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Patrick Lencioni is a noted expert on executive team development and organizational health. In this book, Lencioni writes about a technology company that is filled with so much talent and has such innovative products yet is struggling to find customers. This business fable notes that mainly because of the absence of teamwork at the highest levels of the corporation, the company could not expose its inherent advantage in both talent and product quality.

Lencioni dissects the root cause of failure of higher management and he sums it up into five dysfunctions

1. Absence of trust –the absence of trust is a barrier to open and honest communication. Lack of trust really stands out when each member refuses to ask each other for help because of the fear that such is a sign of weakness and failure.

2. Fear of conflict – conflicts, especially when it comes to issues on work is always healthy for an organization. It is through the discussion of issues that bugs in the system get ironed out. When team members are afraid of conflict, they just keep quite or act like “yes men” which prevents ideas from being voiced out.

3. Lack of commitment – when discussions of work issues leads to conflict of ideas, such usually lead to a better perspective of the roles each team member plays in the organization. When this happens, buy-in is made possible and all the members can commit himself in achieving the team’s goals.

4. Avoidance of accountability – Accountability only comes in when the team is composed of members who are committed. When each one knows what is expected of himself, then he can gauge himself whether he has already achieved the goals set out for him.

5. Inattention to results – Lack of accountability makes each member look out not what is good for the team but rather on what is good for himself. When each member holds himself accountable and sets out to complete the goals assigned to him, the team will always achieve what it wants to achieve.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable (J-B Lencioni Series)

Why are some more successful than others? What are the causes why 2 enormously talented people like C. Langan lead a life so different of that from R. Oppenheimer?

In the book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell dissects the lives of highly notable people and with characteristic skill in simplifying the complex, explains that success is not only because of talent, ambition and hard work. It also because a good part of an individual’s success is due to advantages afforded him by others, by cultural practices and of extraordinary opportunities. He also devised the 10,000 hour rule of thumb wherein in order to excel in whatever field you are in, you must immerse yourself in it for 10,000 hours, that is 20 hour weeks for 10 years.

One example he cited was that most of the successful hockey players in Canada were born in January. Children playing competitive hockey in Canada are grouped by calendar year. Since children born earlier are bigger and faster than those born in later months, they perform better in games and get noticed by coaches thus receive better training than other kids. Since they receive better training, they have more chances of entering elite hockey teams.

For the 10,000 hour rule, Gladwell cites Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates. At an early age of 13, Gates already had access to computers which, given a 20 hour week, made him an accomplished programmer at the age of 23. Gates himself admitted to the influence his early access to computers had on him.

Gladwell’s message in writing the book is on the big role society and culture has on the realization of human potential. Although this point is stressed throughout the book, Gladwell is only stating the obvious because that is how it really is in the real world.

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell