The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni is another classic.
FROM THE HN SHELF
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
Patrick Lencioni
Business · A BOOKTypographic jacket · original cover not fetched
FROM THE SHARED SHELF · 2006–2026 SAMPLE
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
8 readers recommend it across 8 discussions
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Original Hacker News comments, in the readers’ own words.
I like books that are actionable. Lots of books are inspirational but not that useful (e.g. crossing the chasm). I run a curriculum in my company which uses a few books I have read over the years. emyth revisited (how to think about and structure an org) getting to yes (negotiation) influence the psychology of persuasion (negotiation) spin selling (enterprise sales, supplanted by sandler) You cant teach a kid to ride a bike at a seminar (sandler sales) 5 dysfunctions of a team (one of the best leadership books) first break all the rules (management) accounting for dummies purple cow (differentiation) blue ocean strategy (differentiation) traction (strategy/operations) rocketfuel (strategy/operations) for professional services: managing the professional services firm getting naked
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A few books that I've found useful: The Goal - Eli Goldratt - It is a novel about optimizing a factory, but it is immensely valuable in thinking through what are the actual constraints on your team's ability to deliver software and how do you fix it without making other things worse. The Phoenix Project is kind of a modern retelling, but I'd start with The Goal. The Principles of Product Development Flow - Reinersten - Great for thinking deeply about how you deliver value through your system and the tradeoffs you are making in what you choose to focus on next. Once again it isn't specific to software, but very relevant. The 5 Dysfunctions of Teams - Lencioni - Common team problems and what to do instead. Influence: Science and Practice - Cialdini - How to get people into agreement so you can move forward--a skill that can be used for both good and evil.…
Also recommended in this reply
I've found The Five Dysfunctions of a Team useful. It's a clear description of things that go wrong when people work together, even when everyone has good intentions. I'll second the suggestion to speak with a professional therapist or coach if it's an option. These situations are difficult to navigate and a neutral perspective can be helpful.
Leadership for me is "influencing people to create change". We use many books, but my favorite is 5 dysfunctions of a team. After that is first break all the rules Both of these are extremely practical and give a model for how to operate on a daily basis.
Also recommended in this reply
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team - Patrick Lencioni. It's a pretty fast read, I think the thing that stuck with me the most from it was the reassurance that (constructive) conflict on a team is not something to be avoided at all costs.
The five dysfunctions of a team. This book is now required reading for everyone I work with. Not only is the content some of the most important I've ever read, but 80% of the book is written like a novel, making it a VERY easy read.
Five Dysfunctions of a Team - by Patrick Lencioni Very simple, powerful read.