All too often, teams with talented individuals and best-laid plans fail to reach their full potential, and even the most thorough post-mortems are unable to discover what went wrong.

Counter to conventional wisdom, the causes of dysfunction are both identifiable and curable. However, they don't die easily.

How can you avoid a similar fate in your organization?

There are key elements in team dynamics that can dictate success, or failure, of any project before it even begins. Making a team functional and cohesive requires levels of courage and discipline

Alison Lukan will explore The Five Dysfunctions of a Team (Patrick Lencioni)

- what are the Dysfunctions

- how they erode the effectiveness of a team

- how you combat them

- the steps toward the successful achievement of your goal

Alison Lukan worked for 20 years as a strategic planning consultant advising corporations across a variety of industries in the areas of strategic management, effective communications, organizational design and knowledge management.

Alison graduated from the University of Richmond with a degree in Leadership Studies and is certified in both Lean Six Sigma and DISC communication styles training and application.

She joined The Athletic in 2017 to cover the Columbus Blue Jackets. She gained attention for her technically savvy approach to sports analytics, including attendance at hockey analytics conferences and teaching herself. Lukan joined the Seattle Kraken's broadcast team for its inaugural season. She writes articles for the team's official website, provides analysis on the radio, and presents data visualizations on Root Sports Northwest's coverage during pre-game, intermission, and post-game segments.