Adaptors vs. Innovators: Kirton Inventory as Gov 2.0 Predictor?

Comment

Comment by Beth Beck on October 25, 2010 at 2:47pm

Thx @Bill + @Michele for the discussion.

Comment: Any "label" used as a weapon to belittle or marginalize or self-promote is emotional (political) propaganda. Labels can be bad if used against, and instructive if used to supply information. I'm a Texan. Some will use that label against me. Personally, I'm proud of it. I'm a boot-straps kinda guy (generic term). I'm also a bureaucrat, by label. Most cringe at the term. But I actually work for a bureaucracy, so it's true. I think the point is to learn more about each other so that we can get the work done as efficiently as possible.

No label will get the work done. People do. ;)

Comment by Bill Brantley on October 25, 2010 at 11:40am

@Michele: Astute observation. :-) Another characteristic of Generation X is skepticism which I also claim. My background is in communication with a specialization in persuasion and propaganda with a Masters in political management (an applied form of political communication). Labels can be very powerful tools especially in the political sphere.

Just this week in my political communication class, I was discussing with the students how to use the generic label of "the Other" to vilify the opposition and to build group cohesiveness. A couple of weeks ago, I discussed how to use labels (such as "Soccer Moms") to create self-fulfilling prophecies for select voting groups.

Labels are very powerful tools and we have to be careful how we use them.

Comment by Michele Costanza on October 25, 2010 at 11:16am

@Beth: Thanks for posting. My own personal bias is to use hard data in the form of assessments and inventories like the MBTI and the Kirton Inventory as a baseline. For those SJ types especially, since they tend to fill the upper-level management and leader ranks in organizations from corporations to the military, showing them the data for how and why they process information and make decisions leads to better self-awareness and group awareness.

@Bill: Please don't think I'm picking on you. I've noticed in your postings that you tend to not like labels for people. That characteristic is typical of Generation X, which is another label and generalization, just one that might be slightly true. ;-)

Comment by Beth Beck on October 25, 2010 at 8:18am

Life is all about adaptation. Some adapt more quickly than others to new situations or changes in environment. The Kirton Inventory simply measures the comfort zone from "status quo" to "start over." When change happens, some embrace it more readily than others.

I prefer to start new projects where I get to create the process from scratch. I've worked many jobs (procurement, budget, etc) where my sole purpose in life was to follow the rules and restrict any deviation from the tried and true. I can do these jobs, but I don't thrive in a highly structured environment. Some of my colleagues, however, enjoy jobs where tradition dictates future decisions. I appreciate tradition, but I don't feel bound by it. I gravitate to projects that no one knows how to handle, or no one "wants" to touch.

Tools like the Kirton Inventory and Myers-Briggs simply help us understand how others approach work/life, which should never be an excuse for poor behavior, but can be data points leading to a solution.

In public service, the end goal is creating and upholding the public good. We (Adaptors & Innovators, Male & Female, Young & Old, Colorful & Colorless) may approach it differently, but if we get there in the end, then all is well with the world. :)

Comment by Bill Brantley on October 25, 2010 at 7:21am

Thank you for the test and the interesting post. I suppose my biggest objection to determining if a person has certain traits and labeling that package of traits is that people tend to use this as an excuse to not leave their comfort zone. The brain is remarkably plastic and as research has shown people can radically their personality due to injury or illness.

You say you are an innovator but you probably also have adaptive tendencies when the situation calls for those traits. You've also lasted 25 years at NASA so you must have learned to adapt to other personalities and can communicate with people effectively so you've learned to see things from another perspective.

It's good to know your strengths but it is also good to leave your comfort zone and try new perspectives. Diversity is the beginning of innovation and is desperately needed in our organizations.