Dysfunctional teams

I finally read "The five dysfunctions of a team" by Patrick Lencioni.   I took it to read on the airplane going to and from Vancouver, but it's such an easy reading book I now have to find something to read on the airplane on the way home.  Then again maybe that's a good opportunity to catch up on my sleep.  Linda Rising pointed out at the conference that true greatness requires sleep!  Ha!  If only it were that simple!

In his book Patrick has illustrated a five tier model for the dysfunctions of a team, and once you understand them you have a chance of starting to correct them.

The book is written as an account of how the new CEO of a company worked through the process of making the executive group a team (rather than a group of individuals).   In it's own way the process narrated in the book reminded me of stories I've heard from a friend regarding his experiences in the USAF basic training camp.   In basic training they work to break down the individuals, and they go through a very difficult time of realization.   This removes numerous barriers allowing the USAF to start building a strong team.  Although they do lose some people along the way, the result they are working to achieve is to build a world class team. This isn't too far off the story line for the book.

The model Patrick has built for us makes a lot of sense.   The way to read the triangle is from the bottom up, and here's my summary:

5) Absence of Trust - team work begins with trust, as without trust it is not possible for effective conflict to occur.   In otherwords, we have artificial harmony resulting from a fear of conflict.

4) Fear of Conflict - conflict can be a good thing if it's used as a means for reaching good decisions the whole team can buy into.  Conflict must be constructive, and be used as a tool to reach great decisions.   The root of this dysfunction is ... you do not have good/clear decisions you will have ambiguity leading to a lack of commitment.

3) Lack of Commitment - Commitment is a function of Clarity and buy-in.   You need to ensure everyone on the team is committed to decisions, even if they voted against it.  If you lack commitment from the team it is very difficult for them to call each other on commitments, and so you lack accountability:

2) Avoidance of Accountability - Accountability is the willingness to call a peer on their behaviours which can be damaging to the team. The dysfunction stems from an unwillingness to deal with the personal discomfort associated with having these conversations. In the absence of accountability team members are more likely to turn their focus to their personal needs leading to Inattention of results.

1) Inattention to results - This is where people are more interested in their personal status and ego than they are with the team results.  Truly great teams do not have a group of individuals concerned about their individual status, rather they have a group whose primary focus is on the end result at the team level.

I highly recommend reading this book!

New PMI Agile Certification -- Really?!?

If you haven't noticed yet PMI has released initial information regarding a new certification for the Agile project manager.    When I first saw the information released I was excited as I would likely go after this certification to add to my PMP and PgMP.   However, since that time I've had time to reflect and now I'm not certain. 

I have had my PMP since 2003 and PgMP since 2008.   I am still very happy with those accomplishments and believe it certainly cannot hurt in my professional life to have those designations behind my name.   However, the place I have become disillusioned is as I've watched PMI dilute the PMP designation to the point of it almost being irrelevant.  I have heard many stories (and have a few of my own) of people who are certainly unqualified and earn the PMP, and use it to try and put themselves on par with PMs who hold far more experience.   The PMP is not difficult to earn, and can be accomplished by studying the theory.   In my mind the PMP shows someone has written a test on the theory, but really doesn't mean the person can manage a project.

When the PgMP certification was released I decided to pursue it due to the rigour involved with the process.   It was brutal in comparison to the PMP, and as recently as late 2010 PMI was still auditing 100% of the apps (or at least the symptoms suggest that).   I place more on the PgMP as it will be far more difficult for an inexperienced person to obtain this certification.   However, due to the low exposure of the PgMP I find anytime I talk about it I also have to explain what it is, but don't mind as I worked VERY hard to earn this.

So now PMI releases the agile certifcation for project managers.  The initial announcement was accompanied by a preliminary skills test for those who were interested.   I think a posting on Twitter said it all "... were they drunk?".   The sample questions were so basic and hoky, it left me wondering if those who wrote these samples knew much beyond some simple references to Agile.   It was truly bizarre.  

The sample questions, the low requirements to apply for the certification, the low cost of the certification all leave me wondering what PMI is looking to accomplish with it.   I worry the certification will go the way of the PMP, where so many people have earned it, and it's so easy to earn that it will eventually become irrelevant.  

At this point you might be wondering if I'm going to go after the certification myself.   For those who know me, you know how passionate I am when it comes to the domains of Agile, Lean and Kanban.   The answer is "I don't know yet".   I'm not convinced it is worth the effort, or provides any return for me in my career at this point.   I would much rather invest the time sharing my thoughts, teaching my peers, or furthering my understanding in areas providing greater return.   I'll have to see what the 2012 brings and whether this is truly just a case of PMI jumping on the band wagon, or if they are truly trying to established a measure of the Agile PM (which if you truly understand Agile you'll know how difficult it would be to measure what an Agile PM is).

Please let me know your thoughts!   Do you agree with my point of view?   Do you have plans to write the certification exam?   Maybe you'll help me make up my mind one way or the other!