On a fall afternoon, John Bishop, the CEO of Cepheid, a company that develops genetics-based analysis systems for clinical diagnosis and biothreat assessment, pulls a piece of paper from behind the desk of his sparsely decorated Sunnyvale, Calif., office. On the paper - which Bishop holds perhaps more dear than anything else in his office - are bar graphs displaying the personality attributes of his key employees.
Bishop explains that by knowing how individuals in his staff approach the world, he can best communicate with them. For example, someone who gets high marks as a "persister" makes decisions based on the opinions he or she holds rather than excitement that may stem from a specific choice ("rebels") or what may be the most expedient choice in a given situation ("promoters"). (Bishop himself is a "workaholic," which makes him goal-oriented, approaching the world via thinking, rather than values or beliefs.)
If ...
