Great teams argue. Not in a mean-spirited or personal way, but they disagree when important decisions are made.
Interpretation
Healthy disagreement in teams leads to better decision-making.
This quote by Patrick Lencioni emphasizes the importance of constructive conflict within teams. Great teams engage in healthy debates, expressing differing opinions and perspectives, which allows for thorough discussions and ultimately leads to more informed and effective decisions being made, rather than simply conforming to a consensus.
In practice
In a team meeting to strategize a new project, this quote can be used to encourage open dialogue.
I know that any group of people can become a team if they do the right things, but I came to realize over time that if you acquire or develop the right kind of people, that process of building a team is going to be much more effective and easier.
The truth is that intelligence, knowledge, and domain expertise are vastly overrated as the driving forces behind competitive advantage and sustainable success.
The kind of people that all teams need are people who are humble, hungry, and smart: humble being little ego, focusing more on their teammates than on themselves. Hungry, meaning they have a strong work ethic, are determined to get things done, and contribute any way they can. Smart, meaning not intellectually smart but inner personally smart.
Team members have to be focused on the collective good of the team. Too often, they focus their attention on their department, their budget, their career aspirations, their egos.
Teamwork remains a sustainable competitive advantage that has been largely untapped because it is hard to measure (teamwork impacts the outcome of an organization in such comprehensive and invasive ways that it's virtually impossible to isolate it as a single variable) and because it is extremely hard to achieve (it requires levels of courage and discipline that few executives possess) - ironically, building a strong team is very simple (it doesn't require masterful insights or tactics).
Clients don't expect perfection from the service providers they hire, but they do expect honesty and transparency. There is no better way to demonstrate this than by acknowledging when a mistake has been made and humbly apologizing for it.
Ultimately, leadership is not about glorious crowning acts. It's about keeping your team focused on a goal and motivated to do their best to achieve it, especially when the stakes are high and the consequences really matter. It is about laying the groundwork for others' success, and then standing back and letting them shine.
If you're a leader, people's lives should be better because of the influence you've had along the way.
It's hard for me to grasp the concept of somebody being nervous when I'm talking to them.
A President's hardest task is not to do what is right, but to know what is right.
I have a lifetime appointment and I intend to serve it. I expect to die at 110, shot by a jealous husband.
Ironically, when a bunch of very smart people are sitting around a table for hours trying to figure out whether they should do something, that tends to not necessarily lead to the best results.
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