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The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business
There is a competitive advantage out there, arguably more powerful than any other. Is it superior strategy? Faster innovation? Smarter employees? No, New York Times best-selling author, Patrick Lencioni, argues that the seminal difference between successful companies and mediocre ones has little to do with what they know and how smart they are and more to do with how healthy they are. In this book, Lencioni brings together his vast experience and many of the themes cultivated in his other best-selling books and delivers a first: a cohesive and comprehensive exploration of the unique advantage organizational health provides. Simply put, an organization is healthy when it is whole, consistent and complete, when its management, operations and culture are unified. Healthy organizations outperform their counterparts, are free of politics and confusion and provide an environment where star performers never want to leave. Lencioni’s first non-fiction book provides leaders with a groundbreaking, approachable model for achieving organizational health―complete with stories, tips and anecdotes from his experiences consulting to some of the nation’s leading organizations. In this age of informational ubiquity and nano-second change, it is no longer enough to build a competitive advantage based on intelligence alone. The Advantage provides a foundational construct for conducting business in a new way―one that maximizes human potential and aligns the organization around a common set of principles.
216 pages, Hardcover
First published March 13, 2012
About the author
Patrick Lencioni
114 books2,157 followersPatrick Lencioni is a New York Times best-selling author, speaker, consultant and founder and president of The Table Group, a firm dedicated to helping organizations become healthy. Lencioni’s ideas around leadership, teamwork and employee engagement have impacted organizations around the globe. His books have sold nearly three million copies worldwide.
When Lencioni is not writing, he consults to CEOs and their executive teams, helping them to become more cohesive within the context of their business strategy. The widespread appeal of Lencioni’s leadership models have yielded a diverse base of clients, including a mix of Fortune 500 companies, professional sports organizations, the military, non-profits, universities and churches. In addition, Lencioni speaks to thousands of leaders each year at world class organizations and national conferences. He was recently cited in the Wall Street Journal as one of the most sought-after business speakers in the nation.
Prior to founding his firm, he worked as a corporate executive for Sybase, Oracle and Bain & Company. He also served on the National Board of Directors for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America.
When Lencioni is not writing, he consults to CEOs and their executive teams, helping them to become more cohesive within the context of their business strategy. The widespread appeal of Lencioni’s leadership models have yielded a diverse base of clients, including a mix of Fortune 500 companies, professional sports organizations, the military, non-profits, universities and churches. In addition, Lencioni speaks to thousands of leaders each year at world class organizations and national conferences. He was recently cited in the Wall Street Journal as one of the most sought-after business speakers in the nation.
Prior to founding his firm, he worked as a corporate executive for Sybase, Oracle and Bain & Company. He also served on the National Board of Directors for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 885 reviews
August 23, 2017
3 stars because I'm rating it as it is: a detailed checklist on how to build a cohesive team, set goals, communicate within the organization, have effective meetings, and so on (otherwise, I'd give it a 2 for an awful writing style, rushed last part and general consultant patronizing feel). It is like listening to a person you don't like at all, and yet knowing that there's some sense and truth in what he says. I'm focusing on the latter.
April 29, 2017
Great book. Some takeaways:
"The seminal difference between successful companies and mediocre or unsuccessful ones has little, if anything, to do with what they know or how smart they are; it has everything to do with how healthy they are. An organization that is healthy will inevitably get smarter over time. That's because people in a healthy organization, beginning with the leaders, learn from one another, identify critical issues, and recover quickly from mistakes."
There are six critical questions leaders must giver their employees:
1. Why do we exist?
2. How do we behave?
3. What do we do?
4. How will we succeed?
5. What is most important, now?
6. Who must do what?
"The seminal difference between successful companies and mediocre or unsuccessful ones has little, if anything, to do with what they know or how smart they are; it has everything to do with how healthy they are. An organization that is healthy will inevitably get smarter over time. That's because people in a healthy organization, beginning with the leaders, learn from one another, identify critical issues, and recover quickly from mistakes."
There are six critical questions leaders must giver their employees:
1. Why do we exist?
2. How do we behave?
3. What do we do?
4. How will we succeed?
5. What is most important, now?
6. Who must do what?
June 26, 2020
Патрик Ленсиони один из немногих авторов, у которого надо прочитать все книги. Тема этой книги - культура и ценности компании. Об этом много говорят, но, к сожалению, мало делают. Особенно в российских компаниях. Уверен, что книга убедит всех скептически настроенных руководителей, что культура и ценности - это не пустой звук, а отличный инструмент для управления бизнесом и повышения прибыли.
Эту книгу мы обсуждали на июньской встрече моего Книжного бизнес-клуба «12». Странно, конечно, перевели название книги на русский)
О ЧЕМ КНИГА:
Ленсиони показывает важность культуры компании и её влияние на результаты деятельности бизнеса. Он разбивает процесс внедрения культуры(еще он называет это «здоровьем организации») на 4 этапа и подробно описывает работу над каждым из них. В заключительной части книги Ленсиони дает нам систему поддержки и развития культуры компании.
ГЛАВНАЯ МЫСЛЬ КНИГИ:
У большинства руководителей не доходят руки до разработки ценностей и построения культуры в своей компании. И очень зря. Примеры успешных компаний показывают, что это несложный в реализации, понятный и системный процесс.
КАКАЯ БЫЛА ЦЕЛЬ ЧТЕНИЯ:
Получить еще один взгляд на то, что такое культура в бизнесе и новые инструменты её внедрения и поддержки.
ГЛАВНЫЕ ВЫВОДЫ:
- В каждой организации есть два больших блока. Умение и Здоровье. Под умением мы понимаем основные управленческие составляющие бизнеса:
1. Менеджмент
2. Маркетинг
3. Стратегия
4. Финансы
5. IT
6. Производство
Говоря про Здоровье, мы подразумеваем культуру и ценности компании. Здоровье - это фундамент. В долгосрочной перспективе оно важнее умения.
- Обладание умением управлять - это сейчас входной билет на любой рынок. А вот наличие отличной культуры в компании позволит не просто работать и зарабатывать, а получать сверхприбыли и быть устойчивым на долгие годы.
- Уровень культуры в организации, в отличии от размеров её оборотов и прибыли, нельзя измерить. Поэтому про неё так мало пишут.
- Внедрение культуры и ценностей состоит из 4 этапов:
1. Создание атмосферы ясности в компании.
2. Построение слаженной команды.
3. Донесение ясности для всех.
