What do you think?
Rate this book
Lead Without Blame: Building Resilient Learning Teams
A detailed framework for leaders to move past outdated workplace blame and shame strategies to cultivate resilient teams capable of facing adversity and setbacks confidently.
Workplace finger-pointing stifles creativity, reduces productivity, and limits psychological safety. Although no one sets out to be judgmental, learning new habits is hard. Two experienced leadership and agilists coaches share a road-tested leadership model that continuously embraces humility and failure as part of the growth process to deliver results.
By facilitating blame-free retrospective meetings, leaders chart a productive path forward. They amplify three essential motivators of purpose, autonomy, and co-intelligence within their team. Layered on with four resilience factors: inclusive collaboration, transparent power dynamics, collaborative learning, and embracing conflict. After applying these strategies, learning leaders will help their teams and themselves become more resilient and better equipped to handle any unexpected and challenging tasks that comes their way.
Workplace finger-pointing stifles creativity, reduces productivity, and limits psychological safety. Although no one sets out to be judgmental, learning new habits is hard. Two experienced leadership and agilists coaches share a road-tested leadership model that continuously embraces humility and failure as part of the growth process to deliver results.
By facilitating blame-free retrospective meetings, leaders chart a productive path forward. They amplify three essential motivators of purpose, autonomy, and co-intelligence within their team. Layered on with four resilience factors: inclusive collaboration, transparent power dynamics, collaborative learning, and embracing conflict. After applying these strategies, learning leaders will help their teams and themselves become more resilient and better equipped to handle any unexpected and challenging tasks that comes their way.
192 pages, Paperback
First published August 30, 2022
24 people are currently reading
160 people want to read
About the author
Diana Larsen
14 books30 followersVisionary pragmatist, Diana Larsen, wears many hats. To serve her professional communities, Diana delivers inspiring conference keynotes, talks, and workshops around the world. She shares the wisdom she’s gained in more than three decades of working with leaders, teams, and organizations.
A prolific contributor to readers who seek to improve leadership and team development, Diana co-authored pivotal books, including:
Lead without Blame: Building Resilient Learning Teams (2022)
Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great (first and second editions. 2006, 2022)
Liftoff: Start and Sustain Successful Agile Teams (second edition. 2016)
Five Rules for Accelerated Learning (2014)
The Agile Fluency Model: A Brief Guide to Success with Agile, an ebook. (2019)
A model maker, she co-originated the Agile Fluency® model as well as several other models about aspects of leadership, learning, and teams.
As a consultant, mentor, and coach of coaches, the continuing thread in her career has been a focus on team learning and leaders who “learn out loud” to support their teams and organizations. She co-founded and led FutureWorks Consulting and Agile Fluency Project. She serves as an advisor to Retrium, Inc., and on the advisory board of the Organization Design Forum.
Find out more about Diana’s latest escapades at dianalarsen.com and agilefluency.org Find her on social media at Twitter @DianaOfPortland and LinkedIn.
A prolific contributor to readers who seek to improve leadership and team development, Diana co-authored pivotal books, including:
Lead without Blame: Building Resilient Learning Teams (2022)
Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great (first and second editions. 2006, 2022)
Liftoff: Start and Sustain Successful Agile Teams (second edition. 2016)
Five Rules for Accelerated Learning (2014)
The Agile Fluency Model: A Brief Guide to Success with Agile, an ebook. (2019)
A model maker, she co-originated the Agile Fluency® model as well as several other models about aspects of leadership, learning, and teams.
As a consultant, mentor, and coach of coaches, the continuing thread in her career has been a focus on team learning and leaders who “learn out loud” to support their teams and organizations. She co-founded and led FutureWorks Consulting and Agile Fluency Project. She serves as an advisor to Retrium, Inc., and on the advisory board of the Organization Design Forum.
