The Five Dysfunctions of a Team (Manga Edition): An Illustrated Leadership Fable

by Patrick M. Lencioni, Kensuke Okabayashi (Illustrator)

The blockbuster bestseller now in a manga edition--fully illustrated and fun to read!

Beautifully illustrated by Kensuke Okabayashi, this enthralling edition of Patrick Lencioni's massive bestseller gives readers a new format in which to understand the fascinating, complex world of teams. Kathryn Petersen, Decision Tech's CEO, faces the ultimate leadership crisis: Uniting a team in such disarray that it threatens to bring down the entire company. Will she succeed? Will she be fired? Will the company fail? Lencioni's gripping tale serves as a timeless reminder that leadership requires as much courage as it does insight.

Throughout the story, Lencioni reveals the five dysfunctions that go to the heart of why teams--even the best ones--often struggle. He outlines a powerful model and actionable steps that can be used to overcome these common hurdles and build a cohesive, effective team. This is a compelling fable with a powerful, yet deceptively simple message for all those who strive to be exceptional leaders.

Kensuke Okabayashi (Jersey City, NJ) is a working illustrator, a graduate of the School of Visual Arts, and an instructor at the Educational Alliance Art School in New York City.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Management, Leadership, Graphic Novels, Comics, Self Help

173 pages, Paperback

Published October 31, 2008

Reviews

[Hitesh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book on Building and Re-building a team. The book but turns to be boring like a dull classroom lesson. The entire purpose of "Mangafying" the book should not only to make it illustrated, but also add a humor. I wonder why people forget , comics were not just read due to illustration, but also due to humor.

Apart from it , the Black and white version , which adds to the boredom.

There are lessons , and maybe for some the illustration works, but for me , I wanted more !

[Nazta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Padat berisi. Kelima monster penghancur tim dipaparkand dengan sangat jelas melalui contoh kasus yang dialami oleh tim Decision Tech.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Note: I read the illustrated manga edition.] I picked this up randomly at my library, curious to see how a notable business book could be translated into manga form. I enjoyed reading it, although as usual with business books, I can't say that everything it covered is applicable to every organization.

I also found it a bit unrealistic how committed all of the executive committee members are to their company -- there's a surprising lack of self-interest among the team, and while it makes sense in the story (since it includes some of the founders), I don't think all organizations are well represented by this level of dedication and sacrifice.

My take-away from this book is the need for organizations to develop a healthy approach to conflict -- neither avoiding it outright, nor letting it develop into personal grudges and verbal assaults. It was quite satisfying to see the fate of a genuinely toxic member of the board... although, again, not necessarily a representation of how these things work out in the real world.

The art style works well, with the exaggerated expressions of the manga style drawings giving a good illustration of the sometimes heated emotions during the characters' discussions.

[Andras Csibi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is very engaging, I read it in one sitting. I liked the cliff-hangers and the suspense throughout the book ("Who's gonna be fired at the next retreat, tell me already!"). The model of dysfunctions built on top of each other made sense to me, and I see how they lead to bad results. I think my own team is highly functional in general and this story made me realize why trust and conflict are so important. It made me appreciate that we have it, and I'll work hard on keeping it going. However, I also recognized how we sometimes follow dysfunctional patterns, and how they might lead to sub-optimal outcomes. While most of the prescriptions presented here were too corporate-y for my taste, just recognizing the problems seems to be getting me halfway to solving them.

All models are wrong, some models are useful. This is a useful one, presented in a highly engaging style. Read it if you work in a team.

[Riapurwanti Jamin]

baru benar-benar dibaca dengan benar ketika menunggu ban kempes selesai diatasi. ceritanya memanfaatkan waktu di pinggir tol.

[Jeff Matlow · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a manga/comic edition to the best selling book. Truthfully, I’m glad I read this than the actual book as I could get through it faster.

The entire idea of the book is right there in the title: there are five dysfunctions that cause dysfunctional teamwork.

This book uses a story of a hypothetical company to exemplify the dysfunctions. If it were me, I would’ve had five company leaders and had each represent a dysfunction. But that’s not what happened. The story is about a new ceo who comes to a new company and there are 6 senior leaders who act like mid level managers. So the new ceo teaches them how they are dysfunctional.

The five dysfunctions aren’t really a spoiler here so I will tell them to you:
- Absence of trust
- Fear of conflict
- Lack of commitment
- Avoidance of accountability
- Inattention to results

The book goes into more details about each.

If you are part of a highly dysfunctional team, you may want to breeze through this book so you can better understand the dynamic and be able to talk about it in your job interviews.

If you’re the leader of a dysfunctional team, this book may be able to help you.

Other than that, there aren’t a lot more takeaways than what’s written here.

[Safaa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book describes the five signs of a dysfunctions team in a simple way and provides examples along the story. It's relevant to anyone in management, leadership or simply who works in a team with other people.
In general, I liked the book. The story was engaging. I had fun reading it and finished it in one sitting.
The last time I read a comic book was really long time ago!

The picture below summaries those signs:

[KatieSeideReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this book and it weirdly enough, drew me into the plot!! As someone who is starting a new leadership position, watching the main character take charge provided some modeling for how I can approach work.