4. Усиление ясности.
- Ясность в компании - это когда все сотрудники работают согласованно надо одними и те же целями и четко их знают и разделяют.
- Чтобы в компании была полная ясность надо ответить на 6 вопросов:
1. Why do we exist? Зачем мы существуем?
2. How do we behave? Как мы себя ведем?
3. What do we do? Что мы делаем?
4. How will we succeed? Как мы будем достигать успеха?
5. What is most important, right now? Что самое важное сейчас?
6. Who must do what? Кто и что должен делать?
- Нельзя избегать и уходить от конфликтов в команде. Конфликт - это знак, что надо решать проблемы. Но при этом надо помнить, что у каждого человека, в силу его психотипа и воспитания, разное отношение к конфликтам.
- Нам проще высказывать подчиненным претензии по цифрам, чем указывать на их недостатки в поведении. А ведь, как правило, не достижение результатов по цифрам - это результат неправильного поведения.
- Руководители отделов должны ставить интересы и цели команды управленцев, в которую они входят, выше интересов своего отдела!
- Каждая компания существует чтобы сделать жизнь других людей лучше. Всё очень просто. За это компаниям и платят. Теперь надо это сформулировать простыми словами. Так рождаются ценности компании.
- Разработка ценностей требует времени. Времени, которого у большинства нет. Для этого нужны непрерывные отрезки в несколько дней с последующим обсуждением и выработкой четких и ясных формулировок.
ЧТО Я БУДУ ПРИМЕНЯТЬ:
- Буду четко разделять три типа ценностей в компании. Ключевые, которые вообще не обсуждаются, те, к которым компания стремится и случайные ценности.
- Попробую подход, когда повестка еженедельной встречи команды создаётся не заранее, а в первые 5 минут совещания.
ЕЩЁ НА ЭТУ ТЕМУ:
📗Дэниел Койл «Культурный код»
📗Дэйв Логан «Лидер и племя»
Эту книгу мы обсуждали на июньской встрече моего Книжного бизнес-клуба «12». Странно, конечно, перевели название книги на русский)
О ЧЕМ КНИГА:
Ленсиони показывает важность культуры компании и её влияние на результаты деятельности бизнеса. Он разбивает процесс внедрения культуры(еще он называет это «здоровьем организации») на 4 этапа и подробно описывает работу над каждым из них. В заключительной части книги Ленсиони дает нам систему поддержки и развития культуры компании.
ГЛАВНАЯ МЫСЛЬ КНИГИ:
У большинства руководителей не доходят руки до разработки ценностей и построения культуры в своей компании. И очень зря. Примеры успешных компаний показывают, что это несложный в реализации, понятный и системный процесс.
КАКАЯ БЫЛА ЦЕЛЬ ЧТЕНИЯ:
Получить еще один взгляд на то, что такое культура в бизнесе и новые инструменты её внедрения и поддержки.
ГЛАВНЫЕ ВЫВОДЫ:
- В каждой организации есть два больших блока. Умение и Здоровье. Под умением мы понимаем основные управленческие составляющие бизнеса:
1. Менеджмент
2. Маркетинг
3. Стратегия
4. Финансы
5. IT
6. Производство
Говоря про Здоровье, мы подразумеваем культуру и ценности компании. Здоровье - это фундамент. В долгосрочной перспективе оно важнее умения.
- Обладание умением управлять - это сейчас входной билет на любой рынок. А вот наличие отличной культуры в компании позволит не просто работать и зарабатывать, а получать сверхприбыли и быть устойчивым на долгие годы.
- Уровень культуры в организации, в отличии от размеров её оборотов и прибыли, нельзя измерить. Поэтому про неё так мало пишут.
- Внедрение культуры и ценностей состоит из 4 этапов:
1. Создание атмосферы ясности в компании.
2. Построение слаженной команды.
3. Донесение ясности для всех.
4. Усиление ясности.
- Ясность в компании - это когда все сотрудники работают согласованно надо одними и те же целями и четко их знают и разделяют.
- Чтобы в компании была полная ясность надо ответить на 6 вопросов:
1. Why do we exist? Зачем мы существуем?
2. How do we behave? Как мы себя ведем?
3. What do we do? Что мы делаем?
4. How will we succeed? Как мы будем достигать успеха?
5. What is most important, right now? Что самое важное сейчас?
6. Who must do what? Кто и что должен делать?
- Нельзя избегать и уходить от конфликтов в команде. Конфликт - это знак, что надо решать проблемы. Но при этом надо помнить, что у каждого человека, в силу его психотипа и воспитания, разное отношение к конфликтам.
- Нам проще высказывать подчиненным претензии по цифрам, чем указывать на их недостатки в поведении. А ведь, как правило, не достижение результатов по цифрам - это результат неправильного поведения.
- Руководители отделов должны ставить интересы и цели команды управленцев, в которую они входят, выше интересов своего отдела!
- Каждая компания существует чтобы сделать жизнь других людей лучше. Всё очень просто. За это компаниям и платят. Теперь надо это сформулировать простыми словами. Так рождаются ценности компании.
- Разработка ценностей требует времени. Времени, которого у большинства нет. Для этого нужны непрерывные отрезки в несколько дней с последующим обсуждением и выработкой четких и ясных формулировок.
ЧТО Я БУДУ ПРИМЕНЯТЬ:
- Буду четко разделять три типа ценностей в компании. Ключевые, которые вообще не обсуждаются, те, к которым компания стремится и случайные ценности.
- Попробую подход, когда повестка еженедельной встречи команды создаётся не заранее, а в первые 5 минут совещания.
ЕЩЁ НА ЭТУ ТЕМУ:
📗Дэниел Койл «Культурный код»
📗Дэйв Логан «Лидер и племя»
October 15, 2021
No magazine or newspaper wants to run a story about a humble leader who continues to run her medium-sized company with discipline, common sense, and consistency.
I found “The Advantage” to be a great practical overview of how to create organizational health. Meant for senior leaders, but it might be interesting for any leader. Many of the concepts can be further explored in other books by the author.
I found “The Advantage” to be a great practical overview of how to create organizational health. Meant for senior leaders, but it might be interesting for any leader. Many of the concepts can be further explored in other books by the author.
May 28, 2017
Отличная книга по оргкультуре. В рекомендуемые для менеджеров
September 26, 2021
loved the core value of one company being that everyone = floor sweepers...
I see that at Milestone - everyone is willing to pick up something off the floor, no matter their station.
