CEPL553: Dealing with Difference
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This course includes:
Multiple discussions; you must participate in two
One scored project in multiple parts
One final action plan assignment
Completing all of the coursework should take about five to seven hours.
What You'll Learn
Analyze project teams for potential conflict resulting from cultural, functional, personality-related, or learning-style
differences
Minimize the negative effects that difference has on a project team
Course Description
As a project manager, you are responsible for reducing the uncertainty that surrounds your project. One of the most potent
tools you have is your project team's collective intelligence, the leveraged sum of the diverse perspectives on the team.
But as much as these diverse perspectives can provide important value for you as a project manager, they can also be a
hindrance if not properly managed. In this course, learn to identify potential problems resulting from difference, and how
you can manage that difference to increase the likelihood of project success.
Frank Wayno
Senior Lecturer, College of Engineering, Cornell University
Frank Wayno is a specialist in large-scale organizational change and managerial effectiveness.
He recently researched the processes for total quality success used by winners of the Malcolm
Baldrige Award. His consulting work has involved helping entrepreneurial firms in a variety of
industries manage the life-cycle transitions that occur with growth. Frank developed a successful
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consulting practice with manufacturing and service organizations on competency-based
behavioral education for executives and increasing organizational effectiveness through
participative change strategies. Before that he was a corporate officer at Merrill Lynch, charged
with advising senior management on work redesign and organizational restructuring.
Click Play to Listen
Start Your Course
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Module Introduction: National and Functional Culture
In this course, you look at three sources of difference that-if not properly managed-could cause problems on your project
team. In this module, explore the first of these sources: national culture. Learn why culture is such a potent force and why
frameworks for explaining national culture can also be used to describe the strains that cultures of functional specialties
might cause. Finally, apply key models of culture to a case study to explain the best practices for minimizing the potential
negative effects of culture.
It is important that you recognize that "dealing with difference" does not mean "minimizing difference." On the contrary,
effective groups rely on difference in many forms to perform tasks, reduce uncertainty, and complete projects. Instead, the
key to the project manager's success is understanding difference and knowing how to manage it appropriately.
The first step to dealing with potential problems caused by differences in culture is understanding where culture comes
from. In this module, define culture and study a model for how we develop unique cultural identities.
Though many psychologists and theorists have explored the issue of culture, Edward Hall and Geert Hofstede have
developed two of the most influential models for diagnosing the impact of cultural difference. In this module, investigate
their models and apply your understanding of culture to the course project.
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Read: Understanding Difference
Key Points
Project managers facilitate communication across functional lines
Differences can be a powerful tool for a team
Differences can detract from a team's collective intelligence
To build a product or to complete a project, an organization needs to make use of differentiated tasks and resources. The
organization also needs an integration function to knit together those differentiated tasks and resources. The more
complex the goals-and thus the greater the array of differentiated tasks we need to accomplish them-and the more
uncertain the environment in which the project exists, the more critical that integration mechanism becomes. Project
managers exist to serve this function. When we need to make use of people who live in different functional areas or who
perform very different tasks, we rely on the project manager to serve the lateral relations function. This means that they
help people to communicate across functional lines and structural boundaries to drive the project to completion.
One way project managers cope with the ambiguity implicit in complex deliverables and the uncertainty of a dynamic
operating environment is by creating teams whose collective intelligence is greater than the sum of the capacities of their
individual members. By carefully selecting a team with diverse capabilities, attending to the internal dynamics of the team,
understanding potential pitfalls, and encouraging cohesiveness and esprit de corps, the project manager builds a resource
unit that can proactively scan the environment for problems and encourage collaborations to creatively solve them.
But the heterogeneity of team members influences our ability to build such a collaborative team. Differences can be
positive, creating multiple perspectives for creative abrasion, but without some sort of focusing structure, we often have
misunderstanding, conflict, and enormous frustration. In other words, differences can be a powerful tool for a team, but
they can also detract from a team's collective intelligence, causing the team to be less than the sum of its parts.
Effective project managers must recognize this paradox. They must work to understand what these differences are, why
they exist, and how to build bridges of understanding and process to overcome them.
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Watch: Journey to Robbers Cave
Forsyth, D.R. (1999). Group Dynamics. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
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Listen: Mental Models
At the core of understanding the role that difference can play in your projects is social identity theory. The theory, as
framed by Tajfel and Turner*, suggests that a person's identity is not simply a function of one's individualistic qualities, but
also contains elements derived from one's involvement with groups.
How does a group become part of a person's identity? Well, everything starts from the realization that as humans, we are
a categorizing species. To help us to deal with the complexity of the world, we put things in categories-little boxes in our
minds to which we assign names and a defined set of characteristics, traits, and qualities. So automatic is this process
that we apply it to ourselves. When we are attracted to a group or actually join it, we assign the name of the group to
ourselves. If the group happens to be particularly important to us, however, we also envision a set of characteristics
associated with members of the group. Whether we actually have all of those qualities or not, we also assign them to
ourselves simply because they are associated with the "box" bearing the group's name. Our strong connection to the
group leads us to identify with the group and, through self-stereotyping, we take on the identity of the group as part of our
sense of who we are. This is our social identity, our picture of who we are that comes from our relationships with others.
How does this theory relate to the concept of difference and the role of the project manager? Click the image at the right to
hear faculty author Frank Wayno explain the importance of this theory.
*Tajfel, H. and Turner, J. C. (1986). The social identity theory of inter-group behavior. In S. Worchel and L. W. Austin
(eds.), Psychology of Intergroup Relations. Chicago: Nelson-Hall
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Read: Not the Way
Case Study F.W. Inc.
Naomi, a project manager at F.W. Inc., is frustrated.
It took her weeks to get onto her vice president's calendar, but she had a great idea-an idea she thought could change the
way the company built products and did business. It would require some changes in the way people did their jobs, but
Naomi figured that the vice president would entertain the idea once he understood how beneficial it would be for the
business.
