Joe Schmoe's Results

Where This Fits

Clarity is an APPROACH value, which focuses on the importance of understanding exactly what is expected and how success is defined. If you score high in clarity, you likely thrive in environments with well-outlined roles, structured processes, and specific feedback loops. In the workplace, clear expectations help streamline tasks, reduce uncertainty, and allow people to focus on honing their skills and becoming highly competent. This clarity not only boosts confidence and productivity but also helps align personal goals with organizational expectations.

What You’re Seeking

When clarity is a top value, you’re looking for a work environment that offers well-defined expectations and regular feedback. This type of setting enables you to feel secure and effective, knowing exactly what’s required to succeed. A clear understanding of what defines success allows you to work toward mastery in your role, rather than wasting energy on guessing what might be needed. Clarity also helps you manage your time more effectively, allowing you to prioritize your efforts around specific objectives.

Clarity complements values like Autonomy (clear goals that you can then independently work toward), Purpose (clear connection between what you do and why it matters), and Predictability (stability through defined routines and roles). Together, these values enable you to achieve a sense of competence and control in your work.

Crafting Your Position

Bring more clarity into your role by aligning expectations and feedback with your strengths.

1. Seek Out Defined Goals and Metrics: Meet with your manager to identify and agree upon specific objectives and metrics. Ask for measurable indicators of success that you can work toward consistently.
2. Use Project Plans to Increase Transparency: When starting a new project, create a clear plan with steps, deadlines, and success metrics. Share this with key stakeholders to ensure you’re all aligned from the outset.
3. Request Regular Check-Ins for Feedback: Schedule regular (e.g., weekly or biweekly) feedback sessions with your manager. This allows you to verify you’re on track and correct course if needed, while also highlighting your progress.
4. Build a Routine for Your Key Responsibilities: Develop structured routines for your main tasks. Clear routines can help increase productivity by reducing decision fatigue and ensuring consistency in your work quality.
5. Document Best Practices and Successes: Keep a record of your achievements, particularly in areas where you’ve achieved clear wins. This helps reinforce your understanding of what works and builds confidence in your role.
6. Align on Career Development Goals: If there’s an area of expertise you’d like to develop, work with your manager to set clear steps and timelines for progress in that area, so you’re always growing toward a defined goal.

Potential Pitfalls & Solutions

Use structure to prevent clarity from becoming restrictive or overwhelming.

1. Pitfall: Feeling Stifled by Overly Rigid Processes
   Solution: Identify where flexibility is possible, such as suggesting minor adjustments in your workflow. Discuss with your manager how a slightly adapted process could still meet the same clear outcomes without feeling too confining.
2. Pitfall: Struggling with Ambiguity When It Inevitably Arises
   Solution: When unclear tasks come your way, request context and examples. If the goal remains undefined, propose a clear approach you can follow. This can help reduce stress while awaiting additional guidance.
3. Pitfall: Potential Frustration with Others Who Operate More Flexibly
   Solution: Recognize that not everyone has clarity as a top value. When working with colleagues who are less structured, set expectations within your sphere of influence and communicate your needs, without imposing rigid demands on others.
4. Pitfall: Losing Sight of the Bigger Picture
   Solution: Periodically revisit the larger goals of your team or department to ensure your work aligns with broader objectives. Sometimes, clarity in day-to-day tasks can lead to a loss of perspective on long-term goals, so set reminders to revisit your work’s overall purpose.

Building clarity in your role will allow you to excel by knowing exactly where to focus your energy and how to continuously improve. Through regular alignment, feedback, and personal routines, you can optimize your performance and confidence in a way that aligns with your values.

Where This Fits

Sociability is an ENVIRONMENT value, emphasizing the importance of positive interpersonal connections in the workplace. For people who prioritize sociability, having strong, friendly relationships with colleagues, clients, or other stakeholders is a major source of job satisfaction. Working in a supportive, collaborative, and welcoming environment is essential for those who value sociability, as it fosters a sense of belonging and engagement. Since work relationships significantly influence your experience, a culture that aligns with your personality and communication style can be key to your success and happiness.

