Dysfunction No. 3: Lack of Commitment

"Consensus is horrible. I mean, if everyone really agrees on something and consensus comes about quickly and naturally, well that’s terrific. But that isn’t how it usually works, and so consensus becomes an attempt to please everyone."

Patrick Lencioni

1. Set clear priorities and goals

A failure to set a direction (as well as a failure to communicate it) leads to ambiguity and a loss of focus. And when people do not know what’s expected, how can they achieve good results?

2. Take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves

Sometimes people spend too much time on analysis, and end up losing their chances.

3. Learn from mistakes

It’s okay to make mistakes. However, it’s not okay when people do not feel confident enough to keep going, fearing another failure.

4. Changes direction when it’s necessary?

You might need to take action without hesitation before it’s too late. Revisiting discussions over and over again will prevent you from making a necessary step.

Commitment in a team arises when all members agree with the decisions made. If they don’t, they won’t really commit, because they will be tempted to veer away from the plan and do things in their own way. This will create ambiguity which is the best evidence of this dysfunction, according to Lencioni.

There are two aspects of a good decision: clarity and buy-in. To accept a decision and not just pretend that you agree, you need to feel that it is pretty clear and that you don’t have any doubts about it.

This happens through debates, when everyone gets a chance to contribute to the discussion. Even if your suggestion doesn’t appear to be final, you still support the one taken by the group.

The two biggest obstacles to commitment are consensus and the need for certainty.

As for consensus, instead of trying to find a decision that would please everyone, which is impossible, it is enough to make people feel that their ideas have been considered.

Concerning certainty, we should remember that it can be an elusive thing even though the decision you make doesn’t look good, you can always change it later and that will be much better than no decision at all.

According to the author, this dysfunction is especially troublesome for the employees who report to the executive team. If executives are not on the same page, their direct reports will inevitably misinterpret the orders, and that will lead to discrepancies of different kinds.

To handle the lack of commitment, we need to reduce the need for certainty and consensus. The tools that can help with this, as well as teach us how to make decisions, are:

Cascading messages. Unfortunately, employees of lower levels often receive inconsistent information that confuses them. This can be eliminated if managers take message delivery more seriously: after each meeting, they should go over the key decisions and communicate them to their reports. Lencioni says that this exercise, which summarizes the decisions, helps reveal the fact that executives don’t see the overall picture in the same way. Besides, it helps them figure out what information should be kept confidential, and what needs to be spread out.

Deadlines. It’s super banal, but setting time frames is incredibly effective when it comes to commitment. The author also points out that it’s very useful to set deadlines even for intermediate tasks, as it makes the process more consistent.

Contingency and worst-case scenario. While a contingency plan can be reassuring, developing a worst-case scenario can show that the world will not collapse if you make the wrong decision. In most cases, the damage caused is not so bad and can always be improved.

Low-risk exposure therapy. This exercise consists of making a decision after a profound discussion but without deep research. Its goal is to demonstrate that often we make good decisions even without a serious analysis, which can paralyze our ability to think out of the box.

The Role of the Leader. The leader must be comfortable making mistakes and accepting them calmly, to set an example for their employees. They should also control if employees stick to the schedule to meet the deadlines. Crucially, they should never encourage consensus.

Connection to Dysfunction 4. Without a doubt, if a person doesn’t understand what is expected, and therefore doesn’t commit, they will not feel accountable for the result.