Lencioni details how he developed the principles that inform most of the book in a subchapter in the “The Model’’ section of the book called “The History of the Model.” In 1997, Lencioni and others cofounded a company called The Table Group, a consulting firm that helped companies develop leadership skills and a better team dynamic. Initially, the colleagues rather easily decided on the three core values. According to Lencioni, “We had an easy time agreeing on our core values: humble, hungry, and smart. These were the principles that guided our department previously, and we wanted to maintain them in our new firm” (162). As is demonstrated in the book, the new firm placed a heavy premium on hiring employees who exhibited these values.

Based on their experiences, the firm soon learned that many companies were genuinely interested in developing better teamwork among their employees. However, Lencioni and his firm also noticed that many companies were simply interested in finding a catchy slogan. He says, “[W]hen we explained humble, hungry, and smart, something strange would often happen: clients would declare that they were going to adopt those values, too” (162-63). Lencioni speculates that the reason these words were of such high value to such companies was because the slogan offered them a quick approach to a complicated matter.