Assign project phases to genius-matched people

Route early ideation to Wonder/Invention geniuses and execution phases to Tenacity geniuses.

Why it works

The six activities cluster naturally into three phases of work: ideation (Wonder, Invention), activation (Discernment, Galvanizing), and implementation (Enablement, Tenacity). Assigning people to phases where their genius lives reduces energy cost, increases quality, and makes handoffs explicit — the transition from one phase to the next is where teams most often stall.

How to do it

1. Map your current project’s major phases: what activities does each phase require?
2. Identify who on the team has genius in those activities and make the assignment explicit.
3. Design handoff moments: who signals that ideation is done and activation begins?

Evidence

Phase-appropriate leadership is consistent with situational leadership research and with studies showing that person–task fit improves both performance and job satisfaction. The specific genius labels are Lencioni’s framing. (mechanistic)

Phase-based assignment is a practical heuristic; team members often need to work across phases regardless of genius, so the model should guide design, not rigidly dictate it.

Common mistake

Keeping project phases implicit so that a Tenacity genius is pulled into early brainstorming they find painful, or an Invention genius is expected to finish work they lose interest in.