For a few hours I join a team and it's soon apparent what sort of team it is: a good one or a struggling one. Some teams it's a pleasure and a joy to be with; others aren't quite so well placed and often my heart goes out to the people who have to endure them.  Most teams of course are somewhere in the middle, getting enough right to make headway but getting enough wrong to hold them back when they should be pressing on.

My governance notes will give you some help, but here's an even better way to find out how well you are doing: Patrick Lencioni's book, 'The Five Dysfunctions of a team' is a practical tool to help you breakthrough if your team is struggling. Goes right to the heart of the real issues. His five dysfunctions are:  absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and finally, inattention to results. Doesn't matter whether it's a church, a basketball team, a plc or the local WI the issues are always the same. The main part of the book is a story illustrating the (often painful) pathway from dysfunctional to functional. No point going into any of the detail here, but the book is highly recommended. I've bought 10 copies and will be using them in my talks on governance. If only I had this years ago, it could have saved me a lot of heartache, being involved in dysfunctional situations and often being part of the problem not the solution. Now, I'm going to check out some of his other books; he clearly has some good things to add to the debate on running a team, a company, a church, or the local WI.