Overthinkers.
I’m excited that for the 2nd week in a row, my blog title is a made-up word! First, unignorable. Now, overthinkers.
Enough of that … let’s jump in.
Picture this. You have two colleagues with vastly different personalities. One is a thinker. One is a feeler.
The thinker is known for making decisions using logic and reason. The feeler is known for making decisions using emotions and concern for others.
Quick quiz: which are you?
The truth is, thinking vs. feeling is a continuum. You’re not always a thinker or always a feeler. It’s human nature that you show up differently moment-to-moment.
Even if you relate more to being a thinker or a feeler, we need both perspectives at the table. And depending on the specific job to get done, one persona may be more effective than the other.
Let me share some anecdotal data. I’ve profiled thousands of people using 16Personalities and Working Genius. By and large, tech leaders are thinkers.
Now, keep in mind that neither personality assessment uses scientific methods. So, I want to be careful and not insinuate there’s a correlative relationship between job performance and personality type.
However, here are 2 lessons I learned being a CIO for 17 years about thinking and feeling.
First, “Start with the heart and find with the mind.” For us to tune in to the most pressing priorities and struggles of our end-users, we must have their trust.
Trust is a result of more time with people and a willingness to admit we don’t know the answer. Humility and sensitivity are key. These are attributes of feelers.
But after we discover what our end-users need most from us, our minds must kick-in with facts, options, and plans. These are attributes of thinkers.
My second learning is the punchline of this week’s newsletter: Too many times, tech leaders over-index on thinking. This includes using “thinking tools and personas” when “feeling tools and personas” would be more effective.
Again, there’s a time and place for both. My experience tells me that most tech leaders don’t fully understand that.
Here are jobs to be done that are reliant on feeling personas and tools:
❤️ Aligning teams to the WHY behind a tech implementation
❤️ Prioritizing what’s most important now to achieve the WHY
❤️ De-prioritizing pet projects that distract the team
❤️ Galvanizing end-users to take action
❤️ Supporting end-users in their hours of need
If you don’t know where you fall on the spectrum, it’s best to assume you are over-indexing on thinking … especially if career advancement is important to you.
Remember, 75% of all tech initiatives fail, and the U.S. economy loses $150 billion as a result. Something isn’t working. My experience tells me it’s because we are overthinking and underfeeling. (A 3rd made-up word!)
Make it a great day!