I see that at Milestone - everyone is willing to pick up something off the floor, no matter their station.
August 21, 2017
Создать сплоченную команду руководителей - обрести ясность - распространить ясность - усилить ясность.
Команда руководителей – это малая группа людей, которые несут коллективную ответственность за достижение общих целей организации.
1. Установить доверие. Доверие, основанное на уязвимости. Когда каждый знает, что в команде все откровенны и никто не прячет свои слабости или ошибки, то возникает глубокое, необыкновенное доверие. Упражнение «рассказ о моей жизни». CEO показывает пример. Профилирование - MBTI, Афанасьев, ProcessCom
2. Управление конфликтом
3. Достижение ответственности
4. Взаимная подотчетность
5. Концентрация на результатах
Обрести ясность:
1. Почему мы существуем? (миссия)
2. Как мы себя ведем? (ценности)
3. Что мы будем делать? (видение)
4. Как мы добьемся успеха? (стратегия)
5. Что важнее всего прямо сейчас? (ключевой приоритет в данный момент)
6. Кто за что отвечает? (зоны ответственности)
Важны не правильные ответы, а ответы, которые разделяет команда руководителей. Избегайте парализующего совершенства.
После совещания. Распространить в тот же день. Письмо гораздо хуже, чем собрание.
Усилить ясность
Члены команды руководителей могут быть уверены, что выполнили этот обязательный шаг, если дают положительный ответ на следующие утверждения.
– Организация использует простые методы, позволяющие гарантировать, что новые сотрудники проходят тщательный отбор на основе ценностей компании.
– Сотрудники, поступающие на работу в организацию, тщательно изучают шесть элементов организационной ясности.
– Все менеджеры организации пользуются простой, последовательной и небюрократической системой постановки целей и оценки достижений подчиненных. Данная система выстроена на основе элементов ясности.
– Сотрудники, не разделяющие ценностей компании, покидают коллектив. Сотрудники, показывающие неудовлетворительные результаты работы, но соответствующие ценностям организации, проходят профессиональное обучение и получают необходимую помощь.
– Система компенсаций и вознаграждений строится на основе ценностей и целей организации.
Команда руководителей – это малая группа людей, которые несут коллективную ответственность за достижение общих целей организации.
1. Установить доверие. Доверие, основанное на уязвимости. Когда каждый знает, что в команде все откровенны и никто не прячет свои слабости или ошибки, то возникает глубокое, необыкновенное доверие. Упражнение «рассказ о моей жизни». CEO показывает пример. Профилирование - MBTI, Афанасьев, ProcessCom
2. Управление конфликтом
3. Достижение ответственности
4. Взаимная подотчетность
5. Концентрация на результатах
Обрести ясность:
1. Почему мы существуем? (миссия)
2. Как мы себя ведем? (ценности)
3. Что мы будем делать? (видение)
4. Как мы добьемся успеха? (стратегия)
5. Что важнее всего прямо сейчас? (ключевой приоритет в данный момент)
6. Кто за что отвечает? (зоны ответственности)
Важны не правильные ответы, а ответы, которые разделяет команда руководителей. Избегайте парализующего совершенства.
После совещания. Распространить в тот же день. Письмо гораздо хуже, чем собрание.
Усилить ясность
Члены команды руководителей могут быть уверены, что выполнили этот обязательный шаг, если дают положительный ответ на следующие утверждения.
– Организация использует простые методы, позволяющие гарантировать, что новые сотрудники проходят тщательный отбор на основе ценностей компании.
– Сотрудники, поступающие на работу в организацию, тщательно изучают шесть элементов организационной ясности.
– Все менеджеры организации пользуются простой, последовательной и небюрократической системой постановки целей и оценки достижений подчиненных. Данная система выстроена на основе элементов ясности.
– Сотрудники, не разделяющие ценностей компании, покидают коллектив. Сотрудники, показывающие неудовлетворительные результаты работы, но соответствующие ценностям организации, проходят профессиональное обучение и получают необходимую помощь.
– Система компенсаций и вознаграждений строится на основе ценностей и целей организации.
December 31, 2013
Disclaimer: I absolutely detest business books. For me, they are self-help books (which I also detest) for monolithic organizations. I don’t care about the habits of leaders; I don’t care about the dysfunctions of teams; I don’t care about strategy or process improvements. I read for good prose (which all business books lack), and I read for good stories (also, which business books lack). Every business book I’ve ever read I read because I was forced to read them; reading this book was for the same reason. Lencioni is a well-known business consultant who has worked with many successful and unsuccessful organizations, and who has written several popular business book. In this book, he reveals what he considers the secret of what separates great organizations from terrible ones. Ready for the secret? The best companies: build good teams, have a clear vision/mission, and communicate that well. Lencioni provides details about why each component matters, and how to discern whether or not your organization implements that component well. Throughout, he also provides personal anecdotes about organizations that succeeded and or failed in each area. My problems remain that I have no investment in businesses, so I don't care about the subject matter. I also wish he didn’t provide each anecdote anonymously – I would have found it eminently better if he had included the real names of the anecdotes he used; for all I know he made them all up. The book is a quick read, so I’m sure the audience for which this book was intended will enjoy it.
February 23, 2014
The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni
The Advantage is about organizational health improvement. The four disciplines are building a cohesive leadership team, create clarity, over communicate clarity and reinforce clarity. That might not sound like much to you, but it’s everything. Having read almost all of Patrick Lencioni’s books, this is the first one I read that was not a parable. That made it a little difficult to start really getting into but once I reached page 20 I was hooked. What he presents is so uncomplicated and easy to follow, that you would assume (there I go using that word) that everyone would already be doing this. Sadly many businesses do not follow these simple principles, despite them not wanting to see their company fail. I feel Mr. Lencioni’s books should be required reading for anyone in management and above or anyone looking to be in a leadership position. All of his books have a comprehensive cohesion that fit together nicely with all his other books.
If you have never read any of Patrick’s books, start with “The Three Signs of a Miserable Job.” To pass up his works I feel your doing a great disservice to your business, team and employees.
As a final note, please grab your highlighter, as every book has great things you will want to remember.
