MCode vs Working Genius
If your organization bases its hiring, talent development, and retention strategies on the results of a workplace assessment, choose an assessment solution with a proven track record of empowering executives, business leaders, and high-performance teams for more than 60 years.
Energizing work not draining work
The Working Genius Assessment and Motivation Code assessment both examine the dichotomy between energizing life-giving work and draining soul-sucking work — and it’s not about capabilities or strengths. Working Genius does it with workstyle preferences, and MCode does it with intrinsic Motivation.
- Work that lights you up: When you lose yourself in your work, love what you’re doing, give it your best, and go the extra mile, you tap into your strongest Motivations or Working Genius.
- Work that shuts you down: When you procrastinate and struggle to care about or feel frustrated by your work, you tap into your weakest Motivations or Working Frustrations.
Regardless of the business assessment tool used, what’s vital is that leaders, teams, and individual employees understand what drives their best work and how to get motivated and stay motivated.
Strong, cohesive teams drive remarkable results
The most successful businesses have successful teams that give them a competitive advantage. But building high-performing teams without creating burnout is tough because it requires diversity in team makeup — diversity in skill, problem-solving and decision-making, behavior, and motivation.
- Leaders with a crystal-clear understanding of complex team dynamics lead efficiently and effectively. They identify and fill critical team gaps, leverage team strengths, and match tasks with the right team members.
- Teams that understand and respect each other and recognize the value each person contributes develop stronger relationships and work better together. They move faster and achieve more with less conflict and drama.
People who love their jobs don’t just up and quit
Your happiest, most satisfied, fulfilled employees feel seen, understood, and valued. They know their work matters and makes a difference — and they genuinely enjoy their jobs and the people they work with. This doesn’t happen by chance. It happens when you know your people and match their roles and assignments with their work style preferences and motivations.
- When an assignment lights an individual up and sparks excitement, they engage deeply, work quickly, do their best work, and exceed expectations.
- When their role within a team is clear and aligned with their natural abilities and motivations, they communicate, collaborate, and contribute with confidence.
- When their managers optimize their work to play to their strengths and set them up to succeed, they become deeply loyal and stay longer.
If you want to create an engaged workforce of high-performers who wouldn’t dream of leaving, the right assessment can help. While Working Genius was made up in 2020, the Motivation Code assessment has powered successful organizations for decades.
How vs. Why
Working Genius and MCode are workplace personality assessments that aren’t actually personality assessments. Working Genius assesses how work gets done and MCode assesses motivations that power decisions and actions.
The Working Genius Assessment, based on organizational behavior and team dynamics, focuses on work preferences, strengths, and productivity in task execution. It assesses how people approach assignments and classifies them according to the 6 Types of Working Genius: Wonder, Invention, Discernment, Galvanizing, Enablement, and Tenacity. Results highlight Working Geniuses (top two types), Working Competencies (middle two types), and Working Frustrations (bottom two types).
The Motivation Code assessment is an objective, practical, proven framework that uses scientific narrative analysis to identify motivational patterns of being, strength, personality, engagement, and performance. The MCode assessment maps a personalized ranking of 32 Motivations to a spectrum of 8 Motivational Dimensions: Achiever, Driver, Influencer, Learner, Optimizer, Orchestrator, Relator, and Visionary, and provides relevant insight into individual performance and performance within a team.
Productivity vs. Motivation
Working Genius focuses on how individuals and teams can be most productive. MCode focuses on the WHY behind performance and productivity, helping individuals, leaders, and teams gain awareness of why people act the way they do in certain situations. MCode creates more emotionally intelligent, compassionate teams.
Work Style vs. Motivation
Working Genius results are centered around how work is done, how teams work together, and how to get the most from your teams without burning them out. MCode achieves the same results but through the lens of what naturally lights people up and drives them to do their best work and what does the exact opposite!
Genius vs. Motivation
These workplace assessment tools have one main similarity: An individual has all 6 Working Geniuses or all 8 Motivational Dimensions and all 32 Motivations — what makes someone unique is determined by which Geniuses or Motivations are the strongest or most prominent and which are the weakest or least prominent.
MCode vs Working Genius Features Comparison
While MCode has 60 years of scientific research and behavioral data on Working Genius, both assessment tools are used by organizations to empower leaders, engage employees, and increase the productivity and performance of high-performing teams — just not at the expense of joy, satisfaction, and deep fulfillment.
MCode
Working Genius
Assessment framework
8 Motivational Dimensions shaped by a ranking of 32 Motivations.
6 types of working geniuses.
