Every person is unique with a different set of experiences, skills and ambitions.
Research shows there are four core personality types each with four sub-types. While a person’s experiences, skills and ambitions change over time, personality is remarkably stable.
Learning about your personality will help you understand your needs and preferences.
This will enable you to make choices which enhance your level of career satisfaction.
Pragmatics make up about 10% of the global population. Pragmatics love using logic to build solutions that stand the test of time.
There are four types of Pragmatics: Designers, Mobilizers, Innovators, and Operators. Innovators make up about 3% of the population.
Pragmatic types share a number of characteristics. They are independent and achievement oriented. They love to come up with new solutions to problems. They are ingenious and creative, yet deeply pragmatic. While they excel at generating ideas, they thrive on finding solutions that work in the real world.
In their professional lives, Pragmatics excel at figuring out how things work and creating systems and processes to support new ways of doing things. They love solving problems to achieve hard to hit goals. Their command of ideas makes them highly effective strategists and subject matter experts.
Innovators make up about 2% of the population. Inventive, entrepreneurial and pragmatic, Innovators are highly sought after as problem solvers. They are curious explorers, who accumulate a broad base of knowledge. Innovators are always full of ideas and possibilities. They tend to pursue knowledge for its own sake. However, they place the greatest value on information and concepts that can deliver practical results.
Innovators are extraverted, quick witted and love to brainstorm and debate ideas. Their wide-ranging knowledge allows them to marshal facts and arguments from different perspectives. True Innovators enjoy playing the role of devil’s advocate. Through the process of lively argument, they gain insight into other people’s views and increase their own knowledge.
Often non-conformists, Innovators enjoy identifying opportunities for improvement which challenge the status quo. They are big picture thinkers. Innovators are less interested in the details of putting their ideas into practice. Ideally, others will take on the tasks of project management and ongoing maintenance.
Innovators are always on the lookout for new ideas, concepts and information. They are widely read and knowledgeable on many subjects and enjoy learning for its own sake. They network across organizations, always curious to find out what is going on.
Innovators find it easy to view topics from many perspectives. They can think quickly on their feet. They can make arguments for or against their own position. They may play devil’s advocate for fun or to test ideas on others.
Innovators have little concern for tradition. They constantly seek new concepts from diverse sources and disciplines. They use their creativity to develop innovative solutions to complex problems.
Innovators work across different fields and domains. They can switch their focus from task to task and subject to subject with ease.
Innovators are confident, articulate and often witty. Others find their knowledge and ability to connect seemingly unrelated ideas intriguing.
Innovators display limitless energy when they work on challenges that interest them.
Innovators love exploring topics from every angle and engaging in debate. They use their knowledge and quick thinking to undermine other positions. This can be off-putting or stressful for others who do not process information in the same way.
Innovators generally value facts and logic more than emotions. They may underestimate the depth or importance of others' feelings. They can be dismissive of ideas which lack evidence or logic. This can cause others to view them as cold or uncaring.
Innovators are always on the hunt for new ideas, concepts and challenges. Their mental agility can cause them to lose interest easily.
Innovators have a visionary focus on future possibilities. They are less interested in what it takes to turn their vision into reality. This can mean that their ideas are never implemented or fail to fulfil their potential.
Pragmatic Innovators are non-conformists. They love ideas and want theirs to be heard. Pragmatic types, more than others, enjoy being right. Innovators, in particular, are willing to argue with others to prove the merit of their ideas. They are comfortable challenging their peers, manager and others in more senior roles.
Innovators tend to be more comfortable with risk than other personality types. This can make them willing to push ideas that others believe to be unrealistic. Because they challenge others and push boundaries, they are most at home in situations or organizations where this is welcome.
Innovators struggle in hierarchical organizations which demand absolute compliance with rules and processes. They also find routine tasks or a focus on consistent process execution monotonous. Innovators may struggle early in their career, a point where many roles are routine. They can increase their satisfaction by viewing roles like these in the context of their broader career goals.
