The Open Entrepreneur & The Conscientious Manager
Personality psychology studies individual differences in thought, emotion and behaviour. Dr Jordan Peterson describes personality as low-resolution solutions to the highly complex problems presented before us every day. These individual differences account for the diverse dynamics you see in family units, social circles, workplaces, government and society. In reference to the Big 5 personality model, the two traits that predict lifetime success is; openness to experience and conscientiousness. These traits distinguish liberals from conservatives in the political arena. Openness to experience is associated with creativity, intellectual curiosity, preference for variety and rebelliousness. Conscientiousness is associated with dutifulness, discipline, order, work ethic and impulse control. In business, openness and conscientiousness play pivotal roles in how people formulate and execute ideas to compete in the marketplace. These two traits differ in their function, and when there is a balance, a company can be both flexible to change and efficient in its execution.
People who are high in openness are usually the artistic and entrepreneurial types. In the context of a workplace, people high in openness are traditionally the ones who come up with ideas. They are the founders and the visionaries, and they steer the company’s ship with their rich sense of imagination. People high in openness are big picture thinkers, and they have a high tolerance for ambiguity, risk and uncertainty. People high in conscientiousness are managerial and administrative. Unlike their open counterparts, who are big picture thinkers, conscientious people are detail-oriented, disciplined and productive. They don’t deal with ambiguity well; therefore, they value routine, structure and predictability. Being high in conscientiousness means you can efficiently organize, compartmentalize, and streamline tasks.
If you are high in openness and you have an idea, collaborate with someone high in conscientiousness. The person high in openness is a chaotic thinker, as they are highly creative. However, ideas without execution are useless, so the creative entrepreneur wants to have a conscientious manager to organize these ideas into action orientated steps. It’s also beneficial for the creative to have a partner who is a little more conservative in their thinking. People high in conscientiousness tend to be conservative, which is necessary to balance the chaotic creative mind. The creative entrepreneurial types envision outcomes, but the conscientious manager is responsible for finding the best path towards execution. Therefore, those high in conscientiousness are realists, while people high in openness are more idealists.
Conflict may arise between the entrepreneur and the manager. Being idealistic, the entrepreneur is constantly formulating new ideas, which can be difficult for realist managers who are more rigid in their thinking. It’s possible for conscientiousness managers and administrators to resist any change or progress, as they prefer routine and predictability instead of ambiguity. Most companies are founded by people high in openness, and they are run by people high in conscientiousness. Because people high in conscientiousness are productive, efficient and disciplined, they excel. Predominantly conscientious people run companies; however, this poses a threat. With fewer creatives and more conscientious people, companies run the risk of becoming too rigid, failing to adapt to the ambiguity of the ever-changing landscape of business. This is how a lot of companies fail. You want to strike a good balance between creative and conservative. The creative generates ideas, while the conservative keeps the creative grounded in reality and executes the ideas methodically and efficiently.
Our personality is part of what makes us unique psychologically. Personality also plays a massive role in making our family structures, social circles and workplaces rich and diverse with character. Our personality traits are not novel concepts, however. They serve as a function of navigating our highly complex environments. Each trait has its strengths and weaknesses; however, every trait plays a vital role in the social structures in which we operate as humans. A balance between people high in openness to experience and conscientiousness are strong predictors of personal and company success in the workplace.