The Six Types of Working Genius: A Practical Guide

What It Is

The Six Types of Working Genius is a framework by Patrick Lencioni and The Table Group. It identifies six types of work that every team needs, and shows which types energize each person. The six geniuses are:

• Genius of Wonder: the ability to ponder the possibility of greater potential and opportunity.
• Genius of Invention: the ability to create original and novel ideas and solutions.
• Genius of Discernment: the ability to intuitively assess and judge ideas and situations.
• Genius of Galvanizing: the ability to rally, inspire, and organize people to take action.
• Genius of Enablement: the ability to provide support and encouragement to help people succeed.
• Genius of Tenacity: the ability to push things across the finish line to completion.

Note that these six map to three phases of work: Ideation (Wonder + Invention), Activation (Discernment + Galvanizing), and Implementation (Enablement + Tenacity).

Why It Matters

When people spend most of their time in their areas of genius, they are energized and productive. When they spend too much time in their areas of frustration (the opposite of their geniuses), they burn out, disengage, and eventually leave.

Most team dysfunction is not a personality conflict. It is a genius mismatch. The right person in the wrong role looks like a performance problem but is actually a placement problem.

How to Use It

Practical steps:

• Have each team member take the assessment ($25 per person through The Table Group).
• Map the results: who has which geniuses, and where are the gaps?
• Redesign roles and meetings around natural genius alignment.
• Reframe frustration: when someone resists a task, it may be a genius mismatch, not a character flaw.
• Review periodically as roles and teams evolve.

AI + Human Process: The Working Genius Job Analyzer

This is where 10X Solutions adds something unique. Jay built a custom AI tool (originally as a GPT within ChatGPT) that:

• Takes any job description and breaks it into individual tasks.
• Maps each task against the Six Types of Working Genius.
• Identifies which geniuses the role requires vs. which it actually rewards.
• Recommends how to rewrite the job description to attract someone whose natural geniuses align with the work.
• Generates behavioral interview questions tailored to the geniuses the role needs most.

This is a winning formula within the right culture: align people to work they will excel in, use AI to improve the hiring process, and watch engagement and retention improve.