Hi John,

Ever struggle with personality differences on your team? The solution is not about changing your team—it’s about changing how you see them. Learn how differences can drive teamwork in today’s Q&A.
What to Do When Personality Differences Hinder Teamwork
by Emily Gregory

In my experience, it is easier to work on teams with people who are alike. When people are really different, it seems like there is much more friction on the team. I am now a manager of a team that has a lot of different types of people, and I don’t know how I can create a cohesive, well-running team with this group. It seems like it might be easier to change out some of the team members, but that doesn’t seem right or fair. How can I get everyone to work well together?

Signed,
Dilemma of Differences

It can be hard to interact with and meaningfully connect with someone who is different from us. The more we differ, the further apart we are, the harder it is to build a bridge. Why? Because most of our relationship skills are grounded in finding commonalities. When those commonalities are subtle or scarce, we struggle to connect.

So, if difference is hard and commonality is easy, why choose hard over easy? There are several good reasons, but here are two.
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If you consider yourself a victim, you are not going to have a good life; if, however, you refuse to think of yourself as a victim—if you refuse to let your inner self be conquered by your external circumstances—you are likely to have a good life, no matter what turn your external circumstances take.
 
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