The Advantage is about organizational health improvement. The four disciplines are building a cohesive leadership team, create clarity, over communicate clarity and reinforce clarity. That might not sound like much to you, but it’s everything. Having read almost all of Patrick Lencioni’s books, this is the first one I read that was not a parable. That made it a little difficult to start really getting into but once I reached page 20 I was hooked. What he presents is so uncomplicated and easy to follow, that you would assume (there I go using that word) that everyone would already be doing this. Sadly many businesses do not follow these simple principles, despite them not wanting to see their company fail. I feel Mr. Lencioni’s books should be required reading for anyone in management and above or anyone looking to be in a leadership position. All of his books have a comprehensive cohesion that fit together nicely with all his other books.
If you have never read any of Patrick’s books, start with “The Three Signs of a Miserable Job.” To pass up his works I feel your doing a great disservice to your business, team and employees.
As a final note, please grab your highlighter, as every book has great things you will want to remember.
August 3, 2016
Настольная книга для любого руководителя, да и каждого человека, работающего в команде. Читать и применять. Почему-то зачастую команды рассматриваются, как набор людей с определенными навыками, хотя это та же семья, основой которой является доверие. Мы проводим на работе больше времени, чем где-либо еще, наши коллеги - это больше, чем люди, выполняющие свои рабочие задачи. Здоровая команда - основа не только процветания бизнеса, но и личного комфорта и счастья.
Рекомендую к прочтению: становитесь лучше сами, и вы захотите сделать лучше мир вокруг себя!
Рекомендую к прочтению: становитесь лучше сами, и вы захотите сделать лучше мир вокруг себя!
April 1, 2022
1) Create a unified leadership team.
2) get clear on your number one value and priority.
3) Communicate this clearly.
4) Reinforce this over and over again.
When it comes to systems Lencioni is helpful. It’s common sense organizational sociology. Sadly it’s far easier said than done.
2) get clear on your number one value and priority.
3) Communicate this clearly.
4) Reinforce this over and over again.
When it comes to systems Lencioni is helpful. It’s common sense organizational sociology. Sadly it’s far easier said than done.
January 22, 2020
This is the first book I’ve read by Lencioni and I really enjoyed it. The premise is simple: the single greatest “x factor” that gives an organization, company, church, or team an advantage is their internal health as a unit. This comes when leaders in an organization stave off confusion by fighting to pursue lock-step unity with one another around their ideals, values, and purpose for existing. Once this happens, leaders must clearly articulate and actively communicate their values and their plan to carry out those values repeatedly and effectively to the rest of their team.
There were a lot of little nuggets that I took away from this book, and it inspired me to rethink the way that I lead my teams. I plan to read more by Lencioni in the future.
There were a lot of little nuggets that I took away from this book, and it inspired me to rethink the way that I lead my teams. I plan to read more by Lencioni in the future.
December 11, 2020
This one is a must read for anyone who wants to run a healthy organization. He provides the six questions every leader must ask and answer with their team in order to be effective when it comes to vision, mission, goals, strategy, and objectives. It includes how to develop trust on a team, how to think about performance evaluations, how to run effective meetings, and what kind of meetings to have in the first place. Highly recommend.
August 26, 2023
This is a very pragmatic approach to leadership 101. Reads much like a checklist, as another reviewer mentioned, and is a bit redundant if you regularly read or engage with other leadership content. I did make some highlights I’d go back to - especially tips and tricks for coaching my team on being new people leaders.
March 12, 2021
I want to like this, because it's positive and simple but I also hate it, because it's generic pablum.
August 12, 2022
Very actionable.
Especially loved the part about company values.
Not sure how it plays together with other methodologies such as OKRs.
Especially loved the part about company values.
Not sure how it plays together with other methodologies such as OKRs.
December 31, 2023
Um dos melhores e mais importantes livros para quem lidera organizações. Muito didático e simples, com dicas e ferramentas práticas.
December 6, 2018
Lencioni is one of my favorite business leaders to learn from. "The Advantage" might pack the most punch in terms of the advice Lencioni offers, but being a personal fan of his fable style, it was my least favorite book of his to read. That isn't because it is poorly written, it is just written in a typical business style.
In "The Advantage," Lencioni asks the question: what is the most important thing a business can do? The answer to that isn't found in an organization's strategy, intelligence, or hiring practices. The answer is creating a healthy culture. Lencioni says, “The single greatest advantage any company can achieve is organizational health.”
He considers, "The seminal difference between successful companies and mediocre or unsuccessful ones has little, if anything, to do with what they know or how smart they are; it has everything to do with how healthy they are. An organization that is healthy will inevitably get smarter over time. That's because people in a healthy organization, beginning with the leaders, learn from one another, identify critical issues, and recover quickly from mistakes."
I couldn't agree more. How does one achieve organizational health? The best companies build good teams, have a clear mission, and communicate that well. “There is no such thing as too much communication," Lencioni says. Clarity, Lencioni argues, is obtained by establishing and reinforcing behaviors, and answering six important questions.
Those six critical questions leaders must giver their employees are:
1. Why do we exist?
2. How do we behave?
3. What do we do?
4. How will we succeed?
5. What is most important, now?
6. Who must do what?
Creating a healthy organization is a magnet for attracting not just high level performers, but high level performers who are a good fit with the organization. Healthy organizations get the best out of every employee, and align employees in a unified goal.
The responsibility of creating healthy organizations, of course, lies on the leader. Lencioni says, “The only way for the leader of a team to create a safe environment for his team members to be vulnerable is by stepping up and doing something that feels unsafe and uncomfortable first. By getting naked before anyone else, by taking the risk of making himself vulnerable with no guarantee that other members of the team will respond in kind, a leader demonstrates an extraordinary level of selflessness and dedication to the team. And that gives him the right, and the confidence, to ask others to do the same.”
"The Advantage" is a helpful book. For those who prepare a cut-to-the-chase style, it might even be your favorite Lencioni book. While it isn't my favorite, I certainly recommend. it.
In "The Advantage," Lencioni asks the question: what is the most important thing a business can do? The answer to that isn't found in an organization's strategy, intelligence, or hiring practices. The answer is creating a healthy culture. Lencioni says, “The single greatest advantage any company can achieve is organizational health.”
He considers, "The seminal difference between successful companies and mediocre or unsuccessful ones has little, if anything, to do with what they know or how smart they are; it has everything to do with how healthy they are. An organization that is healthy will inevitably get smarter over time. That's because people in a healthy organization, beginning with the leaders, learn from one another, identify critical issues, and recover quickly from mistakes."
I couldn't agree more. How does one achieve organizational health? The best companies build good teams, have a clear mission, and communicate that well. “There is no such thing as too much communication," Lencioni says. Clarity, Lencioni argues, is obtained by establishing and reinforcing behaviors, and answering six important questions.
