Working Genius Facilitation

Working Genius

The Working Genius is a productivity tool for teams. This assessment helps individuals to better understand their gifts and frustrations at work while also helping teams understand how to more effectively utilize each member's gifts. The premise of the Working Genius is two-fold: 1) People who use their natural talents are more fulfilled and successful 2) Teams and businesses that help their people tap into their natural talents are more successful and productive. The model outlines 6 types of working geniuses, and all 6 are needed to get any type of work or project accomplished. The six are:

Wonder - the ability to ponder the possibility of greater potential
Invention - the ability to come up with novel ideas and solutions
Discernment - the ability to evaluate ideas and solutions
Galvanizing - the ability to rally, inspire, and organize others into action
Enablement - the ability to provide encouragement and specific assistance for an idea or project
Tenacity - the ability to push projects to completion

Every person has:

2 areas of working genius - activities that give you joy, energy, and passion
2 areas of working competency - activities that you find neither completely miserable or joyful
2 areas of working frustration - activities that drain you of your joy and energy

Here's a short video of Patrick Lencioni (the creator of the Working Genius) explaining an overview of the model.

The Working Genius Model Overview from The Table Group on Vimeo.

Certified Working Genius Facilitator

I (Tim) am a certified Working Genius Facilitator and have worked with several teams to go through the Working Genius over the past year. What I love about the Working Genius assessment is that it's very simple to understand (unlike other assessments), and teams can very quickly get to practical applications and make improvements to their work.

The uniqueness of this assessment is that it approaches work through the lens of joy and fulfillment and not necessarily skill. But the two are often connected. If you find joy and fulfillment in an area of work, you will naturally spend more time and energy in that area and develop that skill. But just because you are skilled in an area of work doesn't mean that you find fulfillment in it.

Knowing the each person's Working Geniuses gives teams an understanding and language to work better together. It also allows teams to better design their team and improve effectiveness and overall fulfillment and morale.

If you want to learn about the Working Genius, season one of my podcast (Thriving is the Goal) is all about the Working Genius. Click on the image below to view the episodes.

How to Use the Working Genius for your Team

What does using the Working Genius is a team look like? Here are the components:

Individual Assessments and Coaching

Each person on the team completes the Working Genius Assessment. It only takes 10-15 minutes to do and you get the results right away. After taking the assessment, they have a one-on-one meeting with me to review their results, confirm their geniuses and frustrations, and discuss applications in their work and life. The goal is to help individuals understand themselves better and get familiar with the Working Genius model.

Analysis and Coaching for the Team Leader

After everyone on the team has completed the assessment, I generate a team map for the team leader. We meet one-on-one and I go through a team diagnostic along with a team gap analysis. We also discuss the team's challenges in light of the Working Genius model and brainstorm ways to make improvements.

Team Session

We then meet together as a team to go through the Working Genius model and discuss the individual and team results. In the team session, we cover:

Working Genius Overview
Guilt and Judgment
Responsive vs. Disruptive Geniuses
Altitude of Geniuses
Three Stages of Work
Review Individual Reports
Interactive Team Challenge
Review Team Map
Past Project Analysis
The Genius of Meetings
Takeaways

What People Say about our Working Genius Workshop

Here's what some participants have said about attending our Working Genius workshop:

"Thanks so much for leading our team through this workshop Tim! We understand and can hopefully implement our Working Geniuses better now. Last time, we tried to figure it out ourselves and just got stuck. We really needed your outside voice and experience to help us know how to make the information useful."
- Hannah

"Thank you Tim. Your workshop was priceless! It's information that a person can use for life."
- Jessica

Next Steps

Interested? Let’s begin! Start by booking a Zoom meeting with Tim. In this complementary chat, we’ll get to know each other, discuss your interest in the Working Genius and assess fit. Out of this conversation, I’d be keen to customize a proposal for your company to consider.