Landscape Management, March 2010

WHITSWORLD MARTY WHITFORD EDITOR IN CHIEF Do you have multiple personalities I n 2004 archaeologists digging in Israel unearthed the earliest evidence to date of the controlled use of fi re charred wood and seeds at a site dating back 790000 years At least one academic believes this pivotal use of fi re originated in part thanks to the proliferation of multiple personalities I believe fi re was discovered by a group of extroverts cavemen sitting in a group loudly banging rocks together said Dr Brian Little a psychology professor during his keynote speech at the Golf Industry Show in San Diego Feb 10 After the extroverts discovered fi re however I believe it was the introverts who one by one quietly kept the fi re going Little a Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus at Carleton University in Ottawa Ontario Canada kicked off his address with a 10 question personality quiz Green Industry professionals were asked to rate themselves on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest score for each question To give you an overall sense of the pop quiz and Littles wit one question was Are you a fast paced person If youre still thinking about this one go ahead and give yourself a low score I scored a 64 out of 100 Go fi gure Im an extrovert I scored well under 100 because sometimes I fl ex beyond my biological wiring according to Little LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET MARCH 2010 68 Contact Marty at 216 706 3766 or via email mwhitford@ questex com We desperately need both introverts and extroverts within our organizations Its a matter of survival not just success Mankind would be extinct without such diverse personalities DR BRIAN LITTLE Based on certain cultural settings and projects Im committed to I exhibit introverted tendencies sometimes This is just a baseline quiz dont tell people your scores Little said in a surprisingly serious tone Uh oh too late I thought to myself Then after a fi ve second pause Little chuckled and said Just kidding We all know the extroverts immediately shared their scores with the introverts seated beside them while the introverts havent even disclosed their scores to themselves Find the right mix When hiring and developing people and forming internal teams remember You cant always judge a book by its cover Little who has delivered more than 700 keynote speeches is a self admitted closet introvert A few introvert versus extrovert generalities according to the psych professor include Introverts are marathoners extroverts are sprinters An extrovert might say Im the fastest brain surgeon in the country What more do you want And the extrovert might not think for a minute that his rushing might be the problem Little said When extroverts say I need a cup of coffee they arent kidding A little caffeine really helps extroverts kick it into gear Little said On the other hand coffee can hinder the performance of introverts particularly if theyre tackling quantitative timed tasks Extroverts learn better in engaging humorous hands on group settings Introverts meanwhile fi nd those types of environments stifl ing and prefer more traditional classroom type training You can almost hear the introverts whispering to themselves in kindergarten I can sit as still as a statue na na na na na na And Im gonna be an accountant Little said We desperately need both introverts and extroverts within our organizations Little said Its a matter of survival not just success Mankind would be extinct without such diverse personalities The key is getting everyone to accept their inherent personality differences and then taking full advantage of your organizations multiple personalities