Some people appreciate the Innovator’s argumentative style. Many find it frustrating. People who are more execution focused find the Innovator’s focus on debating ideas indecisive and irritating. Innovators can manage this this by facilitating discussion and brainstorming when it is appropriate. This way they can ensure that potential courses of action are thoroughly evaluated.
Work gives you meaning and purpose and life is empty without it.
Facilitating discussions also ensures everyone has input into important decisions. In this way, Innovators need to take care to create an atmosphere that welcomes differing views. Their argumentative style can inhibit less bold types from speaking their mind. Some Innovators can learn to better preserve relationships by studying their triggers and responses to learn how to manage their irritation or frustration in tough situations.
Innovators thrive on change. They relish the opportunity to define a vision, identify better ways of working or help their organization adapt to new demands. When it comes to executing complex projects, Innovators work best when they can hand operational tasks over to others. If this is not possible, they may need to strengthen their own planning and project management skills to be more effective.
Innovators find it easy to contradict other people. Challenging deeply held assumptions or even more senior colleagues is not a problem for them. They are original thinkers and non-conformists. This makes it hard for Innovators to just go with the flow. These characteristics can lead some Innovators to be viewed as difficult or uncooperative. Innovators can benefit by first recognizing these tendencies as potentially overused strengths. Next, they can work to moderate their impact by using techniques that bring others along when crafting new ways of working.
Pragmatic Innovators enjoy having their thoughts and ideas challenged and don’t take it personally. They welcome others to poke holes in their arguments. They appreciate being showed new facts and logic which contradicts their view. Innovators enjoy the process of defending their case. If they lose the argument, they view it as an opportunity for personal growth.
Because they don’t take argument and criticism personally, they can fail to recognize that other personality types do. More sensitive types may struggle in working with Innovators. It is not uncommon for them to go too far in pressing their point and damage relationships.
Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.
Innovators are skilled communicators, especially face-to-face. They can debate a point from any angle. Further, they are able to adapt their communication style to the needs of others. Where they tend to struggle is in dealing with emotions and feelings. Their emphasis on facts and logic can make it challenging for them to respond with empathy to opposing viewpoints. While they have the capacity to be highly emotionally intelligent, some Innovators can benefit from actively practicing emotional intelligence techniques to help communicate with greater sensitivity. It will also help them foster trusting relationships.
Innovators don’t usually expect to make friends at work. However, their relaxed style, wide ranging knowledge and sense of humor means that they find it easy to make friends. Despite this, they can be perceived as difficult to work with. Their argumentative nature and emphasis on logic over emotion can be off-putting. To increase their influence, they may need to rein in these tendencies and express themselves with greater empathy.
Pragmatic Innovators don’t always aspire to be leaders, but they can be inspiring managers. They flourish when they are able to focus on strategy and ideas and delegate execution to others. Their flexibility and openness to new ideas can be energizing to their people.
Innovators often create flat organization structures. This allows them to have maximum exposure to the ideas of their team members. It also fosters a sense of autonomy, which they themselves enjoy. They communicate their vision in broad terms and let others get on with the work. As such, they are less likely than other types to micromanage.
Innovators expect others to understand their intentions and to ask questions if they don’t. Because they tend to be hands-off in their approach, Innovators give team members the benefit of the doubt. Later, if team members fail to deliver, Innovator leaders can become frustrated. This can be challenging for people who are not skilled at debating with their boss. Some Innovators can benefit by learning how to flex their management style to the needs of other personality types which can boost team morale and performance.
An Innovator’s comfort with conflict can be detrimental to team dynamics. Others are less tolerant of the level of debate and argument that Innovators enjoy. This can cause dissatisfaction among team members and diminish the sense of trust. This can lead to lower team performance. Some Innovator leaders can increase their effectiveness by measuring and managing team dynamics.
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.
Innovators relish change and volatility. They constantly seek new and better ways to do things. However, Innovator leaders may struggle in times of change. They may not recognize that this creates stress and discomfort for other people. That is, they may overlook the social and emotional needs of their people. Some Innovator leaders can increase their organization’s capacity for change by using change tools to help people cope with transitions.