I recommend this book heartily!!!!

Only reason I have it 4 stars is because the book doesn't necessarily cover all 5 principles equally and I still wanted to read a non-fiction description / the OG book after enjoying the manga version. That said, the end of the book offers a great summary of the 5 dysfunctions and actions to take.

If you enjoyed this I recommend Dare to Lead by Brene Brown. Both books pair GREAT together!!!!!

[Venkatesh-Prasad · Rating 5 out of 5]

The comic and story format of the book makes the content more accessible and engaging (kinda like the "Unicorn Project" and "Phoenix Project" books). It provides guidance on how to be a better team member on both personal (e.g., behavior, attitude) and collective (e.g., conflicts, accountability) front. Also, it provides guidance on how to build and keep a good team. So, independent of the title, the content is useful for both team members and team leads.

In short, this is a keeper on team work.

[Jonathan Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book
I liked the graphic art style of the book
The book details a fictional lady who takes over a new start up and is tasked to turn it around
She used a few methods to assist this but her main go tos were having meetings with the team outside of the workplace (retreat), and teaching the team how to constructively argue with each other (rather than use politics by not confronting each other)
I heavily support both of these methods and have used them in the past for great success
I recommend this book to any leader trying to build a team that trusts each other more

[Camille · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently started a new job and am again on the executive team. I really like this company and role and I am looking to avoid some of the pitfalls of the past. The fact that this was a manga, made it a quick and refreshing take on a business book, focused on teaching lessons through narrative rather than just dry text and diagrams. I was able to apply many of the lessons and exercises right away and look forward to sharing it with the rest of leadership.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed it.

A great companion read to The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable.

To me, it had about the same impact of the original book, but I did enjoy the lessons all the same.

Good refresher!

Would recommend reading the book version instead.

3.2/5

[Alyssa Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I've been working on my management skills to better support my team and professional development. I picked this book up due to it being more accessible on the topic of team building. I have to say, I am buying this book now! It was very helpful. The setting is corporate but it can easily apply to libraries as well. I recommend it to those in management, team leadership, or just working on your professional development.

[Andy Hickman · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Five Dysfunctions of a Team (Manga Edition): An Illustrated Leadership Fable"
Replicates (that is, illustrates) the original book on healthy leadership.
Phenomenal in its premise. I am giving this 5 stars because it adds illumination to the invaluable understanding of the five dysfunctions.
I recommend this manga version for youth workers and young people.
I always add a 'leadership lesson' snippet from this book to each monthly staff meeting agenda. *****

[Lala Hulse · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can’t really recommend this, because the art is uneven and the lettering is atrocious. Aside from that it seems to be a pretty faithful representation of the prose book. Having illustrations definitely made it easier to tell the characters apart than I think they would have been in the prose book.

[Katerina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book is definitely worth reading for everyone who works with other people, but I can’t put 5 as I really didn’t like this particular manga style a bit disconnected from the story.
Manga has rules on how show people emotions and usually strongly exaggerated them. Too much exaggerated for me.

[Tyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting book that my boss asked me to read in preparation for some team-building and other discussions we will be having at work. There are some ideas in here I think are quite powerful when put into practice. I am looking forward to learning more and better understanding the message of this book and putting these things more fully into action in my work.

[Jeff Brateman · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some good points in this book. The illustrations are fun. I'm glad my colleagues recommended we read the Manga version! Regardless, the book did suffer from lack of content. It was probably just a blog article, one that drives its point many times over and over, instead of having lots of points to make. Good read though!

[Carlos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy and nice way of handle Lencioni storytelling. A lot of insight around teambuilding in a kind of model that you can use without a "fanboy/fangirl" feeling.

Short, easy and with a lot of practical advice. A must.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Manga lends itself well to Lencioni's writing style. While his books always contain helpful concepts, his writing can be clunky. This captures all the concepts in a breezier style than the original book.

[Gergana Dimova · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have listened to the Blinkist version of the book and loved it. Therefore, I’ve ordered the the “full” book (only to realise that I have clicked on the Manga edition by mistake). Surprisingly I enjoyed it. Really insightful and inspirational if you want to build a strong and successful team.

[JTGlow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found this more engaging than the original, but some of the drawings had changes in character styles that didn't make sense.

[Sireesha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read and digest

[Cynthia K · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was recommended during a seminar I recently attended. I decided to pick it up for task #17 of the 2019 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge: a business book. I selected this edition because it would also fulfill task #11: a book of manga.

[Robbin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would wager that it's much easier to read the comic version... But it is literally set in comic sans. I still got the message all right, though, so that's what counts.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a manga its pretty terrible, but the concepts are v handy, and the manga doesn't get in the way of that.

[Yağız “Yaz” Erkan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The famous book's manga edition. It is as impactful as the original, however the illustrator's style was a disappointment for me.

[Charles Lestari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not too bad

[Tony Fecteau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learn while reading the illustrations! This book brings some of the issues teams can face to the forefront.

[Aayush Gupta · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great case study of a dysfunctional team told in an engaging visual medium. I immediately applied many of the lessons to my own project.