No, this post isn’t about your curves and it’s not a love language thing either (although we love that philosophy, too!) it’s more about how you come to the world as described by a shape. In the simplest form, it’s you, your personality traits, and how you show up and communicate with those around you.
We love sharing this exercise with teams because it’s short and sweet and really gets to the guts of how to best communicate with those around you – your team, boss, friends, and even spouses – especially, spouses!
With this exercise comes a lot of ‘ah-ha’ moments and lightbulbs. There’s also a lot of giggles from those diamonds and arm crossing from the squares. But, when you start to understand why Peggy in Accounting replies with one-word answers in her emails, or why John sends those lengthy emails going on and on until your eyeballs and brain completely shut off, only then will you begin to better understand yourself and those around you and communicate effectively in a way that fosters connection, openness, and trust. So, let’s dive in and figure out what shape you lean towards …
General Characteristics of a SQUARE:
Detail-oriented
Dependable and responsible
Work hard
Organized–hate clutter
Love data, numbers, policies and procedures
Analytical
Can be stubborn
Hesitant to change
Logical
Expressing emotion may be difficult
Best when working alone rather than on a team
Frugal
See fun as a luxury
General Characteristics of a TRIANGLE:
Bottom line
Hate to lose even more than they love to win
Extremely confident
Love to debate and argue
Outspoken
Can be sarcastic
Smart–know a little about everything
Like to be in charge
Love to multi-task
Rarely apologize
Successful
Impatient
Self-motivated
General Characteristics of a CIRCLE:
Love to have fun and laugh
Thrive on teams
Take things personally
Empathetic and compassionate
Great storytellers (often exaggerates the story to make it sound better)
Want to “fix” everyone else
May give silent treatment when they feel hurt or angry
Struggle setting boundaries
Talk too much
Hate conflict and confrontation
Often feel guilty and responsible for others
Overcommit–can’t say no
General Characteristics of a DIAMOND:
Like to be around fun people
Adapt easily to change
Super energetic
Love to try new things
Get bored easily
Shoot from the hip—don’t always research first
Idea generators
Not as organized as they should be
Speak before they think
Don’t like to be told what to do
Counterintuitive
Like attention
So, which are you? What newfound insights do you have? Does it make more sense when you diamonds word-vomit all over the room and square Shauna begins a lengthy interrogation with 10 reasons why that won’t work right out the gate? I hope so. I also hope you now know, it’s not an attack, there’s nothing personal about the one-word emails or the 10,000 ideas, it’s just what makes us each unique – and we need all shapes in an organization to be successful. Next time you feel prickly about a communication, get curious with yourself and refer to this exercise – they're probably just a different shape – and that’s A-Okay!