Understanding Your Team’s Areas of Genius, Competency and Frustration: A Review of “The Six Types of Working Genius” by Patrick Lencioni
We are often told that we need to be constantly improving and working on our weaknesses. We spend significant amounts of time obsessing about what we don’t do well and little time embracing our strengths and natural talents. While it is possible to make some improvement in the areas that we consider to be our weaknesses, it can be more beneficial to leverage our strengths. Recognizing the areas where your team thrives and where they have limitations is critical to forming a loyal and high functioning team. Surrounding ourselves with people that have different abilities than our own and and hiring for competencies that our team is lacking can help to set us up for success.
I have made numerous mistakes with my teams over my career and have read hundreds of books on teamwork and creating optimal teams. I recently finished “The 6 Types of Working Genius” by Patrick Lencioni. This book helped me see a different way of looking at strengths and weaknesses within a team and also considers individual’s likes and dislikes which are so important to having engaged teams and low turnover rates. I created Engage Consulting to help other leaders stay personally motivated and passionate about their roles while keeping their teams staffed, highly functional and engaged. Over the years I’ve seen a huge need for this and want to help equip people with the tools they need to build their legacy while also avoiding burnout. I enjoy helping leaders create thriving teams while living a fulfilling and balanced life. “The 5 Types of Working Genius” was helpful for me to learn another tool to ensure that we as leaders are personally enjoying what we do each day, contributing our talents to the fullest capacity and helping our teams to do the same. I found this to be very insightful and valuable so thought I would share the key concepts in my blog this week.
According to Lencioni, there are six critical functions or steps in any project. Typically two of those functions are considered to be the areas of “genius” for most people. The area of genius is the function that makes us feel like we are in flow state. We are passionate and love performing this function and excel in this area. Lencioni says that we also have two areas of “competency” where we can perform the function fairly well and may even be good at it, but it doesn’t necessarily mean we enjoy it and we are not passionate about it. Most people also have two areas of “frustration” in the six critical steps of a project. We may be able to perform these functions for limited time periods but we do not enjoy or excel in these areas and if we do them for too long the result is burnout. Putting people including yourself into the wrong role can result in burnout, low productivity, lack of engagement and poor team culture. If we have teams that don’t have the genius or competency in each of the six critical functions of a project, we will struggle to be successful.
Ideation: The Functions of Wonder and Invention
According to Lencioni’s book, the first step of the six areas critical for any project at work or home starts with ideation which includes the processes of wonder and invention. Wonder is getting clarity on the actual problem that needs solving. The skill of asking the right questions to determine the true problem is the first step in any process. Solving the wrong problem and skipping this step can be the downfall of a project.
The second step of ideation is invention or coming up with solutions to the problem. People who enjoy brainstorming and tend to be very creative are usually drawn to this process. This step requires innovation and the ability to come up with novel solutions to an existing problem that needs to be solved.
Activation: The Functions of Discernment and Galvanizing
After Ideation comes activation which includes the process of discernment or evaluation of the possible solutions that were generated. This step requires looking at all solutions generated during ideation to determine which is the best solution. People who like discernment are good at evaluating solutions based on some data but also have great instinct and intuition. These geniuses know how to make good decisions and choose a solution that will usually result in success.
Following discernment is the process of galvanizing. People who excel at galvanizing are good at rallying the troops, motivating people, and getting everyone on the team on board and excited about the new project. Galvanizing is an ongoing effort and even after the project has begun, galvanizers keep the team engaged and inspired.
Implementation: The Functions of Enablement and Tenacity
The next step in the process after activation of the plan is implementation. The first part of implementation is enablement. Enablers are the people that answer the call to action and volunteer to put the plan into place and are the feet on the ground that help to carry out the actions in the implementation plan. Enablers are people that typically volunteer for activities within the community such as their children’s school or possibly at church. They are always willing to step in and help and don’t require contingencies to carry out the plan, they do as directed.
The last step in the process of implementation is tenacity. The people that are good at tenacity, complete the project and overcome barriers until the work has been completed according to specifications of the plan. People that love tenacity find joy in completing things and checking things off their list. They are not deterred by obstacles and love to see projects completed.
Consider your areas of genius, competency and frustration as well as those of your team. What areas do you fall short and where do you have gaps within your team? Do you know which of the six functions are the working genius areas for each of your team members? It can be fairly easy to figure out where your team lies. Lencioni also offers an assessment to determine individual areas of genius, competency and frustration for $25 at the link https://www.workinggenius.com.
I’ve definitely had failed projects as a result of trying to do everything myself, skipping steps in the process or not having the right people in the right roles on my team. I’ve also learned to hire people for the areas where I fall short. I love the process of wonder and galvanizing and am competent with invention and discernment but get very frustrated if I have to do too much in the areas of enablement or tenacity. I absolutely love ideating and motivating others but I know I don’t have great attention to detail and can end up frustrating my team during implementation if I try to make too many changes at this point in the project or have too little patience with getting things done and try to skip over steps in the process. I know that I need to hire team members that have strengths in all six areas in order for a project to be completed successfully and without creating frustration with my whole team. This book has also helped me see that in the past when I’ve done jobs that require me to spend too much time in my areas of competency and frustration with little time spent on my areas of genius I have burned out and ultimately left that position.
I hope you find this overview of “The 6 Types of Working Genius” to be valuable for you and your team. Other leadership books I recommend that focus on creating high performing teams include, “Reimagine Teams” by Mark Samuel, “Driven by Difference: How Great Companies Fuel Innovation Through Diversity” by David Livermore, “Leaders Eat Last” by Simon Sinek and “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” by Patrick Lencioni.
For help with creating your ideal team, send me an email or schedule a complimentary strategy call today.