Change Who I Am or Where I Am?

  Jacobsen’s book The Gifted Adult has some suggestions for how to moderate some of the behaviours typical of being gifted that may be considered socially unacceptable or have the potential to make people uncomfortable e.g. high energy, intensity, exceptional memory. In her book, Jacobsen mentions, in passing that it’s helpful to find a community, where moderation of  ‘gifted behaviours’ is not necessary. If one is a gifted adult, finding a way to adapt in a way acceptable to the majority, is probably helpful. Particularly since, for some gifted people, nevermind profoundly gifted people, finding a community may be challenging.  And just because everyone around you is gifted still does not necessarily mean one has found community if other values are not shared.  Nevertheless, in addition the need to adapt, I wonder how important it is to actively seek an environment where what one is, as one is, is valued. 

It seems to me that what is socially acceptable is subjective, dependent on context. Macleans magazine ran an article featuring Adrienne Clarkson’s book Extraordinary Canadians: Norman Bethune. 

According to Clarkson, “The Chinese understood him. His impatience they loved as unlimited eagerness, his stubbornness as unequivocal determination, and his domination as unshakeable commitment.”  I thought this was a great example of how context determines social acceptability.  Would Bethune be considered a hero had he remained in Canada? 

I took a course a number of years ago in Organizational Behaviour taught by a terrific professor, Jim Green.  He changed how I viewed the world of work.  In the course we discussed the perils of Group Think  and the requisite Challenger case study (here’s  an interesting critique of the Challenger as an example of Group Think).  For those of you unfamiliar with Group Think – the essential premise is there is a force within groups that surpresses people who deviate from the group’s thinking, the pursuit of unanimity at the expense of quality decision making.  Ideally, people are supposed to be aware of this phenomena at work and pay attention to members who question the status quo.  I’m assuming the intention is to prevent  your space shuttle from exploding.  Despite convering Group Think, we spent A LOT more time on the importance of being a team player. Now this is the one time Jim and I disagreed.  I suggested that many great business innovators were probably not the best team members.  I don’t know him but Bill Gates doesn’t strike me as a ‘model team player’.  I further argued that, by definition, those who innovate and challenge are the people who are best suited to drive a business forward.  (This is purely speculative argument of mine but I’m kind of partial to it).  In fact, I suggested, it is in the interest of businesses everywhere to harnass and capitalize on the people who are ‘poor team players’ because they challenge  are uniquely suited to move a business forward.  Let’s just say Jim and I agreed to disagree. 

Ten years later, I am still struck by how context affects the perception of personal traits. Acceptable behaviour is dependent on context.  I’ve been in work environments where personal characteristics, such as candor and assertiveness, when displayed by middle management are denigrated and discouraged and those same qualities, when displayed by senior leadership are venerated and celebrated.  Same traits, different context.  Similarly, I’ve seen people employed in the wrong environment where there previous bosses had nothing good to say about them.  Displaying the same qualities, such as quest for excellence, in a different workplace (often doing the same job), and instantly, they become heros.

Don’t get me wrong.  I definitely think there’s a place for teamwork and no one person can accomplish what can be accomplished by a team.  I’m just suggesting that a good team necessarily should embrace dissent as an agent that moves an organization forward.  I’m also suggesting that in addition to Jacobsen’s recommendation that gifted adults should adapt their behaviour, (see also, Jacobsen’s article Giftedness the Workplace: Can the Bright Mind Thrive in Organizations) another option is to seek an environment where one can be who one is and have it be an asset. 

 

Tagged as: adult, career, gifted, Group Think, Intellectual giftedness, intelligence, Intelligence quotient, intense, IQ, Mary-Elaine Jacobsen, personality traits, team, Work