High-Performing Teams Have a Secret Weapon—And It’s Not What You Think

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I’ve worked with many highly effective teams and just as many misfiring ones. These teams range across sectors, industries, and functions, each possessing a rich depth of skills, experience, and diversity.

Over this time, when I’ve run team health diagnostics, I’ve observed one overlooked factor that rarely gets discussed: the “Team Personality,” which is the sum of all the individuals. Over the years, I’ve identified six key personalities that cement this team personality—ones that consistently show up in the most effective teams I’ve worked with.

But how does this show up in teams, and what are the unseen impacts these personalities have on your team’s health and wider culture?

The Six Essential Personality Types for Innovation and Culture Teams

Here are six key personality types every team should consider. These roles aren’t gender-specific, and one individual might embody multiple traits. The goal is to create a well-rounded team that leverages a mix of personalities to achieve creative success.

1. The Creative Catalyst

Every team needs a spark—that’s where the Creative Catalyst shines. They foster a playful atmosphere that drives creativity, pushing the team to dream big and think disruptively. The Creative Catalyst ensures that the team doesn’t lose sight of the joy in innovation, keeping the creative fires burning bright.

Without the Creative Catalyst, there’s a risk that the team becomes too serious or bogged down by practicality, missing opportunities for truly disruptive innovation. In The Insightful Innovator, I built the Dreamer mindset around this personality

Watchouts:

• Can Be Distracting: Their focus on creativity and disruption might sometimes lead the team astray from practical goals, causing distractions from critical tasks.

• Risk of Imbalance: If not managed properly, their constant push for new ideas can overwhelm the team, leading to a lack of focus on execution.

2. The Strategic Sage

The Strategic Sage is the team’s compass, aligning work with long-term goals while maintaining high standards. They guide the team toward objectives that align with the organisation’s mission, ensuring that every step is both strategically sound and flawlessly executed.

Balancing the Strategic Sage’s focus on long-term goals with the flexibility to adapt as new information arises allows the team to be agile and responsive, rather than continuing to work on things that no longer matter.

Watchouts:

• May Resist Change: Their focus on long-term goals might make them resistant to pivoting when new opportunities or challenges arise, potentially slowing down the team’s agility.

• Can Be Overly Cautious: Their strategic mindset might lead to analysis paralysis, where decisions are delayed in the pursuit of perfection.

3. The Practical Planner

The Practical Planner grounds the team’s creative impulses in reality, ensuring that innovations are both imaginative and operationally sound. They keep the team focused on the user’s needs, ensuring ideas are feasible and deliver real value.

However, if the Practical Planner dominates, there’s a risk of stifling creativity. The trick is to balance this personality with that of the Creative Catalyst to maintain a dynamic yet grounded approach. Similar to the Dreamer mindset, I built the Distil mindset based on this personality.

Watchouts:

• May Stifle Creativity: Their focus on practicality can sometimes limit the team’s ability to explore bold, disruptive ideas, leading to incremental rather than breakthrough innovation.

• Can Be Too Rigid: They might resist taking risks, preferring to stick with what’s known and safe, which can inhibit innovation.

4. The Dynamic Driver

Action is the name of the game for the Dynamic Driver, who propels the team forward, avoiding analysis paralysis and ensuring ideas are quickly brought to life. They strike a balance between speed and excellence, ensuring that what reaches the market meets high standards.

Without a Dynamic Driver, even the best ideas may languish in the planning stage. This role is essential for turning concepts into reality quickly and efficiently.

• Can Cause Burnout: Their drive for action and speed can lead to team burnout if the pace is too intense or if there’s not enough time for reflection and planning.

• Might Overlook Details: In the rush to get things done, they might miss important details or skip necessary steps, which can lead to mistakes.

5. The Harmony Hero

The Harmony Hero ensures the team collaborates effectively, resolving conflicts and maintaining a positive, supportive environment. They bring in diverse perspectives and challenge the team’s thinking, ensuring that innovation is informed by a wide range of insights and resources. The Harmony Hero is crucial for maintaining team morale and ensuring that diverse opinions are heard and respected, leading to more well-rounded solutions. They are often referred to as the mum/dad of the team.

Watchouts:

• May Avoid Conflict: Their desire to maintain harmony can lead them to avoid necessary confrontations, which might prevent important issues from being addressed.

• Can Prioritise Consensus Over Progress: In striving to make everyone happy, they might slow down decision-making or compromise too much, hindering progress.

6. The Culture Crafter

The Culture Crafter embodies the spirit and energy of the team. They bring swag, personality, and an outgoing nature that not only lifts the team’s morale but also creates an environment where others feel free to express themselves fully. Their presence helps dissolve rigid perceptions and encourages team members to step outside their comfort zones, discovering new aspects of their own abilities. The Culture Crafter is a dynamic force that amplifies the strengths of others, fostering a culture where creativity, innovation, and collaboration can thrive.

The Culture Crafter is essential for building an environment where creativity flows freely, and team members feel empowered to take risks and innovate.

Watchouts:

• May Focus Too Much on Culture: Their emphasis on culture and morale might sometimes take precedence over productivity and results, potentially leading to a lack of focus on deliverables.

• Can Create Dependency: If the team becomes too reliant on the Culture Crafter for motivation and morale, they may struggle to maintain the same level of energy and cohesion in their absence.

The Real Magic: Collaboration and Interaction

Assembling a team with the right mix of personalities is just the first step. The real magic happens in how these individuals work, collaborate, and interact with each other. The secret lies in the practices they embed and, more importantly, how they all seek help to fully leverage the strengths of each personality.

I talk a lot about set and setting in team effectiveness and culture change. Yes, changing the mindset of an individual is an interesting challenge, but if the setting in which the team works doesn’t change, and the team feels they don’t have an environment where mutual respect and trust exist, then it’s all a wasted effort.

Each personality must feel safe to share their ideas, challenge each other, and take risks. It’s in this environment that a group of diverse individuals can come together.

Culture Craft is a product I designed and have rolled out across various organisations to help challenge the setting and environment. It’s one of my secrets to transforming misfiring teams into innovation powerhouses. With its unique blend of experiments, strategic plays, and roles like the “Critical Friend” (another thing I shared in my book The Insightful Innovator) Culture Craft disarms rigid environments, creating a safe space for bold ideas.

Conclusion: Turning Creatives into a Creative Collective

By ensuring your team includes a mix of personalities—ranging from the Creative Catalyst to the Harmony Hero—you set the stage for dynamic collaboration and groundbreaking ideas. But remember, the magic isn’t just in the personalities themselves—it’s in how they interact, support each other, and work together towards a shared vision. So arm them with a collection of practices, tactics, and hacks to try out.

So sit back, and look up from your work laptop… Does your team have the mix of these personalities?

When done right, this mix of personalities can turn your team into a powerhouse of innovation, capable of extraordinary outcomes. And that’s a game-changer—not just for innovation and CX/EX teams, but for any group aiming to achieve excellence in their work and impact.