What You’re Seeking

With sociability high on your list, you’re likely looking for an environment with a collaborative and friendly team, where people enjoy working together and are open to forming genuine connections. This may mean seeking companies that prioritize team-building, have social events, or offer open workspaces that encourage interaction. You may find fulfillment in roles that involve teamwork, networking, and regular engagement with others, as these types of interactions provide the interpersonal connections you seek.

Sociability pairs well with values like Collaboration (working closely with others), Excitement (thriving in an energetic environment), and Flexibility (creating space for social engagement throughout the day). Together, these values contribute to a work setting that feels socially enriching, collaborative, and motivating.

Crafting Your Position

Foster a sociable work environment by encouraging interactions and building meaningful connections.

1. Join or Start Team-Building Activities: Volunteer to organize or participate in team-building events, social hours, or lunches. These activities foster a sense of community and strengthen interpersonal bonds.
2. Create Opportunities for Informal Interactions: Suggest casual meetups like coffee chats, “lunch-and-learn” sessions, or virtual gatherings if you’re remote. These informal interactions create natural connections and make the workplace feel friendlier.
3. Be Proactive in Offering Help or Mentorship: Reach out to colleagues who might need support or guidance, whether formally or informally. Helping others creates a culture of openness and makes you a valuable social asset to the team.
4. Set Up Regular One-on-Ones with Colleagues: If possible, arrange regular check-ins with key team members to touch base and strengthen your working relationships. These conversations allow for relationship-building while also helping you stay aligned with your team’s goals.
5. Celebrate Team Achievements and Milestones: Recognize birthdays, work anniversaries, or team wins, either with personal notes or small team celebrations. Acknowledging these moments adds a personal touch to the work environment and brings people together.
6. Engage in Cross-Departmental Projects: Work on projects that involve collaboration with other teams or departments. These projects introduce you to more colleagues and expand your social network within the organization.

Potential Pitfalls & Solutions

Balance sociability with productivity and respect for diverse work styles.

1. Pitfall: Risk of Over-Socializing at the Expense of Productivity
   Solution: Set dedicated time blocks for social interactions and use tools like shared calendars to organize work time and social breaks. This balance helps you stay engaged without impacting productivity.
2. Pitfall: Discomfort with Remote or Less Social Work Settings
   Solution: In remote settings, foster connections through virtual coffee chats, team messaging channels, and video calls. Use available platforms to maintain regular social contact with colleagues and compensate for the lack of physical proximity.
3. Pitfall: Difficulty Fitting into Less Collaborative Work Cultures
   Solution: Focus on building individual relationships with open-minded colleagues. Even in less social environments, finding a few allies or like-minded coworkers can make the workplace feel more connected and supportive.
4. Pitfall: Sensitivity to Workplace Conflicts or Tension
   Solution: Approach conflicts with a solutions-oriented mindset and encourage open, respectful communication. If tensions arise, advocate for mediation or constructive feedback to maintain harmony without becoming overly affected by workplace dynamics.

By cultivating a sociable work environment and creating opportunities to connect with others, you can make work feel meaningful and fulfilling. These approaches will enable you to bring out the best in both your own performance and that of your team, fostering a supportive and engaging workplace culture.

Where This Fits

Autonomy is an APPROACH value, centered around how you prefer to work. People who value autonomy tend to thrive when they have control over their tasks and the flexibility to achieve outcomes in their own way. This is an essential work value, as it greatly influences job satisfaction, motivation, and a sense of ownership over one's work. Autonomy varies in degrees and forms: some roles are highly autonomous by nature, while others require adjustments and discussions with managers to achieve greater freedom. Fostering autonomy can build motivation and a stronger personal connection to one’s work.