Those six critical questions leaders must giver their employees are:
1. Why do we exist?
2. How do we behave?
3. What do we do?
4. How will we succeed?
5. What is most important, now?
6. Who must do what?
Creating a healthy organization is a magnet for attracting not just high level performers, but high level performers who are a good fit with the organization. Healthy organizations get the best out of every employee, and align employees in a unified goal.
The responsibility of creating healthy organizations, of course, lies on the leader. Lencioni says, “The only way for the leader of a team to create a safe environment for his team members to be vulnerable is by stepping up and doing something that feels unsafe and uncomfortable first. By getting naked before anyone else, by taking the risk of making himself vulnerable with no guarantee that other members of the team will respond in kind, a leader demonstrates an extraordinary level of selflessness and dedication to the team. And that gives him the right, and the confidence, to ask others to do the same.”
"The Advantage" is a helpful book. For those who prepare a cut-to-the-chase style, it might even be your favorite Lencioni book. While it isn't my favorite, I certainly recommend. it.
June 13, 2020
I had not read any Lencioni before this; that might have to change. From what I understand, several of his other books use narrative stories to convey leadership points; this book sought to bring together many of those lessons together with the key focus: that organizational health is the most important thing for a leader to focus on and for an organization to succeed. On why he wrote the book on organizational health: "it has never been presented as a simple, integrated, and practical discipline."
Highly recommend this book to anyone who is in a leadership role within an organization (large or small). Going forward, I think it important to ensure an intentional approach to "organizational health" first and foremost. I know I've got a lot to learn and grow and this books is helping me think and better go about that developmental process.
"An organization has integrity - is healthy - when it is whole, consistent, and complete, that is, when management, operations, strategy, and culture fit together and make sense....A good way to recognize health is to look for signs that indicate an organization has it. These include minimal politics and confusion, high degrees of morale and productivity, and very low turnover among good employees."
"The vast majority of organizations today have more than enough intelligence, expertise, and knowledge to be successful. What they lack is organizational health."
He organizes the book around 4 disciplines:
1) Build a cohesive leadership team
2) Create clarity (answering and committing to answers on 6 questions)
3) Overcommunicate clarity
4) Reinforce clarity
"...When organization's leaders are cohesive, when they are unambiguously aligned around a common set of answers to a few critical questions, when they communicate those answers again and again, and when they put effective processes in place to reinforce those answers, they create an environment in which success is almost impossible to prevent. Really."
Building a Cohesive Leadership Team, 5 behavioral principles to embrace:
1) Building trust: vulnerability-based trust; a willingness of people to abandon pride and fear, to sacrifice ego for the collective good of the team; avoid fundamental attribution errors; seek to understand more than be understood; leaders go first - if a team leader is reluctant to acknowledge his or her mistake or fails to admit a weakness that is evident to everyone else, there is littlehope that other members of the team are going to do so.
2) Mastering Conflict: when there is trust, conflict becomes nothing but the pursuit of truth, an attempt to find the best possible answer; one of best ways for leader to raise the level of health conflict is to go mining for confuct during meanings, giving positive feedback in real-time for pushing into uncomfortable areas,
3) Achieving Commitment: give everyone a chance to provide input, ask questions and understand rationale but don't misinterpret this as a need for complete consensus. Most people are reasonable and can rally behind an idea that wasn't their own as long as they know they've had a chance to weigh in. Leave meetings with clear-cut, active, and specific agreements around decisions.
4) Embracing Accountability: Peer to peer accountability is the primary and most effective source of accountability on leadership teams (i.e. accountability does not come just from the leader). To hold someone accountable is to care about them enough to risk having them blame you for pointing out their deficiencies. Dont justify not giving hard feedback to your employee, an honest assessment shows its a selfish act so you dont feel bad, not so they dont feel bad. There is nothing noble about withholding information that can help an employee improve.
5) Focusing on Results: No matter how good a leadership team feels about itself or noble its mission, if the organization does not achieve its goals then its not a good team. Everyone has to row in the same direction, one team. There is no "your side of the boat is sinking." Teams that lead healthy organizations come to terms with the difficult but critical requirement that its members must put the needs of the higher team ahead of the needs of their department.
To Create Clarity as a team, focus on having honest answers about 6 questions. Even subtle misalignment/confusion at the top and gaps between executives causes significant damage. ALignment and clarity are not achieved instantly with a series of buzzwords: "it requires a much more rigorous and unpretentious approach."
1) Why do we exist? (has to be real, has to be important/inspirational)
2) How do we behave? (if you tolerate everything, you stand for nothing; what are core vs. aspirational values)
3) What do we do? (one sentence practical description)
4) How will we succeed (intentional decisions made to bring about success, walk away from some opportunities that arent strategically aligned with you)
5) What is most important, right now? (have one top priority for a given period of time; this avoids being pulled in different directions or being in silos; start with thematic goal - the one thing you really want to have accomplished int he next 6 months. Then create defining objectives that are necessary to bring about that end state.
6) Who must do what? (be clear about roles and lines of responsibility
Overcommunicate Clarity:
"Great leaders seem themselves as Chief Reminding Officers as much as anything else." Its more than repetition; the message/communication has to come through multiple sources and channels; most important is still word of mouth throughout the organization. Messaging must be consistent and timely. Team leads shold leave meetings with clear/specific agreements on what to communicate to employees; and employees should be able to articulate he organization's reason for existence, values, strategic anchors, and goals.
Reinforce Clarity:
Structures and procedures must reinforce answers to the 6 questions. Does not require complicated systems; "an organization has to institutionalize its culture without bureaucratizing it." Have just enough structure in place with hiring/interviewing to ensure a measure of consistency with and adherence to core values.
"Many leaders convince themselves that employees are motivated primarily by money. As a result, they discount the impact of authentic and specific expressions of appreciation."
"Keeping a relatively strong performer who is not a cultural fit sends a loud and clear message to employees that the organization isnt all that serious about what it says it believes."
"Leaders have to ensure they are having the right kinds of meetings, and they must make those meetings effective...[then] they can look forward to their meetings....they get real work done in those meetings which makes their lies, and the lives of their employees, better as a result."
Highly recommend this book to anyone who is in a leadership role within an organization (large or small). Going forward, I think it important to ensure an intentional approach to "organizational health" first and foremost. I know I've got a lot to learn and grow and this books is helping me think and better go about that developmental process.