Instead, he dismissed her rather quickly.
"I'm sorry," he said after she had finished her presentation. "It's not a bad idea. It's just not the way we do things around
here."
Have you ever had an experience like the one Naomi encountered at F.W. Inc? Think about that experience as you
progress through this module.
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Read: Introduction to Culture
Key Points
A project manager must recognize and avoid misconceptions of culture
A project manager must be comfortable different levels of uniqueness
Today's global economy has led to the increased flow of labor across national boundaries, so today's project managers
may need to lead projects that are spread across the globe. In a true global corporation, the members of a team might be
from many different parts of the world. As the large, homogeneous domestic team becomes a thing of the past, project
managers must be more careful to attend to the national cultures of people on their teams.
In particular, project managers must avoid, in themselves and their team members, making certain assumptions about
their own cultures. The four principle assumptions are:
Homogeneity-"We are all the same…there is no difference among cultures."
Similarity--"Everyone is like me and thinks like me."
Parochialism-"Ours is the only way of doing things."
Ethnocentrism-"Ours is the best way of doing things."
The triangle below represents the levels of uniqueness project managers must be comfortable with if they are to
understand and manage dynamics in a global team. Read on for descriptions of each part of the triangle.
Personality consists of traits specific to an individual. These are often based on choices a person makes about how they
prefer to be and how they prefer to be seen in their environment. Personality is partly learned and partly inherited.
Culture is the set of beliefs, values, assumptions, and associated physical artifacts that are characteristic of a group and
have helped the group to survive in a hostile environment. We learn from interaction with others in our group.
Human nature is the set of universal characteristics that define us as a species. They are inherited; that is, they are
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genetically encoded in us and relate to our species' survival at an unconscious level.
*Triangle representation from Geert Hofstede. Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. (New York: McGraw-Hill,
1997), p. 6.
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Watch: Cultural Materialism
This representation of cultural materialism has been drawn from the work of Pasquale Gagliardi, "The Creation and
Change of Organizational Cultures: A Conceptual Framework," Organizational Studies 7:117-34, 1986), with useful
interpretative commentary by my colleague Michael Gaffney.
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Read: Cultures of Management
Key Points
Similar to national culture, organizational cultures influence individual behavior
Edgar Schein describes three work subcultures: the executives, the engineers, and the operators
Just as national cultures develop through a process of experimentation in the face of environmental challenges, so do
organizational cultures and the subcultures associated with groups of workers who share a set of common tasks. In his
1996 article, "Three Cultures of Management," Edgar Schein describes three work subcultures (or occupational cultures)
that exist in most organizations: the executives, the engineers, and the operators. Schein describes each group's
assumptions about the workplace and he explains that creating alignment among these three groups is the first step to
effective organizational learning. As you read the article, think about its relevance to interactions among members of a
diverse project team, or interactions among team members and those who are their functional managers or bosses in the
organization. What could you do to build bridges of understanding as these different work groups acted on their unique
perspective and assumptions?
Read the original article here.
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Watch: Exploring Functional Perspective
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Read: How Much Are You a Carrier of Your Culture?
Key Points
To a greater or lesser extent, all people carry culture that informs their views of themselves and the world around them
As a project manager, you need to be aware of your own cultural framework and the frameworks of the people on your
team
Over four years, Dr. Wayno traveled to Mexico to meet with four different groups of managers to conduct the
Contrast-American exercise. These are the actual responses given by managers to three of the questions asked in the
activity. What can you tell about Mexican culture based on the consistency of the answers given by the managers?
American
How is
time
defined?
Valued?
Group One
Group Two
Group Three
Future
Unlimited
Present- and
Present-oriented
anticipation
resource
past-oriented
Unlimited
Precise units
Orientation
We have
resource
Limited
toward
more time
resource
present or
than life
Linear
past
We don't
Polychronic
value time
Precision
relative to
issue
Where
does a
person's
identity
seem to
reside?
Within the
More
Family
Family
self and
dependent
Position
Relationships
personal
on material
Material
achievements
possessions
possessions
Defined by
your
character
Values
tradition and
what you
own
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How
important
are goals
in
planning?
Emphasize
Don't plan
We don't
More dreams
means,
plan
than planning
procedures,
Not as much
"We are
and
focus on
concerned...about
techniques
how we get
nothing."
to the goals
Reflecting on your own responses to these questions, how do you think the environment in which you were raised has
defined how you view the world? What cues in your environment shaped your perceptions? If your answers matched the
American responses but you are not from the United States, why do you think this might be? Do you generally consider
your culture to be highly "Americanized?"
A common misstep in team life is sitting down for your first meeting as project manager and suggesting that people need
to conform to the values of the team. But it is not that easy. To a greater or lesser extent, all people carry culture that
informs their views of themselves and the world around them. What may seem to you a minor shift in value might, in fact,
be driven by cultural differences that are far more deeply rooted. As a project manager, you need to be aware of your own
cultural framework and the frameworks of the people on your team. This will help you to communicate more effectively
and guide your team to the kind of performance or change you need.
E. Stewart. "Simulating Intercultural Communication Through Role-playing." In D. Hoopes and P. Ventura, eds.
Intercultural Sourcebook. (Chicago, IL: Society for Intercultural Education, Training, and Research, 1979).
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Read: The Global Corporation
Case Study F.W. Inc.
Today, Naomi heard from two members of her team about a situation that made her wonder if she needed to perform
some sort of intervention with her project.
