Reference #522: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
Good teams focus on results. Dysfunctional teams focus on team or individual status to the detriment of results.
In some teams, members are satisfied with simply being part of the group. This is often the case in not-for-profits, as well as political groups, academic faculties, or prestigious companies that view their organisation as "special". Team members feel successful merely through group association.
In other teams, individuals place their own goals ahead of the results of their group. Note this tendency towards self-preservation is natural. Yet in successful teams, members focus first on the good of the team. Collective results trump individual goals.
Lencioni. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, 2002. (217-218)