"An organization has integrity - is healthy - when it is whole, consistent, and complete, that is, when management, operations, strategy, and culture fit together and make sense....A good way to recognize health is to look for signs that indicate an organization has it. These include minimal politics and confusion, high degrees of morale and productivity, and very low turnover among good employees."
"The vast majority of organizations today have more than enough intelligence, expertise, and knowledge to be successful. What they lack is organizational health."
He organizes the book around 4 disciplines:
1) Build a cohesive leadership team
2) Create clarity (answering and committing to answers on 6 questions)
3) Overcommunicate clarity
4) Reinforce clarity
"...When organization's leaders are cohesive, when they are unambiguously aligned around a common set of answers to a few critical questions, when they communicate those answers again and again, and when they put effective processes in place to reinforce those answers, they create an environment in which success is almost impossible to prevent. Really."
Building a Cohesive Leadership Team, 5 behavioral principles to embrace:
1) Building trust: vulnerability-based trust; a willingness of people to abandon pride and fear, to sacrifice ego for the collective good of the team; avoid fundamental attribution errors; seek to understand more than be understood; leaders go first - if a team leader is reluctant to acknowledge his or her mistake or fails to admit a weakness that is evident to everyone else, there is littlehope that other members of the team are going to do so.
2) Mastering Conflict: when there is trust, conflict becomes nothing but the pursuit of truth, an attempt to find the best possible answer; one of best ways for leader to raise the level of health conflict is to go mining for confuct during meanings, giving positive feedback in real-time for pushing into uncomfortable areas,
3) Achieving Commitment: give everyone a chance to provide input, ask questions and understand rationale but don't misinterpret this as a need for complete consensus. Most people are reasonable and can rally behind an idea that wasn't their own as long as they know they've had a chance to weigh in. Leave meetings with clear-cut, active, and specific agreements around decisions.
4) Embracing Accountability: Peer to peer accountability is the primary and most effective source of accountability on leadership teams (i.e. accountability does not come just from the leader). To hold someone accountable is to care about them enough to risk having them blame you for pointing out their deficiencies. Dont justify not giving hard feedback to your employee, an honest assessment shows its a selfish act so you dont feel bad, not so they dont feel bad. There is nothing noble about withholding information that can help an employee improve.
5) Focusing on Results: No matter how good a leadership team feels about itself or noble its mission, if the organization does not achieve its goals then its not a good team. Everyone has to row in the same direction, one team. There is no "your side of the boat is sinking." Teams that lead healthy organizations come to terms with the difficult but critical requirement that its members must put the needs of the higher team ahead of the needs of their department.
To Create Clarity as a team, focus on having honest answers about 6 questions. Even subtle misalignment/confusion at the top and gaps between executives causes significant damage. ALignment and clarity are not achieved instantly with a series of buzzwords: "it requires a much more rigorous and unpretentious approach."
1) Why do we exist? (has to be real, has to be important/inspirational)
2) How do we behave? (if you tolerate everything, you stand for nothing; what are core vs. aspirational values)
3) What do we do? (one sentence practical description)
4) How will we succeed (intentional decisions made to bring about success, walk away from some opportunities that arent strategically aligned with you)
5) What is most important, right now? (have one top priority for a given period of time; this avoids being pulled in different directions or being in silos; start with thematic goal - the one thing you really want to have accomplished int he next 6 months. Then create defining objectives that are necessary to bring about that end state.
6) Who must do what? (be clear about roles and lines of responsibility
Overcommunicate Clarity:
"Great leaders seem themselves as Chief Reminding Officers as much as anything else." Its more than repetition; the message/communication has to come through multiple sources and channels; most important is still word of mouth throughout the organization. Messaging must be consistent and timely. Team leads shold leave meetings with clear/specific agreements on what to communicate to employees; and employees should be able to articulate he organization's reason for existence, values, strategic anchors, and goals.
Reinforce Clarity:
Structures and procedures must reinforce answers to the 6 questions. Does not require complicated systems; "an organization has to institutionalize its culture without bureaucratizing it." Have just enough structure in place with hiring/interviewing to ensure a measure of consistency with and adherence to core values.
"Many leaders convince themselves that employees are motivated primarily by money. As a result, they discount the impact of authentic and specific expressions of appreciation."
"Keeping a relatively strong performer who is not a cultural fit sends a loud and clear message to employees that the organization isnt all that serious about what it says it believes."
"Leaders have to ensure they are having the right kinds of meetings, and they must make those meetings effective...[then] they can look forward to their meetings....they get real work done in those meetings which makes their lies, and the lives of their employees, better as a result."
January 14, 2014
This easy-to-read leadership handbook is Patrick Lencioni's follow up effort to his earlier and very effectively presented business fables. The subtitle - why organizational health trumps everything else in business - is a theme that resonates with me, and would with any manager who knows what attempting to lead in a dysfunctional organizational feels like. Nothing gets done until you fix the core issues.
Lencioni presents the deceptively simple 4 disciplines model, which is centered on building cohesiveness throughout an organization through clarity. Clarity is obtained by establishing and reinforcing 5 behaviors, and continually answering 6 important questions.
To some, this approach may seem too touchy-feely, but in my experience, this is where the real hard work lies. Investing the intensive effort and high levels of discipline required to tackle destructive problems such as lack of trust will put dedicated leaders on the right track toward transforming even very troubled organizations.
I recommend this book, and Patrick Lencioni's work in general, to any General Manager or CEO seeking to achieve lasting results by build a humane, effective and resilient organization.
Lencioni presents the deceptively simple 4 disciplines model, which is centered on building cohesiveness throughout an organization through clarity. Clarity is obtained by establishing and reinforcing 5 behaviors, and continually answering 6 important questions.
To some, this approach may seem too touchy-feely, but in my experience, this is where the real hard work lies. Investing the intensive effort and high levels of discipline required to tackle destructive problems such as lack of trust will put dedicated leaders on the right track toward transforming even very troubled organizations.
I recommend this book, and Patrick Lencioni's work in general, to any General Manager or CEO seeking to achieve lasting results by build a humane, effective and resilient organization.
August 30, 2017
The author calls it "organizational health." I prefer to think of it as an authentic organization. Health gives the impression that it's a matter of following a regiment of good habits. Whereas authentic implies that it has to come from within the individuals. The book applies to leaders of an organization, not so much to workers. If you're not a manager, you will probably not get to practice the first discipline of building a cohesive team (build trust, work through conflicts, commit to decisions, be accountable, and focus on results). The other three disciplines really need to come from the top leadership of the organization - create clarity in purpose and direction of the organization, over communicate that message, and reinforce that message.
