I believe in the idea that diversity of thought, style, and skill is good for a team. I try to keep in mind this quote I found attributed to Bill Nye.
My personal challenge is in listening well to others, asking good questions, and ultimately being open to changing my own perspective.
This is hard work.
I can always use inspiration and suggestions for practice to help me improve. I recently found such a book called Collaborative Intelligence: Thinking with People Who Think Differently by Dawna Markova, Ph.D. and Angie McArthur at my local library. After I read the borrowed library book, I purchased a copy for my personal bookshelf because I knew I would come back to this one and *gasp* might even want to write in this book.
The gist of the book is that if you understand how you or others are approaching the question, you can maximize the effectiveness of the thought. Sometimes the problem needs focused concentration, sometimes sorting and organizing, and sometimes brainstorming – but we can all use a solid “thinking partner” to bring out the best results. The authors have translated their research into a model for determining and working best with each person’s Mind Patterns and Thinking Talents.
The first thing I enjoyed about this book was its ability to summarize the materials contained in each chapter within a table on the last page of the chapter. Consider this the TL;DR of the book. The book comes to life for anyone reading it when it comes time to evaluate your own thinking styles. The authors even recommend what types of environments are most effective for generating types of thinking. Here’s a preview of what a KVA Mind Pattern like me should keep in mind:
I’m definitely planning on using the supplemental materials available on the the Collaborative Intelligence website to have my immediate team take the quiz to determine your own mind pattern. I’m looking forward to trying to put some of these Collaborative Intelligence practices to work.
