The Complementary Team Jigsaw Puzzle

The following four questions must be answered for each prospective team member before he can be identified as appropriate for the position:

1. What does the organizational climate require? Will the organization be tolerant of this person’s preferred style?

2. What does the team require; in other words, what are the styles of the current team members that must be complemented?

3. What are the characteristics and demands of the task?

4. What degree of discretion in decision-making does this task require?

Question 1 refers to where the organization is on the lifecycle and – if this manager’s unit is a profit center – where the unit is on the lifecycle. (If it is a not a profit center, then this question isn’t relevant.)

Wondering which stage of the organizational lifecycle your company is in? Gain clarity and strategic direction by taking our comprehensive test here!

Let me explain: Every system has a lifecycle, and that includes organizations as well as families.1 Managing systems is like parenting children: We take for granted that a parent’s techniques and disciplinary methods will constantly be changing as he adapts to the child’s growing emotional maturity. You should not parent a baby as if it is an adult, and you should not treat an adult as if he is a baby.

Well, good leaders, like good parents, should have at least a basic understanding of the organizational lifecycle. To be functional, a leader’s style should consider where the organization is on the lifecycle.

Thus if we are going to hire a CEO, we must first ask ourselves where the organization currently is on the lifecycle. That, in turn, will determine what style CEO the organization should be looking for. (I have deliberately chosen to use and emphasize the word should, instead of addressing what the organization may actually be looking for – because the reality is that organizations will often seek the leadership they feel comfortable with rather than the leadership with the style needed to guide the organization into the next desirable stage of its lifecycle.)

The same principle applies all the way down the managerial line, whether we are looking for a CEO or a manager to run a specific profit center unit within the organization. For start-ups up to the Go-Go phase, you will want a (PaEi) style. Later, in adolescence, the organization will briefly require a (PAei) style, but should move quickly to a (pAEi) style. Prime organizations need a (paEI) style.

When the organization begins to age, in its aristocracy, you should be looking for a (PaEi). In a crisis, when the organization is losing market share and sinking rapidly, it’s time for the turn-around style of a (Paei) leader.

This part of the book needs more elaboration than space allows. Interested readers can find a thorough discussion of the lifecycle phases in my book Corporate Lifecycles.

Complementarity with other team members

In putting together a complementary team, it is important to remember that the final product must include representation of each of the four basic roles. No team will function properly if it is missing a manager who excels in (P), or (A), or either of the other roles. So once you’ve chosen one or two team members, your choices for the rest will somewhat depend on the choices you’ve already made.

Thus, even if the person you are considering has all the abilities that are needed to perform all the necessary roles of management – that is, he or she is a (Paei), a (pAei), a (paEi), or a (paeI) – and even if his abilities fit the team’s requirements perfectly, he will not be an appropriate team member if his style adds too much of one role to the team’s makeup, or if it does not supply a role that is weak.

For example, a person with an extra (I) may be needed if the other team members are weak in (I).

Or suppose you’ve picked a (pAEi) for one position, a (PaEi) for another, and a (paEI) for a third. You may want to avoid choosing another team member with strong (E) instincts. Otherwise, your team will always risk being hijacked by its (E) contingent, who will introduce endless digressions to the decision-making process.

Task demands

The next condition is that each team member be placed in a position in which his respective style can be most useful. Finding someone whose style already fits the task will obviate the need for expensive development and permit immediate training.

In addition, each style has certain needs that must be met to find any job satisfying. Intuitively, we would not expect someone who is very comfortable in his accounting job to be excited about a transfer into sales, or vice versa. A (P)roducer, who likes functional involvement, will resent the time he spends on (A)dministration. This is a complaint frequently made by people who have been promoted to (A)dministrative jobs from positions in which they were expected to (P)roduce. For example, many artistic directors would prefer to direct productions themselves, instead of hiring others to do it. Senior architects may suffer at having to (A)dminister, solicit new projects, and motivate others to do the design they would love to do themselves. Becoming the chairperson of a university department can be personally costly to those who love research.

On the other hand, there are those Department Chairs in academia who love (A)dministration and suffer “re-entry blues” when their terms expire. If they’ve felt gratified by (A)dministering others, they will have a difficult time getting back into research. So before filling any position, the first step is to analyze the tasks that will be required to do the job effectively. The following are some questions to consider; the answers will help you evaluate the (PAEI) requirements of the task.

1. Is the task programmable? (How easy is it to train people to perform it?)

Answer: If the answer is that it is easy to train people in the task, then you will not want to assign (E)s or (I)s there. The endless routine will bore an (E) or (I) to distraction. The task is a better fit for an (A) or a (P).

2. How much ability to do abstract thinking is required to perform the task?

Answer: If a lot of abstract thinking is required, an (E) or (I)

would fit well here.

3. Does the task require working under pressure?

Answer: The (P) style thrives under pressure.

4. How structured or unstructured is the task?

Answer: The more structured it is, the more it calls for an (A) or a (P).

5. How much initiative is required to perform the task?

Answer: If initiative is needed, you want an (E) style manager.

6. How much long-term uncertainty is unavoidable in dealing with the task?

Answer: The more long-term uncertainty the task involves, the more you want an (E) assigned to it.

7. How much short-term uncertainty is unavoidable in dealing with the task?

Answer: A (P) style manager copes best with short-term uncertainty.

8. Does the task require coping on a regular basis with change?

Answer: The more change is necessary, the more an (E) manager is also necessary.

9. Does performing the task effectively require taking risks? How much risk, and how frequently?

Answer: Of the four styles, (E) is best able to deal with risk; in fact, he enjoys it.

10. How much interrelationship with and cooperation from other people is necessary to do the task?

Answer: If the answer is “a lot,” then an (I) should be your choice.

11. Does the task require attention to detail?

Answer: If yes, then choose an (A).

12. Does the task require substantial follow-up?

Answer: If substantial follow-up is required, again, you’ll want an (A) for the task.

13. Are the results long-term or short-term?

Answer: If the task is relatively short-term, a (P) would be appropriate.

For a more long-term orientation, choose an (E).

14. Can success or failure in the task easily be attributed to an individual?

Answer: A (P) responds well to situations that are direct, easy to grasp, do not involve subtlety, sees short-term results, and for which he can take direct responsibility.

Test Yourself

Take the following exam to test yourself. Match each need to one of the four (PAEI) styles.

Need to achieve __

Need to control __

Need to affiliate __

Need to self actualize __

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Discretion in Decision-Making

The higher a person ascends in a hierarchical organization, the more power, authority, and influence he is expected to have – therefore, the more discretion in decision-making he should have.

On the other hand, if the organization is relatively decentralized, some of that decision-making discretion will be granted to lower levels of the organization.

Thus, in two organizations where one of the organizations is centralized, and the other is decentralized, the same task will require two different styles of management. The more decentralized an organization is, the more initiative it will expect and the greater its (E) and (I) should be.