“It’s not finance. It’s not strategy. It’s not technology. It’s teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because it is so powerful and so rare.”
This striking quote by author Patrick Lencioni, from the book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, summarizes one of the greatest dilemmas faced by organizations worldwide: real teamwork is a transformative force—and, at the same time, surprisingly scarce.
In the book, Lencioni presents a practical and insightful model to understand why so many teams fail—and how to reverse that situation. He identifies five dysfunctions that, if not recognized and addressed, undermine the performance and cohesion of any team.
Below, we explore each of these dysfunctions and the paths to overcome them:
1. Absence of Trust: The Foundation That Supports the Team
Trust is the foundation of any effective team. And it’s not just about trusting a colleague’s technical skills, but about mutual vulnerability—the willingness to admit mistakes, ask for help, or acknowledge limitations. Teams that lack this kind of trust operate defensively, hide weaknesses, and avoid taking risks. Building trust takes time, openness, and leadership by example.
In a project team, no one felt safe admitting delays. The environment was one of constant judgment. Change began when the leader shared a personal mistake and created space for others to do the same. This sparked a trust cycle that quickly improved performance.
One team avoided sharing difficulties out of fear of judgment. A team member identified a technical risk days before a critical issue occurred but said nothing, afraid of seeming unprepared. The incident had major impact and could have been avoided with a simple conversation. Afterward, leadership began holding meetings focused on “safe vulnerability,” encouraging open discussions about errors, doubts, and limitations.
2. Fear of Conflict: When Silence Undermines Progress
Constructive conflict is essential for growth. In mature teams, differing ideas are debated with respect and objectivity. But in the absence of trust, conflict becomes taboo. The fear of upsetting others leads to conformity and the omission of valuable contributions. The result? Poor decisions, stagnant innovation, and silent resentment. Fostering psychological safety is vital so that idea clashes become a driving force for progress.
In strategic meetings, participants avoided challenging a senior manager—even when they clearly disagreed with his decisions. To avoid discomfort, they remained silent. This led to poor choices, lack of innovation, and rework. Change began when leadership intentionally created space for disagreement, reinforcing that respectful conflict is a sign of maturity and a core part of decision-making.
3. Lack of Commitment: Decisions Without Buy-In Don’t Build Alignment
Without real debate—and without the trust to disagree—team decisions become weak, made by a few and passively accepted by the rest. True commitment doesn’t require unanimity, but rather clarity and participation. When everyone feels heard, even without full agreement, there’s a stronger willingness to support and implement group decisions.
The team had to choose between two important alternatives. The decision was rushed, with little discussion and almost no input from team members. Because many didn’t feel part of the decision, they remained distant. Execution was slow and faced resistance. After a realignment with active listening and space for objections, the group began to show genuine engagement.
4. Avoidance of Accountability: When Omission Weakens the Team
In high-performing teams, accountability is not only individual—it’s shared. When commitment is superficial, mistakes go unaddressed. Avoiding confrontation over harmful behaviors erodes collective performance. Establishing clear standards and a culture of direct, respectful feedback is essential for restoring mutual accountability.
A supplier kept missing critical deadlines, but no one addressed it directly—waiting for someone more senior to act. The problem worsened over time and affected other deliveries. To reverse the culture of omission, the leader instituted weekly reviews with explicit commitments and peer-to-peer feedback, promoting clear and horizontal accountability.
5. Inattention to Results: Ego Can Undermine the Collective
When individual or departmental goals outweigh team objectives, collective results suffer. In dysfunctional teams, status and ego take precedence over real delivery. In cohesive teams, the focus is on shared results—because group success strengthens individual success. Aligning goals, metrics, and rewards with team performance is crucial.
The team focused efforts on metrics that brought personal visibility but had little impact on the organization’s actual goals. Some prioritized high-visibility tasks, even if they didn’t contribute to collective objectives. Seeing the misalignment, leadership redefined key performance indicators and tied recognition to group performance, refocusing the team on the right results.
Why Does This Matter?
According to a McKinsey study, teams with high levels of trust are 76% more productive and 50% more innovative than those with low trust. The impact of a team’s relational health directly reflects on tangible results.
Quick Checkup: How’s Your Team Doing?
This list can be used as a starting point for reflection:
- Do people feel safe admitting mistakes and asking for help?
- Is there room for open and respectful debate of divergent ideas?
- Are decisions made with clarity and team-wide engagement?
- Do team members hold each other accountable transparently?
- Is the focus on collective results or individual interests?
Beyond Methodology: People, Not Tools, Sabotage Projects
Patrick Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions of a Team model has a direct and profound link with project management—especially in collaborative environments like Agile or cross-functional teams. Here’s how each dysfunction affects—and can be addressed—by a project manager:
1. Absence of Trust → Impacts Communication and Risk Identification
In projects, it’s essential that team members feel comfortable admitting mistakes, asking for help, or raising doubts.
Impact: Without trust, risks go unreported, issues are hidden, and rework increases.
How to mitigate: Project managers should foster a safe environment through active listening and transparency (e.g., lessons learned sessions, retrospectives, informal check-ins).
2. Fear of Conflict → Hurts Planning and Technical Decisions
Projects demand complex decisions that rarely please everyone. Healthy debate leads to better solutions.
Impact: Fear of conflict leads to shallow or hierarchical decisions rather than those based on merit.
How to mitigate: Encourage structured debate, promote diversity of thought, and normalize respectful disagreement.
3. Lack of Commitment → Causes Misalignment and Weak Execution
Without real discussion, commitment to project plans is superficial. People may “agree” without genuine engagement. What’s missing is buy-in—the deep commitment of stakeholders to project decisions.
Impact: Delays, half-delivered work, and low adherence to timelines and decisions.
How to mitigate: Involve the team in decisions around scope, timelines, and priorities to ensure they feel ownership of the plan.
4. Avoidance of Accountability → Weakens Self-Management and Quality
In successful projects, team members hold each other accountable without relying solely on the manager to flag issues.
Impact: Mistakes go uncorrected, key tasks fall to a few, and a culture of “not my job” emerges.
How to mitigate: Set clear commitments and create peer-review dynamics like daily stand-ups and open-feedback demos.
5. Inattention to Results → Misaligns Deliverables with Project Goals
Projects don’t exist to boost egos or serve individual interests—they have clear goals and deliverables.
Impact: Each person focuses on their own “part” and loses sight of the whole, compromising project success.
How to mitigate: Reinforce the project’s purpose, align deliverables to business objectives, and celebrate team-wide achievements—not just individual ones.
Conclusion: Where Transformation Begins
True teamwork doesn’t happen by accident—it’s intentionally cultivated. The five dysfunctions described by Patrick Lencioni are more than theoretical traps: they are silent realities that affect outcomes, relationships, and organizational culture.
The first step to overcoming them is recognizing which of these barriers is most present in your team today. From there, leaders and teams can begin a journey of growth based on trust, dialogue, and shared responsibility. Because, as Lencioni says, the true competitive advantage of organizations lies in teams that know how to work together—with courage, clarity, and purpose.
Applying Lencioni’s principles to project management strengthens a team’s emotional and relational governance. A project manager who understands these dynamics doesn’t just deliver scope, time, and cost—they build teams that deliver value with cohesion, autonomy, and purpose.