Innovators tend to resist hierarchy and bureaucracy. Similarly, some either reject politics or see themselves as apolitical. As a result, they may make political or procedural errors. As leaders, they need to take care that they role model organization standards if they want to get the support they need to be successful. Learning to navigate organizational politics by sensing how people and organizations function can help some Innovator leaders. They will accelerate achievement of their goals by anticipating political pitfalls and adjusting their approach appropriately.
Innovator leaders generally find it easy to give corrective feedback to team members. Their focus on facts and comfort with conflict helps in this regard. However, they are likely to be at a loss when confronted with an emotional response, or when asked to deal with personal or emotional problems. Understanding how to communicate in an emotionally intelligent way can help in these situations.
The greatest challenge for Innovator leaders lies in managing execution. They need to be able to marshal their focus on a project long enough for it to be fully implemented. Managing execution is the key to realizing their grand visions for the future. Handling distractions from new concepts and opportunities is essential. Once new ways of doing things are in place, they need to ensure they are operating effectively. This means establishing systems and processes to monitor ongoing performance. When they are able to do this, their teams and their results with flourish.
Pragmatic Innovators are some of the world’s most inventive people. Mentally agile, enthusiastic and interested in addressing intellectually stimulating problems they are suited to a wide range of careers in many fields.
Innovators enjoy roles which allow them to generate new ideas and solutions and to set challenging goals. Technical fields such as engineering, information technology can be a good fit. Working on projects in systems analysis or creative work such as writing, photography, and film making can also energize them.
Innovators are skilled communicators. They inspire others with their vision and enthusiasm as well as their clarity and logic. Their capacity to break things down and explain them to others can make them excellent trainers or educators. Careers in law, consulting or academia are an excellent outlet for these skills.
Innovators tend to value freedom over security. They need to make sure that the values and beliefs of the organization they work for are a good fit with their own. Innovators will likely be happiest in non-conventional roles and environments that don’t require an excessive amount of routine work.
I attribute my success to this - I never gave or took any excuse.
Innovators prefer to have autonomy over what they do and how they do it. They appreciate work that is intellectually challenging and allows them to help create a compelling future. Workplace practices that recognize their ingenuity and reward their competence will resonate with them. They will thrive in environments that value strategic thinking, analysis, creativity, and innovation.
Organizations that demand strict compliance with rules and procedures or lots of internal competition will not be a good fit. Over time, such environments may be harmful to their health and wellbeing. Innovators will argue compellingly for what they feel is right rather than courting popularity with their peers or leaders. Organizations where social convention or playing politics is rewarded will not be a good fit. For many, the freedom of running their own business can give them the independence they need to do their best work.
Innovators love to make things new things happen. They are energized by opportunities to solve tough challenges. They are able to make connections between things that are not obvious to their peers, bosses, or other key stakeholders. Innovator’s contributions are invaluable to their organizations. Their ability to develop new products or services that exceed the needs of their stakeholders are the hallmark of originality and innovation.
Too often, we leave our growth to random chance. That can be frustrating because we can’t always grow as fast as we want (or need) to! While experience can be a great teacher, there is no substitute for learning proven strategies to maximize our potential.
Pragmatic Innovators have tremendous capabilities. They also share some common challenges. Possible areas for growth for Innovators include:
Build stronger relationships with the people who matter most
Enlist support from key stakeholders and accelerate change
Keep your cool in stressful situations
Enhance your interpersonal skills to strengthen relationships
Guide people with diverse points of view to desired outcomes
Set up people and teams to drive accountability and achieve measurable results
Understand people accurately, appreciate alternate viewpoints and encourage honest, two-way communication
Navigate complex organizational relationships and power dynamics
Deliver critical project outcomes on time and on budget
Respond openly and positively to suggestions, requests, and ideas
Adapt your interpersonal approach to build rapport and influence others
Work effectively with others to deliver collective results
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