I am good at many things, others not so much. I can create a splashy, engaging concept, build a complex financial modeling tool, and can load the dishwasher better than anyone I know. But when it comes to creating a process flow, my head explodes. I think in broad strokes, abstracts, and concepts. How, when, and by whom are questions which are important, sure, but ones which tax every fiber of my being to care about. Which is exactly why everyone I have ever hired or brought onto my team is a process ninja–experts in mechanics, tactics, and execution.
The end goal is not to round out the team, though that is usually a nice benefit. It’s really a sociology project. I surround myself with a foreign species to develop some of their traits–like spending time with Brits will cause you to adopt vocabulary that you can’t really pull off. Really, you can’t.
Process-people in the wild exhibit fascinating behaviors that I can adopt, like how they approach a problem and create a curious thing called a “swim lane”. Hopefully they gain something from my style as well. It’s symbiosis.
As tempting as it may be to surround yourself with mini-mes, next time seek out complementary skills that make you uncomfortable, expose your weak spots, and challenge your own thinking. The upfront work will be more difficult, but you’ll end up with a more robust outcome and a head that explodes only a little.
Barbara Milhizer is a Partner with PeopleResults. You can reach her at bmilhizer@people-results.com or on twitter @mother_zen. Sign up to receive her and her colleagues’ blog at Current.