Assessment origins
MCode is based on the System for Motivated Abilities (SIMA) created by Art Miller in the 1950s-60s, which studied how personal stories of achievement and fulfillment reveal motivated abilities and how motivation drives fulfillment.
Working Genius is based on Patrick Lencioni’s 25 years of experience working with high-performing teams and organizations. He created the typology framework when trying to figure out why he occasionally felt drained and frustrated in his job.
Assessment science
Combines 60+ years of empirical science, qualitative research, behavioral psychology, and narrative psychology, with decades of research into high performance and the evaluation of millions of achievement and fulfillment stories.
This assessment is not science and it has not been validated. It was created by Patrick Lencioni based on his experiences. The Table Group is in the process of completing a validity and reliability study on the Working Genius Assessment.
Assessment creation
Used since the 1960s in 1:1 interviews. Technology scaled the assessment, improved consistency, and eliminated interviewer bias. Decades of research on high performance strengthened workplace-specific results.
The assessment framework was developed by Patrick Lencioni and The Table Group during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown. The companion book, The 6 Types of Working Genius, was released in 2022.
Assessment experience
Individuals share personal stories about times they were deeply engaged in an activity and loved every minute of what they were doing, and answer questions about those experiences.
Individuals answer a series of multiple-choice questions about their work preferences and behaviors related to problem-solving, communication, leadership, and collaboration.
Assessment consistency
Results are based on real, lived experiences and intrinsic motivation. They are not limited to work and provide a holistic understanding of a person. Variations in results may appear if a person takes the assessment multiple times but overall core motivations remain consistent.
Results are focused on work, most specifically working in a team. Some users report results aren’t very accurate predictors of individual behavior. Others claim results changed when taking the assessment a second time, with a Working Frustration becoming a Working Genius.
Assessment application
Personal growth, hiring, professional development, employee engagement, employee retention, job fit identification, task alignment, team building, leadership development, productivity enhancement.
Personal growth, hiring, professional development, employee engagement, employee retention, job fit identification, task alignment, team building, leadership development, productivity enhancement.
Assessment results
Results illuminate a person’s motivations: What drives their thoughts, decisions, and actions and drives satisfaction and fulfillment.
Results categorize a person’s geniuses into three areas: Working Geniuses, Working Competencies, and Working Frustrations.
Assessment challenges
Individuals may feel pressure to pick the stories that paint them in the best light. Some people have a hard time deciding which stories to share during the assessment process.
Results are limited to work-related preferences and may not encompass the entirety of who someone is or what they need to perform at their best and feel fulfilled by their work.
MCode
Working Genius
Assessment framework
8 Motivational Dimensions shaped by a ranking of 32 Motivations.
6 types of working geniuses.
Assessment origins
MCode is based on the System for Motivated Abilities (SIMA) created by Art Miller in the 1950s-60s, which studied how personal stories of achievement and fulfillment reveal motivated abilities and how motivation drives fulfillment.
Working Genius is based on Patrick Lencioni’s 25 years of experience working with high-performing teams and organizations. He created the typology framework when trying to figure out why he occasionally felt drained and frustrated in his job.
Assessment science
Combines 60+ years of empirical science, qualitative research, behavioral psychology, and narrative psychology, with decades of research into high performance and the evaluation of millions of achievement and fulfillment stories.
This assessment is not science and it has not been validated. It was created by Patrick Lencioni based on his experiences. The Table Group is in the process of completing a validity and reliability study on the Working Genius Assessment.
Assessment creation
Used since the 1960s in 1:1 interviews. Technology scaled the assessment, improved consistency, and eliminated interviewer bias. Decades of research on high performance strengthened workplace-specific results.
The assessment framework was developed by Patrick Lencioni and The Table Group during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown. The companion book, The 6 Types of Working Genius, was released in 2022.
Assessment experience
Individuals share personal stories about times they were deeply engaged in an activity and loved every minute of what they were doing, and answer questions about those experiences.
Individuals answer a series of multiple-choice questions about their work preferences and behaviors related to problem-solving, communication, leadership, and collaboration.
Assessment consistency
Results are based on real, lived experiences and intrinsic motivation. They are not limited to work and provide a holistic understanding of a person. Variations in results may appear if a person takes the assessment multiple times but overall core motivations remain consistent.
Results are focused on work, most specifically working in a team. Some users report results aren’t very accurate predictors of individual behavior. Others claim results changed when taking the assessment a second time, with a Working Frustration becoming a Working Genius.
Assessment application
Personal growth, hiring, professional development, employee engagement, employee retention, job fit identification, task alignment, team building, leadership development, productivity enhancement.
Personal growth, hiring, professional development, employee engagement, employee retention, job fit identification, task alignment, team building, leadership development, productivity enhancement.
