July 20, 2026
Your leadership team has probably run MBTI, DISC or CliftonStrengths in the past few years. Everyone knows their type, and execution still stalls. That isn't because those tools are worthless. They answer a different question.
MBTI, DISC and the Enneagram describe who someone is: how they communicate, decide and react under pressure. Working Genius describes which kind of work gives energy and which kind drains it. The two are independent. Two introverted colleagues who are both quiet in a meeting can need completely different work: one gets energy from Wonder and Invention, the other from Enablement and Tenacity.
| Tool | Tells you |
|---|---|
| MBTI | How someone communicates and relates to others |
| DISC | How someone behaves under pressure |
| Enneagram | What drives someone at a deeper level |
| CliftonStrengths | Someone's top talents |
| Working Genius | Which stage of the work gives someone energy |
The Table Group calls its own assessment 20% personality and 80% productivity. That's the makers' own framing, so weigh it as such. What I do see back in teams: it answers the one question the other tests are silent on. Who picks up this piece of work?
To be straight about it: I haven't come across independent research into the reliability of Working Genius. MBTI and CliftonStrengths have decades of work behind them. That difference is worth weighing.
Don't throw out MBTI or CliftonStrengths. Put Working Genius next to them at the moment you're filling a role or dividing up the work. That's the question your existing profiles don't answer.
Source: Patrick Lencioni, The 6 Types of Working Genius (The Table Group, 2022).
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