First, Ted-one of F.W. Inc's software engineers on the MiniWidget 3000 project-came to the office to apologize for missing
a deadline. He said he was supposed to meet with Carla, the talented new software engineer F.W. Inc brought up from its
Peru branch to help finish the project. He scheduled a meeting with her for 9:30 this morning to review specifications with
her, but when he went to her office, he found she'd just left for another meeting; her administrative assistant did not know
when she'd be back. Frustrated, Ted came to your office to let you know that the deadline would not be met. He blamed
Carla's absence at this morning's meeting for the delay. He was livid, he said, that she would waste his time by making
him go all the way up to her office only to be in another meeting when he got there.
A few hours later, Carla came into your office. A half hour before her scheduled meeting with Ted, she explained, she was
called into a meeting with a colleague. When the meeting was still going on at 9:30, she figured Ted would wait. She was
back at her office by 9:45 but Ted had already gone. She is upset and suggests that Ted not waiting for her to get out of
her other appointment was disrespectful both to her and to the colleague with whom she was meeting.
How can Naomi explain what is happening? And what should she do?
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Watch: Silent Aspects of Culture
E.T. Hall and M.R. Hall, "Key Concepts: Underlying Structures of Culture," from "Understanding Cultural Differences,"
Intercultural Press, 1990, pp. 3-31.
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Read: Examples of Context Ratios
Key Points
When appropriate, think of behavioral differences in terms of cultural background
Monochronic systems: low-context communication
Polychronic systems: high-context communication
Think about the role of time in project management. Chances are, time drives a good deal of what you do. Your project is
constrained by what you need to build, the amount of money you can spend, and how much time you have to build it. You
might have to demonstrate the progress of your project relative to a specified timeline. You probably have a deadline by
which you must complete your project, perhaps a date the product you are creating must go to market.
Time
Consider, then, the implications of polychronic and monochronic systems for your role as a project manager. Something
as simple as keeping time commitments may seem trivial to you, but on a cross-cultural team, differences in approach to
time and time commitments may influence how you approach a project.
One of the biggest challenges for project managers on cross-cultural teams is making sure to think of these differences in
terms of culture instead of individual behavior. Asking a person to change behaviors that are based in cultural values will
probably be ineffective unless you put people in touch with the environmental need to meet time commitments.
Context
Let's consider another means of analyzing monochronic and polychronic cultural systems. Remember that monochronic
systems are characterized by low-context communication and polychronic systems are characterized by high-context
communication. Context is the information surrounding the content of the explicit message, and different cultures rely on
different combinations of context and specific message to derive meaning. In other words, to derive meaning a culture
leans more heavily either on information already stored (context) or on information being transmitted (message). The chart
below illustrates this concept.
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The context ratio is given by information stored:information transmitted. It is a relative measure of the degree to which a
culture relies more heavily on one or the other. A high context range might be between 7:3 and 9:1. Japan is an example
of a country with a high context ratio.
A moderately low context ratio is between 2:8 and 5:5. Americans are typically found in this range. A low context ratio is
anywhere from 1:9 to 3:7. Notice that there is an overlap between the low and the moderately low. Northern Europeans
generally fall somewhere in this range, with Scandinavian countries generally considered moderately low and Germany
and Switzerland counted among low-context countries. Another interesting note is that Japan-as stated-is a high-context
culture, but people there who regularly deal with foreigners have developed a high capacity for communicating in a
low-context function to meet the needs of their business.
Keep in mind the relevance of this conversation to work subcultures. Just as it is important to recognize the ways that
people from different countries communicate, it is important to understand and adapt to the context ratios of people from
different departments. So, for example, when two engineers communicate, they probably do so in a high-context fashion
because they both understand the systems, the objectives, and the lingo. When the same engineers communicate to their
marketing departments, they should recognize that for marketing to understand them, they need a more low-context
communication method.
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E.T. Hall and M.R. Hall, "Key Concepts: Underlying Structures of Culture," from "Understanding Cultural Differences,"
Intercultural Press, 1990, pp. 3-31.
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Read: Cultural Dimensions
Key Points
How does national culture influence corporate values?
Landmark 1970s study at IBM identified four dimensions
Geert Hofstede's research explores cultural differences, with a particular emphasis on how national culture influences
values in the workplace. In a monumental study* conducted in the late 1970s, Hofstede gained access to the employees
of technology giant IBM and was allowed to use its entire worldwide workforce of more than 250,000 as a research
sample. In many ways, IBM was the perfect candidate for a study exploring the impact of culture on workplace values. The
IBM of that time was a company with a distinct organizational culture and powerful socialization practices, and it worked
very hard to encourage employees in all parts of the world to conform to the corporate identity.
In the face of such a strong corporate identity, national cultural influences would have to be strong indeed to induce
variation across IBM workers located in different countries. Yet that is exactly what Hofstede found. His results indicated
that four dimensions of culture influenced employee values, each reflected in a statistical index that measured its strength
in a given country: power distance, individualism-collectivism, masculinity-femininity, and uncertainty avoidance. Though
Hofstede's findings reflect a somewhat antiquated, Western bias (as seen, for example, by the gender-bound label of
masculine-feminine dimensions), they nonetheless represent what is still considered one of the most referenced and
highly-regarded studies of national culture.
The power distance index (PDI) is the degree to which people in a culture expect and accept inequality in social
institutions.
High PDI PDI Low PDI PDI
Definition
Malaysia 104 Austria
Guatemala 95
Panama
Israel
11
13
95 Denmark 18
See full results
There should be an order of inequality in the world in which everyone has a rightful place; high and low are
protected by this order.
A few should be independent; most should be dependent.
Superiors consider subordinates as being of a different kind.
Societal
Subordinates consider superiors as being of a different kind.
Power is a basic fact of society that antedates good and evil.
Norms
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Power holders are entitled to privileges.
Powerful people should try to look as powerful as possible.
Stress should be placed on "coercive" and "referent" power.
Other people are a threat to one's power and rarely can be trusted.
Managers are seen as making decisions autocratically and paternalistically.
Subordinates positively value close supervision.
