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Talent is a force,
not a tool. Talent does things
to you.
A
"natural" in any job shows unlearned
abilities: knacks, talents and
aptitudes.
Aptitudes are important
behavioral vectors. They
are key factors in long term career, work and job success, productivity,
longevity......and happiness.
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This site describes various aspects and
applications of a concept of knacks, talents and aptitudes that
originated in Industrial Engineering in the early 20th
century. It began as productivity research at
General Electric, and was used to improve hiring processes.
Because it began with productivity as the goal, the model is
far more practical and grounded than many psychological approaches to
human behavior and performance. There is plenty of
statistical data gathered over 80 years to support the basic
ideas and concepts. Culturally, we all accept the idea that
some people are mechanical, and some people are not.
This
isn't a bible and I'm not a guru. This
interpretation of aptitudes is a work of judgment. My
judgment. The
material here is my hyper-condensed description of some invisible, intangible
realities. It is partial information about what aptitudes
are and do to people. This is an attempt to share knowledge and
understanding rather than advocate rote application of this concept
in
your life or at your job.
Invisible intangibilities are hard
to pin down and easy to
misunderstand. Seeking
meaning very quickly leads
away from what 'has been proved' to what 'can be proved' to what
'probably is' to what 'might be' - opinion and
speculation.
What I can say with a high degree
of certainty is these things work in
roughly the manner described for most people most of the
time. I am certain everyone has high and low
aptitudes, that these ‘behavioral vectors’ have a major impact on
people, and both high and low aptitudes can be useful or dysfunctional
depending on the context. I
am certain this knowledge can
be used to increase productivity and improve quality of life for
individuals and organizations.
I can find an exception to almost
any generalization about human beings
- including the ones I make. We can assume that
blind people will not have observation aptitudes. For
clarity of communication I have chosen not to qualify things too much.
Hank Pfeffer
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If
I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of
giants. (Isaac Newton )
This work did not spring in full
bloom from my mind. It is
based on interpretation of generations of work by some very sharp
people. Johnson O'Connor, starting in 1922, developed
the conceptual model and established the statistical basis for my work
on the meaning of aptitudes. He assembled a group of
brilliant people who added to his efforts. I wish I had known him, and
them. The Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation carries on
his work.
Hank
Pfeffer
knackman@yahoo.com
knackman@lycos.com
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Menu:
Aptitudes,
general concept (read this first, or it won't make much sense)
The Tortoise and the Hare, an aptitude perspective
List of
Independent Aptitudes
Animals and Aptitudes, Nature/Nurture, Children
and Aptitudes
High
Rate of Idea Production, self evaluation & article
The Too
Many Aptitude Problem, TMA trait list,
Being Right About Being Wrong, conclusion to "Danger, High Voltage."
Am I In
the Wrong Career?
Aptitudes and Mental Illness.
Aptitudes
and Organizations.
Aptitudes of the Great
Programmer.
Aptitudes
and Juror Selection.
On the
Nature of Knowing (an interesting spinoff).
Comments
on IQ and Reasoning.
Basis of
this Knowledge.
Services
for Individuals and Organizations.
Material for
sale
Contact:
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Aptitudes: General concept
We all know,
understand things and operate on more levels than just the
conscious. Even given the same information, there is a difference
in how people know and understand things. A big part of that is
due to unlearned abilities - gut level and non-conscious ways of
operating - knacks, talents and aptitudes.
These
genetically determined traits have a major impact on default
behavior - what is going on that we’re not paying attention
to. This is pre-conscious behavior - neither
fully
conscious nor sub-conscious. Example: what type size is
most comfortable for someone to read.
You
can't create talent - these things are genetic in
origin. Everyone has experienced talent - and lack of
talent. Most people know if they are mechanical, have a
sense of direction, pick up languages easily, enjoy puzzles or are good
with their hands. These aptitudes are stable in
adults - if you are musical at age thirty, you will be so at 50.
Talent
is a force, not a tool. You don't just pick it up
and put it down at will - it does things to you in an ongoing
way. A musical talent makes a
person
sensitive to and aware of sound under all conditions, 24 hours a
day. A crying baby and a squeaky door are more annoying to
a person who is musical than to someone who isn't.
