The Working Genius Podcast with Patrick Lencioni

Episode 98: Honoring Working Frustrations

Original Air Date: October 21, 2025
Hosts: Patrick (Pat) Lencioni, Cody Thompson
Absent but discussed: Tracy Noble

Overview

This episode explores the often-overlooked importance of honoring working frustrations—areas of work that drain individuals, regardless of how skilled they may seem. Pat and Cody reflect on personal and team experiences within their own company, highlighting how easy it is—even for experts in the Working Genius model—to unintentionally create burnout by over-valuing competency and underestimating the invisible cost of misaligned roles. The conversation emphasizes the necessity for teams to not just recognize but actively honor each other's frustrations, fostering long-term fulfillment, productivity, and team health.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Differentiating Competency from Joy

• Competency vs. Fulfillment:
  The hosts emphasize the critical difference between what someone is good at and what actually energizes them.

  • Pat: "Just because I'm good at something I don't like doesn't mean it doesn't have a cost for me to do that." [03:18]
  • Cody: "There's this real tension between someone's ability to do that thing and then whether or not they should be doing it based on their working genius." [02:11]

• Athlete Analogy:
  Pat draws parallels to professional athletes who retire early despite their capabilities, connecting it to their lack of enjoyment and the energy drain involved ([00:00], [03:18]).

Real-Life Example: Tracy's Working Frustration

• Tracy's Situation:
  Tracy has been frequently absent from the podcast not due to lack of ability, but because being on the show and galvanizing (rallying and motivating others) is deeply draining for her—despite her high proficiency.

  • Pat: "We kept putting Tracy in roles ... constantly asking her to do things she didn't like, because she masked that with her joy and capability." [06:36]
  • Tracy's genius: Discernment, Enablement, Wonder (responsive, analytical, introverted traits). Her frustration: Galvanizing.

• Lesson for Teams:
  Even passionate, mission-driven organizations overlook their people’s frustrations in favor of short-term results.

The Cost of Over-Reliance on Competency

• Predictive Burnout:
  Assigning people tasks they're proficient at—but which drain them—leads to inevitable burnout if sustained long term.
  • Pat: "Burnout is inevitable. Even I would call it predictive burnout. They could just see the future and go, I don't want to be doing that." [15:38]

Honoring vs. Overlooking Frustrations

• Beyond Awareness—True Honor:
  Recognizing someone's frustration isn't enough; it must be actively respected and accounted for.
  • Cody: "It requires a team to honor the fact that somebody has a frustration ... even if you’re equipped at it or competent, let’s not put you in a position where you’re gonna get burned out." [16:03]

Rethinking Roles and Responsibilities

• Job Descriptions as Flexible:
  Discovering and leveraging working genius enables flexibility beyond rigid roles, so people can "cover" for each other where it energizes them.

  • Pat: "Their job description ... becomes a little less important. You can beg, borrow, and steal from people to do things ... outside of the official org chart based on the fact that they love doing it and they're good at it." [08:53]

• Team Philosophy:
  Focusing on joy and dignity in work leads to longer-term effectiveness, not just short-term efficiency or numbers.
  Cody recalls how leadership shifted Tracy out of a draining role, even though from an external business perspective, it looked successful ([07:34], [10:01]).

Practical Application: Using the Working Genius Model

• Diagnosing Role Fit:

  • Ask: What does the work require? (Break down the role by genius type)
  • Ask: Do we have someone on the team who would thrive in that slot?
  • Use the "right tool for the job" analogy—don't stick people with tasks that drain them, just because they can technically do them ([12:33]).

• Temporary vs. Sustained Frustration:
  It's normal for everyone to occasionally operate out of their genius—but sustained misalignment, especially without acknowledgment, leads to disengagement and fatigue ([11:11]).

Organizational Mindset

• Short-Term Efficiency vs. Long-Term Effectiveness:

  • Pat: "Effectiveness always beats efficiency. But it's really hard to let go of efficiency sometimes." [12:33]

• Creating a Culture of Invitation:
  Teams thrive when it's normal—and even encouraged—to seek help in areas of frustration, enriching everyone's experience and performance ([08:53]).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Just because I'm good at something I don't like doesn't mean it doesn't have a cost for me to do that."
  — Pat [03:18]

• "When you know somebody's working genius, their job description, even their scope of responsibility, becomes a little less important."
  — Pat [08:53]

• "Do we get the job done or do the numbers work? But we philosophically believe that we're created to work, and it's about human dignity. How do we put you in a position that dignifies how you are wired and created?"
  — Cody [10:01]

• "Even if you're equipped at it or good at it or competent at the work, let's honor the fact that that is draining for you and try to not put you in a position where you're gonna get burned out."
  — Cody [16:03]

• "People will overlook somebody's working frustrations and think that they're doing something good by saying, 'but you're actually great at that.'"
  — Pat [16:36]

• "Let's go out and honor people's working frustrations. Really respect that it drains them of their energy."
  — Pat [17:06]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:00–03:18: Athlete analogy, difference between skill and joy, Tracy as podcast example
• 05:02–06:36: Tracy’s genius/frustration profile, team’s unintentional oversight
• 07:34–08:53: Realization and reorganization, adjusting roles to address frustration
• 10:01–12:33: Balancing productivity vs. humanity, redefining legacy measures of success
• 12:33–15:38: Practical team application—matching work requirements to genius, avoiding predictive burnout
• 16:03–17:36: Honoring (not just recognizing) working frustrations in practice

Closing Thought

The episode concludes with a frank acknowledgment of Tracy’s absence:

• "So for all those people that are like, why don't you have her on the podcast? Because she doesn't want to be. And we're honoring that." — Pat [17:37]

A practical, empathetic reminder: Prioritize not just what people can do, but what gives them energy—and honor frustrations by adjusting roles, responsibilities, and expectations accordingly.