Is the trait of criticality critically low in your company culture? Criticality is a trait that doesn’t quite get its due because of the negative connotations brought up by its root word. Having the trait of criticality doesn’t necessarily make a person a pessimist. Rather, it can make them better at distinguishing good ideas from bad ideas, and it can spur leaders to have the harder conversations that are needed in the workplace. It can also help a leader operate with the right amount of skepticism to avoid being carried away on a cloud every time an idea is pitched. The first step is understanding why criticality is a positive professional trait. The second is to learn how to raise criticality in your team.

Why Criticality Is Important in Workplace Teams

While a person who scores high in criticality might be thought of as someone who shoots down ideas, the reality is that criticality is the trait that allows people to question ideas and conclusions–even their own. People who score high-but-not-too-high in criticality tend to have the right mix of curiosity and honesty needed to avoid becoming the “yes people” that have led more than one high-impact decision to ruin! Positive qualities possessed by people with sufficient criticality include:

• Healthy skepticism
• Voicing different points of view
• Intellectual honesty
• The ability to see around corners
• Logic and reasoning skills
• The aptitude to break down large, complex problems

When team members score low in criticality, an organization risks the herd effect. This means that people are afraid to stray from the popular narrative. In a business setting, this could mean going along with a bad idea just because it’s the idea that’s already been chosen. Many team leaders unknowingly stifle criticality because they don’t understand the gift of “the opposing opinion.” What’s more, some leaders may feel challenged by a character trait that is actually an asset for the team.

How to Raise Criticality

First, remember that the goal is to raise criticality levels instead of contention levels. The way to do this is to invite it more–make it known that opposing opinions and skepticism are welcomed when they are done respectfully. Many leaders or team members who do possess the natural positive trait of criticality may be stifling this asset out of fear of being labeled negative in the workplace. In order to discover the percentage of team members who score either high or low or in the middle in criticality, a team analysis that focuses on core traits such as this one is needed. 

When Teamalytics used our proprietary team assessments that look at more than a dozen core leadership areas, we found that out of nearly 1,500 team assessments, 57% of people on a typical team scored at risk of being too low in criticality. Just 6% scored at risk of being too high in criticality. Criticality is a vital trait that gets overlooked by many leadership teams. You may be actively stifling it by framing dissenting opinions as defiance within your company culture. What you may be missing is that criticality could be the secret weapon that industry competitors are using to make sure that only the cream rises to the top with developmental ideas. 

If you’re like most leaders today, you’re wondering how to make the most of the traits that are present in your team to create a cohesive, winning company culture. The task is harder than ever in today’s economy. That’s why Teamalytics has responded to countless inquiries from team leaders struggling with culture building with a new free e-book called “Creating Cutting Edge Company Culture In A Work From Home World” just for team leaders. This e-book introduces you to concepts for adapting leadership styles to optimize team performance. It even dives into the challenge of holding remote teams accountable while building healthy, trusting relationships. Download it today!