Why “style” matters
Have you ever noticed (like me), whenever you go out to eat, a restaurant menu often features “home style” items? Or when you’re shopping for groceries for home, package after package touts “restaurant style”? Frankly, if I go out to a restaurant, I want restaurant style food. I mean, if I wanted home style, I would have stayed at home!
Granted, this is a fairly innocuous violation of terms and clearly, it must work in our consumer minds or it wouldn’t be so commonplace. But what about this mix & match of style and where might it have more severe implications?
Jim Collins popularized the idea of getting the right person(s) on the bus and then getting the right person in the right seat. EOS disciples use the acronym RPRS as regular vernacular - and for good reason. Gallup has long been a primary champion of the concept of playing to peoples’ strengths.
I spend a lot of my professional time in the organizational and talent development space and it’s here where I think this idea of “style” starts to matter - fast!
I’m not talking about the efforts we often make to put forward a style that suits the situation at hand, necessarily. I’m really talking about what’s core to who we are. If you know me at all, I am in favor of the use of valid psychometric tools such as Gallup’s CliftonStrengths, MBTI, Birkman, or my personal favorite, the Predictive Index. Factor in someone’s experience set, technical muscle and the immediate and forward needs of an organization - fit to role matters A LOT!
In 2023 alone, I’ve witnessed RPWS (right person wrong seat) multiple times in my client work. It’s typically a case of organizational need - “[Name] has been great at [role]. Let’s have her lead [another role].” Et voila… we’ve taken a high performer in one area and placed her in one where she will struggle - and she and the organizational will pay a price. The other scenario is when an RPRS-team member has an appetite to try something new - another seat on the bus looks cool, fun, interesting and a challenge. So they convince themselves that the right career move - in or outside of the company they work for - and once again, struggle, underperformance, and dissatisfaction ensues.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for development and challenging people through stretch assignments. For goodness’ sake, I’m the product of that. Still, I think that needs to be a strategic, informed, and disciplined choice; one that generally plays to strengths and core “style”. And in the event we want to get outside of that, we do so with eyes wide open and proper support in place..
It’s not exactly the same as the mix & match of “home style” and “restaurant style”, but when it comes to people, I think we need to keep that straight.