"People" Issues in the Avengers?

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Morning friend ☕️ 

Hope you had a great Easter weekend!

Today, we are talking about dysfunctional teams.

And how much more dysfunctional can you get than the Avengers?

That team was a mess. Huge egos, mistrust, conflicting agendas. Sound familiar?

Patrick Lencioni came up with a great tool to overcome this:

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.

Grab your coffee.

Let’s chat!

How did he come up with the Five Dysfunctions?

Patrick developed this model through years of hands-on consulting experience with executive teams across industries.

He noticed recurring behavioral patterns that consistently undermined team effectiveness and assembled them into a hierarchy.

In the book, he introduces the model with a fictional story of a CEO that sees these dysfunctions in her executive team.

For today’s newsletter though, we have some of the Avengers here to weigh in.

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1. Absence of Trust

With this issue, people don’t open up, so teamwork feels fake. This leads to poor collaboration and a lot of second-guessing.

Nick Fury operates in total secrecy. Even with the people he’s recruited.

He withholds information about the Tesseract and Phase 2 weapons, leading the team to question his motives. This lack of transparency poisons early collaboration and sets a tone of distrust that spreads through the team.

Until trust is earned on the battlefield, everyone assumes the worst about each other.

Recommendation: Build psychological safety and vulnerability-based trust. Improve self awareness of team members using personality assessments which can be shared.

Management Model: Amy Edmondson's Psychological Safety model encourages openness and mutual trust through vulnerability.

2. Fear of Conflict

No one speaks up, so problems stay hidden.
This causes frustration to build and bad ideas to go unchallenged.

Bruce Banner avoids confrontation at all costs. He fears his own anger and the consequences of unleashing the Hulk.

On the Helicarrier, he keeps his frustrations bottled up until tensions boil over. The team also avoids confronting each other until it explodes in the infamous group argument. This leads to unresolved issues, escalating tension, and Loki slipping through the cracks.

Recommendation: Promote healthy, constructive debates without personal attacks.

Management Model: Radical Candor by Kim Scott helps teams balance care and directness in tough conversations.

3. Lack of Commitment

Plans stay vague, and no one is fully in.
This slows progress and leaves teams stuck in indecision.

After the final battle in Age of Ultron, Bruce flies off in a Quinjet, choosing isolation over staying with the Avengers. He withdraws completely due to his fear of losing control and of hurting those around him. This emotional uncertainty means he can’t fully commit to the team’s goals.

When someone feels unsafe, unaligned, or unconvinced, they quietly check out, leading to stalled momentum and lack of unity.

Recommendation: Clearly define team goals and roles to foster commitment.

Management Model: RACI Framework to clarify roles, responsibilities, and mutual commitment.

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4. Avoidance of Accountability

People don’t call each other out, so standards slip.
This creates a culture where poor performance goes unchecked.

Tony often deflects responsibility with charm and wit. After creating Ultron (Age of Ultron), he’s defensive instead of owning the mistake outright. His actions lead to global chaos, but it takes enormous external pressure (the Sokovia Accords) for him to acknowledge his role.

In teams, avoiding accountability creates a culture where poor decisions compound and no one steps in to stop them.

Recommendation: Encourage peer accountability and collective ownership.

Management Model: Use OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) to transparently track accountability.

5. Inattention to Results

The previous dysfunctions create a team that is disengaged.

They lack the motivation to deliver strong results.

Unlike his super-powered teammates, Hawkeye is acutely aware of his limitations and the necessity of collaboration. In both comics and the MCU, he repeatedly emphasizes the importance of working together and not letting individual pride or agendas get in the way.

Recommendation: Align individual and team incentives towards collective success.

Management Model: Balanced Scorecard to maintain focus on team outcomes.

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Summary

The Avengers eventually overcame their issues, forming a high-performing team.

Their secret?

They learnt to trust each other, embraced healthy conflict, committed to unified goals.

They held each other accountable, and focused on collective results.

Your team can follow the Avengers’ journey, using this model.

Help them overcome their dysfunctions.

That’s it for today my friend.

Till next monday!

Cheers,

Vaugan

Today’s Chess Puzzle

Lol @Knightmares!

Force mate with white.

Solution here: