Companies are looking for more creativity and innovation.
This creativity often comes from looking at problems through different lenses.
At the team level, this can be fostered by increasing the diversity of the team members ensuring there are varied backgrounds and experiences.
Yet sometimes a team or company jokes and says they are looking for a “unicorn” for a role.
What they mean is that they need diverse experiences within an individual’s background that leads to broader perspectives and creative thinking.
There has been conversation in recent years about I-Shaped and T-Shaped individuals.
I-Shaped: These individuals have strong expertise in just one specialty area. This is what companies have primarily looked for in the past. An example would be looking for a CRM specialist.
T-shaped: This is when someone has deep expertise in one area, and a broad understanding of many other areas. Using the example above, this would be a CRM specialist who also had experience across social media, websites, branding, and advertising.
Some have taken the T-Shaped one step further and coined M-Shaped – Those who have deeper experience in more than one area. Again, using the example above the individual has a general understanding of all areas of marketing and has depth in CRM, websites, and social media.
Another concept emerging in conversations is the multi-Passionate. These individuals have interests that cross disciplines and give them unique perspectives. They might have experience in finance, social media, and copywriting. The ideas they could bring to a team might be very interesting.
My Perspective
I believe we need more and more multi-passionate individuals in the workforce. This perspective is not to replace the very important I- and T-shaped team members, but rather to compliment their perspectives.
Organizations need more creativity and innovation, yet the systems aren’t in place to foster diversity of thought across these groups and explore the work through a completely different lenses.
Adding creativity to an annual plan or creating a “fail-fast” culture isn’t enough.
What does the road map look like. How do we push our creativity? Does the team know how to leverage each type?
Your Turn
Have you been part of conversations at work where you are looking for a unicorn?
How would you describe your experience to date?
Are you an “I”, “T”, “M”, or Multi-Passionate?