The perceived work ethic is weaker; people are seen as disliking work more frequently.
Workplace
Implications
Managers are more satisfied when their superiors are directive or persuasive.
Managers like seeing themselves as benevolent decision makers.
Employees fear disagreeing with their boss.
Employees are reluctant to trust each other.
Managers generally show less consideration.
Centralization is greater.
Consequences
Organization pyramids are taller.
There is a large proportion of supervisory personnel.
for
Wage differentials are large.
Organization
The lower strata have low qualifications.
White-collar jobs are valued more than blue-collar jobs.
This factor (the individualism index, or INDV) looks at how tight-or how loose-the bonds are between an individual
and society. Do people look after themselves, or do they expect key groups of which they are a part to take care
of them?
High INDV INDV Low INDV INDV
Definition
USA
91
Guatemala
6
Australia
90
Ecuador
8
Great Britain
89
Panama
11
See full results
In society, everyone is supposed to take care of himself or herself.
People have an "I" consciousness and are self-orientated.
Identity is based in the individual (as opposed to the social system).
Societal
Individuals are more emotionally independent from organizations or institutions.
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Norms
Everyone has the right to a private life and opinion (as opposed to a predetermined life, invaded by
organizations or institutions).
Value standards should apply to all; universalism.
Employees consider personal life very important.
Involvement with the company is calculative.
People attach more importance to freedom and challenge in jobs.
Workplace
Managers tend to aspire to leadership and variety (as opposed to conformity and orderliness).
Implications
Managers rate autonomy as more important than security.
Individual initiative is socially encouraged.
People are thought of in general terms; universalism (as opposed to particularism- seeing people in terms
of in-groups and out-groups, etc.).
Involvement of individuals with organizations is primarily calculative.
Consequences
Organizations are not expected to look after employees from the cradle to the grave.
Employees are expected to defend their own interests.
for
Policies and practices should allow for individual initiative.
Organization
Promotion tends to be more from both the inside and outside and is based upon market value.
Policies and practices apply to all equally.
Does the culture value achievement, assertiveness, and competitiveness? Or does it value nurturing and
sensitivity to relationships? Hofstede's masculinity index (MAS) assesses the degree to which concern for
achievement and competitiveness is a cultural value.
High MAS MAS Low MAS MAS
Definition
Japan
95
Sweden
5
Austria
79
Norway
8
Venezuela 73 Netherlands 14
See full results
People are money- and possession-oriented.
Performance and growth are important (as opposed to quality of life, etc.).
Societal
People should live to work (as opposed to work to live).
The ideal is independence (rather than interdependence).
Norms
Sex roles should be clearly differentiated.
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There is an ideal of machismo (ostentatious manliness).
Men should be assertive; women should be caring.
Earnings, recognition, advancement, and challenge are more important (as opposed to relationship with
manager, cooperation, security, friendly atmosphere, etc.).
Workplace
Work centrality is greater.
Implications
Company interference in private life is more accepted.
Job stress is higher.
There is more skepticism about the factors that lead to getting ahead.
Consequences
Young men expect to make a career; inability to do so is considered failure.
Organizational interests are considered a legitimate reason for interfering with private lives.
for
Women in more qualified jobs are considered assertive.
Organization
Job stress is high, and there is a tendency toward competitive conflict.
The uncertainty avoidance index (UAI) measures the extent to which people are threatened by the unknown and
seek to avoid ambiguity through laws, rules, and procedures.
High UAI UAI Low UAI UAI
Greece
Definition
112 Singapore 8
Portugal 104 Jamaica
13
Guatemala 101 Denmark 23
See full results
The uncertainty inherent in life is felt as a continuous threat that must be fought (as opposed to accepted).
Levels of anxiety and stress are higher.
People have an inner urge to work hard.
Aggressive behavior by oneself and others is accepted.
Societal Norms
Security in life is a concern.
Achievement is defined in terms of security.
Written rules and regulations are needed.
If we can't follow the rules, we are sinners and should repent.
Belief is placed in experts and their knowledge.
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There is more worry about the future, and higher job stress.
Emotional resistance to change is greater.
People tend to stay with the same employer (gerontocracy).
Loyalty to the employer is based on seniority.
Achievement motivation is lower.
Workplace
People fear failure (rather than hoping for success).
Implications
Levels of risk-taking are lower.
Managers must be experts in their fields.
Hierarchal structures of organizations should be clear and respected.
People prefer clear requirements and instructions (as opposed to broad guidelines).
Company rules should not be broken, even for pragmatic reasons.
Delegation is okay, but the initiative of subordinates should be kept under control.
Tolerance for ambiguity in perceiving others is lower.
Tolerance for ambiguity in looking at one's own job is lower.
Activities are more structured.
There are more written rules.
Organizations should be as uniform as possible (standardization).
Consequences
for
Organization
Managers are more involved in details.
Managers are more task-oriented and consistent in their style.
Managers are less willing to make individual and risky decisions.
Labor turnover is lower.
More power through control of uncertainty
There is more ritual behavior.
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Read: Culture and the Project Manager
Key Points
People's actions may be a result of their cultural background
Research shows clusters of countries behave in similar ways
Learn to predict patterns of behavior
If people from different cultures communicate and approach work in different ways, does that mean that the project
manager needs to be able to communicate and act in all cultural frames? Not necessarily. You do not have to be a
chameleon, but you do need to recognize that people's actions are a result of their culture, and you cannot reasonably
expect to change that. If that means you need to be more authoritative with certain people because they expect it of you
as a manager, then you are more authoritative with them. You can make similar observations about the other cultural
dimensions.
The effectiveness of your analysis is compounded if you analyze across multiple dimensions of culture. For example, the
graph here (developed by Hofstede, 1984) maps the uncertainty avoidance index against the power distance index for a
range of countries. What you start to see is the emergence of clusters of countries that behave in similar ways with
respect to these issues.