Aptitudes
are not consciously controlled. They can be
consciously directed towards performing certain tasks. The
musical talent is there, whether the music is being played or
not. Aptitudes are always operating and cannot
be turned off - part of our interface with the world. This is
very important under heavy stress, when people revert to gut level
functioning.
Aptitudes
are invisible and intangible. They show up through
their impact on behavior. Performance on aptitude tests is
only a
specific type of behavior. (The SAT is not an aptitude test in my
terms because the SAT score is not a useful predictor of college
success..) Each
individual aptitude has its own
impact, like each ingredient adding it's own flavor to a very
complex
stew.
In a way, each aptitude is a behavioral vector
causing certain kinds of
things to happen. Sometimes the impact of
aptitude on behavior is direct - a mechanical person once told
me he
didn't feel comfortable unless he understood how the machines he used
worked. His talent directly motivated him to learn about
machines.
Sometimes
the behavioral impact of talent is
indirect. Example: a person with musical
aptitudes
will be more annoyed than most by a squeaky door. Therefore that person
is more likely to do something about it. To some extent, a
musical ear can cause a door to be oiled.
Aptitudes impact on behavior in
ways both subtle and
obvious. At some level we perceive these things
even if we don't consciously recognize them as
aptitudes. People
with similar aptitudes find it
easier to get along and cooperate. It is easier to get in
sync with someone if there is a real - though invisible -
similarity. Wildly different aptitudes
make
communication and cooperation more difficult. Many
personality and operational conflicts are due to aptitude
dissimilarities - different ways of experiencing the universe.
About two dozen different and independent
unlearned abilities are
pretty well known. They are simple things: types of
memory,
ways of processing information, levels of perception. They
are building blocks for more complex ways of operating.
Everyone seems to have each talent to
some degree - high, mid range or
low. No humans have a talent for flying or breathing
underwater.
The predictable impact (behavioral
vector) of talent and lack of talent
remain much the same at age 40 as at age 20. What you get
by understanding someone's aptitudes is a certain rough predictability
and insight into cost effectiveness of using these talents under
different conditions (different jobs, mostly).
A strong or high aptitude is the
equivalent of a head start in certain
types of learning and working - a head start over others that can be
maintained given equivalent effort. A low aptitude
means starting out behind most people. This remains stable over time -
a talent doesn't go away. It is predictable over time.
This is a key point. It is
the long sought after unchangeable
part of the human being. This
predictability is what makes the concept so useful. If you
are mechanical you will be all your life. You can be
expected to do best in situations where mechanical aptitude is used and
prized. If you don't use it, you will miss it. Conversely,
knowing that you are non-mechanical means you can predict always being
slow in areas using mechanical learning and improvisation.
How valuable can information like
that be? How expensive is a
wasted year in college, or giving up a career after a decade?
If
you can predict that something will happen in a particular way, you
can work with it. Prevent it, avoid it, exacerbate
it, divert it -
whatever fits your goals. The key is in knowing what
to
expect - using limited predictability well. It is possible
to use experience, planning and training to gain some control over the
behaviors and results associated with an aptitude.
That is
why this concept is also a very useful tool for managers and human
resources staff.
Most of the research into
aptitudes has been career
oriented. Specific
combinations of aptitudes are best
suited for specific jobs. The right knacks and
talents are
a head start and ongoing advantage in that area.
Understanding what aptitudes are
relevant to a particular job is easy
once you understand the aptitudes involved. There is
no
mystery about why a mechanical knack is useful in medicine, or finger
dexterity useful for a guitarist.
Aptitude
does not equal success. The right aptitudes might
make a person seven feet tall but reality often presents us with 1000
foot cliffs. Talent is not a substitute for hard
work. The winner of any race comes in covered in sweat and
hurting. It is best to choose the right race to compete in
- then work hard.
High aptitude does mean that if
other factors are roughly equal, he/she
will outperform others and most especially so over a large number of
cases and over a period of time. It also seems to mean that
this person will enjoy it more.
