“Creativity is intelligence having fun” -Albert Einstein
Globally, since the pandemic began, we are working more hours, engaged in more meetings, sending even more emails, and finding the performance-like nature of video calls exhausting. As many of us adapt to new environments, it can be difficult to find the time or energy for creativity. However, creativity is what’s needed most if our businesses and organizations are going to survive.
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With many workers returning to their offices, preventing the spread of COVID-19 and protecting employee health is a top priority for business leaders. While initiatives like enhanced sanitation and social distancing policies are a must, the biggest threat to workplace health and safety is often overlooked by managers—recruiting safety-conscious staff.
The Hogan Safety Report, which scores candidates on several components of safety-conscious behavior, has identified six personality traits that recruiters should look for in new candidates.
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Many of our clients use Hogan Assessments to support selection and talent development programs. Due to the pandemic, however, selection has (understandably) been cut back dramatically. Now, HR teams have to focus on more difficult people issues while learning and development programs may be put on hold.
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The new realities shaped by the disruptive and complex moment we are experiencing are completely different for each organization. This situation is forcing some companies to completely reinvent themselves, while others are unable to operate as needed. Others (the least common group, especially in Colombia) are seeing turnover grow at unexpected levels. The personality characteristics of the CEOs of the companies influence the consequences that each of the companies is experiencing as a result of the pandemic.
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Earlier this year, before the global pandemic, I returned to the office after an extended business trip. When I walked into the building, the environment felt different. The building was the same, the furniture was where it had been before, and my colleagues were still the same lovely people, but the atmosphere felt somewhat unfamiliar. It was because there had been a break in my routine. Humans are creatures of habit — we rely on routines to help us manage our busy schedules, remain productive, and keep us sane. When our routines change, we must adapt, create new strategies, or run the risk of being ineffective, unproductive, or even misaligned.
COVID-19 has significantly impacted team functioning. In our work with organizations during the pandemic, we have observed three common challenges that teams are facing today:
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Entrepreneurs tend to have a heroic status around the globe — and for good reason. Entrepreneurialism encourages individual proactivity, creativity, and economic vitality, yet a significant number of startups fail for many well-documented reasons. The organizational psychologist in me wonders: What does personality psychology have to say about derailed entrepreneurial enterprises?
As noted, entrepreneurs play a key role in keeping economies competitive. They are known for removing the old and inefficient and replacing it with the new and improved, which suggests that entrepreneurs are creative people. Michael Kirton’s work on creative problem-solving shows how entrepreneurial people often take an innovative approach by questioning assumptions, redefining the problem, and introducing different solutions.
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Automation has long been altering labor markets and eliminating jobs. Recent research suggests that up to 47% of U.S. jobs are at risk of becoming automated within the next 20 years.1 That percentage varies from country to country, but it consistently falls above the 40% mark. Although automation is largely thought to threaten low-skill jobs, advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence have made advanced-skill jobs, such as contract lawyer or diagnostician, vulnerable.
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C. Northcote Parkinson (1909—1993) was a British naval historian, lecturer, and novelist; he formulated his famous law in an essay in The Economist in 1955. Parkinson’s law was intended to describe the behavior of managers in the British Navy and British government, but it is also a pretty good description of work in most organizations. The July 11th, 2020 issue of The Economist provides an update of Parkinson’s astute generalization about organizational behavior.
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The protests against systemic patterns of racism and police brutality following George Floyd’s death, the success of female heads of state leading their countries through the global pandemic, and the recent United States Supreme Court decision prohibiting workplace discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation are just a few of the topics that are spurring discussions about diversity and inclusion (D&I) right now.
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Despite the thousands of print and internet resources available on the subject of effective leadership, it remains elusive. The number of leaders who fail is consistently estimated to be greater than 50%. The impact that ineffective leaders have on their teams and entire organizations can be devastating from both a human and financial perspective. It’s no wonder that leadership effectiveness continues to be at the top of organizations’ agendas.
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