The De Teliga Report

Creative or goal-oriented?

There is a simple and effective means of classifying participants in focus groups that has many uses. It is also valuable for determining what sorts of responses you wish to get out of certain types of people.

Are you highly creative or goal-focussed?

There is a very simple means in any group of people by which we can determine with some reasonable degree of accuracy who is ‘creative’ and who is more attuned to be ‘managers’.

This method was developed about ten years ago by the American Psychological Association, and has been used in thousands of circumstances - with pretty good accuracy.

We ask people to tell us which to tell us which of the following shapes they like the most.

Respondents are shown the following shapes on paper:

SQUARE

CIRCLE

TRIANGLE

SQUIGGLE

If you picked the square you are classified as a ‘Thinker’ - you prefer stable environments. You like to have clear directions. You will work until you drop on a project. You are very uncomfortable about floating around aimlessly, and you seek order and consistency. You are not initially creative , but will develop creative thoughts when encouraged. You will follow through on everything you do.
 

If you chose the circle your key characteristic is ‘Harmonious’ - friendly, slow to react, extroverted, creative. You will go out on many limbs for your beliefs and principles. You are not at all systematic, and you are quite a time-waster - procrastinating and putting off decisions. You are a big talker, not a speedy doer.
 

People who like the triangle tend to be very goal-oriented. These people like to sit at the head of the table in meetings. They are accomplished and highly motivated by success. Ambitious, and skilled. They do not get bogged down by details - seeing the big picture - macro not micro. They will design steps to solutions, won’t dither around or wander off the subject.
 

People who like the squiggle the most disdain regularity and details. They tend to be off-the-wall creative. They are loud and outspoken - vociferous. They have wildly unstructured ideas which are often unsound - but they sure are thought provoking. They are genuinely inventive. If you want creative thinking these are the ones who will provide it in spades. They also tend to be disruptive and will barge off in odd directions if not kept in check.
 

The uses of this simple test are many - it is especially good in focus groups when we wish to split the groups into two and have participants devise plans for brands or new products. It is also useful when recruiting /setting up groups where certain types of thinking might be more beneficial.
 

If you would like any more information, or wish to discuss this matter please contact me:

Mark de Teliga 0410 463 643/ markdeteliga@gmail.com

Sources: American Psychological Association Journal May 1997