Understanding and Investing in Your Arranger Talent

On this Theme Thursday Season 4 webcast, Jim Collison, Gallup's Director of Talent Sourcing, and Maika Leibbrandt, Senior Workplace Consultant, talk about Arranger.

Arrangers are jugglers and orchestrators of improvement. You are comfortable initiating reconfiguration. You are aware of the pieces and how to make them all fit. An Arranger wants productivity in the most efficient way possible. Being able to brave something really complex, and doing it with delight and mastery, is really what Arranger is all about. The value that you bring when you are at your best is being able to embrace complexity that allows others to relax. It can also be about tweaking the plan to improve the original outcome by making small changes. It is about speaking a language of possibility. Arranger can also facilitate collaborative teamwork. Gracefully manage multiple demands on your own time and attention in a way that looks effortless.

Raise your hand for complex projects that have many moving parts. Raise your hand for chaos. Get yourself in over your head to make sure you can swim. Sign up for things that are difficult and include a lot of multiplicity. Have one similar specialty. Focus on one nuance in your industry. Think about this as your home base, and then think about similar opportunities to take you further into areas you haven't quite mastered to create some complexity. It isn't just about pulling all of your ideas together, it is about making them do something powerful.

Arranger is the ability to see something, break apart the pieces, and then rearrange them into something that makes more sense. Get in the habit of asking others what you can help make easier for them. It is a question that offers up your talent in a way that demonstrates your process improvement.

Environments that best support Arranger are where you have some clarity over what the goal is. Ask how success will be managed. Make sure you a configuring towards the right shared understanding of the goal. Ask for more than you are typically given. You can stretch yourself by making sure that your plate is full. Give yourself that opportunity to have something to juggle. How can you have access to subject matter experts? Let them do the depth, while you work on the utility.

Worry less about being spontaneous. If you are high in Arranger, you are better if you can be in control. Worry less about buckling down on one thing at a time. For Arranger, simplicity is not the most interesting place to start, it is where you want to end. Enjoy the chaos.

When working with an Arranger, expect to be challenged on the normal ways of working. Expect impermanence. Expect that nothing that they do is ever going to be in the same way, but it's always in the best interest of others. They may see the answer before you do, so give them some strength and trust them.

Recognize their flexibility. Notice when they're calm in the eye of the storm. Recognize how they were able to change and direct on a moment's notice. Recognize the work that goes into executing. If you can celebrate the organizing and arranging it may be more meaningful to them than even that end goal.

To stretch someone's Arranger, give them autonomy to create change. Put them in the captain's chair. Invite them to complex multi-faceted projects. Challenge them to be an arranger not only of process, but also of people. Ask them for their perspective on teamwork and collaboration. Partner with someone with high Arranger by offering them complexity. Don't trap them with routine. Share your goals with them to help them see you.

If Arranger is one of your Dominant Themes, invest in it this week through the following challenge items:

• Organize a social event that excites your entire team.
• Revisit a regular meeting or routine that you have and try doing it in a better way.
• Tell three of your partners a unique value that they bring to your projects.

If Arranger is not one of your Dominant Themes, invest in it this week through the following challenge items:

• Name the Themes you do have that help you prioritize your task.
• Discover a tool that helps you keep a lot of complex ideas in one place.
• Think about how many important goals you can truly hold in your head at one time.