Personality and forward-thinking: Beyond now

The events of the last few months have created a world filled with uncertainty for all of us. Many are working from home. For some, this now means trying to focus in a crowded house while caring for children. Others are working more hours, performing essential functions, adopting new daily routines, and trying to stay safe.

Adjusting to our new lives necessitates a focus on the "here and now." As we continue to adapt, a next step involves thinking about the future. What are areas that we can control? How can we ease upcoming transitions as life shifts again?

Here's some good news: understanding your personality can help you move forward. Here, I'll discuss the role of two key personality dimensions: Openness and Extraversion. During a time when we need to "pivot" frequently, using insights from personality psychology can decrease the time needed to adjust again, and increase the likelihood of personal success.

Forward-thinking

The extent to which we feel comfortable with forward-thinking is influenced by our personality. In particular, the dimensions of Openness and Extraversion have an impact on the approach we might take. Openness is about how we tackle problems and challenges, and how receptive we are to new information and approaches. Extraversion deals with how we tend to go about engaging with others and how comfortable we are in potentially risky situations.

Openness

People who are higher in Openness tend to see infinite possibilities and love to explore them. They are more likely to spend time thinking through many different future actions, and what the impact of those actions might be. They enjoy anticipating and facing new challenges, developing new processes, and trying out different ways of solving problems.

Those lower in Openness tend to be more comfortable facing challenges they have encountered before, and using tried-and-tested methods of problem-solving. These different mindsets suggest different approaches to forward-thinking.

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If you're higher in Openness, focus on brainstorming and idea generation:

• Use your ability to see the big picture. Look several months ahead and anticipate needs.
• Brainstorm ideas for different parts of the business where you can refocus and repurpose resources.
• Consider the pros and cons of broadening the footprint (scope) of the business.
• Anticipate challenges, and opportunities, that might arise as client businesses come back online and how to prepare for these.

If you're lower in Openness, focus on process and follow-through:

• Make sure your company isn't missing any steps they should be taking now.
• Consider existing processes and whether or not they will need to be adapted as businesses come back online. Is there a better way?
• When and as needed, document new processes and create training documents.
• Work with your high Openness colleagues to help them implement their ideas.

Extraversion

People who are higher in Extraversion tend to be energized by socializing in large groups, and are often sensation seekers. You might find them planning outings to go-kart racing or testing new technology. They love taking the lead in conversations.

Those lower in Extraversion tend to be great listeners, to be more focused and reflective, and to contribute to conversations only when they feel they have something useful to say — not simply to fill space.

If you're higher in Extraversion, focus on outreach and building connections:

• Use your enthusiasm to engage coworkers in future-oriented conversations.
• Increase the frequency of one-to-one conversations with others on your team to stimulate idea generation and creativity.
• Explore cutting edge solutions that you might not otherwise have had time to consider.
• Build connections with other players in your industry and find out what challenges they are anticipating.

If you're lower in Extraversion, focus on depth of process and planning ahead:

• Listen carefully to new ideas from your team and pursue the ones that seem promising.
• Use any extra time to look back through your notes and revive ideas for organizational growth and development.
• Get ahead on any training, performance reviews, and documentation due over the next couple of months.
• Generate do-able ideas for how to fortify your business that can be implemented to minimize the impact of future challenges.

Maybe you're higher in Openness and lower in Extraversion, with the ability to soak in everyone's ideas and provide a big picture solution. Maybe it's vice versa. Drawing on your expertise gained from tried-and-true methods, you can engage your teammates in brainstorming sessions to adapt or reuse them in new ways. Or maybe you're somewhere in-between. No matter what your personality, you can use your strengths to look beyond now and into a better future.

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To learn how to develop a team with complementary personalities for future success, connect with Traitify.