Business Chemistry

Using Business Chemistry Responsibly

At its most basic, Business Chemistry is a framework for identifying and categorizing people's working styles. Doing so can provide important clues to another's perspective and is one practical way to deepen understanding, cultivate empathy, and create chemistry. It simplifies an otherwise complex and sometimes mystifying endeavor—crafting powerful work relationships.

But we feel it's time to interject a warning here. With great (hunching) power comes great responsibility. It can be easy to make judgements about someone based on incorrect assumptions or biases, and doing so is no better than assuming (incorrectly) that everyone is just like you. Indeed, it's worse; you not only miss the actual insights that Business Chemistry can provide, but you also layer on the negative consequences of typecasting. In this chapter we'll address how to avoid these negative consequences and use Business Chemistry responsibly.

Avoid Jumping to Conclusions

We sometimes get asked whether categorizing people into Business Chemistry types is really just stereotyping. And it could be seen that way. Another view is that such conscious categorization is preferable to the unconscious biases that often plague us in the workplace and beyond. Let us explain.

While stereotyping ...