I recently had the opportunity to travel to Dallas, Texas and discover people weren't kidding when they say Arizona is "a dry heat". During the conference we had an experiment, or team building if you will, about work styles. There were 4 to choose from.
-Task Oriented (let's get it done, NOW)
-Transformational Leadership (let's delegate and motivate one another)
-People/Relations Oriented (how can we do this together?)
-Laissez-faire (it gets done WHEN it gets done)
I was very interested in this because I'm a very task oriented person and assumed I would've been the only one there, in my group, but I wasn't. At first I was going to lie and say I was in the People/Relations Oriented group (so I wouldn't be alone), but I truly didn't want to lie to myself. The others gathered in their respective groups to chat among themselves about the groups' positive attributes.
Of course, the Task Oriented group (myself included) were done before all and stood there waiting and looking at our watches. It was absolutely hilarious to see the others talk, especially the People/Relations Oriented. They had to talk about what to write, agree on what to write, and then choose who was to write... while we just jotted down the answers that came to us naturally and shot our "alright, what's next?" looks to one another.
This was a very interesting experiment because we were then divided into a motley group consisting of all categories. I was just thinking, "Great. now I'm going to have to defend my stance with Chatty Cathy's" when another person started talking about his style. We drew up a very interesting discussion about our likes and dislikes. It was very eye opening. As a Task Oriented person, the Laissez-faire group and Transformationals drive me nuts because I want tasks done, not chat... then chat...then have a meeting about the meeting. Get it done ASAP then on to the next task! says the Task Oriented. That's just the type of person I am. The Laissez-faires didn't like the Task Oriented because they seemed "pushy" and "always want to take control". I thought this was hilarious because in all actuality, I just wanted it to get done and get the ball rolling asap. The Laissez-faires tended to be one the leave-me-to-it-and-I'll-finish-it-when-I-finish-it side. I could see how my style could've been misconstrued as "bossy". Then it dawned on me..Laissez-faires are procrastinators, just kidding, they have their good qualities like being calm and taking things slowly.
My hubby is so Laissez-faire. That's one of the things I love about him, but I took his style as a non-chalant attitude. Which, I learned, is far from the case. The Laissez-faires don't see eye to eye as the Task Oriented. He's always saying, "Calm yourself, no worries." Which drove me crazy. It's true, opposites attract. Our styles are so opposite that I wonder how our future children will turn out. (Eek, Relations Oriented?)
It seems so simple, but this exercise opened my mind and gave me an a-ha moment. I'm not saying we all fit into one style, but it's interesting to have a discussion on styles that differ from your own and the assumptions they, and you, make about one another.
Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.
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