Topic of the Month: What's Your Style?
Download the PDF

We have given a number of conference presentations over the past month or so on "styles" and their impact on how we relate and problem solve and thought it would be worthwhile to highlight a few points for your consideration.

All of us have a "social" style which describes how we relate to each other, things around us, and situations we are in. There are several psychological assessment instruments which measure this, the most common of which is the Myers Briggs or one of its spin-offs. We can be extroverts or introverts. Sensors (keying on facts and data) or "intuitors" (more sensitive to indirect aspects or effects). Thinkers or feelers (take action based on facts and data or more concerned about the people side of things). Judgers or perceivers (into deadlines and plans or leave open for options and less concerned about formal plans). Four letters (for example, ESTJ or INFP) describe our preferred relationship style. There is also an interesting aspect to one's profile in that a person's change in behavior under stress can also be predicted and is often the opposite of our preferred style.

A person's style of problem solving can also be measured very accurately. Some people are prolific idea generators without filtering for perceived practicality, while others selectively offer ideas after an internal evaluation. Some people are very analogic in their approach to problems while others make connections between disparate ideas and resources. Some people are in to agendas and plans while others are more informal and dislike structure. It is possible for people to have virtually identical social styles and very different problem solving styles. If a team's mission is problem solving, this can be a real team dynamic issue if not recognized.

If you're having trouble figuring out why you're having friction in your work or team relationships, get out your assessments which you may have done in the past and forgotten about and revisit what you once knew about yourself. We are trained and certified in both Myers Briggs and the Kirton KAI(R) assessments which can assess these differences and greatly improve team functionality as well as make sure that you have a recognition of your team make up and its potential impact on its objectives.

For example, if you're a team leader and don't recognize that you have some strong introverts on your team, how can you make sure you're "hearing" what they have to say? If your team is charged with developing entirely new business concepts and it's full of strongly adaptive problem solvers, how can this happen? If the team is charged with short term problem solving or cost reduction and its membership is mostly "perceivers" or high "originality" thinkers, how can this happen? These concepts are very important if you want your team to spend its energy on its objectives and goals and not frictional conversations. Let us know if we can help you!