Top critical review
1.0 out of 5 starsFantasy that leads nowhere (no data, no analysis, no depth)
Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2020
I picked up Lencioni's book on the advice of several manager/executive friends. I take their opinions seriously, so I set myself down to absorb everything in this book. Ultimately, what I absorbed is that Lencioni simply does not know what he's talking about.
The first problem is Lencioni as an author. He presents his case first in the form of a short story that has a 100% happy ending for Kathryn, the newly hired leader and protagonist of the story. It's a self-centered tale told from only a single point of view that gives no insight into the consequences of Kathryn's decisions one way or the other.
The second problem is Kathryn is treated as a cipher for good management, though she does not demonstrate it. In this very, very short story, Kathryn manipulates her way around her team, figuring out how to push their buttons to get them to do what she wants. Rather than coming out and requiring specific performance and being open about what she sees, Kathryn engages in double-talk, withholds valuable information, openly plays favorites, happily creates chaos, and gets a pat on the back from a board member who never holds her accountable. If I didn't know better, I would think the author was acting out some kind of fantasy to heal old wounds at a failed management endeavor.
The final problem is that the book and its points are utterly obtuse. The story consumes 80% of the book. The worksheet and associated instructions comprise the remaining 20%. This is less required reading and more a fatally flawed jumping off point to terrible management.
The book specifically suggests:
- A team can achieve anything if they're "all rowing in the same direction." While it's a cute sentiment, it does nothing to actually explain the vision of this book.
- Managers should be free to cut each other down, as long as its done via calling out someone on their missed deadlines (even though they are not personally responsible for managing those deadlines), and other passive-aggressive tactics.
- Everyone should reveal deep personal details about themselves, ignoring all respect for privacy. (For those who think this point is harsh, remember that Lencioni's innocent low-risk questions only apply to people who are perfect. For anyone who is an actual human, being interrogated about details that have no place in a work environment is deeply disrespectful and borderline psychpathic.)
- It should be up to anyone but the actual boss to decide what the goals are. Just think for a minute about how well this would fly at Apple or Tesla.
- Everyone should sacrifice their personal goals in favor of the "team" goals. That's right. You don't get to think about your career. You don't get to decide what is and what is not best for you. Don't like it? Get out. Why would anyone ever want to work for a boss who thinks like that? That's a team killer is what it is. It's a philosophy of pure poison.
This is a book written by a mediocre consultant who will help you achieve mediocre results at best. This book is the opposite of "A players want to work with A players." It's a cast of B and C players who behave more like children than professionals. It's simply not realistic.
Mickey is the perpetual debbie downer who rolls her eyes at everything. Sorry, if Mickey was this bad in real life she would not have risen to the level she is at. Here's a more realistic picture: if I were Mickey I would roll my eyes, too. She's absolutely justified in the contempt she has for the clueless board above her, and for her do-nothing co-workers. The story admits that Mickey produces outstanding marketing material. She's quick, efficient, and she takes great care of her team. Even when she's facing termination for insubordination, she deftly negotiates herself a severance. Yet the story throws Mickey under the bus and paints her as a toxic saboteur instead of the A player she is.
Martin the senior engineer slash developer is another A player ground into submission by Kathryn who admits -- ADMITS -- she does not understand technology and has never led a technology company before. Yet, here she is, telling Martin how to do his job and publicly chastising him for using his laptop during a meeting -- something Martin points out is standard procedure and doesn't bother anyone but Kathryn. This is poison! A leader should be intimately familiar with a company's products, inside and out. Do you think Elon Musk doesn't know how batteries work? Do you think Carly Fiorina doesn't know how toner and fusers work? (Well, maybe she doesn't. She single handedly ruined HP.) The point is, no one can respect a leader who doesn't have at least a general understanding of what she's been asked to lead.
The rest of the cast is what you would expect from a mediocre team: a manager who can't manage unless he has a bullet point agenda, a do-it-all guy who has no initiative of his own, a couple of D- level people who only left because they were probably hired by C- level managers. Everyone sounds like a desperately out of touch boomer or generally clueless GenX at best. There is no trace here of actual managers you might encounter in your career. It's grotesque in its poor representation of what a modern team looks like.
This is a book that tells a convenient story in favor of a consultant's business proposition. It's more than a little like a proselytizer who also happens to sell Bibles. In other words, this book is snake oil. Like other reviews have pointed out, there's no data to back up the book's assertions. There is no real world analysis and comparison. There is no admittance of flaw anywhere. This is a book that teaches leaders to demonstrate vulnerability, but presents itself as utterly invulnerable. Lencioni is God, and this is his Infallible Word.
Actually, I encourage you to buy and read this book. While it won't help you succeed, it will help you recognize incompetence (especially in consultants) and avoid it.
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Update: I took this book back to the people who recommended it to me. I asked them what specific lessons they absorbed and put into practice in their own companies. After some awkwardness, I found that no one actually implemented anything from this book. They just read it and fell for the glowing story. This book isn't a treatise, or even a lesson. It's fan-fic that CEOs and entrepreneurs drool over the same way your assistant drools over new office supplies.
It took me four hours to read this book. That's four hours I'm never getting back.