Low
aptitude is important. It can be an
advantage. High aptitudes beyond job
requirements cause problems. A talent is also a
need. In order to achieve
concentration on a task that doesn't use that aptitude, that unused
aptitude must be ignored or stifled. Not only does that take
energy, it doesn't feel good. This takes its toll in the long
run. Motivational energy seems to be finite -
the extra effort needed to stifle a part of yourself is an important
factor in burnout. Lack of
mechanical aptitude is actually an
advantage for someone like an accountant.
Consider what it would feel like
to be healthy and confined to
bed. How good would it feel to move around? Is it
valid to compare physical processes to mental ones? In this case,
yes. If either physical or mental natural processes are thwarted,
it feels bad. (Is this the first theory of mental
constipation on record?)
A recipe is a good analogy for how
aptitudes impact on the
job. To make a good chocolate cake (or good customer
service person) , you must use the ingredients in the recipe and no
others. Of course, some variation in the base
recipe
still works, but there is no place in that recipe for lobster.
Talent works the same in job
settings. Just one high
aptitude can make a job wrong for a person - like lobster in a
chocolate cake. Whether a high or low aptitude is good or
bad depends on the context. Anything can be an advantage or
disadvantage depending on the situation. Talent is no
exception. Consider what life is like if you are very tall
- or very short.
Aptitudes have an important impact on motivation.
It feels
good to use a high aptitude, thus reinforcing operating that
way. This is almost certainly related to the production of
endorphins.
Not only pain killers, endorphins
are also known to be mood regulators.
There are
many kinds of endorphin - the good feelings associated with
making music are not the same as those that come with writing a good
computer program or balancing a budget.
Most of the time, if you have a low aptitude you know
it.
Painful experience has taught you. Even if you have learned
to do the job, working in a low aptitude area can feel like swimming
upstream through a river of sludge. Almost anyone can
learn to do a job or pass a class by rote, but if the gut level
knowing is lacking, performance is inferior to those who have the
knack (other factors being equal). It
doesn't
feel good. This leads to burnout, accidents and stress
related illness.
Without that deep level of knowing
or understanding, self confidence is
lower. If people don't
have a gut level feel for a
situation, they are never really comfortable there.
Without
the inherent rewards associated with high aptitude, motivation is
lower. It isn't impossible to get motivated - just harder.
Low
aptitude people make more errors and achieve less in that area - or
work a lot harder to achieve the same results. This
can
lead to burnout, accidents and a higher risk of stress related
illness. It is possible to learn to be better at
almost anything, whatever the level of aptitude.
However, with the same effort, people with the right talents for that
activity stay ahead - and enjoy what they're doing. For the
talented, operating in a particular way is cost effective on many
levels.
The
satisfactions associated with use of aptitudes, and the stresses
associated with working in the wrong aptitude areas, seem to be why
aptitudes are related to longevity on the job.
People with
the wrong aptitudes often leave the field - or they pay a personal
price for staying. The price is feeling bad and the
ways that people learn to cope with that unhappiness.
Depending on which studies you
believe, 40% to 90% of Americans dislike
their work. Many of them hate their
jobs. They don't want to be there.
They cling to their jobs because they need the money and don't see
viable work alternatives. They pay the bills but they also pay a
price: physically, psychologically and spiritually. Often
they go home and kick the dog, or kick the kids or kick themselves.
Though part of the reason for this
is the Dilbert reality, another part
of it is people not understanding themselves well enough to find the
right work - that is, work that fits them. It is understandable - our
society asks “What do you want?” Instead of
“Who are you?” This
implies that you can be anything you want. That is
false.
Most
people incorrectly assume that others experience life the same way
they do. We really are all different and have no choice
about
it. The impact of that difference pervades our lives.
We
have no choice about dealing with our aptitudes (and those of
others), because we have no choice about dealing with
ourselves. Who you are doesn't change when you
leave
work, whatever image you choose to project there. One way
or another, consciously or not, everyone and every organization deals
with the powerful forces of aptitudes.
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The Tortoise
and the Hare: An Aptitude Perspective.
