Bringing contrasting qualities together
New York Time’s bestselling author, four-time entrepreneur, jazz musician, and creativity expert, Josh Linkner was not what I expected. Josh authored, “Disciplined Dreaming: A Proven System to Drive Breakthrough Creativity.”
I expected a creative person to be more touchy-feely. I expected him to be casual and jovial. However, he was highly focused and more directed than I expected. Thinking back on our conversation, what else should I expect from a person whose company, ePrize, generated $70 million in its ninth year?
One day later, here’s what I think.
Josh Linkner is a rare bird that has qualities that don’t usually live in the same body. Creative, improvisational folks aren’t structured, systematic, and driven. They get up late, stay up late, and don’t give a rat’s behind for structure.
On the other hand, highly focused, driven individuals love structure, consistency, and getting up early. They write books with, “Disciplined” and “Proven System,” in the title.
Here’s an observation
In business, “average potentials” are either creative or structured. “High potentials” are creative and structured. Stunning success depends on both/and not either/or.
A few rare birds, like Josh are both/and animals.
A suggestion for regular mortals
All the type “A” achievers in the house, go hug a touchy-feely. Make friends with your opposite. I know you structure-lovers are thinking, “But Dan, those touchy-feelies are so irresponsible and irritating.” The same goes for you touchy-feely folks. Go hug one of those rigid, structured-people with a pocket protector and combed hair.
The Surprise
Josh believes everyone is creative. He’s on a mission to teach everyone how to tap into their creativity. Maybe you don’t have to hug a touchy-feely after all. More tomorrow …
The conversation continues: “Leaping before you look“
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First, what’s your feedback on my observation? Does both/and take people further?
Second, how can leaders bring contrasting qualities together without watering down either?
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I think it can be important for leaders to remind people that those who behave like us, think like us. Those who think like us are going to approach problems in the same way we do and as a result will likely come up with exactly the same answers. To inject creativity into any group it helps to have a variety of people who will approach the same problem differently in order to stimulate new ideas. Very often when an issue is discussed with someone with a completely different approach to the problem it can cause anyone to see that same issue in a new light. So I think Mr. Linker is right everyone is creative. But some people might need a little bit more exposure to those who approach life differently to stimulate their creative side.
Another great post Dan. I look forward to hearing more. I’m not sure if “and/both” is essential to succeed personally but I have seen the difference it can make in organizations. If you lean more to one side or the other, that’s OK. Simply seek out your counter balance and add them to your team then let the magic begin as together you build with an “and/both” combination.
Dear Dan,
I think, average and high potential people both take people further. In fact, generally people have average potentials and organizational culture and leadership provide opportunity to make it high potential. Even if people have high potential but organizational culture and leadership is not supportive then it will decelerate to average or even lower potential. So, I believe both type of potentials are needed to take people and organizations further.
I see contrasting qualities as a situational leadership. A situation based leader influences, inspires and acts as per the required situation and focus is always people and organizational development. Actually contrasting qualities are complementary and supplementary both in nature. So, even leader has contrasting quality, but if it encourages, impels and create passion, it is desired and if it can not create passion and willingness, then it is not needed.
I agree that and/both will take you farther. It’s a good idea to spend time with the folks who are farthest from you on that spectrum, because the more time you spend with someone, the more you see the world as they do and value what they do. I have a peer at work who’s real innovative and visionary, but seems to me to be unfocused – he never finishes anything. But the longer I work with him, the more I see creative possibilities myself. And he seems to be learning a little structure.
Wonderful, real connection there Greg! Being able to walk in others’ shoes or at least walk on a similar path and see what they see brings greater appreciation…and fresh options for you!
Dan, this is so true. There is great strength in diversity and if you can bring people together with different perspectives, yet pushing for the same vision, you can achieve wonders! Jane Perdue (@thehrgoddess) had a great tweet yesterday; “You don’t get harmony when everybody sings the same note. ~Doug Floyd”
Keeping with a musical theme, probably one of the stronger Van Halen songs was “Best of Both Worlds’ with Sammy Hagar singing (all David Lee Roth fans, sorry) and that title sounds consistent with Josh’s message.
His musical roots (assumption being made here) require discipline, focus, integrity, (improv perhaps being ‘character’ on at least a couple of levels), ability to see the overall structure and his role in shaping the pace and direction while still maintaining flexibility to adjust to the other individuals’ strengths and endorse/feed their potentials. And we define a leader how….
In noting other musical/leadership roots, Max DePree also comes to mind with his book Leadership Jazz from 1992, updated/revised/rescored in 2008. There may be a similar variation on the themes with the two of them, will now definitely read Josh’s book and see/listen.
One might suggest that Dan also orchestrates a little improv here at LF…although we may get a bit cacophonous at times!