Look at the upper-left quadrant: small power distance and weak uncertainty avoidance. One cluster you see here includes
Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, and Great Britain. So you can start to make some generalizations about this group of Northern
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European countries, particularly about how they build organizations and behave in them. Hofstede describes
organizations in this part of the world as village markets. Similarly, look at the lower-left quadrant: small power distance
but strong uncertainty avoidance. This is a group of countries in which organizations are best characterized as a well-oiled
machine; in other words, these countries prefer to operate in a way that does not place undue emphasis on hierarchies
but allows for processes to be almost mechanical to avoid the possibility of the unknown. Look closely at the chart. What
other observations can you make?
For you as a project manager, what is most important is that you learn to predict patterns of behavior. Both Hofstede and
Hall provide an opportunity for you to analyze and predict behaviors-and to consider how those behaviors and attitudes
will be the same or different from your own. Once you know that, you may be able to alter your behavior to meet the needs
of the team, or help team members alter their behavior to meet the needs of other team members. Either way, being able
to thoughtfully analyze a team is key to helping you meet the demands of the project manager function.
Geert Hofstede. Culture's Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values. (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage
Publications, 1984).
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Activity: Analyze the Team, Part I
Naomi, the project manager for the group developing the new F.W. Inc. MicroWidget 3000, is aware that there are a
number of potential pitfalls on a team as diverse as hers. Naomi asks you to analyze her team and make
recommendations about the project management skills, behaviors and competencies she might need to exercise to make
sure that she is appropriately leveraging the diverse perspectives on her team.
Over the course of this four-part exercise, you will be asked to analyze the team for three potential sources of difference:
Culture (national and functional)
Personality
Learning style
As you complete each part of the exercise, use the results of your analysis to identify the problems that might arise on the
team then recommend a list of actions for Naomi.
To complete this activity:
Download the Course Project worksheet and save it. In this part of the project you will:
Review the functions and nationalities of the MicroWidget 3000 Project Members.
Briefly describe the differences in cultural dimensions that might exist on this team (in later parts of this project, you
will consider other sources of difference).
List any potential work subculture conflicts that might exist.
After completing Part One, save your work. You will return to this worksheet throughout the course, then submit it at the
end of the course.
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Module Introduction: Personality
A second dimension that might be a source of difference on your team is personality. Personality represents the way
people interpret the world around them. It is how a person tends to behave in a given situation. Different personality
preferences mean that people think and communicate in very different ways, and that they sometimes misinterpret the
thoughts and communications of others. In this module, learn to analyze personality for potential pitfalls and explore the
competencies needed to manage a team with diverse personalities.
People with different personality preferences respond to situations in very different ways. Learn your own personality
preferences and what that means for how you view the world. Consider what that means for the way you view-and are
viewed by-other members of your team.
If you have analyzed your team members' personality preferences, you should have an understanding of how each
individual tends to act. But what do you do with this information? In this module, learn to analyze the team as the sum of
its individual preferences and explore the competencies needed to overcome challenges related to differences in
personality.
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Activity: The Experiment
As you begin thinking about issues of personality, try the exercise below:
Step one
On a piece of paper, write the following information:
1. Your name
2. Your birthday
3. The country in which you live
4. Three words you would use to describe yourself
Step two
Now use your nondominant hand to rewrite the list you just wrote in step one
How did that feel?
Chances are, it felt awkward, almost alien. Through some combination of genetics aand social programming, you have a
preference for one hand over the other. Yet it is important to note that you could do the task with your non-preferred hand
-- it just took concentration, special effort and time.
Similarly, we develop an affinity for certain dimensions of human behavior, through the smae combination of genetics and
social programming. And when we meet somebody who behaves in a different way, it feels awkward, almost alien.
Typically, we think of personality as a person's unchangeable traits. In organizations, when an interpersonal problem can't
be explained or fixed, we often label it a "personality conflict". As you work through this module, however, try to move
away from seeing personality as unchanging and from assessing personality conflicts as inevitably mysterious.
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Activity: MBTI Assessment
Personality characteristics can be identified and categorized. One of the most frequently used instruments to assess
personality is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®). The MBTI is based on psychologist Carl Jung's theory of
psychological type. It was developed during World War II to help place women entering the workforce for the first time into
jobs that best fit them. Over time, the use of the instrument expanded until it is now one of the most popular personality
assessment tools available.
A number of organizations provide online versions of the MBTI assessment. For a nominal fee, SkillsOne™ of CPP, Inc.
offers a complete, 93-question, Form M, certified MBTI® assessment, and a comprehensive report identifying and
interpreting your four-letter type. SkillsOne™ also offers the opportunity to participate in an interactive feedback session to
verify your type. eCornell has no business affiliation with SkillsOne™ and there is no special pricing available to eCornell
students.
You may also choose one of the following free online adaptations of the Myers-Briggs Typology for a less comprehensive
approach to determining your four-letter type:
HumanMetrics offers a 72-question assessment to determine your type.
Personality Pathways offers a brief, 4-question, self-assessment to determine your type.
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Watch: Understanding Your MBTI
CPP (2007). Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Profile and Type Description. Peter B. Myers and Katharine D. Myers.
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Watch: Team Analysis
CPP (2007). Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Profile and Type Description. Peter B. Myers and Katharine D. Myers.
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Read: Understanding Perceptual Objectivity
Key Points
Perceptual Objectivity involves connecting with the worlds and the worldviews of others
Listening and empathy skills enhance Perceptual Objectivity development
One competency that is critical for dealing with personality differences in project teams is Perceptual Objectivity.
The Perceptual Objectivity competency involves the capacity to get in touch with the worlds and the worldviews of
others-to understand their thinking. The competency can be applied to two classes of situation: when your perspective
differs from that of another person, and when you discern the perspectives of others in a conflict that doesn't necessarily
involve you.
