How understanding your personality preferences helps drive Innovation

Today, more than ever, businesses need innovation. They will not survive simply by relying on the same processes, same thinking, same planning as before.

Innovation can be described as the “implementation of ideas” and starts with defining the problem, discovering alternatives, deciding on and implementing a solution.

So how can personality help or hinder this process?

We know that that there are no right or wrong personalities but all of us have preferences that influence the way we interact, think, make decisions and plan. 

So when we manage and lead innovation, our preferences can influence how we approach the process and where we focus our attention.

So when you look at the fours descriptions in the table, which one best describes how you work when when you are dealing with innovation?

Understanding which profile best describes you can help you to understand why you find some parts of innovation easy and others hard work. It can also help you to identify others in your business who might enjoy other parts of the innovation process.

When you are managing innovation, how do your preferences differ from others and are you providing the right stimulus for others to be as innovative as possible and play to their strengths or could you be stifling them through your actions and preferences?

If you would like to know more about how you can use an awareness of personality to help drive innovation please do call me 

What's the secret of high achievement? It's not talent or natural genius. The key is PRACTICE!

Talent is a subject that I frequently reflect on and encounter in my daily work as a coach and as a father of a 'talented' swimmer.

I have read with interest over the past six months, two books on Talent - 'Outliers' by Malcolm Gladwell and 'Bounce' by Matthew Syed.  The September issue of Wired magazine reviewed these books, along with two others, and concluded:

• the difference between expert and normal performance is due to "life-long periods of deliberate effort to improve performance in a specific area",
• in sport it takes 10 years of deliberate practice,
• it takes 10,000 hours of practice to be an expert,
• the month of your birth plays a big part,
• there is an element of luck!

So what can we make from these insights?  That natural talent is not enough, to succeed you do need to practice and it takes time - a lot of time!

For my son in swimming it is not just about turning up and swimming once a week and doing the lengths.  He attends all his practice sessions over the week, where he is given 'sets' to swim, each of which has a specific outcome in mind.  The swimmers are watched closely by trained coaches and given immediate feedback to make small changes that make all the difference.  The children also record their PB times so that they can measure their progress against set goals that will get them to county, regional or even national times!!

As a coach I seek regular feedback from my clients and I reflect on each session.  In line with best practice in this industry, I regularly have sessions with a trained professional Supervisor.  We discuss how I have been coaching, how this has helped or hindered my clients which raises my awareness of my coaching style, reinforces what I do well and identifies further development areas to address.

So in our specialist fields, if we truly aspire to be best in class or considered an expert, how many hours of deliberate practice are we doing?  Or are we just turning up and doing what we have always done?  To what extent are we reflecting on the daily situations and challenges that we face, and how often do we seek feedback on our performance.

What are you doing to help improve your natural talent?  I look forward to hearing your stories.

So, where did you go?

A month ago I talked about how your choice of holiday might reflect your MBTI preference type.

So, if you chose a holiday that was busy, where you met lots of new interesting people, it might indicate an EXTRAVERSION preference.  This means you prefer to draw energy from the world around you and from contact with people.  These types learn best through doing or discussing and tend to speak and act first then reflect later.  So at work you might feel comfortable taking on a visible role, be prepared to alter a decision to meet external demands and delegate liberally. 

If you chose to spend the holiday with a few close friends having a lovely 'chilled' time then you may have an INTROVERSION preference.  This means you prefer to draw energy from your internal world, through quiet reflection.  These types learn best by reflection and mental practice and tend to reflect before acting or speaking.  At work you might feel more comfortable working behind the scenes, feel reluctant to alter a decision to meet external demands and you may delegate sparingly.

Do you recognise yourself in any of these or maybe a colleague who is the opposite of you?  Or are you a combination of both?

If you would like to find out more about how MBTI can really help you in the workplace then please do call for a chat.

Have you packed yet?

Following on the MBTI theme, the fourth dimension looks at how we take action.

