Is Your Work Aligned With Your Gifts?

There are dozens, if not hundreds, of assessments on the market which help us to understand personality differences, work styles, behavioural tendencies and more. And while they may vary in method and perspective, each one can help to understand yourself and other people better. On any project where you’re collaborating with others, this can be an effective way to identify working patterns, improve communication and lead to better results.

Patrick Lencioni, author of the 6 Types of Working Genius, has identified six categories which are easily tied to project work. The idea is that we each have a few areas that are our genius zones — where we are in flow, love what we do and are good at it. We also have a couple of areas where we might be competent but which don’t bring us joy. We take things on, often with no choice in the matter, because we happen to do a good job.  Finally, we have those tasks that drain us. Which we procrastinate and find soul sucking.

By understanding our own areas of genius as well as our areas of frustration, we can design our work to focus more on the things that bring us joy. And by applying these same principles to an entire team, we can each begin to focus more on the things we enjoy AND are good at, rather than simply getting things done. 

Lencioni’s Six Categories of Genius

Wonder - The natural gift of pondering the possibility of greater potential and opportunity in a given situation. You see potential: ponder, speculate, and question the state of things. Asking the questions that provoke action and answers. Observing the world around you and wondering if things shouldn’t be different, or if there is untapped potential that should be tapped.

Invention - The natural gift of creating original and novel ideas and solutions. You enjoy coming up with new ideas and are drawn to creativity and ingenuity.

Discernment - The natural gift of intuitively and instinctively evaluating ideas and situations. You assess ideas with uncanny judgement, even in areas where you don’t have a lot of expertise. Pattern recognition and gut feel.

Galvanizing - The natural gift of rallying, inspiring and organizing others to take action. You rally others to act on ideas. Motivating and provoking others. Enlist others to get involved. Persuade others to rethink or change their plans in order to embark on something worthwhile.

Enablement - The natural gift of providing encouragement and assistance for an idea or project. You help to bring ideas to life. Support and respond to the needs of others. You can anticipate what others will need before they are asked.

Tenacity - The natural gift of pushing projects or tasks to completion to achieve results. You push ideas to completion and love the satisfaction of pushing across the finish line. You are naturally inclined to finish according to specification.  

Here is another way to look at the categories: people with the genius of wonder look at the world and think about how they could make it better. Inventors find solutions, while those with the gift of discernment have the intuition and judgment to see whether these solutions would work.

People with the spirit of galvanizing are great at building the teams, supported by enablers who take joy in being the glue that brings everything together. And finally, when they all get to the finish line, those with the gift of tenacity are waiting and eager to carry them over.

Many times, when the team is finishing the race, those with the genius of wonder, invention and discernment are already busy looking at ideas for the next project and couldn’t care less about the fanfare. That would be me. I’ve already moved on.

Knowing how these geniuses complement each other can play a vital role when building effective teams. When an organization initiates a project, the workflow should move progressively from the genius of wonder and invention all the way through to the genius of tenacity.

Geniuses work best in pairs. People with the gift of tenacity, for example, work well with enablers, who give them everything they need to cross the finish line. Enablers, those generous souls who are always there to lend a hand, are the glue that holds every successful organization together.

On the flip side, having the tenacity expert in the room at the early stages of a process might put pressure on the inventor and stifle creative thinking. Although teams are working on the same project and helping each other, understanding where – and when – they fit in will make them work better.

The six geniuses can also be classified into two broader categories. Responsive geniuses include the wonderers, discerners and enablers – they respond to the world around them. Their Disruptive counterparts — inventors, galvanizers and finishers — are more proactive and will initiate action.

So Where Do I Fall on the Spectrum?

When I first read Lencioni’s book, I thought I could easily figure out where I fell. I know that I’m a great starter, but not always the best finisher. I love coming up with ideas and making things happen, but then letting others finish the task. The more I read, however, the more I began to question my own personal assessment. I feel the need to cross tasks off my list and finish reading books. But then again, I start a new list every day and have 20 half-read books on my shelf. So I WANT to be tenacious, but it’s not my friend. Same with galvanizing. I’m good at leading the team and bringing people together, but not always great at pushing and nagging.

I love possibilities and am always questioning how things are done – is there a better way? But I’m also good at assessing ideas, analyzing to see what might work and why —often saying no to things without even giving them a chance. I rely on my intuition to make business decisions and it rarely lets me down.

Again, I like the idea of invention and sometimes come up with new ideas. But I’m not great at creating ideas from nothing. For example, I can look through another magazine and see ideas that might work in my own publication — I can imagine the possibilities to make it slightly different, bigger or better. And I can quickly assess the chance of success. But I’m not that great at sitting down with a blank page and coming up with original ideas on my own.

I finally gave in and took the assessment. I was close – I had wonder and discernment swapped (genius vs. competency), but the rest were bang on. After a bit more research, I agree that my genius zone is more in the evaluation of ideas and situations rather than observing and questioning the world around me. I like looking at new possibilities and finding potential, but even more so, I love digging in and assessing the ideas, determining which ones make sense and making a plan of action.

And I realize that as much as I love leading my team, my strength lies in rallying the troops, putting a plan in place and getting people on board. More on the galvanizing than the enablement and tenacity.

My final assessment is as follows:
            Genius Zones: Discernment + Galvenizing
            Competencies: Wonder + Enablement
            Frustrations: Innovation + Tenacity

For those who know me, does this surprise you?  Where do you think you would rate? How about others on your team Is there a category where your team does not have coverage, an area of lack? As a group are there enough competencies to make up for the gap, or does it make sense to hire or subcontract someone to help in that area?

The 6 Types of Working Genius is simply another tool to add to your kit. But one that might result in at least one “Aha” moment, and which may lead to greater satisfaction with your work overall. If we can focus our efforts on those areas where we are in flow, and allow others to do the same, not only will we thrive as individuals, but the business will be more successful overall.

Learn more or try the assessment for yourself at https://www.workinggenius.com/. 

And let me know what your learn!