A solid business is built on trust

The title of this post may seem a bit obvious, and I think it is, but taken from a wider view it can get a little interesting.

In Patrick Lencioni’s book “ The Five Dysfunctions of a Team “, he breaks down the typical dysfunctions in the form of a pyramid, shown here.

In his pyramid, you need to start at the bottom and solve each piece as you go up. Any higher level can’t be resolved until the ones below it are solid first.

Absence of Trust: Without trust, people will hide mistakes and make assumptions about others, both of which can be deadly for a team.

Fear of Conflict: This ties in closely with trust; if you’re trying to hide mistakes, you’re going to hide from conflict. Conflict can be a very powerful and productive tool if used with those you trust.

Lack of Commitment: If you don’t feel free to fight for what you believe in with a little conflict, you won’t be bought into the solution to help solve it and your commitment level will stay low.

Avoidance of Accountability: This ties into all of the pieces before it, but I see trust shining through strongly here; if you don’t trust those around you, you’re not going to take accountability. This leads nicely into the final level.