Pointy and Round

People have experience and talents which come in all shapes and sizes. The leadership opportunity is to understand how people are shaped so you can form high-performing teams to maximize the value of your organization. 

Some people are Round. They have smooth engagement with almost everyone, and a wide range of experience. They seem to know something about practically everything. Though they do some parts of their job better than other parts, they naturally execute the whole quite well. People even call them “well-rounded.”

Other people are Pointy, and pointy in particular ways. They have a few dimensions where they excel – markedly better than others. They have deep talent in narrow spaces. They interact best with certain others who have congruent ideas and capabilities. They struggle to interact deeply with some individuals and groups. They savor some parts of a role and utterly despise other parts. These people are often resent the sincere managers who try to get to be more well-rounded, because they like being pointy.

It’s useful to have a sense of a person’s DiSC profile, because these are clues about a person’s default mix of behaviors.

But you need to consider an individual’s behavioral profile and their experience grid. A high D person can be Round or Pointy, depending on the breadth of their experiences and interests. This person could be highly focused on one or two areas of interest for many years, and thus quite Pointy. A young high S person might be Pointy, too, because of fewer years to develop a network and learn a wide range of topics from many people. This paradigm is true for people who are high I and S, too.

Don’t assume that Round people make the best managers. Managing people and projects effectively is about a learnable, repeatable set of skills. Everyone can learn them; everyone can get better at them through disciplined practice. Round people will find some aspects of managing easier than Pointy people, and vice-versa.

Leaders consider the outcome needed as they staff teams. Does the organization need a specific, narrow result from your team? An extreme deliverable in a new area? You probably need fewer Round people and more Pointy people. If you need steady performance in a well-establish system, then select Pointy and Round people with specific expertise and behaviors to get you there. Leverage the strength of the mix.