What You’re Seeking

If autonomy ranks high for you, you’re likely to feel most fulfilled when you have control over your work processes and the freedom to decide how to achieve your goals. This often means preferring environments with minimal micromanagement and a clear, outcome-focused measurement of success. High autonomy doesn’t mean you need to work alone; even collaborative roles can allow for self-directed work within a team.

Autonomy also pairs well with values like Purpose (choosing how to contribute to meaningful work), Flexibility(working when and where you work best), and Specialization (taking ownership of your expertise). In practice, seeking autonomy might mean creating processes to minimize frequent check-ins or suggesting productivity measures that emphasize results over rigid procedures.

Crafting Your Position

Increase your autonomy by building trust and showing reliable outcomes.

1. Clarify Expectations with Your Manager: In a 1:1 meeting, discuss how to best meet and measure success on your projects. Aim to establish check-in intervals that allow you the space to work independently between reviews.
2. Propose Flexible Work Routines: Request flexibility in your work schedule or processes if they’re conducive to better outcomes, explaining how this would boost productivity and job satisfaction.
3. Document Your Work Processes: Build trust by documenting your approach and outcomes. This can show your managers that you’re organized and reliable, potentially leading to more freedom in task management.
4. Be Proactive with Updates: Anticipate questions by regularly updating relevant parties on your progress, without waiting for check-ins. This establishes you as responsible and capable of handling your projects autonomously.
5. Seek Project Ownership: Identify areas where you could take full responsibility, such as managing smaller projects or becoming the go-to expert in a specific area, showing that autonomy boosts your effectiveness.
6. Negotiate Autonomy in Future Projects: Use successful projects as evidence in future discussions with managers about maintaining or increasing your autonomy on new assignments.

Potential Pitfalls & Solutions

Balance autonomy with collaboration and communication.

1. Pitfall: Misalignment with Team Goals
   Solution: Regularly sync with team members to ensure your work aligns with shared goals. While autonomy is important, it’s also essential to stay on track with the broader team direction and deadlines.
2. Pitfall: Isolation from Important Feedback
   Solution: Schedule periodic feedback sessions with your manager and peers to avoid missing valuable insights. Autonomy can sometimes mean fewer direct check-ins, so proactively seek out feedback to stay aligned and improve.
3. Pitfall: Misinterpretation of Flexibility Requests
   Solution: Frame your requests for autonomy in terms of performance outcomes. Rather than framing it as a need for freedom, emphasize how flexibility will help you achieve better, measurable results.
4. Pitfall: Misperception of Non-Engagement
   Solution: Avoid being seen as disengaged by participating in regular team activities and social moments, even if autonomy is more your preference. Joining team meetings or group activities as needed helps show you’re committed to the team’s success, even if you prefer working independently.

By advocating for yourself, balancing team interactions, and demonstrating the value autonomy brings to your work, you can craft a role that gives you the freedom and control you seek.

Where This Fits

Flexibility is an ENVIRONMENT value, which relates to the physical and structural setting of your work. If flexibility ranks highly for you, you likely want a work environment that allows you to set your own schedule or adapt your work hours as needed. Flexibility empowers you to structure work around your life rather than the other way around. This adaptability can increase job satisfaction, reduce stress, and lead to greater overall well-being. A flexible work environment is outcome-focused, emphasizing results over rigid schedules and offering you a sense of freedom in how and when you work.

What You’re Seeking

With flexibility as a top value, you are looking for roles that allow you to manage your own time, ideally with an option for remote or hybrid work. You’ll find fulfillment in jobs where the focus is on deliverables and results rather than specific office hours, giving you the ability to balance work with other personal commitments. This type of environment also benefits people who work best with autonomy and minimal micromanagement, enabling them to thrive through self-motivation.

Flexibility complements values like Autonomy (control over how you work), Predictability (setting your own stable routines), and Excitement (adapting to changes in a dynamic environment). Together, these values help you find a fulfilling work-life blend that enables both productivity and personal satisfaction.

