Architecture is a highly collaborative practice that calls us to work with many different kinds of people. Sometimes this brings challenges. With firms seeking to build diverse teams, a diversity of personalities and work styles can be forgotten. Particularly for leaders, it can be bewildering to navigate such a large group of people. As a part of Harvard Business Review's The New Science of Team Chemistry series, Suzanne M. Johnson Vickberg and Kim Christfort with Business Chemistry, a workplace personality classification system write:

"Organizations aren’t getting the performance they need from their teams...But often, the fault doesn’t lie with the team members, our research suggests. Rather, it rests with leaders who fail to effectively tap diverse work styles and perspectives..."

Through research of more than 190,000 professionals, the pair share the differences between four primary work styles, each with their unique strengths, weaknesses, preferences, and triggers.

Four working styles

Reviewing the four styles, Vickberg and Chrsifort write that:

Pioneers value possibilities, and they spark energy and imagination on their teams. They believe risks are worth taking and that it’s fine to go with your gut. Their focus is big-picture. They’re drawn to bold new ideas and creative approaches.

Guardians value stability, and they bring order and rigor. They’re pragmatic, and they hesitate to embrace risk. Data and facts are baseline requirements for them, and details matter. Guardians think it makes sense to learn from the past.

Drivers value challenge and generate momentum. Getting results and winning count most. Drivers tend to view issues as black-and-white and tackle problems head on, armed with logic and data.

Integrators value connection and draw teams together. Relationships and responsibility to the group are paramount. Integrators tend to believe that most things are relative. They’re diplomatic and focused on gaining consensus.

Embrace diversity

"A first step for leaders hoping to turn [stagnation] around is to identify the differing styles of their team members and understand what makes each individual tick."

- Suzanne M. Johnson Vickberg and Kim Christfort in Pioneers, Drivers, Integrators, and Guardians

This is only one system. There are many personality models out there. The focus is combating a tendency to assume that everyone communicates the same way, that everyone should work in the same way, or that everyone should adopt the work style of the leader of the team. Moreover, the pressure for those people who are in a minority are typically faced with the pressure of having to be like the majority of the group. (If everyone is loud, outgoing, and loves baseball, then the few who may not identify this way are left out). But, if employers provide an environment where different kinds of people feel comfortable and safe, performance and team spirit will benefit.

People aren't the same

"...what motivates one group can suck the life out of another."

- Vickberg & Christfort

When a leader takes the same approach with every team member, expecting the same results from each team member, and faces frustration, the issue is clear. No two people are alike. Yes, there are rules of thumb, and elements to our culture as architects, but as with any industry, the are downsides also. Getting frustrated with a team member who doesn't respond in a way a leader is used to is not an effective means of leadership.

A friend of mine used to work at a firm where he was growing, thriving, and doing great work. She loved the project team that she was working with and his mentor, she said, was one of a kind. After about a year, she and one of her colleagues had to switch to another team under a different project leader to help on a big project. Soon, my friend got called into a meeting to discuss how her performance had been slipping, and so did her colleague. The principals didn't understand what was happening, because for an entire year before they were performing remarkably. 

This happened with a couple of other team members and it turned out the project leader was used to a certain style of working and became impatient with people who didn't operate the way he expected. For those that didn't fit into his work style, work became stressful, anxiety driven, and even unbearable. 

Different personalities take work, but are worth it

In the end, it takes work to spend the time to learn what makes another person tick, especially when it's in a way that is contrary to our own. We always click with those who are similar to us, but a true test is how we connect with those who are different, especially as leaders. Take the time to step back and see the strengths of those on your team, if you see characteristics that seem unfavorable, try and see them instead as merely different. Embracing the diversity within your team will reduce frustration, promote a feeling of safety, and produce better results for you.