Dysfunction 5: Inattention to Results, page 216.
- The ultimate dysfunction of a team is the tendency of members to care about something other than the collective goals of the group.
- An unrelenting focus on specific objectives and clearly defined outcomes is a requirement for any team that judges itself on performance.
- Every good organization specifies what it plans to achieve in a given period. These goals, more than the financial metrics that they drive, make up the majority of near–term, controllable results.
- While profit may be the ultimate performance measure for a corporation, the intermediate objectives that executives set for themselves are a better representation of important organizational results. Ultimately, these intermediate objectives drive profit.
- Common causes for inattention to results:
- Focus on Team Status – The nobility of their mission is enough.
- Focus on Individual Status – Enhancing one’s own position or career prospects at the expense of the team.
- Lack of Desire to Win – Do not live and breathe a desire to improve, but only to exist doing the bare minimum.
A Team That is Not Focused on Results
- Stagnates/fails to grow.
- Rarely defeats competitors.
- Loses achievement-oriented employees.
- Encourages team members to focus on their own careers and individual goals.
- Is easily distracted.
A Team That Focuses on Collective Results
- Retains achievement-oriented employees.
- Minimizes individualistic behavior.
- Enjoys success and suffers failure acutely.
- Benefits from individuals who subjugate their own goals/interests for the good of the team.
- Avoids distractions.
Suggestions for Overcoming Dysfunction 5
- Public Declaration of Results:
- Teams that are willing to commit publicly to specific results are more likely to work with a passionate, even desperate desire to achieve those results.
- Teams that say, “We’ll do our best,” are subtly, if not purposefully, preparing themselves for failure.
- Results–Based Rewards:
- An effective way to ensure that team members focus their attention on results is to tie their rewards, especially compensation, to the achievement of specific outcomes.
The Role of the Leader
- Perhaps more than with any of the other dysfunctions, the leader must set the tone for a focus on results.
- If team members sense that the leader values anything other than results, they will take that as permission to do the same.
Summary
- The reality remains that teamwork ultimately comes down to practicing a small set of principles over a long period of time.
- Success is not a matter of mastering subtle, sophisticated theory, but rather of embracing common sense with uncommon levels of discipline and persistence.
