Quotes from Patrick Lencioni

If team members are never pushing one another outside of their emotional comfort zones during discussions, then it is extremely likely that they're not making the best decisions for the organization.

Stop making the perfect enemy of the good.

People who don't like conflict have an amazing ability to avoid it, even when they know it's theoretically necessary

Once organizational health is properly understood and placed into the right context, it will surpass all other disciplines in business as the greatest opportunity for improvement and competitive advantage.

Ask dumb questions.

it is far more natural, and common, for leaders to avoid holding people accountable.

If this is so powerful, then why don't all executives create clarity in their organizations? Because many of them overemphasize the value of flexibility. Wanting their organizations to be "nimble," they hesitate to articulate their direction clearly, or do so in a less than thorough manner, thus giving themselves the deceptively dangerous luxury of changing plans in midstream.

truly nimble organizations dare to create clarity at all times, even when they are not completely certain about whether it is correct. And if they later see a need to change course, they do so without hesitation or apology, and thus create clarity around the new idea or answer.

Make dumb suggestions.

fundamental values are not chosen from thin air based on the desires of executives; they are discovered within what already exists in an organization.

Conflict is about issues and ideas, while accountability is about performance and behavior.

company needs to be able to articulate exactly what it does, whom it serves, and against whom it competes. Why? Because all employees should be made to feel like salespeople or ambassadors for the firm, and they cannot do this without a fundamental understanding of an organization's business. More important, without this understanding, employees cannot connect their individual roles to the overall direction of the larger organization.

Clare offered a half-hearted suggestion. "Well, there are coaches I know who do one-on-one counseling." Bobby shook his head. "No, that doesn't usually work. It takes months and only isolates people. It seems like most of them just use it to prepare for their next job.

Our ability to engage in passionate, unfiltered debate about what we need to do to succeed will determine our future as much as any products we develop or partnerships we sign." It

Putting together an agenda before a staff meeting is like a marriage counselor deciding what issues she's going to cover with a couple prior to meeting with them.

An organization has integrity—is healthy—when it is whole, consistent, and complete, that is, when its management, operations, strategy, and culture fit together and make sense.

a leader's first priority is to create an environment where others can do these things and that cannot happen if they are not having effective meetings.

Push with respect, and under the assumption that the other person is probably doing the right thing. But push anyway. And never hold back.

Most organizations I've worked with have too many top priorities to achieve the level of focus they need to succeed.

few groups of leaders actually work like a team, at least not the kind that is required to lead a healthy organization.

We need to hire people who are hungry. They go beyond what is required. Passionate about the work they're doing. Hungry.

A leadership team is a small group of people who are collectively responsible for achieving a common objective for their organization.

last frontier of competitive advantage will be the transformation of unhealthy organizations into healthy ones

people in a healthy organization, beginning with the leaders, learn from one another, identify critical issues, and recover quickly from mistakes.