Working Genius Team Rollout
Map team energy, expose capability gaps, and redesign how work gets done
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 6
- Confidence
- 98%
The rollout turns individual Working Genius results into an operating map for the team. First, people learn their geniuses, competencies, and frustrations so they can describe which work gives or drains energy. The team then places everyone across the six types and looks for uncovered stages, overloaded contributors, and clusters of frustration. Rather than treating the profile as a box, leaders use the map to change meeting invitations, project responsibilities, lateral assignments, and future hiring priorities. The mechanism is social as much as analytical: once everyone shares the vocabulary, people can request a missing genius, volunteer for energizing work, and explain friction without judging intelligence or commitment. Larger organizations can certify internal guides to keep applying the model across teams.
Origin
Patrick Lencioni described how organizations use the Working Genius assessment, shared vocabulary, team maps, and internally certified practitioners to redesign work.
Core principles
- 01Shared language changes how people ask for help
- 02Energy and joy reveal sustainable contribution
- 03Visible team gaps explain recurring execution failures
- 04Roles should adapt to people and required work
How to run it
- 1
Assess the team
Have each person identify their Working Geniuses, competencies, and frustrations. Roll out by intact team where possible so results immediately connect to shared work.
Pro tip Let people describe where the result resonates before interpreting it for them.
Watch out Do not present the assessment as a judgment of intelligence or value.
- 2
Create shared language
Teach the six types and encourage people to use them in everyday requests. This makes energy, frustration, and missing support discussable.
Pro tip Ask teams to name recent moments when a missing genius slowed them down.
- 3
Print the team map
Plot each person's geniuses and frustrations across all six stages. Look for empty genius columns, concentrations of frustration, and a single person carrying an entire stage.
Pro tip Review the map beside a real project rather than in the abstract.
Watch out A middle competency can still contribute; an empty genius column is not proof the work cannot be done.
- 4
Explain recurring failures
Match stalled projects and repeated tension to the visible gaps. Confirm whether the map explains why ideation, evaluation, mobilization, support, or completion keeps breaking down.
Watch out Do not use type as an excuse for poor effort or behavior.
- 5
Redesign the work
Shift responsibilities, invite missing geniuses into meetings, or make lateral moves so each stage has sustainable coverage. Protect scarce geniuses from being pulled away from their highest-value contribution.
Pro tip Try reassignment before assuming another full-time hire is necessary.
Watch out Do not overload the only person with a required genius.
- 6
Build internal ownership
For a broad rollout, train one or more internal practitioners to help teams interpret maps and solve new gaps. Keep the vocabulary active as roles and projects change.
In the wild
A large technology company's executive team had gone a decade without a new idea. Its team map showed no invention genius except the chief legal counsel, while the rest of the team focused on implementation. Leaders moved the lawyer into new technology acquisition; two years later he was running that part of the business.
→ The company aligned innovation responsibility with the one executive energized and skilled by invention.
A team notices nobody on the project has galvanizing as a genius. Using the shared vocabulary, it invites someone outside the formal team specifically to help mobilize people around the work.
→ The project gets missing energy without permanently changing the org chart.
Common mistakes
Stopping at individual results
Profiles become useful at team level only when they are mapped against the work and used to change responsibilities.
Turning types into boxes
The model describes energy around work; it should not condemn people or limit all future contribution.
Leaving one genius overloaded
A visible gap is not solved by repeatedly sending every task to the only person who can finish that stage sustainably.
Is it for you?
Best for
Organizations that want a practical shared language for redesigning teamwork across several roles.
Not ideal for
Teams seeking a standalone performance rating or a substitute for judging conduct and work ethic.
From the transcript
“first of all just get as many people in your organization to know what they are the language the vocabulary and the way people work…”
“do the team map the team map is a piece of paper that shows you in all six Geniuses where you have people with Geniuses…”
“they are going to solve problems just looking at it and going well hell I could do that I love that and somebody else is…”
From the episode
Patrick Lencioni: Build an A-Team with Working Genius
Patrick Lencioni