The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business

Business books are usually pretty uninteresting to me, because most I have read (parts of...) are poorly written and have few new insights. The Advantage is a notable exception that I was eager to read. The premise, supported by statistics, is that (as the subtitle notes), companies with healthy organizational behavior are more profitable and successful. Having worked in a few less-than-healthy organizational environments and with non-business groups with similar problems, I can attest that much less gets done by everyone when the leadership is fragmented and has disparate visions for the company (or no vision at all.)

Lencioni combines and condenses insight he put into five separate books, making this a quick overview of his concepts and learning. His practical suggestions were a highlight--asking new teams as they come together to spend time coalescing as a team and getting to know one another--seems obvious but it's not. One question he suggests teams start with as they get to know each other (beyond the obvious name and role) is to tell one thing that was a particular challenge to them when they were growing up. He gives a few examples of organizational understanding breakthroughs when the simple exercise was used. 

I finished this on about 3/12/13. I bought and read it as a learning exercise for our church Session planning, so I will add it to my business book library.