Manual of me

In the best selling book, the Medici Effect, Frans Johannsson describes how innovation is more likely when people of different disciplines, backgrounds, and areas of expertise share their thinking. However, as strong as heterogenous teams may be with regards to diversity of thought, they may struggle to collaborate and find common ground throughout their differences. If people begin to supress parts of their identity they limit potentially valuable sources of creativity. This is why it’s important for all of us to bring our authentic selves to work.

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An effective tool, to ensure that each team member can clearly communicate their working preferences and expectations, is for them to write a user manual for themselves. No matter how long a team has worked together, a ‘Manual of Me’ will always reveal new insights around working styles, preferences, ticks and peeves.