The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni

This book tells the story of Kathryn, who joins a company as CEO to fix the dysfunctional executive team. Working with the team, she goes through the five dysfunctions:

1. Absence of Trust (Invulnerability)
2. Fear of Conflict (Artificial Harmony)
3. Lack of Commitment (Ambiguity)
4. Avoidance of Accountability (Low Standards)
5. Inattention to Results (Status and Ego)

Because this is told in an interesting story and split up into small chapters, it is a joy to read, and doesn’t feel like reading non-fiction at all (because it’s actually mostly fiction). In the last 20% of the book, Lencioni switches to non-fiction, starting with a questionnaire to figure out the dysfunctions of your team, then going into each dysfunction en détail, explaining symptoms and strategies to overcome them.

If you work in a team, I can’t recommend this enough—it helps you discover and identify ways to improve how you work together.