Obviously the tortoise is low in
reasoning aptitudes and self
knowledge. What sort of idiot turtle enters a foot race
with a hare? Who are you gonna bet on? A
high reasonings tortoise will talk the hare into a swimming endurance
contest, or weight hauling contest. Then who do you bet on?
If a tortoise must run a foot race with a hare,
and MUST win, it might
be useful to examine the predictable behaviors of rabbits, with an eye
to taking advantage of them. Arranging for a series of
attractive lady bunnies to show up along the track would be
useful. Along the way, some piles of gourmet carrots, a
few rabbit traps and a TV interviewer could help.
Better to avoid going to those
lengths. A smart tortoise chooses
his or her races well.
So does a smart person.
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List
of independent aptitudes.
These
do not define a human being. Everyone is an infinity.
However, these are an important part of that infinity.
A.
Reasoning/processing
1. Systems reasoning:
An information organizing aptitude
that takes data and puts it into a
system, or takes data and organizes it into a system. Strong
awareness of context as well as content. Often the basis of
an interest in history. Analysis, contingency
planning. Useful for programmers, editors, process
planners.
2. Flash reasoning:
The condition of (mostly)
accurately jumping to conclusions, quickly
seeing discrepancies and errors, with a need to answer questions.
Natural debaters, they
take strong partisan
positions. Therapists, troubleshooter,
detectives, lawyers.
3. Cause/effect reasoning:
Ability to see extended parallel
cause and effect sequences, something
like what will happen if I do this? This
awareness of the long term makes it easier to conceptualize and achieve
long term goals in diverse areas and reduces the need for immediate
gratification.
4. Numerical reasoning:
A feel for the patterns and
rhythms in numbers. Arithmetical type
activities.
5. Logical reasoning:
Naturally processing
data in the form of syllogisms. Programmers, logicians.
B.
States of being.
1. Mechanical/spatial: An aptitude
for things and 3D space.
Mostly found together, the mechanical and spatial can exist separately.
High: engineers, air controllers, doctors, truckers. Low:
politicians, poets, lawyers.
2. Semantic
equivalence: Aptitude/need for group
functioning, including people politics and the ability / need to
identify with others, read vibes well. High:
sales, management. Low: specialists, artists, independent
decision makers, leaders (not managers).
3. Idea production:
Rate at which ideas are produced
(independent of idea quality.) Folks high in this generate lots
of ideas but are distractible. High: communicators of various
types, such as in teaching or sales. Low: high
concentration areas like surgery.
4. Sensory
discrimination: The condition of making
fine sensory discriminations. Often perceived as fussy,
people like this are very quality aware. Winemakers, coffee
buyers.
C.
Memory/perceptual sensitivity
1. Observation: aptitude
for looking at things, recognizing and
remembering them.
2. Number (visual):
remembering, noticing numbers.
3. Design: sensitivity to
and memory for designs.
4. Word (visual): memory
for and sensitivity to written words.
5. Color: memory for and
sensitivity to color.
6. Tone: memory for and
sensitivity to tones.
7. Rhythm: memory for and
sensitivity to rhythm and timing.
8. Number (audible): memory
and sensitivity to spoken numbers.
9. Word (audible): memory
and sensitivity to spoken words.
D.
Miscellaneous.
1. Near Point Visual
Efficiency: close in visual scanning as in
paperwork, CRT screens, formal schooling. A crucial
aptitude in an information society.
2. Finger dexterity: good
hands.
3. Small tool dexterity:
tweezers, eyebrow pencils.
Possible
aptitudes:
hands on task organizing ability,
spatial orientation, sensory
threshold/overload point, body memory, common sense, green thumb,
competitiveness, auditory identification, day/night alertness,
intuition, synesthesia, healing, affinity for animals, seeing auras,
parenting, the Ronald Reagan Teflon trait, the ability to get
meaningful data from a noisy background....the list of possibles goes
on and on..
The key question in looking at
these possible aptitudes is
predictibility. How much can you trust it? If
you have an unlearned ability that can be counted on and makes you feel
good, it is quite possible it could be an aptitude. However, a
‘natural’ at any real life task is usually using a set of aptitudes,
rather than just one.
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Animals and
Aptitudes.
