The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable

Chapter 7. THE STAFF

Employees referred to the DecisionTech executives as The Staff. No one referred to them as a team, which Kathryn decided was no accident.

In spite of their undeniable intelligence and impressive educational backgrounds, The Staff's behavior during meetings was worse than anything she had seen in the automotive world. Though open hostility was never really apparent and no one ever seemed to argue, an underlying tension was undeniable. As a result, decisions never seemed to get made; discussions were slow and uninteresting, with few real exchanges; and everyone seemed to be desperately waiting for each meeting to end.

And yet, as bad as the team was, they all seemed like well-intentioned and reasonable people when considered individually. ...