Dysfunction No. 1: Absence of Trust

"Trust is the foundation of real teamwork. And so the first dysfunction is a failure on the part of team members to understand and open up to one another. And if that sounds touchy-feely, let me explain, because there is nothing soft about it. It is a critical part of building a team. It’s probably the most critical."

Patrick Lencioni

1. Hesitate to ask for help or give each other constructive feedback? Do they hide their weaknesses and mistakes from one another?

If yes, that might mean that the level of psychological safety is low, and consequently, so is the level of trust.

2. Make conclusions about the intentions of others without trying to clarify them.

A positive answer means there is a barrier that doesn’t let people openly discuss their problems. In a healthy team, people talk to each other.

3. Try to manage their behavior for effect.

Well, playing politics is never a good thing in a team.

4. Hold grudges.

Again, this just means the absence of a dialogue, which, most probably, has roots in the absence of trust.

5. Avoid spending time together.

When people do not want to physically be around each other, that’s a huge red flag.

Predictive trust: when a group of people or two people have spent so much time together and they predict the behavior of each other when one says something 

Vulnerability-based trust: when members can and do genuinely say things to each other that make them emotionally naked, the most powerful thing in the team.

Trust cannot be developed overnight; however, some tools can help it thrive. When consistently applied, they can have a long-lasting effect. Here are some of the techniques the author speaks about:

Personal histories exercise. This is a very simple exercise: during a meeting, people ask each other questions about their family, education, and so on. The questions do not need to be over-sensitive. The main goal is to get to know your colleagues better because it often appears that we know nothing about people we see every day at the office.

Team effectiveness exercise. This exercise requires team members to pick one area in which their colleagues do the best and one where they do the worst. It can sound like walking on thin ice, but in fact, it helps discover constructive decisions, as well as motivates people to continue doing what they do well.

Personality and behavioral preference profile. All people are different, and it doesn’t mean someone is worse and someone is better. Recognizing the uniqueness of every person, we can develop empathy and improve relationships. It makes sense to spend time and identify the psychological types of those who work together on a daily basis, so they tolerate quirks and forgive excessive emotionality or other psychological nuances of each other.

The Role of the Leader. To develop trust, the leader must start with themselves, becoming the role model, says Lencioni. If they demonstrate their weaknesses and failures and don't allow team members to harshly criticize each other, the seeds of trust they sow will grow fast.

Connection to Dysfunction 2. The correlation between the first and second dysfunction is obvious: only when people trust each other will they engage in a productive conflict, as they won’t be afraid that the conflict will lead to irreparably burnt bridges.