My search for unknown aptitudes
led to an interest in instinct
and animal behavior. We are, after all, animals. It is an
immense field - my knowledge is superficial.
I
am not really able to distinguish between an aptitude for remembering
designs and an instinct for remembering designs (shown by both
humans
and bees, with obviously different mechanisms). A
sense of direction is found in many animals. Insects,
beavers and birds build things, so do humans.
Experiments with teaching gorillas
and dolphins to communicate have had
amazing results and provide us with tantalizing hints and insights.
Evidence of aptitudes and
different levels of unlearned ability is
clear among domesticated animals. Even within specialized
breeds there are differences- some Labrador retrievers don’t swim
well.
I encountered a very smart dog
once, penned up and so painfully bored that I couldn’t
help making the comparison between him and a smart, bored human.
I pitied him. I began asking knowledgeable people how smart
they thought a dog could be. Many people answered that the
smartest dogs were equivalent to a four year old human.
In 18th century debates over
treatment of animals, including issues of
animal rights, the unanswerable point was made: “They
feel.” Since I believe aptitude has an integral
emotional component, I am left pondering.
I think reasoning is almost
impossible to distinguish from
rationalization. In a talk with a high IQ expert, a cat person, I
brought up a common cat behavior. Cats occasionally do clumsy,
undignified things. If aware of being observed, a cat will gather
up its dignity and (apparently) pretend it didn’t happen. This is
high order functioning, rationalization as good as found in the higher
realms of politics. The IQ expert agreed with the
point. We are both still pondering it.
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Nature, nurture
and a startling question.
Though the genetic component of
aptitude seems clear, it is certain
that nurture also has an impact. A comparison to
physical traits makes the point well. Someone might have a
genetic propensity to be six feet tall, but will never reach that
height without the right nutrition.
At birth, babies have the
capability of learning to make all sounds
found in any language. It is my understanding that
within a couple years, with some sounds and behaviors reinforced and
others ignored, they lose that ability.
In “Frames of Mind”,
Howard Gardner describes a study of
kittens raised in an artificial environment with no vertical
lines. When these kittens were released into a normal
environment as adults, they were unable to see vertical
lines. They would run into table legs.
They never learned, as far as I know. Kittens are not
babies, but..........
It
seems probable that, without reinforcement, natural abilities in
children can be stunted and perhaps even worse - lost
permanently.
The startling
question:
What natural abilities are we
losing in children by not knowing to
nurture and reinforce them? Healing, ESP, and who
knows what?
Are we all
‘failure to thrive’ infants, in some ways?
Confused? So am
I. But this is all theoretical
and very speculative.
The practical
response: by adulthood, the aptitudes are stable and
embedded in all behavior. You can trust them to be there - or not
be there. That is enough to work with.
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Children and aptitudes.
The Johnson O’Connor Research
Foundation does not test
children. The reason is simple - the value of testing
is the predictability obtained. With an adult, if you
have or don’t have
it now, you can trust that to be true 20 years from
now. That isn't as true with kids. Some
of the reasoning aptitudes don’t seem to
stabilize before puberty is over.
However, high and low aptitudes
are clear in children, both in pure, theoretical
form (the building blocks) or in the more common sense of talent and
natural ability. There is plenty of obvious evidence of
different levels of mechanical aptitude, athletic ability, language
talent.
Extremely high aptitudes show up
starting in the toddler
stage. I’ve seen three year olds who can ride a two
wheeler, read or play a musical instrument. One man with
extremely high sense of direction described an incident when he was
two and lost at a zoo and was able to retrace his path to the entrance.
The existence of aptitudes means
age grouping is a bad way to do
education. Is it abusive to force a child without any
talent for algebra or foreign language to learn it?
Do we expect blind
children to read? Everyone is blind in some
ways.
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HIGH
RATE of IDEA PRODUCTION (hereafter called HRIP) is an extremely
powerful aptitude that has a major impact on a person, both in
career
and personal terms. It is a simple
thing. A stimulus causes lots of
ideas in a short period of time.
Everybody
is always being bombarded by stimuli, both internal and
external. In response to these constant stimuli the
HRIP
person reacts by constantly producing a high volume of ideas. The
quality of ideas is not the point - simply the rate of their production.