When you are objective, you stand outside your biases or prejudices and sense the world as another experiences it.
Perceptual Objectivity has to do with the senses and the way we "read" others. At a more basic level, it is also about how
well we listen-and hear.
This is an instrumental competency, which means that it enables you to support your subordinates more effectively,
address conflict issues at their heart, build a team with awareness of the members' diverse perspectives, and increase
your capacity for Accurate Self-Assessment, another competency in this model of high-performance leadership.
Listening and empathy skills enhance the competency's development. This competency is obviously interactive-we cannot
perceive others accurately without their concurrence. Perceptual Objectivity also involves the skill of self-transcendence,
the capacity to reach beyond your own immediate perceptual experiences into the larger world of others.
To demonstrate this competency, it is not enough just to state others' views. Competency requires substantial use in
one-on-one and group settings in which others confirm both the accuracy and the utility of the way we understand their
views and perspectives.
A person demonstrating this competency
Describes another person's point of view on an issue when it differs from his or her point of view
Accurately states the differing perspectives that each party in the conflict brings to the situation
Recognizes or explicitly regrets another person's loss of status or injured feelings resulting from actions taken for
the good of the organization
Boyatzis, R.E. (1982). The competent manager: a model for effective performance. New York: Wiley & Sons.
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Read: Building a Capacity for Perceptual Objectivity
Key Points
Acquiring the Perceptual Objectivity competency is a step-by-step process
Acquisition process follows steps from recognition to application
If Perceptual Objectivity is so critical to a project manager's efforts to deal with personality differences on a team, then
acquiring this competency is an important step for project leaders trying to increase the likelihood of project success.
The competency-acquisition process follows the pattern through which most people learn any behavior:
1. Recognition
In this stage, you come to identify a competency when you see it. Recall the behaviors associated with the Perceptual
Objectivity competency:
Describes another person's point of view on an issue when it differs from his or her point of view
Accurately states the differing perspectives each party brings to the conflict
Recognizes or explicitly regrets another person's loss of status or injured feelings resulting from actions taken for
the good of the organization
When you see these behaviors, you know you are witnessing Perceptual Objectivity in action.
2. Understanding
In this stage, you see how the competency works for managers. For Perceptual Objectivity, you come to understand how
its effective use in one-on-one and group settings helps managers to understand and communicate with their
subordinates.
3. Measurement
This is a stage of discovery, wherein you learn which competencies you have and which are as yet underdeveloped. This
requires a degree of accurate self-assessment. Ask yourself, "In group settings, do I truly exercise the three behaviors
associated with the Perceptual Objectivity competency?
4. Experimentation
In this stage, you try the competencies you have never attempted before.
5. Practice
In group settings, consciously practice putting the competencies to work for you when dealing with your superiors,
subordinates, and peers. As you enter each interaction, think about how you will employ each behavior.
6. Application
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As you consistently and appropriately apply the behaviors, you eventually find that you are competent to use them as part
of your daily duties.
Boyatzis, R.E. (1982). The competent manager: a model for effective performance. New York: Wiley & Sons.
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Activity: Analyze the Team, Part II
Return to your analysis of Naomi's project team. This time, use the personality-related information to assess potential
pitfalls on the team.
To complete this activity:
If you have not already done so, download the Course Project worksheet and save it. In this part of the project you will
respond to the following:
What are the strengths of this team?
What are the weaknesses of this team?
What dimensions might cause individuals to react poorly to each other?
What might the team's interactions look like as a result of these preferences?
Are you concerned that any team members might leave the team? If so, who?
After completing Part Two, save your work.
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Module Introduction: Learning Style
The final source of difference reviewed in this course is learning style. A common pitfall for project managers is developing
training and communications programs that fit their own needs and preferences, but that do not take into consideration the
needs and preferences of team members. In this module, use Kolb's learning model to analyze a team. Then create an
action plan for how you might manage a diverse team to successful completion of a project.
Effective project managers must be prepared to create an environment of growth and development for their project teams.
Often, this means that project managers are responsible for creating learning activities that meet the needs of all
employees. In this module, learn about the diverse needs of learner populations and review a model for analyzing team
member learning preferences.
Having analyzed the team for three sources of difference, learn the skills necessary to translate your analysis into effective
project management. In this module, explore competencies necessary to manage diverse teams.
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Read: Creating Useful Tools
Case Study F.W. Inc.
Naomi is a project manager for the global technology company F.W. Inc. Through her research, Naomi has concluded that
for her project group to function to its highest potential, she needs to ensure that they understand what a team is and how
it operates. She decides to hold a three-hour session during which she can make sure her group knows where it is headed
and how it gets there.
As Naomi plans the activities for the meeting, she thinks about the types of activities she would like to see included.
Having just graduated from college a few years earlier, Naomi knows she does not want to include any components in
which she lectures to the group; that, she thinks, would be boring. Instead, Naomi decides that the event will be a series of
problem-solving scenarios. The group will solve the problems and then analyze their processes, all while she reinforces
what it means to be a team.
When it's over, Naomi thinks the event is a success. Even though she was facilitating, she still learned a great deal about
group process and her own strengths and weaknesses. But to verify her results, Naomi sends out a survey to the other
participants.
The results surprise her. Some people didn't like the group problem solving exercises, while some felt that there was not
enough lecturing, so they never knew what they were supposed to be paying attention to. Others felt that Naomi's
reinforcement of key learning actually represented too much lecture! And although some participants gave her very high
marks, Naomi cannot help but wonder: how does she create activities that meet the needs of all learners?
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Read: Kolb's Learning Style Inventory
Key Points
Learning style is a source of of diversity
It has the potential to fragment a team
Learning style is a fundamental part of business and problem solving
The primary goal of this course is to help you to develop an appreciation for how diversity in its many forms can influence
project dynamics. Learning style, it turns out, is one of the more unexpected sources of diversity and has the potential to
fragment a team.
