We now live in an age in which we can learn almost anything at little or no cost. A friend of mine recently fixed his car – a savings of over $900 – using nothing more than his smart phone, google.com and the willingness and time to poke around inside his car.
We can now download virtually every great piece of literature for free, and receive detailed descriptions of the latest management systems in our email inbox daily – and if we find we don’t have enough time for all of that information, we can sign up for services that summarize the latest and best books for us in easily digestible nuggets.
What makes this age unique is that the information we need to succeed at external endeavors has become so inexpensive. If we have the will to digest the information about – well, anything… it is virtually guaranteed that someone, somewhere has made that information available on the internet.
However, one realm of knowledge will always remain unattainable by Google search. That realm is what is going on inside your head.
Questions such as:
·How do I best process information?
·Who will I work best with as a team member?
·What type of person would I most like to work with?
·What is the best way to interact with the people I see daily?
·What are my strengths and how can I best utilize them?
These are questions that cannot be answered by looking externally. Rather, they are answered by internal search – self-reflection and often, self-assessment.
We are social creatures. We can have all of the information ever discovered, but if we can’t interact and share it with others, we are lost. The best plans in the world can be stopped dead by poor communication. The very base of any knowledge at all must be founded on the core of all knowledge, which is, as the Greeks said, to “know thyself.” Awareness really is the first step to any important endeavor.
This is why assessments are so important. Armed with a thorough knowledge of not only your own strengths and weaknesses, but those of your entire staff, you can gain insight into your group and be able to achieve the new highs that come from real teamwork.
If you haven’t already taken Everything DiSC Workplace, we highly recommend it.
