Day 13 · Act III — Lead Performance
Build High-Performance Teams
Team norms · Complementary strengths
~30 minutes
A team of stars is not the same as a star team.
The Core Idea
Act III moves from relationships to results. High-performing teams share clear purpose, explicit norms, complementary skills and mutual accountability.
Norms exist whether you design them or not. Unspoken norms — 'don't disagree with the VP', 'meetings start late' — govern behaviour more than any values poster.
The Mental Model
Lencioni's Five Dysfunctions
Absence of trust → fear of conflict → lack of commitment → avoidance of accountability → inattention to results.
At work: A team keeps missing targets (results) because nobody calls out slipping peers (accountability), rooted in polite avoidance of conflict.
The Case Study
ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission
DocumentedISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission reached Mars orbit in September 2014, on its first attempt, at a widely reported low cost.
Interpretation: tight constraints and shared mission can forge exceptional team cohesion.
Cinema & Story
Moneyball (2011)
Building a team around complementary, undervalued strengths can beat a richer rival.
The Reading Room
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
Patrick Lencioni
A memorable fable and model for diagnosing team health.
Further reading: Team of Teams — Gen. Stanley McChrystal
The Journal · Portfolio output: Team charter
The Field Experiment · within 24 hours
Facilitate a 20-minute session to write three explicit team norms together.
The Evening Review
Design the culture, or inherit the accident.