People like this are always gushing with ideas.
Some folks
manifest it as the gift of gab. They can't turn the ideas
off. It is possible for them to put a lid on it, but only
with an effort. The HRIP almost always has something
to say, and usually says it. People like this grin
knowingly if I jokingly mention that they might have once or twice
considered lobotomy or putting tranquilizers in their oatmeal.
You don't just have these ideas
and that's the end of it. The
HRIP person wants and needs to express them, try them out, act on
them. That is one reason HRIP individuals find
limits hard
to deal with. Set limits and the HRIP person often can't
help thinking over, under, around and beyond them.
An inherently narrow job situation - an assembly
line task in either
physical or mental terms - tends to be extremely
frustrating for a HRIP
person. The expression or use of ideas is of little
value
and possibly dysfunctional. So people like this get bored
or distracted easily, a source of on the job injuries and
errors. In those situations, the HRIP person has to
spend energy stifling part of himself just in order to
function. It doesn't feel good to stifle yourself. That
energy can be used more productively.
In general, the larger the
organization the narrower the job
description. Greater satisfaction of HRIP might be found
with a smaller company where a wide variety of tasks is more
likely. Doing ten things in ten different places is likely
to be more pleasant for this kind of person than staying in one place
all day doing just one task.
HRIP might be a factor in
extroversion. Generally,
HRIP people are highly communicative. I expect
an
aptitude evaluation session with a HRIP person to last longer than the
average. Usually there is more feedback and more questions
are asked than with a person with a lower rate of idea
production.
People with a low rate of idea
production tend to be the silent
type. This even seems to extend to body language.
HRIP people have difficulty being
passive listeners.
As each concept is received it generates a burst of ideas.
This person might interrupt others in order to express
them. On the other hand, HRIP tends to be more open
and receptive to new ideas. This is the kind of person who
does something different for the sake of variety.
This kind of person might tend to be persuadable - a side effect
of openness to and enjoyment of ideas.
One
of the clearest effects of HRIP is
distractibility. Since stimuli produce
(or
cause) lots of ideas it is difficult to concentrate in situations where
there are a lot of external sources of distraction. This kind of
person often wants/needs to be alone to think something through or is
the kind of person who has to wait for the office to clear out before
being able to effectively deal with that pile of
paperwork. The HRIP person might even find
taking notes at a lecture or business meeting distracting and could
benefit by using a tape recorder.
This
distractibility can mean lack of follow through and impatience
with detail work. Staying focused is harder
for this
sort of person. Stimuli keep generating new ideas and
HRIP individuals want to follow them up, only noticing later that
they are off track. Many people like this talk about
a life littered with unfinished projects.
The
HRIP person should be careful about deviating from a previously
established plan, especially if the deviation from the plan is a course
of action that was rejected previously. Best way to stay on
track? Loose written planning is useful.
HRIP won't tolerate rigid
planning. And keep that plan in front of you - filed
is forgotten. Daytimers, PDAs - whatever
works.
A HRIP person might have planned
to go to work, get a haircut and then
go grocery shopping. On the way to the barber shop the HRIP
person might see a supermarket and decide to go shopping immediately
since it is so convenient. It is too late when the HRIP person
remembers the reason for shopping last - the groceries have to be
refrigerated and this means an immediate trip home and quite possibly
no haircut that day.
HRIP people are
also self distracting. It is quite possible
that they will tend to be less decisive than others. Also,
they might change their mind more often than most. They
might have trouble getting started on a project- overwhelmed by
ideas. Attention span is shorter for this kind of
person.
The thoughts of a HRIP person
about to write a sales report might run
like this: Better write that report for the
boss. Boy he looks cranky this morning. I wonder if
we lost the James accounts? Well, better get
started.... Gotta get a new chair - this one is starting to get
shabby. Do I have enough data? Some coffee
would be nice while I write this. Whoops, almost forgot to call
Bill about tennis tonight. Better do that before he goes to
lunch, etc., etc., etc. In practical
terms it means that there is a tendency to produce ideas
rather than act on them. This points to work areas
where idea production is a primary activity.