Project managers and the teams they lead are in the business of solving problems-overcoming the barriers confronted by
uncertainty and constraint to get something done. Learning is a fundamental part of that enterprise. When we confront a
difficult problem we are asked to delve into something we may not have seen before: to understand what the elements of
the issue might be, to explore how those elements might interact, and to identify acceptable solutions. Often both the
project manager and her team members must stretch themselves and learn new things to accomplish their goal.
Project managers must therefore learn, on the one hand, how to create a developmental climate in their unit; and, on the
other hand, to recognize how different learning preferences can bias the problem-solving behavior of a group.
Understanding the various ways adults may prefer to learn and having a clear appreciation of one's own learning
inclinations are crucial to building these capacities.
One of the most frequently used instruments to assess learning preferences is the Learning Styles Inventory® (LSI®). The
LSI is based on the work of social psychologist David Kolb, who developed a four element model to explain the process by
which adults prefer to learn.
For a nominal fee, the Hay Group offers a fully online, single-use version of the inventory. It is not required for this course;
you may find that this assessment is a helpful way to understand and manage your own learning preferences and those of
your team.
The Hay Group (2007). Kolb Learning Style Inventory: LSI Workbook. David A. Kolb, Experience Based Learning
Systems.
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Watch: Understanding Kolb's Modalities
The Hay Group (2007). Kolb Learning Style Inventory: LSI Workbook. David A. Kolb, Experience Based Learning
Systems.
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Read: Overcoming Difference
Key Points
There is no universal learning style
Each learning style can contribute to the problem-solving process
As with culture and preference, you cannot force members of your team to change their learning style to meet your
programs. Instead, you will need to recognize that there is no single universal learning style; when you approach a new
topic in a way that makes some people comfortable, others may inevitably be uncomfortable. The best you can do is try to
build into your training design a number of different approaches to learning and assess when training participants will need
additional support to reinforce learning activities that didn't bring them much value. And, of course, try to develop a picture
of the learning preferences of your team and accommodate to those preferences when designing future learning
experiences or when engaging the team in activities that are impacted by learning style.
The problem-solving process is one example of a time where you might be able to mold a process to fit the needs of your
diverse group. Typically, problem-solving begins in a definition phase; we need some framework or goal to help us
determine if a problem to be solved really exists. In other words, we need to explore data points for cues that something is
working less effectively than it should, and then we know there is a problem. Divergers, it turns out really enjoy the
process of looking at the world from multiple perspectives to see where the problems actually are.
When you have identified the problem, you typically start to analyze it. Try to identify the options; perhaps you hold a
brainstorming session. Assimilators typically enjoy generating alternatives, and understanding those alternatives in
exhaustive detail. Once you have a vetted list, you pick solutions and try them. Here, you need someone who can get you
away from analysis and the hypothetical world and into trying and evaluating. In general, Convergers-a group with a
strong urgency to act-are good at moving us to this phase. To put a solution into action, you may need to tweak it slightly
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before final implementation. This is an activity well suited to Accommodators. Accommodators are very practical and will
help you to modify new frameworks to fit the needs of the real-world data. All it takes is a structured process that allows
each learning preference to be honored, but does not allow any to dominate.
The illustration* here demonstrates how you can leverage your team's diverse strategies for processing information to help
you solve problems.
*The Hay Group (2007). Kolb Learning Style Inventory: LSI Workbook. David A. Kolb, Experience Based Learning
Systems.
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43
Activity: Analyze the Team, Part III
Return to your analysis of Naomi's project team. This time, use the learning-style-related information to assess potential
pitfalls on the team.
To complete this activity:
If you have not already done so, download the Course Project worksheet and save it. In this part of the project you will
respond to the following:
Review the Learning Style Preferences column of your Project Member Profiles chart to determine the preferred learning
style of each team member. What do these styles suggest about the types of activities that people will enjoy? What are
some activities that Naomi could create to meet the needs of her diverse team?
After completing Part Three, save your work.
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44
Read: Understanding Logical Thought
Key Points
Logical Thought: discerning, establishing, interpreting causality between or among elements
Logical Thought must be used in a publicly discernible way in a problem-solving context
Think about Naomi's project. Throughout this course, you have used three different lenses through which to assess the
potential sources of team difference. You looked at culture and assessed the team from both a national culture and work
sub-culture point of view. You looked at individual personalities and used the MBTI framework to assess the strengths and
weaknesses of the team. Finally, you looked at learning styles and assessed how the degree to which project members
process information differently might lead to further disconnects on the team.
Now, Naomi must use your analysis to make decisions about how to proceed with the project. What managerial
competencies must Naomi possess and what skills must she exhibit in order to deal with the effects of difference in her
project? How would these competencies be employed by Naomi to either overcome such issues as might arise or prevent
them from ever occurring?
It is important that you recognize your role as project manager is not to attempt to limit the existence of difference. On the
contrary, leveraging difference makes it possible for you to take advantage of a team's collective intelligence. The
challenge is in understanding the potential disconnects that occur as a result of difference, analyzing a team for these
differentiating factors, and preparing yourself and your team to respond appropriately.
Leaders who are able to analyze their teams and to display their logical processes to others have developed a capacity for
the Logical Thought competency. (Well, it may mean that they have showed logical analytical ability, but it doesn't
necessarily mean they have displayed the competency Logical Thought…that is when we literally show the logical
processes of our mind to others.)
Logical Thought involves discerning, establishing, and interpreting the causality between or among elements in an
organizational or managerial situation. One who uses this competency discerns causal links and draws meaning from
them. Often the "if…then" formula is used to relate various elements.
Managers very often use this competency in an internal way to announce the final "then" without indicating the preceding
"ifs" and "thens." Thus, other participants are denied access to the manager's logic and they have no way of judging the
adequacy of the conclusion's warrants.