Crafting Your Position

Increase your flexibility by setting clear goals and demonstrating consistent results.

1. Establish Open Conversations About Flexibility: During meetings with your manager, discuss your work style and preferences around flexible hours or remote work. By explaining how flexibility enhances your productivity, you can help set the foundation for a supportive work environment.
2. Request Outcome-Based Goals: Propose setting goals based on specific deliverables or outcomes rather than time spent. This gives you room to manage your own time while still ensuring productivity aligns with organizational objectives.
3. Communicate Proactively: Share regular updates on your work progress. By keeping your manager in the loop, you reinforce that flexibility doesn’t hinder your performance, which helps to build trust and maintain the flexibility you need.
4. Use Flexibility to Meet Deadlines Ahead of Time: Show the benefits of flexible working by occasionally completing tasks ahead of schedule. Consistently exceeding expectations can demonstrate that a flexible arrangement is beneficial for everyone.
5. Experiment with Ideal Work Hours: Test different schedules to discover when you’re most productive and share these insights with your manager. For example, if you work best in the mornings, propose arranging meetings in the afternoon or blocking focused time earlier in the day.
6. Respect Key Office Hours: Even in a flexible role, be mindful of times when team interaction is essential. Flexibility works best when balanced with respect for the needs of the team, which will help maintain trust and mutual support.

Potential Pitfalls & Solutions

Flexibility requires setting boundaries and managing expectations to avoid conflicts.

1. Pitfall: Lack of Structure Leading to Overwork
   Solution: Set personal boundaries around work hours, even when working remotely. Use tools like a set “end of workday” reminder or a scheduled walk to create a clear break between work and personal time.
2. Pitfall: Misalignment with a Less Flexible Team or Manager
   Solution: Align with your team by openly discussing flexible work arrangements, and clarify times when you’ll be available to collaborate. Reinforce your commitment to the team while also advocating for your preferred working style.
3. Pitfall: Risk of Being Perceived as Less Committed
   Solution: Be visible in team communications and proactive in sharing your achievements. Make a point to attend important meetings and be responsive, so others recognize that flexibility supports rather than diminishes your productivity.
4. Pitfall: Finding Flexibility Hard to Achieve in Traditional Work Cultures
   Solution: If you’re in a traditionally rigid environment, propose a trial period of flexible hours with measurable goals. Show evidence of increased productivity or reduced stress, which can help make the case for a more permanent arrangement.

Flexibility allows you to align your work life with personal needs, creating a balanced and satisfying environment. By building trust, delivering results, and staying communicative, you can integrate flexibility into your role to enhance both productivity and well-being.

Where This Fits
Purpose is an Outcome value, related to finding meaning and mission in one’s work. If Purpose is lower on your priority list, it doesn’t reflect a lack of passion or interest in meaningful work—it simply means that you don’t rely on your job for a sense of purpose. This can be an asset, as it allows you to approach your role pragmatically, focusing on career goals that serve you well while saving your energy for passions or commitments outside of work. Recognizing this also helps clarify that satisfaction can come from a balanced, resourceful use of your job as a support for other aspects of your life.

Leveraging Lower Values
Direct your career focus on practical outcomes and personal goals.
With Purpose as a lower priority, you can explore roles that maximize other career values without needing them to align with a larger mission or cause. This approach frees you to make decisions that enhance your job satisfaction on a day-to-day level, such as better pay, flexibility, or skill development. Prioritizing roles that provide resources you can later apply to personal projects or passions can also support a balanced and fulfilling life. Additionally, if you score highly on values like Remuneration, Flexibility, or Training, focusing on these will enhance your professional and personal well-being.

Strategic Advantages
Use this flexibility to prioritize job roles that support your broader life goals.