Because
concentration is more difficult for HRIP people, they
might tend to resent interruptions more than most
people. And rightly so - it will take them
more
energy than most people have to exert to get back in the
groove. That concentration is precious.
Too many distractions and the interrupted project might simply not get
done.
The HRIP person gets used to
losing a lot of ideas. The
ideas
come and the ideas go and unless they are written down they are usually
lost. Many HRIP people will recognize the following
situation. You are in the shower and you get a great
idea. Do you get out and write it down? You'll
freeze and get the house all wet. Or do you wait until you finish
the shower, knowing full well that between now and then are eternities
of ideas and that you'll probably forget it? One person
told me he has learned to keep a grease pencil in his
shower. In non-bathing situations technology is helpful for
recording those ideas. And HRIP individuals should record
those ideas - as a first step towards implementation.
What
is an idea? Is it thought or is it
emotion? Or a combination of both? If HRIP is
or can
be manifested in emotional terms can we expect HRIP people to be
subject to more fluctuating emotions
than most people?
Quite possibly. Self distraction might be deliberately used
by a HRIP person to deal with anger or grief.
HRIP people tend to like other
HRIP people. Sometimes you
can watch a pair of HRIP people talk
themselves into a euphoric state
(endorphin related) by just playing with ideas. The
communication
of ideas is stimulating to them. One can find these kind of
people in HRIP environments such as the arts or
journalism. Organizations have different levels of
this aptitude in different departments - production is usually low
while a unit like public relations is usually high.
To a less receptive person the
HRIP individual can be perceived as
conversationally domineering or simply hard to follow - jumping around
too far, too fast. HRIP people can get carried
away
with ideas and enthusiasm for ideas, but not follow
through. They could get so
involved in a conversation or their thoughts that they might forget
other matters..
The person who builds a business
is not the best person to maintain
it. The goal of the organization builder is to set up a
self sustaining money machine - a stable structure. A
stable structure doesn't need ideas - if it is making money it needs to
be left alone except for maintenance tasks. The builder has built
herself/himself into a narrow job.
In
a start up operation HRIP is extremely
useful. All sorts of things are happening
and
ideas are needed. However, no sooner is the
structure in place than HRIP starts wanting to tinker, perhaps
dysfunctionally. One person described what sounded
like a process of building up a small business using HRIP in sales, and
overextending because of the very same characteristic.
Put a HRIP person in charge of an
established dairy and within a year
he/she is wondering what would happen if the milk were dyed
blue. Or making plans for diversification, or
new product lines or new anything.
The
tendency to use those ideas is always there whether it is
appropriate or not. The HRIP person can have
trouble
leaving well enough alone when things get boring. This kind of
person must learn when to let go.
Letting go might mean hiring a
manager and opening another branch, or
franchising. It could mean spending time mostly on the HRIP
aspects of the operation, such as promoting it or training
employees. It can mean getting serious about a HRIP
hobby, or going off and doing something else
entirely. If the business itself is HRIP, such as
advertising, the builder can get more involved with the creative end
and less involved with administration.
HRIP
is often useful in a fast paced, changing and/or developing
situation. This could be a project oriented
company;
a small, growing organization where new situations are constantly
coming up; or it could be a changing environment within a more stable
setting such as sales management. This kind of
setting needs HRIP.
The HRIP person can be very
effective in situations where a
brainstorming approach is necessary or
useful such as sales, teaching,
advertising or planning a project from scratch. It is useful in
public relations, some (not all) forms of writing, design work
and the arts. It can be a problem in artistic areas that require
repetitious practice such as classical musical performance.
Many people find it hard to live
with their HRIP. One
of the best ways is to use written tools to help stay in
focus. Make lists, set goals, write agendas - both short
and long term. An HRIP employee going into a meeting with the
boss might find it valuable to carry in a list of discussion
subjects. Without that to keep her/him on track, a HRIP
person might find the meeting over after an interesting conversation
and nothing important accomplished (I once forgot to ask for a
raise). At one speed reading school, students are
advised to build up their threshold of distractibility and practice
concentrating by reading with music playing.
