Which way should I go?
Alice: “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
The Cheshire Cat: “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.”
Alice: “I don't much care where.”
The Cheshire Cat: “Then it doesn't much matter which way you go.”~ from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Which way should I go? That's a question many organisations are asking as we approach business planning season.
It's also the question that Alice asks of the Cheshire Cat in "Alice in Wonderland": “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
During this economically challenging season, business planning is crucial, so ensuring that we have the best combination of people involved in the planning process is vital. That's where a good understanding of each person's Working Genius will pay dividends; I'm currently leading Business Planning exercises with my clients, and we've found that getting a better understanding of the Working Genius model has been really helpful.
Business Planning needs to consider the answer to two questions:
"What's the difference you want to make?" (your cause), and
"What makes you different?" (your culture).
Understanding and answering these two questions will help an organisation to be clear about its Cause and Culture and will underpin the development of the next stage of its journey, which will be identified in its mission for the next season.
The business planning stage of work is all about answering questions like:
Are we solving the right problems?
Are we living up to our potential?
Are we missing something?
Could we serve our clients better?
and that's where the Working Genius model from Patrick Lencioni and the Table group can help get the right people in the room as we start the business planning process.
People with a Working Genius in the "Ideation" stage of work are going to love this process. They could spend all day in this space and end the day still feeling ready for more. This includes people with the geniuses of Wonder and Invention.
People with the Genius of Wonder love to speculate and question. They ask questions like, "Why are things the way they are? Is there a better way?" They love to sit in the ambiguity and imagine the possibilities. People with the Genius of Wonder help create the conditions for Invention.
People with the Genius of Invention get joy from taking challenges and generating solutions. They enjoy innovating from scratch and love a blank whiteboard or piece of paper on which they can brainstorm. Invention is the most commonly recognised Genius but all six Geniuses are needed to get work done.
People with Wonder or Invention as a Competency rather than a Genius will be able to spend time here too, but before the end of the day, they'll feel drained and need a break, and too much time spent on this kind of work will be exhausting. People with Wonder or Invention as a Frustration will simply be onlookers, wondering where all these people get their funny ideas from.
If you'd like to know more about the Working Genius model with a certified Working Genius facilitator, here's a good place to start: https://rogerfairhead.com/working-genius.