• Flexible Approaches: Since mission alignment is less critical, feel empowered to seek positions based on practical factors, such as good pay, skill development, or flexible hours. Focus on the benefits your job can provide to sustain your non-work passions or projects.
• Using This Value as Support for Higher Values: Leverage your pragmatism to seek roles that meet your top career priorities. For example, if Remuneration or Training is a higher value, select opportunities that maximize earning potential or professional growth, even if the job’s mission isn’t personally significant to you.
• Opportunities for Quick Wins: Make purposeful use of your job’s resources to support what gives you purpose outside of work. For example, allocate earned income toward hobbies or community involvement, allowing your job to directly fuel what fulfills you.

Where This Fits
Specialization is an APPROACH value that reflects how much an individual values focusing deeply on one particular skill or area. People who score lower in specialization often prefer roles with diverse tasks and responsibilities, which allow them to adapt and connect various areas of expertise. Recognizing specialization as a lower priority suggests a comfort and aptitude for roles that reward breadth of knowledge rather than niche expertise, opening up a wide range of flexible and integrative career paths.

Leveraging Lower Values
Harnessing versatility to support diverse roles and organizational success
With specialization as a lower priority, you’re likely drawn to being a generalist—someone who excels at connecting dots across various fields and helping teams function smoothly as a cohesive unit. Generalists often play a unique role by supporting teams with a broad understanding, strong interpersonal skills, and the ability to adapt quickly to new challenges. Rather than focusing on deep expertise in a single skill, you thrive by organizing team efforts, smoothing interpersonal dynamics, and seeing how different components fit together for the big picture. This ability to bridge specialties makes you invaluable in roles where flexibility, problem-solving, and people management are critical. Recognizing this about yourself allows you to seek roles that reward broad perspectives and coordination, ensuring you can both excel and feel satisfied in your work.

Strategic Advantages
Maximizing generalist strengths while showcasing team and project outcomes

• Flexible Approaches: Embrace roles with a variety of tasks or responsibilities, where you can apply your strengths in adaptability and organization. Positions that involve coordinating across multiple functions or departments can help you bring out your best without the need for niche skills.
• Using This Value as a Support for Higher Values: By not focusing on narrow expertise, you can prioritize higher values like collaboration or creativity, engaging in diverse activities that bring energy and variety to your work. Your ability to work broadly can support those around you in specialized roles, helping everyone work more effectively together.
• Opportunities for Quick Wins: When crafting your resume or discussing accomplishments, focus on measurable outcomes that demonstrate your impact as a generalist. Emphasize how you improved team productivity, reduced turnover, or facilitated successful cross-departmental projects to showcase the value you bring as an integrative leader and contributor.

Where This Fits
Location is an Environment value, reflecting how much a particular physical or geographic setting matters to your job satisfaction. With Location as a lower priority, you’re adaptable and can thrive in diverse settings, whether urban or rural, near family or far away. This adaptability is a key advantage, allowing you to focus on finding roles that align with your career priorities instead of limiting yourself by geography. Recognizing this also helps you maintain a broad range of opportunities while understanding that location needs may shift as personal circumstances change.

Leveraging Lower Values
Embrace geographic flexibility to expand your career options.
With Location low on your priority list, you’re open to pursuing roles based on factors other than geography, which allows for greater career exploration and potential advancement. This openness lets you focus on roles that fulfill higher priorities, such as Autonomy, Remuneration, or Variety, without needing a specific physical setting to feel satisfied. While this flexibility can be a strong asset, balancing it with occasional consideration of long-term location needs can help build both career and personal stability.

Strategic Advantages
Use geographic flexibility to seek roles that prioritize your most important career goals.

• Flexible Approaches: Consider a wide range of locations when exploring job opportunities. Your openness to location can make remote, travel-based, or international roles more accessible, broadening your career horizons and increasing the chances of finding a role that meets your core values.
• Using This Value as Support for Higher Values: If high values include Autonomy, Remuneration, or Variety, seek roles that emphasize these strengths rather than a specific setting. For example, a position that offers growth and learning in your field may be worth relocating for, even temporarily, if it aligns with your primary goals.
• Opportunities for Quick Wins: Keep an eye on how your location preferences evolve over time. Regularly assess if a particular geographic fit would enhance your career or personal life. This approach allows you to remain adaptable while being mindful of your potential needs for a stable base as your life and career progress.

