The dinosaur
The dinosaur has been in the organization like forever. Everybody knows them due to their grey hair, their capability of having an opinion on everything, often not being a positive one. They have often changed jobs and sometimes not to their advantage and even against their will. It's quite easy to detect a dinosaur by reaction to change. Often the response to new ideas and processes is: "We have done this already, it won't work!"The resignator
The resignator is the one who has already resigned but didn't have the guts or the possibility to leave the company. The inner resignation nevertheless is signed and in general they are very passive with no particular interest in anything. When looking around people you can easily track them as during discussions their main visible focus point is the carpet between their feet.
The 9-5
The 9-5 works by the books, does exactly what he is told but nothing more. They are often extremely well organized as in life and as in business and are not easy to move out of their comfort zone. Often they are part of sports clubs and social organizations even within the company. They are reliable but absolutely unflexible when it comes to hours or working schemes. Look for the ones wo react first when you schedule a meeting at 6pm and you have your 9-5s!
The overambitious
Ambition is a good thing. But as all energy if not canalized it doesn't go anywhere. The overambitious is always on the top of his game and looking for more. He is constantly thinking about his next steps and trying to please his superiors. At some point he can be a difficult team player as he runs faster than the rest of the team.The greenhorns
Don't fool yourself thinking of greenhorns as being young. They are new to the organization and in general try to find their way. You can distinguish them by their constant question mark on their face. At the beginning they tend to follow the disonaurs for reassurance. Be careful there as it can be dangerous for their future behaviour.
The talents
Then there are the talents, that you could see as the right mix of the above mentionned. It is good to let your experience be part of your judgement as dinosaurs do and it is important te be able acomplish a job withing reasonable hours as the 9-5. The talent will see ambition as a true motivator and accelerator but wisely judges when to go for it and when to slow down and every talent has been a greenhorn at the beginning, although they quickly move forward and evolve into a more independent worker. Their mtoivation comes from putting their talent up for the good of the company and sometimes it may not work and they feel moments of resignation. The difference though is that they take it as a challenge to overcome such phases and grow stronger from it. The role of a good manager is to detect these types within the organization and find the right mix. It is obvious that a successfull manager tends to reduce the number or resignators and dinosaurs which is often difficult due to regulations or costly seperation schemes.
In my experience it is important to spread your talents equally withing the organization and push them to be the motor of success. Gather the greenhorns around them so that they can follow and learn. Put the overambitious amd dinosaurs among the talents, so that they can be moderated and finally assign some 9-5 to the talents so that they can organize their workload and delegate.
When this organization is set withing a clear and well communicated vision and strategy, you will have a setup that is bound for success.