July 11, 2017
My pastor had all the team leaders at our church read this book. Leadership organization and business books are not usually my cup of tea, though they can be quite helpful. This one was great! I see lots of lessons and principles in here to use in my full-time ministry as well as my volunteer work at my church. It is great for ministry leaders, but is not faith based. Actually, it barely mentions churches at all. So if you're a business leader, this book would be great for you too. Basically, anyone who leads people and works with teams could benefit from this.
August 24, 2020
As a former high school English teacher, I would have FAILED Lencioni. Never have I seen arguments so sloppily built and glaringly lacking specificity. I got an hour into the audiobook and had no evidence that Lencioni had ever actually met another person, let alone that he had any expertise in business worth listening to.
Coming on the heels of Kim Scott's magnificent RADICAL CANDOR, this was a non-starter for me.
Coming on the heels of Kim Scott's magnificent RADICAL CANDOR, this was a non-starter for me.
January 4, 2021
Today I finished the first book of 2021, "The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else In Business" by Patrick Lencioni. In this book, the author introduces a model for achieving success for companies through organizational health. The following four disciplines are necessary for a healthy organization.
DISCIPLINE 1: BUILD A COHESIVE LEADERSHIP TEAM
The first and most critical step in a healthy organization is creating a cohesive leadership team that is committed to do the ongoing work of developing and maintaining a high-performing team and mastering the five behaviors outlined in the book "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team".
(1) Being open and building trust
(2) Engaging in constructive ideological conflict
(3) Committing to clear decisions
(4) Holding one another accountable for behaviors and performance
(5) Focusing on collective results
DISCIPLINE 2: CREATE CLARITY
Creating clarity at the executive level is essential to building and maintaining a healthy organization. There are six simple but critical questions that need to be answered, eliminating all discrepancies among team members.
(1) Why do we exist?
(2) How do we behave?
(3) What do we do?
(4) How will we succeed?
(5) What is most important, right now?
(6) Who must do what?
The author detailed on the idea of a thematic goal or a rallying cry to answer the fifth question above in his book "Silos, Politics and Turf Wars".
DISCIPLINE 3: OVERCOMMUNICATE CLARITY
Once a leadership team has become cohesive and established clarity around the six critical questions, they need to communicate the answers to employees over and over again. There are specific communication strategies the leadership team can employ to ensure that messaging is consistent and absorbed by employees.
DISCIPLINE 4: REINFORCE CLARITY
For an organization to be healthy, organizational clarity (the six critical questions) must become embedded into the fabric of the organization. Systems in the following areas need to tie to the six questions: Recruiting and hiring The Ideal Team Player, managing performance, compensation and rewards, and real-time recognition.
In addition to these four steps, it is essential that a healthy organization get better at the one activity that underpins everything it does: meetings. Without making a few simple but fundamental changes to the way meetings happen, a healthy organization will struggle to maintain what it has worked hard to build. The author talks more about the four types of meetings in his book "Death by Meetings".
Source: http://www.dragon-bishop.com/2021/01/...
DISCIPLINE 1: BUILD A COHESIVE LEADERSHIP TEAM
The first and most critical step in a healthy organization is creating a cohesive leadership team that is committed to do the ongoing work of developing and maintaining a high-performing team and mastering the five behaviors outlined in the book "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team".
(1) Being open and building trust
(2) Engaging in constructive ideological conflict
(3) Committing to clear decisions
(4) Holding one another accountable for behaviors and performance
(5) Focusing on collective results
DISCIPLINE 2: CREATE CLARITY
Creating clarity at the executive level is essential to building and maintaining a healthy organization. There are six simple but critical questions that need to be answered, eliminating all discrepancies among team members.
(1) Why do we exist?
(2) How do we behave?
(3) What do we do?
(4) How will we succeed?
(5) What is most important, right now?
(6) Who must do what?
The author detailed on the idea of a thematic goal or a rallying cry to answer the fifth question above in his book "Silos, Politics and Turf Wars".
DISCIPLINE 3: OVERCOMMUNICATE CLARITY
Once a leadership team has become cohesive and established clarity around the six critical questions, they need to communicate the answers to employees over and over again. There are specific communication strategies the leadership team can employ to ensure that messaging is consistent and absorbed by employees.
DISCIPLINE 4: REINFORCE CLARITY
For an organization to be healthy, organizational clarity (the six critical questions) must become embedded into the fabric of the organization. Systems in the following areas need to tie to the six questions: Recruiting and hiring The Ideal Team Player, managing performance, compensation and rewards, and real-time recognition.
In addition to these four steps, it is essential that a healthy organization get better at the one activity that underpins everything it does: meetings. Without making a few simple but fundamental changes to the way meetings happen, a healthy organization will struggle to maintain what it has worked hard to build. The author talks more about the four types of meetings in his book "Death by Meetings".
Source: http://www.dragon-bishop.com/2021/01/...
March 23, 2022
I never thought I'd have much in common with the leadership-book-reading high-powered executives at airports. I was right; I don't have much in common with them. Not the salary, not the fashion, not the TSA pre-check...just the literature choices 😂
I've been so frustrated with the dire lack of leadership at my job lately that I asked my dad's boss--a self-proclaimed leadership enthusiast--for her top recommendations for books on good leadership. The Advantage was her #1 choice.
In a lot of ways, reading this book was healing for me. It was a reminder that my vision of a healthy work environment is not crazy or far-fetched, and it gave me some practical steps I can take should I find myself in leadership roles.
My main takeaways:
- the biggest factor in an organization's health is its leader
- the evidence most indicative of an organization's health is the way staff meetings are run
- difference between core values, aspirational values, and accidental values
- conflict should be invited and embraced
- vulnerability-based trust is more important than predictive trust
- clarity is essential and should be over-communicated
- communicating one-on-one--both about directives from meetings AND to give personal feedback--is most effective
Julie didn't lead me astray; I'm confident I'll return to this book in the future.
I've been so frustrated with the dire lack of leadership at my job lately that I asked my dad's boss--a self-proclaimed leadership enthusiast--for her top recommendations for books on good leadership. The Advantage was her #1 choice.
In a lot of ways, reading this book was healing for me. It was a reminder that my vision of a healthy work environment is not crazy or far-fetched, and it gave me some practical steps I can take should I find myself in leadership roles.