• Was your packing planned weeks ago, with lots of lists and putting things in the spare room 'ready'?

        OR

• Will you leave it to the last minute and maybe even buy at the airport, saying "I'll see what's there"?

Those with a JUDGING preference like to live life in scheduled and orderly ways.  They like to make plans and stick to them, taking great satisfaction in getting things done.

A PERCEIVING preference likes to keep open to new experiences and information.  Living life in a flexible, spontaneous way, going with the flow and taking advantage of last minute options as they arise.  They feel constrained by plans and structures.

Problems in the workplace may occur when completing a project.  Perceiving types often start tasks at the last minute whilst Judging types are focused on the deadline and plan their work, they find it difficult to trust that the Perceiving types will finish in time.

How do you like to organise a project?  What conflicts have you encountered on the way?

I would love to hear from you.

How might you resolve family conflict on holiday?

Following on the MBTI theme, the third dimension looks at how we make decisions.

When there is a disagreement about what you are going to do on holiday, how you resolve it may indicate which MBTI preference you have.

• Do you settle it by making sure everyone gets their 'fair' share?

        OR

• Do you assess the impact of decisions on each person?

Those with a THINKING preference make decisions from a detached standpoint.  They analyse the logical consequences of a choice or action and use consistent rules and principles.

A FEELING preference would mean that decisions are made from an involved standpoint, by gauging the impact of actions.  They prefer to make decisions that take account of individual needs.

These both describe decision-making processes, it doesn't mean that Thinking types don't have feelings or that Feeling types are incapable of logic, it is just that they use different criteria to make their decisions.

Feeling types strive for harmony and positive interactions and may appear to be a bit 'soft and tender' by Thinking types.  Thinking types want to solve problems with logic and want everyone to be treated equally.  Feeling types might interpret them as being 'tough minded' and possibly abrupt and critical.

How are you making your decisions today?  How do others around you make decisions?  Does that sometimes leave you feeling confused?

Let me know!

What postcard do you send home?

Following on our Holiday MBTI theme....

....When you send a postcard home will it be

• a montage of all the places you have visited, so that those back home can really get an idea of where you are?

        OR

• a sunset - it represents so many things!

How you answered can indicate whether you have a preference towards SENSING or INTUITION.  These relate to the types of information you prefer to pay attention to:

SENSING types prefer specific information and facts to find out what is happening.  They are observant of what is going on around them and especially focused on the practical realities of a situation.

INTUITION types prefer to attend to the associations between facts rather than the facts themselves.  They are interested in connections and looking for ideas and possibilities.

In the workplace there is the potential for confusion in communication when the preferences aren't recognised or understood.  Sensing types might be sceptical of concepts and want to see concrete evidence that the idea will work.  The Intuition types interpret lots of questions as being nit-picky or challenging.  If they can't give the facts and details, the Sensing types see the idea as impractical.  On the other hand, Intuition types become bored with the lengthy details and facts presented by the Sensing types!

Next time you are trying to 'sell' and idea just consider what the other person's preference might be.

Let me know how it goes!

What's your ideal summer holiday?

What does your choice of holiday say about your MBTI preference type?  Would you prefer a holiday that was:

• busy, with lots of action, full of activities and bursting with opportunities to meet new people?

OR

• a quiet time to reflect, read a couple of books, spent with a small group of really good friends?

How you answered can indicate whether you have a preference towards EXTRAVERSION or INTROVERSION.  

So what's the relevance to the workplace?  Have you ever wondered why you might have such a different approach from others? 

The Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is the most widely used instrument for understanding personality differences.  I use it successfully in coaching individuals and teams in:

• increasing self-awareness
• understanding and resolving conflict
• building team cohesion
• career development

Over the coming weeks, on the run up to the holiday season, I will be sharing some more questions for you to ponder on. 

If this has stimulated your curiosity, please do give me a call to discuss how MBTI could enhance your personal impact and relationship with others.