Initial development stages of the competency involve discerning of causal links-often an internal process and frequently
understood only after the fact of the meeting. As the competency is more fully developed, the manager says it out loud in
a group setting, thereby testing the adequacy of one's causal analytic skills.
You can also use logical thought to clarify meaning across differences in experience or personality. For example, Intuitives
often comment about the world in a very conceptual way. But to a Sensor, who may not see how the various sensate
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elements in a situation come together to create the Intuitives' reality, nothing makes sense. Thus, Intutitives should use
Logical Thought to explain their insights. This isn't always easy, because Intuition is often unconscious, but Intuitives
looking to encourage a culture of understanding should try to exercise this competency.
To be effective, the competency must be used in a publicly discernible way in a problem-solving context.
A person demonstrating competency for Logical Thought:
Describes the cause-and effect relationships in a series of events;
Lists a series of actions or events in an order that reflects causality (i.e., each leading to the next). The causality in
a series of events may be explained either through an ordering of past events that have resulted in a current
condition or through the use of a framework for ordering future events that will result in a specific outcome.
Boyatzis, R.E. (1982). The competent manager: a model for effective performance. New York: Wiley & Sons.
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46
Read: Building a Capacity for Logical Thought
Key Points
This is the same step-by-step process seen previously
Acquiring the Logical Thought competency is critical for leaders
The competency-acquisition process follows a pattern by which most people learn any behavior:
1. Recognition:
In this stage, you come to identify a competency when you see it. Recall the behaviors associated with the Logical
Thought competency:
Describes the cause-and effect relationships in a series of events;
Lists a series of actions or events in an order that reflects causality (i.e., each leading to the next). The causality in
a series of events may be explained either through an ordering of past events that have resulted in a current
condition or through the use of a framework for ordering future events that will result in a specific outcome.
When you see these behaviors, you will know you are witnessing Logical Thought in action.
2. Understanding:
In this stage, you see how the competency works for managers. For Logical Thought, you come to understand its value as
a visible link between a manager's ability to assess a situation and her ability to identify themes and make effective
decisions. In doing this, you contextualize Logical Thought as you see it, and you understand why and how it is so
valuable.
3. Measure:
This is a stage of discovery, wherein you discover which competencies you have, and which are as yet underdeveloped.
For Logical Thought, you may also ask if you exhibit the behaviors of linked competencies: Diagnostic Use of Concepts
(deductive reasoning) and Conceptualization (inductive analysis). The behaviors associated with these competencies are:
Diagnostic Use of Concepts
Explains events, observations, or information through the use of a concept, framework, or theory that the person
held prior to encountering the event, observation, or information
Uses explicit framework or theory to distinguish relevant from irrelevant information in the situation
Explains or interprets an event, person or case in terms of how the specific aspects of the present instance differ
from, or are similar to, the way another event, person or case has transpired in the past or the way it would ideally
occur
Uses frameworks or theories about political relationships among people and organizations to interpret experiences
and observations
Conceptualization:
Identifies a recurrent pattern in events or information and derives some meaning from the pattern
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Uses a new concept-not held prior to exposure to the information-to differentiate a problem, issue or idea into its
components
Describes a set of events or facts of a representative metaphor or analogy
States a single concept, different from one previously used, to describe a relationship among a set of events or
pieces of information
4. Experimentation:
The fourth stage of the process is experimentation. Here, you try the competencies you have never tried before.
5. Practice:
In group settings, consciously practice putting the competencies to work for you when dealing with your superiors,
subordinates, and peers. As you enter each interaction, think about how you will employ each behavior.
6. Apply:
As you consistently and appropriately apply the behaviors, you eventually find that you are competent to act on the
behaviors as part of your daily duties.
Boyatzis, R.E. (1982). The competent manager: a model for effective performance. New York: Wiley & Sons.
Copyright © 2012 eCornell. All rights reserved. All other copyrights, trademarks, trade names, and logos are the sole property of their respective owners.
48
Activity: Analyze the Team, Part IV
Return to your analysis of Naomi's project team. This time, you will make a recommendation for Naomi.
To complete this activity:
If you have not already done so, download the Course Project worksheet and save it. In this part of the project you will
respond to the following:
Throughout this course project, you have speculated about the issues that might arise in Naomi's team. Now, define a
plan of action that you would recommend Naomi take to forestall potential difficulties. What competencies will she need
and what behaviors should she exhibit?
After completing Part Four, save your work.
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Listen: Thank You and Farewell
Hi. This is Frank Wayno again. I'd like to thank you for taking this course. I hope I've helped you to better appreciate the
importance of assessing your team for potential disconnects caused by difference.
Diversity on a team is essential. You need to have differences of opinion, of culture, or personality, of style so that you can
leverage a project's collective intelligence to make your team as effective and productive as possible. But those
differences can also manifest themselves in ways that are hazardous to your project's success, and that is why you must
always analyze and respond to potential disconnects caused by difference.
I hope to see you again in one of our follow-on courses that continue our exploration of the skills needed for project
leadership success.
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Stay Connected
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Supplemental Reading List
To learn more about the concepts presented in this course, you may want to consult, on your own, the following supplemental
resources:
"The competent manager: a model for effective performance." (1982) - Boyatzis, R.E.
New York: Wiley & Sons.
"Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Profile and Type Description." (2007) - CPP
Peter B. Myers and Katharine D. Myers.
"Key Concepts: Underlying Structures of Culture," from "Understanding Cultural Differences," - E.T. Hall and M.R.
Hall
Intercultural Press, 1990, pp. 3-31.
"Group Dynamics." (1999) - Forsyth, D.R.
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
"Kolb Learning Style Inventory: LSI Workbook." (2007) - The Hay Group
David A. Kolb, Experience Based Learning Systems.
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