Working Genius, Writing Genius
How the 6 Types of Working Genius apply to writing and publishing a book
I learned about Working Genius this year. It was developed by Patrick Lencioni, and it describes six types of work. The concept is that everyone has two geniuses, two competencies, and two frustrations out of those six types. While the tool is geared toward helping companies, I think it can help us understand our work as individual writers too.
I’m not an expert in Working Genius. I attended one presentation, took the assessment, and read the book. My understanding is high-level, but it’s already so helpful. Working Genius immediately gave me new language and clarity to describe how I work as a book coach, editor, and writer.
The six types are listed in the order they are generally needed to complete a project: Wonder, Invention, Discernment, Galvanizing, Enablement, and Tenacity. All are needed to get any project done, but individuals are better at some types than others.
Writing and publishing a book is a big project, and like all projects, it requires different types of work over several phases of production. I think that’s one reason why writing a book can be so difficult. None of us are good at or enjoy all the types of work that writing a book requires, and yet, writers often need to do all of them.
Different parts of the process require different geniuses, and knowing your geniuses can help explain why you like some parts of the creative process and find others difficult or frustrating.
This kind of self-knowledge can help us be gentle with ourselves when we are stuck or frustrated. It’s not that we can’t do the types of work that fall into our areas of frustration, and even do them well. But it might take us longer or make us feel drained or discouraged. We might even be tempted to avoid it altogether. If we know this part of the process frustrates us, we can intentionally find the support we need when we need it.
On the flip side, when we know the areas we are good at, we can give more time and energy to those parts of the process. These are the types of work that tend to give us joy and lead to a sense of fulfillment in our writing. And it’s fun to acknowledge our genius!
Talking about all six types of work in one article, and how I see them playing out in the creative process, would be very long. So instead, I’m going to give each “genius” it’s own article, and discuss how I see each one in the process of writing and publishing a book.
Next time I will talk about the genius of Wonder and how we use it when starting our book projects. But the creative process is not exactly linear, so I will examine how it comes up in other parts of the process too!
Work Update
I have exciting news—I’m now officially a full-time editor for Ascension! I will primarily be working on small group programs. Ascension publishes great studies and I’m excited to be a part of it!
This means I will be adjusting my book coaching business. But I’m not closing it! Watch for details as I figure out my new offerings. The 10-Week Writing Goal Sprint is here to stay!
Sign Up for the 10-Week Writing Goal Sprint
This accountability group for writers helps you commit to a writing goal and follow through to the finish line! Join us for the next Sprint starting July 6.
After July 6, the next opportunity to join won’t be until the end of September, so join now! We’re a small but supportive group and we’d love to have you. :-)
Congratulations on the new position!
This quote resonates: "the creative process is not exactly linear."