Restorative in a Nutshell
People with Restorative are drawn to problems and how to fix them. They see something broken and immediately think about how to repair it.
People with high Restorative are problem solvers at heart. They're energised by diagnosing what's wrong and working through the steps to fix it. They don't see problems as failures; they see them as opportunities to demonstrate capability. Broken things attract them.
At their best, people with high Restorative are invaluable when things go wrong. They don't panic or assign blame. They focus on diagnosis and repair. They make people feel confident that broken things can be fixed.
Your Key Contributions
- Fixing calmly: Your instinct to fix what's broken makes you calm and effective when things go wrong
- Finding root causes: You look past surface symptoms to find root causes, so your fixes actually hold
- Restoring confidence: Your presence in a crisis restores confidence, because the team sees the problem can be solved
Watch Out For
- Seeking out problems to solve even when they don't need fixing
- Getting impatient with people who focus on prevention instead of repair
- Difficulty prioritising which problems to tackle first
- Moving to solutions before fully understanding the problem
The 2 Sides of Restorative
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What Energises You
- Being presented with a broken system or problem to solve
- Diagnosing what's gone wrong
- Finding the solution and implementing it
- Watching something broken come back to life
- Being the person who can fix what others can't
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What Drains You
- Organisations focused on prevention when you want to solve current problems
- Being restricted from fixing things because of process or politics
- Problems that are ambiguous or don't have clear solutions
- People who describe a problem but don't want your help fixing it
- Watching something break slowly without intervention
How Others See You
How to Invest in Restorative for Work
If You're high in Restorative
- Channel your problem-solving into preventing future problems too.
- Slow down before you jump to solutions; full diagnosis first.
- Pair with Strategic or Analytical to ensure your fixes address root causes, not symptoms.
- Document what you've learned from fixing so others can learn.
Managing Someone Who Leads with Restorative
- Give them real problems to solve, not hypotheticals.
- Let them be the point person for critical issues.
- Use them to troubleshoot when systems break.
- Create space for them to dive deep into diagnosis.
Connecting with Someone who Leads with Restorative
- Describe the problem clearly and let them work through it.
- Don't give them the solution; let them find it.
- Trust their diagnostic process even if it takes time.
- Acknowledge their capability; they usually underestimate their own skill.