In answer, my thoughts turn to how do the male and female principals come together in a marriage (ideally) without watering down either? It seems the answers are much the same about leading individuals with contrasting qualities: individuality and respect, along with commitment to the team. And capitalizing upon individual strengths.
As far as “both/and” folks: I am not sure if the quality takes them further or not, or if it’s simply more public. People like Josh are in many ways like bridges between brains, people, ways of thinking, etc.. A very useful skill or talent and definitely useful when leading people from all sorts of backgrounds. Does it take them further? Can it? Can it not? I don’t know. I suppose it depends on your definition of what further would mean and like everything in life, it’s what you do with it. I think both/and’s can appeal to a wide audience in life as they seem to speak more than one language, perhaps even help “sides” understand each other. I also believe that if not careful, they can feel torn. Do you speak both languages or are you a fence sitter? Do you belong or are you always an outsider? It’s not always an easy place to be, but then easy isn’t usually what achievers pursue.
Greetings from one of the LF regular mortals!
First, what’s your feedback on my observation? Does both/and take people further?
YES! The challenge is that it takes a) an individual who has done enough self-awareness work to understand where he/she fits in to a group of many different capabilities and b) a strong leader who can help everyone see the value of the “boths” and the “ands”. I have just started reading “The Executive and the Elephant,” the Tallahassee Leadership Book Club selection for March, and at the very beginning a leader states, “trying to engage in the behavior I know I am very weak at is like driving eastward at 60 mph and the car literally fighting me at every moment to go west.” I’m paraphrasing but the point is it is so very difficult to oppose our natural inclinations, even when we know full well it will be better for all involved. That’s where a good leader comes in!
Second, how can leaders bring contrasting qualities together without watering down either?
I think a lot of this boils down to helping the group that is working together become a group, differing qualities and all. One of the best exercises I ever did was with a group — the leader put all of our Myers Briggs profiles on a grid — we could see immediately that the people we considered “our people” were more often than not the ones who had similar profiles to us while the people we might have considered “challenges” or “difficult” had opposite profiles. It takes all kinds …..
Dan,
Great article! I see myself as a “both/and” person and I was delighted to see your post and the comments. On one hand I can be very analytical and structured in my approach, but on the other hand I use my artistic abilities to paint and draw. I have seen this as a great advantage as long as I can recognize quickly what approach suits best for the people I am working with. Of course, the best work seems to happen when both characteristics are used simultaneously – for instance, creating a graphic that can help people understand a business problem and drive solid solutions.
The greatest challenge has been that few situations seem to call for both skills simultaneously, and it takes ingenuity to identify the right situations and to apply those skills effectively.
Dan,
Both/and is always the way. The more diversity in the room the better. More minds, thinking in different directions means a more well-rounded, complete thought and/or product. Homogeneity is rarely a good thing.
“Variety is the spice of life”, comes to mind. For the last 10 years I have worked with “fluffy” PR and communications people. Their creativity astounds me, but their logic – or lack of it – frustrates me. Forgive me if you are a PR person – not all PRs are “fluffy”. However, I began to see that their initiative and vision casting is what we needed; and following along swiftly behind would be those people who can take those visions and bring them into being – the logical people. We need both.
Looking forward to tomorrow – because I truly believe that everyone does have a creative side. Just because we can’t sing, or paint, or sculpt doesn’t mean we aren’t creative. Let’s see what Josh has to say.
That’s the true essence of entrepreneurship, and why everyone should always find a co-founder, to complete yourself and get the all-around qualities of both being creative and structured. Being both at once is indeed something very rare and unique.
If is is not natural it can not , I like diamonds which is tough yet beautiful , people like both toughness and beauty of diamond.assimilating the contrast qualities is not by choice it is there in the DNA of a person and as a leader he has to manage it and propel it in the right direction , A person can be intellegent , a person can be laborious , but a person can be both , its a rare bread , if it is there its wonderful , amazing and uncompareble .our both hands can not used at same ease at all the time but if I am able, I think it is beyond imagination and I may become a wondeful creature , as a leader we have to manage both the beauty and the brain that is how the contrast qualities can be managed if it is not naural .some times the leaders are able to show the contrast qualities with the same ease and perfection and that can be brought together , thats a kind situational leadership not the natural .
In all things, it’s the difference that makes the difference.
Difference makes available new data and choice i.e, whether to learn from and adapt the benefits of perceived difference to oneself (NLP modelling) or on other end of spectrum to dismiss the difference without critique.
When partnering with colleagues on a project I now appreciate that not only is diversity of members essential but also that sub-groups work together on tasks. This encourages engagement with views other than those we are comfortable with and helps rise creativity and performance to a new level. Working with different personalities, ethnicities, ages, genders, skill etc promotes transfer of knowledge, values and skill within a business, that all important investment in Knowledge Management and retention of employees.
Thanks Dan, another thought-provoking series of posts as insired by the work of Josh Linkner