Tom Peters: Get to Know Your Team

From Tom Peters' 100 Ways to Succeed (Part II), by way of Change This (a site I really like). If you haven't read anything from Tom Peters, he's a well-regarded business thinker and consultant. His "thing" is to challenge the norm (which you can definitely tell from his writing and presentation style) and he gets paid bank to give keynote speeches and chat with CEOs.

From his PDF, slide 16:

100 Ways to succeed #77: in the moment

Your workteam today is not your workteam yesterday. Take a quiet moment or two or three BEFORE you go to work (not in the middle of your commute) to go through your up-to-date mental file on each person, where they are personally, where they are professionally, etc.

Among other things, this might result in a 90-second stop at two or three workstations to talk about what’s up with a kid’s school problem, etc. Or ask about an online course that so-and-so is taking, or why (women do this sooooo much better—and if that’s sexist, so be it) “you seem to be a bit gloomy lately”—whatever. Maybe it means quick lunch plans. A 10-minute walk in the park mid-morning. Whatever. I’m hardly suggesting that you be a snoop—just that you are, after all, trying to work with your team to get something done and help each one develop and contribute in the process.

Think like Coach Mike Krzyzewski (Coach K): Each practice-game-day is different. Act accordingly.

What I like about this is that it reminds us that managers are incredibly important because they provide the human element in business. They are the ones that can make a difference for their employees - creating a supportive environment, forging a team-based culture, encouraging personal development, etc. Part of doing this well is really getting to know the people on your workteam and figure out what they're feeling and what they're up to in the other areas of life.

I know, personally, I'm usually busy running here and there, trying to take care of business and getting things done that I sometimes forget to connect with people I'm working with. Even just a sincere "How ya doin?" is good to get the conversation started. It makes a huge difference.

Tom Peters has also written a number of books, including The Pursuit of Wow! that has been popular among businesses (I know that Commerce Bank has adopted the Wow! approach, among others).

Personality Tests

After an awesomely grueling workout yesterday at Train Like a Pro, I was chatting with my workout partner about personality tests, specifically our 4-letter character type in the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). What I found interesting was that just by exchanging the results of this test that we had taken at some point in our lives, we learned a lot more about each other - what we like, how we see the world, how we react to challenges, and even how neat we keep our workspaces.

What are you??? Find out with the free version of the MBTI (the official version costs money and requires a facilitator, but the free one produces about the same results).

Many companies encourage managers to use the the MBTI or other personality tests in their teams to help the group recognize differences in perspective, characteristics, and work styles and builds the awareness that we must take these into consideration when we're working together. My workout partner also mentioned that sports coaches can use it to learn how to more effectively interact with their athletes.

It’s also important to remember that the value is NOT in the test itself, but in the awareness it creates and the discussion it can generate (especially within a work-group, sports team, or even relationship). Most importantly, it’s WHAT WE DO with the information. If we know that our manager is an ISTJ or our teammate is an ENFJ, we can use this knowledge to tailor our interactions with him/her and work with them more effectively (hopefully they're doing the same with you!).

There’s also a lot of value in using these results to helps us identify areas of strength and potential challenges we may face. I've used the MBTI types with some of my clients to also help them think about what careers might match their personality, how to better avoid or overcome daily challenges, and also to pinpoint areas for ongoing personal development.

I’m an ENTP and much of the description makes sense for what I’ve learned about myself so far. I’m good at seeing the big picture and easily get excited by new ideas, but also have some trouble with follow-through on those ideas. Knowing this helps me structure my work tasks to emphasize implementation and also helps me know what to look for in building a team of employees.

Of course, with any of these tests it’s important to remember that the general statements describe a large category of people and aren’t always dead-on in all areas. But for the most part, and judging from others who have also taken the MBTI test, it’s a fairly good assessment.

• What are you? Does it match your perception of who you are?
• Take the test and comment!