Assessment results
Results illuminate a person’s motivations: What drives their thoughts, decisions, and actions and drives satisfaction and fulfillment.
Results categorize a person’s geniuses into three areas: Working Geniuses, Working Competencies, and Working Frustrations.
Assessment challenges
Individuals may feel pressure to pick the stories that paint them in the best light. Some people have a hard time deciding which stories to share during the assessment process.
Results are limited to work-related preferences and may not encompass the entirety of who someone is or what they need to perform at their best and feel fulfilled by their work.
MCode + Working Genius
The MCode assessment and Working Genius assessment share the same workforce goals:
- To help individuals understand the type of work that makes them come alive.
- To help an organization build high-performance teams and empower its leaders.
- To help leaders understand how employees can best contribute to team projects.
- To help teams improve productivity, efficiency, communication, and collaboration.
Working Genius approaches these goals from the perspective of strengths and work-related preferences, identifying the areas of work where an individual will thrive and the type of work that creates joy.
MCode approaches these goals from the perspective of natural advantages and motivation, identifying what an individual needs from their role, assignments, interactions, and work environment to succeed and feel fulfilled in their work.
Here’s how these two assessment tools can work together to help you build a high-performing team:
Strategic Professional Development:
Results from both assessments create a strong foundation for personalized development plans. Leaders and coaches who tap into motivational drivers and work style preferences can customize strategies to fit each individual and support personal and professional growth while strengthening teams and increasing job satisfaction.
Aligned Task Assignment:
Leaders who know an individual’s working geniuses and intrinsic motivations can optimize engagement and performance. When giving assignments, leaders can ensure tasks are interesting, motivating, aligned with their natural abilities and preferences, and complementary to the roles and tasks assigned to their team members.
Improved Engagement and Retention:
Organizations that use motivation and work preferences gain a competitive edge over those that rely on personality typing. Knowing what makes someone come alive, their strengths, and the “why” behind their behavior and decisions helps companies hire the right people, ensure job fit, and reduce churn.
Deeper Understanding of Team Dynamics:
MCode’s insights into intrinsic motivation and high performance combined with Working Genius’s understanding of work preferences provide a comprehensive view of team dynamics. When team members know what drives their behavior and how they prefer to work, teams collaborate better and become more productive.
Improved Leadership Effectiveness:
When leaders are equipped with assessment tools like MCode and Working Genius, they become more effective, confident, inspiring leaders. Ensuring team members feel seen, understood, and valued improves team culture, reduces conflict, prevents burnout, builds trust, and brings a team together to pursue shared goals.
You + MCode
Here is what’s included in your MCode results
While every Motivation Code assessment experience is the same, the personalized reports generated are not. Your MCode results are unique and every aspect of your report is tailored to who you are and how you show up in the world so the insights you gain are highly relevant and immediately applicable.
When choosing your individual or team MCode experience, you have two choices:
- MCode Lite
- MCode Premium
MCode Lite
MCode Lite reveals your MCode and provides the foundational insights that make the MCode assessment effective.
Your MCode reveals what makes you YOU and explains how you’re motivated and why it matters.
Discover what energizes and drains you, the work environments where you’ll thrive or struggle, your natural advantages and disadvantages, and how you’re naturally wired to contribute value to the world around you.
MCode Premium
MCode Premium reveals your MCode, provides foundational insights, and includes resources to help you apply your MCode.
When you choose or upgrade to MCode Premium, you gain access to interactive tools and resources to help you apply your MCode at work and throughout your life.
Applications focus on elevating your mindset, speaking confidently, refining your LinkedIn profile, crafting a compelling professional bio, making more persuasive pitches, and becoming a more effective negotiator.
MCode Foundational Insights
- Discover your Top 5 Motivations and how they drive your thoughts, decisions, and actions.
- See your ranking of 32 Motivations and how it shapes your MCode across 8 Dimensions.
- Understand your strongest Dimensions and potential blind spots to watch out for.
Additional Premium Tools
- Identify your Motivational Flow to unleash your full potential and perform at your best.
- Explore how Motivations impact how you show up.
- Compare your Motivations with another person’s Motivations to see how you interact with others.
Additional Premium Resources
- Personalized affirmations and declarations to cultivate a positive, growth mindset.
- A word bank of action verbs and power descriptors that align with your Motivational Dimension.
- LinkedIn enhancers to better communicate how you add value and why you are the best choice.
- Bio suggestions and sentence starters to highlight your unique strengths, motivations, and impact.
- Motivated pitching examples to tailor your sales message to each Motivational Dimension.
- Motivated negotiation suggestions to use motivation to negotiate more effectively.
