Recently, I started my own business as a Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant and have immediately been pushed right out of my comfort zone. It's not that I am not comfortable with direct sales; for the past three years, I have worked part time in a retail organization that relied on amount of sales to determine employee schedules. However, with this particular group, I have realized that I am an adaptive person swimming in a sea of innovators.
Kirton's Adaption-Innovation Theory was developed in 1976 as a way "to help organizations understand problem-solving and cognitive style" while stressing that "one style is not better than the other and both are needed in organizations" (Stum, 2009, p. 75). Everyone has a problem-solving style that lands on a continuum between being more adaptive and more innovative and this particular preference doesn't change over the years. After taking the KAI inventory, I have identified as being more adaptive, which considering my near-gold score on the TrueColors test, makes sense.
Aritzeta, Senior, and Swailes (2005) state that adaptors are more stable and keep the system running efficiently by working inside the existing paradigm. Throughout my life, being adaptive has been successful in business, academia, and my personal life. However, in my new role with this company, being innovative is valued.
In my previous retail position, I sold well because the customers came to me. Once I had someone in the store, then a sale was almost a certainty. But with Mary Kay, you have to find the customers and you have to be innovative and finding ways to attract customers can become difficult. Aritzeta et al. (2014) add that innovators are needed "in times of rapid change and unstructured situations." Conference calls with directors and other consultants indicate focused innovation; that is to say rapid-fire ideas and suggestions on how to increase sales and recruit team members. Admittedly, I have felt a little lost in my attempts to keep up, but thanks to this week's readings, I know that I need to search out ways to accommodate my preferences in order to feel comfortable and to be successful.
Fortunately, the company has kept up with several of the interventions that Franz (2012) lists. For instance, the entire sales team is diversified, so we are not getting the same ideas. There is organizational memory with a log of video tutorials, online modules, and books at consultant disposal. We brainstorm electronically via apps, conference calls, and email. Finally, the company sets high goals for consultants (where else could you win a free pink Cadillac?). Franz (2012) also states that in order to improve creativity, there first needs to be an environment that allows freedom and openness, then working with people to express their creativity, and finishing with providing a variety of procedures they could use to improve creativity. I know my problem solving preferences and because of my ability to improve upon existing ideas (Stum, 2009), I am ready to adapt the innovators' ideas in the toolbox provided.
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