Years ago, during my doctoral studies, I completed a learning styles assessment that categorized the way I naturally think and process information.
The assessment didn’t use complicated psychological terminology.
Instead, it represented different thinking styles with simple shapes.
Squares.
Circles.
Triangles.
And squiggles.
I laughed when I received my results because they described me perfectly.
I was a squiggle.
At first, I didn’t fully appreciate what that meant.
Today, I think about it often.
A squiggle isn’t disorganized.
A squiggle sees connections.
We jump between ideas.
We solve problems from unexpected directions.
We become energized by creating something that doesn’t yet exist.
Sometimes we appear to take the long way around.
But eventually, all of those seemingly unrelated ideas come together into one complete picture.
Over the years, I’ve learned something equally important.
Organizations cannot operate like squiggles.
Organizations need squares.
They need governance.
Clear roles.
Decision rights.
Processes.
Accountability.
Consistency.
Without structure, organizations eventually become chaotic.
Here’s where many leaders make a mistake.
They assume everyone should become more like a square.
I don’t believe that’s the lesson.
The lesson is that different people create value in different ways.
Some people naturally build structure.
Others naturally imagine possibilities.
Some thrive with detailed plans.
Others thrive when solving problems no one has solved before.
Great organizations need all of them.
The role of leadership is not to eliminate those differences.
The role of leadership is to understand them.
As I’ve continued building WOOD Federal Solutions, I’ve realized something else.
I don’t need to become a square.
I need to build squares.
That may sound like a small distinction.
It isn’t.
My natural way of thinking allows me to see patterns, connect ideas, and imagine future possibilities.
But once those ideas are proven, they need structure.
That’s where governance comes in.
That’s where operating models matter.
That’s where roles, responsibilities, scorecards, and decision frameworks become important.
The structure isn’t there to limit creativity.
The structure exists to protect it.
A well-designed operating system gives people the freedom to think, innovate, and solve problems without creating organizational chaos.
The same lesson applies to leadership.
If you’re a leader, don’t spend your career trying to make everyone think like you.
Instead, learn how each member of your team naturally creates value.
Build an environment where different thinking styles complement one another rather than compete with one another.
Most importantly…
Don’t spend your life apologizing for how you’re wired.
Understand it.
Develop it.
Then build systems that allow your strengths—and the strengths of others—to flourish.
Because once you know how people naturally think…
You stop trying to change them.
You start learning how to lead them.
And once you know…
You’ll never look at your team—or yourself—the same way again.
— Margaret Wood
Founder, LightKeeper TV
CEO, WOOD Federal Solutions, Inc.