Where This Fits
Predictability is an Approach value, relating to the amount of structure, routine, and clarity someone needs to perform well at work. When Predictability ranks low for you, it means that established structures or routines don’t drive your engagement and effectiveness, making flexibility around unclear or changing tasks more natural for you. Recognizing this allows you to explore positions where adaptability is key, while letting you invest your focus on values that mean more to you. Understanding this also provides insight into how you can maintain productivity in roles where duties or goals may shift frequently.

Leveraging Lower Values
Embrace flexibility in structure to open up broader opportunities.
Having Predictability as a low priority means you can comfortably handle roles that lack rigid routines or strictly defined goals. This flexibility opens up unique advantages, especially in environments where innovation or fast adaptation are valued. Being less attached to routine can also allow you to allocate your energy toward the aspects of your role that align more closely with your core work values. In practice, this can complement higher priorities like Variety, Creativity, or Autonomy, allowing you to thrive in less conventional roles.

Strategic Advantages
Use flexibility around structure to your advantage while staying visibly valuable to your organization.

• Flexible Approaches: Explore roles or projects that might lack strict definitions or procedures. Being comfortable without rigid guidelines enables you to take on dynamic assignments or new responsibilities that others might avoid, giving you a chance to learn and grow.
• Using This Value as Support for Higher Values: If your high priorities include Autonomy, Variety, or Excitement, lean into roles that encourage freedom and change. Your adaptability here lets you focus on activities that better match your core motivators without being bogged down by predictability.
• Opportunities for Quick Wins: Find ways to showcase your contributions. In settings without predefined benchmarks, you can track your own accomplishments or create regular check-ins to ensure your value is noticed. This strategy helps demonstrate impact without needing predictable structures, supporting both you and your team in recognizing your contributions.

Where This Fits
Excitement is an ENVIRONMENT value, relating to the level of stimulation a person seeks in their work setting. While some people thrive on high-energy, fast-paced roles, others find greater satisfaction in stable, consistent environments. With excitement as a lower priority, you have the flexibility to pursue roles that may not be high-adrenaline but still offer meaningful work. Recognizing this preference highlights your ability to excel without requiring a constant influx of high-intensity tasks.

Leveraging Lower Values
Embracing a steady work environment that aligns with personal balance
Having excitement as a low priority doesn’t mean you don’t value engagement—it simply means you don’t rely on your job to deliver constant stimulation. This can be a tremendous advantage, as it opens you up to a wider range of work environments, particularly those that are stable, structured, and supportive. You may find satisfaction in roles that focus on reliable outcomes and long-term projects without the need for frequent thrills or constant change. This preference can also support stronger work-life balance, allowing you to reserve your energy for other pursuits outside of work that bring excitement or adventure. By understanding this value, you can focus on roles that align with your strengths, where steady performance is valued over constant action, creating a work experience that’s sustainable and satisfying.

Strategic Advantages
Focusing on stability and balance to create fulfilling work routines

• Flexible Approaches: Opt for roles that emphasize consistency and reliable processes. Jobs that offer a clear, steady workload and well-defined tasks allow you to work at your best without needing an adrenaline boost.
• Using This Value as a Support for Higher Values: By not relying on work for excitement, you have more bandwidth to pursue what matters most to you, such as growth, creativity, or mastery in your role. You can focus on building expertise, developing projects, or supporting team goals with a clear mind and steady engagement.
• Opportunities for Quick Wins: Set up routines that allow you to feel productive and accomplished without needing frequent highs. For example, creating a weekly schedule with clear milestones or periodic check-ins can help maintain steady motivation, supporting your best work without requiring a highly stimulating environment.