“The only major personality trait that consistently leads to success is conscientiousness.” via Business Insider
In large companies personality tests and similar instruments are often deployed to provide people with better insight into their own and team performance.
Over the years I have participated in many of these – for example, Myers Briggs, DISC, Belbin Team Roles, Hermann Brain Dominance, 16PF, Big Five Inventory, etc.
Many people debate the efficacy of any or all of these instruments. However, the primary importance of these kind of instruments is the opportunity they provide for people to reflect upon their personal and work preferences. They also provide an opportunity for people to consider how best to participate in teams and to collaborate with others in a work context. These personal reflections and insights are the true value of these personality profile tools in the workplace.
Startups rarely have the luxury of investing time or money into administering these kind of instruments for their teams. This means that personal traits and interpersonal skills are not explicitly considered as part of the setup of a startup.
For co-founders and investors due diligence on the business is typically about the ‘hard’ data – budgets, sales targets, capital – rather than on ‘soft’ skills of the startup team.
Success, focus, and startups
In recent times I have been pondering how to assess the soft skills of startup teams. The one trait that keeps coming up is conscientiousness.
In the long run, brilliance and inventiveness are less important than the ability to focus and persist in the everyday tasks that accrete to make a successful business.
As Thomas Edison said:
“Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety nine percent perspiration.
Related research on the Big Five