My main takeaways:
- the biggest factor in an organization's health is its leader
- the evidence most indicative of an organization's health is the way staff meetings are run
- difference between core values, aspirational values, and accidental values
- conflict should be invited and embraced
- vulnerability-based trust is more important than predictive trust
- clarity is essential and should be over-communicated
- communicating one-on-one--both about directives from meetings AND to give personal feedback--is most effective
Julie didn't lead me astray; I'm confident I'll return to this book in the future.
June 1, 2022
This book just moved into my top 5 business book list that I’m going to tell all my clients and friends to read. I’m a big Patrick Lencioni fan and was at first a little disappointed that this book wasn’t in his usual “fable first, then principles of the concept” style but soon got over my disappointment because the content was so spot on. Basically if you feel your organization has any level of dysfunction, this book will help you clarify where the dysfunction may lie and exactly how to fix it. It is a step by step book without getting too deep in the weeds. The Advantage refers to the competitive benefit any organization large or small will receive by focusing on their organizational health and adopting four disciplines explained in the book. It is a bold statement that “organizational health trumps everything else in business”, more than the right people, marketing, strategy, technology, innovation, whatever but I too have seen it to be true and am a believer. Labeled his most comprehensive, significant and essential work to date…and having read most of his previous books, I would agree. It pulls in concepts from several of his other books and ties it all up with a bow. However, if you are dealing with a particular issue, like ineffectual meetings, then I still recommend that you dig into that issue with the specific book on that topic - Death By Meeting, etc.
October 18, 2022
Чітко і зрозуміло. Практичні поради. Невеликий обсяг і влучні описи до кожної теми.
Я не довіряю бізнес-літературі, адже її здебільшого пишуть теоретики, а не практики, які досягнули успіх у реальному бізнесі. Я дуже скептично ставлюся до порад, адже кожний бізнес унікальний і має свій вектор розвитку. Я мало що знаю про бізнес, адже це нова для мене сфера, і саме тому мені треба вчитися. Але що робити, якщо я не довіряю бізнес-літературі? Замкнене коло.
Однак є книги (а саме такого жанру я запитую поради у більш досвідчених колег), які можуть зменшити мій скептицизм. Напрочуд легка подача і доступ��і кроки у побудові здорового середовища. Адже, як вважає автор, не великі інвестиції, не нагороди і супер дорогі курси, які завершив власник, не крутий офіс в центрі створюють комфортні умови, як для бізнесу, так і для співробітників. Як досягнути цього здорового середовища?
*Визначити одну головну мету для бізнесу. Чітко її сформулювати і дотримуватися цього курсу.
*Наймати тільки тих людей, які будуть поділяти цінності та корпоративну культуру компанії.
*Завжди казати про недоліки та критичні моменти в роботі, а керівнику - вміти це сприймати �� працювати над покращенням.
Можливо, для когось ці всі поради будуть банальними. Однак у простоті і є сила. І краще прочитати 1 якісну книгу, ніж безліч "з пустого в порожнє".
Я не довіряю бізнес-літературі, адже її здебільшого пишуть теоретики, а не практики, які досягнули успіх у реальному бізнесі. Я дуже скептично ставлюся до порад, адже кожний бізнес унікальний і має свій вектор розвитку. Я мало що знаю про бізнес, адже це нова для мене сфера, і саме тому мені треба вчитися. Але що робити, якщо я не довіряю бізнес-літературі? Замкнене коло.
Однак є книги (а саме такого жанру я запитую поради у більш досвідчених колег), які можуть зменшити мій скептицизм. Напрочуд легка подача і доступ��і кроки у побудові здорового середовища. Адже, як вважає автор, не великі інвестиції, не нагороди і супер дорогі курси, які завершив власник, не крутий офіс в центрі створюють комфортні умови, як для бізнесу, так і для співробітників. Як досягнути цього здорового середовища?
*Визначити одну головну мету для бізнесу. Чітко її сформулювати і дотримуватися цього курсу.
*Наймати тільки тих людей, які будуть поділяти цінності та корпоративну культуру компанії.
*Завжди казати про недоліки та критичні моменти в роботі, а керівнику - вміти це сприймати �� працювати над покращенням.
Можливо, для когось ці всі поради будуть банальними. Однак у простоті і є сила. І краще прочитати 1 якісну книгу, ніж безліч "з пустого в порожнє".
November 22, 2021
The Advantage is written by a Patrick Lencionion, a business consultant, who advises businesses how to create the most successful culture. Patrick Lencioni advises that the health of the organization, culturally, drives its success. One of the key drivers to the health of an organization is trust. He also identifies critical questions that the business must ask itself to develop its culture:
1. Why do we exist?
2. How do we behave?
3. What do we do?
4. How will we succeed?
5. What is most important, now?
6. Who must do what?
I enjoyed the stories and examples that he shared from various companies that his firm had consulted. He discusses how to define the business culture and hire employees who fit the culture to increase success. He has some interesting insights and approaches. I don't agree with everything, but I think there are definitely some good suggestions for improving organizational health and activities to enhance an organizations cultural strengths.
1. Why do we exist?
2. How do we behave?
3. What do we do?
4. How will we succeed?
5. What is most important, now?
6. Who must do what?
I enjoyed the stories and examples that he shared from various companies that his firm had consulted. He discusses how to define the business culture and hire employees who fit the culture to increase success. He has some interesting insights and approaches. I don't agree with everything, but I think there are definitely some good suggestions for improving organizational health and activities to enhance an organizations cultural strengths.
October 29, 2022
2.5 ⭐️ full disclosure: I read this for a class and would never have even given it a second glance otherwise. I do not like these types of books--ones that claim they know the exact reason why you're failing and that if you just follow a specific system, you'll be golden. I don't doubt that the principles expressed in this book are valuable; however, I had a hard time with the author's tone that seemed to be very self-righteous (emphasized by the frequent anecdotes of how his consulting company revolutionized their clients' businesses by advising one change). The book easily could have been an article (at most a series of articles).
August 4, 2019
Like most of Lencioni's books, this one was written primarily for business, but I find it helpful when looking at universities as well. If the organization is not healthy, it will fail, and there are some basic things that leaders can do to ensure that health. Lencioni argues that there are six fundamental questions to ask to determine how the organization sees itself, the first of which is "Why do we exist?" A simple question that I imagine will have many answers.
This one is going to stick with me for a long time.
This one is going to stick with me for a long time.
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