Define Project Roles Based on Strengths

June 5th, 2003 by Hal

I've been writing and speaking about taking advantage of people's talents. It's not an original idea. Four years ago, I was struck by the book First, Break All the Rules, by Marcus Cunningham and Curt Coffman. In this book the authors present and discuss the findings of a Gallop Organization 20-year effort to understand what makes companies sustain performance at top levels. The book has been a best-seller. One of the findings of the book, "focus on strengths" is developed further in Buckingham's follow-up book with Donald Clifton, Now, Discover Your Strengths.

In the last year I've been using First, Break All the Rules in the Lean Project Leadership (Shusa) Development program that Greg Howell and I deliver. We have experimented with many of the concepts with our clients. One of the most interesting areas is to study and improve upon what is going well rather than try to improve what is not going well. Improving what's not working is a western habit. The authors claim there's more to learn and more improvement possible in what already is high performing. Our experiments support their claim.

I recommend both books to project managers and leaders. Creating a project team based on the strengths of team members is a winning strategy. So, how do you find the strengths? Cunningham and The Gallop Organization come to the rescue! When you buy Now, Discover Your Strengths you get access to a "strengths finder" profiling tool. Each book comes with one access code. So, a team of eight people would require 8 books to establish the signature themes for the whole team.

I did the assessment earlier this week. They distinguish 34 strength themes of the finder. The assessment takes about 20 minutes. If you wait too long studying a question the tool moves you along to the next question. My top five signature themes came out as follows:

Activator: People strong in the Activator theme can make things happen by turning thoughts into action. They are often impatient.
Maximizer: People strong in the Maximizer theme focus on strengths as a way to stimulate personal and group excellence. They seek to transform something strong into something superb.
Strategic: People strong in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.
Input: People strong in the Input theme have a craving to know more. Often they like to collect and archive all kinds of information.
Command: People strong in the Command theme have presence. They can take control of a situation and make decisions.

There's a one-page description of each of the themes in the book with three examples for each theme. They also offer guidance on managing people of each strength theme. The authors finish the book with a chapter on Building a Strengths-Based Organization.

I'm convinced this works. Get the books and take the assessment for you and your team.

Hello Again to All Subscribers!

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7 Responses to “Define Project Roles Based on Strengths”

Claude Emond Says:
June 6th, 2003 at 11:19 am
you said Hal: ‘One of the most interesting areas is to study and improve upon what is going well rather than try to improve what is not going well’

Looks to me like ‘Appreciative Inquiry’ stuff, isn’t it ?

Just saying Hi in passing. Gotta go ! I’ll get to my usual talkeeness next week

Claude
Tom Welch, PMP Says:
June 7th, 2003 at 2:43 pm
Hal:

I’m big believer on building on strength, thus managing the team as a team.

I’ve been following your blog for many months, and finally, I’ve been moved to comment.
Hal Says:
June 7th, 2003 at 11:07 pm
Thanks Tom.

I’m curious…how do I reach more PMPs?
Joe Ely Says:
June 8th, 2003 at 3:22 am
Hal, great review of the book. I’ve been using it for a couple of years and have purchased extra copies to give to team members who are genuinely interested in understanding their strengths. My unscientific observation is that the tool works well.

I further ground that assessment by saying the five signature themes you quote, Hal, are indeed YOU!!

Great topic, thank you.
Frank Winters Says:
June 8th, 2003 at 5:31 pm
Focusing on strengths is one of the most important traits for truly successful managers. Focusing on improving weaknesses is unconsciously striving for mediocrity.

The managers I’ve worked with over the years who focus on weaknesses tend to be of the control freak variety and some have proven themselves to be mean spirited.

This doesn’t weak you can’t, by some measures, be personally successful if you focus on weakness. However — it does make it difficult for your team to be successful!
Hal Says:
June 9th, 2003 at 4:38 am
Frank makes one of the points in the book very well

Focusing on improving weaknesses is unconsciously striving for mediocrity.

While we’re all called on to do things that we are not great at doing, putting our main attention on improving those things rather than exploiting what we are good at is what makes our overall performance just mediocre.

Hey Frank…Purple Cow is on the way!Edited By Siteowner
Rick Herrick Says:
July 9th, 2003 at 5:06 pm
Hal, I am looking for some recent articles that summarize and comment on strength management theory. Can you help me ?

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