Find out more about Diana’s latest escapades at dianalarsen.com and agilefluency.org Find her on social media at Twitter @DianaOfPortland and LinkedIn.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 11, 2024
Excellent book full of retrospective ideas, the importance of team dynamics, how to create healthy and safe spaces for conflict and collaboration, and much more. I really enjoyed the writing style and perspective Diana and Tricia used throughout the book. This is an extremely helpful book both for tactical tools and strategic perspective when guiding or leading a team. I've already recommended this to my peers and am sure it will stay on my list of powerful leadership books.
November 16, 2022
When I got my copy, I casually flipped to the Preface and immediately thought "Oh, heck yeah!" I was hooked by the first paragraph!
These two world-class leadership consultants have teamed up to share decades of combined experience coaching teams towards alleviating dysfunction. Specifically, they address common interpersonal challenges that leaders and their teams face.
Each section describes a team or leadership challenge, usually containing a brief case-study, and followed by pragmatic suggestions to ease and eliminate these unhealthy interactions between teammates, or between managers and employees.
I will be recommending this book to all of my clients, regardless of where they are in their leadership journey.
These two world-class leadership consultants have teamed up to share decades of combined experience coaching teams towards alleviating dysfunction. Specifically, they address common interpersonal challenges that leaders and their teams face.
Each section describes a team or leadership challenge, usually containing a brief case-study, and followed by pragmatic suggestions to ease and eliminate these unhealthy interactions between teammates, or between managers and employees.
I will be recommending this book to all of my clients, regardless of where they are in their leadership journey.
October 22, 2023
Leaders, whether formal or informal, have a great impact on their teams' outcomes, motivation, and well-being. Achieving greatness with resiliency is extra hard in environments where every person is a "resource" and team members are chosen by skill and specialty. This book will help you improve your team's outcomes while making you feel better about your role, behaviours, and contribution.
The book includes reflections for your learning at the end of each chapter. Use them, but don't stop there. To accelerate your growth as a leader, pause after every paragraph or story and reflect on what you've just read.
The book includes reflections for your learning at the end of each chapter. Use them, but don't stop there. To accelerate your growth as a leader, pause after every paragraph or story and reflect on what you've just read.
January 9, 2024
Best Leadership Book I read in 2023
This is more than just a leadership book. I actually don’t like to read books on “leadership” as I think there are already too many, which is why I dragged my heels in reading this one. The title scared me off. But, I have never been disappointed with anything Diana Larsen has written so gave it a chance and I am so glad I did. This book covers topics on what healthy teams look like and function like that I have never read collated into one place before. Bravo. Loved it. Good information and actionable advice for anyone be they in a team, or managing a team, or responsible for a broader organization.
This is more than just a leadership book. I actually don’t like to read books on “leadership” as I think there are already too many, which is why I dragged my heels in reading this one. The title scared me off. But, I have never been disappointed with anything Diana Larsen has written so gave it a chance and I am so glad I did. This book covers topics on what healthy teams look like and function like that I have never read collated into one place before. Bravo. Loved it. Good information and actionable advice for anyone be they in a team, or managing a team, or responsible for a broader organization.
February 20, 2024
- When bosses blame and shame their team members, most become fearful about making new mistakes. As a result, they are overly cautious with their work, afraid to innovate or take any risks. They will be unwilling to take chances or try new solutions.
- Effective leaders are continual learners who, in turn, encourage their team members to learn all they can.
- Resilient teams embrace conflict.
- Effective leaders are continual learners who, in turn, encourage their team members to learn all they can.
- Resilient teams embrace conflict.
November 12, 2022
This book is rather short, but a nice combination of theory and matching retrospective along with proper actions. Every chapter explains different aspects with one or more examples from real live and then focuses on how to deal with this problem.
May 19, 2025
Excellent Book.
Great book on Leadership.
Couple highlights: The most insightful comment was that when you are doing knowledge, learning is part of the work and not some separate activity. Also really liked the sections on inclusion and on power dynamics.
Great book on Leadership.
Couple highlights: The most insightful comment was that when you are doing knowledge, learning is part of the work and not some separate activity. Also really liked the sections on inclusion and on power dynamics.
January 26, 2023
Great book with excellent meeting facilitation examples.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews