Previous Dilemma:
How do I manage a brilliant-but-unorganized employee?

Every company has one — the “genius” who can pull an amazing solution out of you-know-where, when everyone else has been frustrated for weeks.

I have one on my team. He’s the go-to guy for new ideas and solutions, but he’s terribly unorganized and refuses to document anything he does. He never follows procedures or stores files where the rest of us can find them. If he’s out for some reason, we can spend half a day trying to recreate his thought process.

In the next few months, we are taking on lots of new business, so I need this person to be in top form, on mission and part of the team. He must get organized and learn to document properly. Should I use discipline — or would education be better — to help him “over the hump?”

— Lori

Summary of Advice Received

How to Manage Brilliance
Helping an employee’s light shine
by Meryl K. Evans, Editor, Professional Servces Journal

No superstar can lead a team alone. Look at basketball genius LeBron James. He’s one of five people on a basketball court. If he dribbles the ball and falls into the other team’s trap, who will help him out?

Coaches and managers have a challenging job of ensuring balance around a superstar. Managers need to find a way to work with the team without neglecting anyone. They also must consider that brilliant people often look at things differently from others and may focus on ideas rather than implementation. Furthermore, some don’t see the need for processes.

Use discipline? Not one person recommends this approach. Instead, readers suggest these tactics:

• Assign a partner.
• Train the employee.
• Use tools or motivators.

Share your experiences and tips for working with intelligent and creative people by joining the conversation and leaving a comment. Or ask your own question.

Assign a partner

All employees have strengths and weaknesses. Obviously, the genius has trouble with documentation and organization. A good way to go is to team him up with someone who does this well. Nick Becker, director of professional services for Spectra, advises having the hero work with a junior person.

“Your junior resource will grow through helping and documenting. Your hero will be happy that you are letting him do what he wants, and you win in both directions. However, this only works if you have projects that support this method,” Becker says. If a junior person is not available, provide an assistant or hire one to support him.

Train the employee

One thing geniuses have to learn is that having an idea is only part of the equation. They also need to share their ideas with team members in a way that helps them see the idea’s benefit and what it takes to pursue it. If the manager handles the education in a careful way, the genius can arrive at the conclusion on his own. Ask questions. “How can we charge for the great idea? How many people do we need to make that happen?”

Once the employee understands the importance of processes and following through, create checklists and build in deadlines.

Jerry Eshbaugh, director with TransMagic, advises to start by understanding the person’s passions and fears. “Next comes the process of goal alignment. This includes expressing your goals and concerns for the entire team, then relating them back to the person’s frame of reference.”

Use tools or motivators

Eshbaugh had a developer who created software as a hobby that became the company’s primary technology. “The desire to become a professional developer was strong enough to get him to shed at least some of his ‘hobby’ processes, allowing people around him to be far more effective,” Eshbaugh says.

As soon as the genius’s disorganization affects you or an employee, meet with him. Use that problem to explain what happens because of his disorganization. Give positive feedback that shows how his ideas benefit the team and the company, and try to find ways to consistently motivate him to be better organized. If you’re not sure what motivates him, ask.

What other ways can you work with a disorganized genius? Facing other work challenges? Ask a question.

About the editor

Meryl K. Evans is senior editor at InternetVIZ and the content maven behind the Connected Digest, IT Solutions Journal and Professional Services Journal. Follow her on Twitter @merylkevans.