Idea
production can take many forms, from the wildest fantasy to the
utmost in rationality. There are many paths to originality
and
creativity of which this is only one. Much of the content
of HRIP is trivial, reflecting our concerns with the minor mundane
things in life such as which laundry detergent to buy. The HRIP
is independent of the content and quality of the ideas. It
simply defines that there will be many ideas. Certainly
knowledge and reasoning would have a great effect on the quality of
idea production.
For
the person with too many aptitudes (TMA), HRIP makes the situation
vastly more difficult by exacerbating focus problems.
High
reasoning aptitudes tend to reinforce the effects described above.
People
Low in Idea Production rate seem to have an advantage in tasks
that require concentration. Less distractible, they
find it
easier to focus for longer periods of time. They tend to
tolerate solitude better -
apparently less of a need to
communicate. They seem to project less energy.
Less verbally quick than others, this kind of person seems to listen a
lot. Some Low Rate of Idea Production folks do amazing
artistic work, often at a level of detail impossible for someone
HRIP.
Surgeons apparently have a undeserved reputation as the dummies of the
medical world. Their work selects for the highest level of
concentration - and thus the lowest levels of idea
production. Just as smart, they tend to be less verbal.
LRIP individuals who feel a need
to generate more ideas might find it
useful to learn methods generating methods taught in various classes or
books about how to be more creative. Though many writers
have HRIP, not all do by any means. It depends on the kind of
writing.
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++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Self
Evaluation: Idea Production (Experimental
Prototype)
Instructions:
This works best with adults.
Skip any questions that are not applicable. If it takes you more than a
minute to
answer, consider the question not applicable. (Deep thought won’t help
- we are looking for the obvious.).
Method: Please answer with 1
for a very strong no; 2 for a strong
no; 3 for no, 4, 5 and 6 mean maybe or sometimes; 7 means mild yes, 8
for yes, 9 for a strong yes; 10 very strong yes. Put NA for those that are not
applicable.
Samples:
___ Are you a good cook?
If you burn eggs, scorch toast and
ruin steaks, write 1 in the space
before the question. If you are a gourmet chef, answer 10.
If
you've never tried, answer NA.
___ Are you a good bargainer?
If you always pay the price asked
or always get taken, answer
1. If you almost always try to get a deal and often
succeed, answer 10. If you don't buy things that have
a negotiable price, answer NA.
_____1. Do you enjoy brainstorming?
_____2. While others are talking do you often come
up with so many things to say that you forget many of them by the time
the others are done?
_____3. Do you often get so
involved in
conversation or your thoughts that you forget where you are?
_____4. Is taking notes at a
lecture or
meeting distracting because writing notes generates ideas that distract
from the speaker?
_____5. Do you get bored easily by
repetitive tasks?
_____6. Do you interrupt others?
_____7. Do you enjoy variety at
work?
_____8. Do interruptions get you
off track from what you were
doing?
_____9. Do you sometimes have to
remember to listen?
_____10.When you have to get
things done, do you
need to (or should you) make lists of things to do so you don't forget
any?
_____11. Do you enjoy playing with
ideas?
_____12. Do you prefer or need to
be alone to concentrate?
_____13. Do you start things and
not finish them?
_____14. Can you go from one room
to another and forget what you went
in there for?
_____15. Would working on an
assembly line drive you nuts
quickly?
_____16. Are you almost always
gushing with ideas?
_____17. Do you sometimes get
carried away by an idea?
_____18. Do you use self
distraction to deal with bad moods, sadness,
etc.?
_____19. Are you easily distracted?
_____20. Do you tend to go off on
conversational tangents?
_____21. Do you prefer doing a
number of work tasks to doing just one
thing all the time?
_____22. Do you have a lot of
unfinished projects?
_____23. Are you a talker?
_____24. Do you need to write down
good ideas and
thoughts you come up with, or risk losing them?
_____25. Do you almost always have
something to say?
_____26. Do you find it useful to
go into meetings
with a list of discussion items (so you won't forget anything)?
_____27. Do you sometimes do
things differently just for a change?
_____28. Do you have a lot of
ideas and need to use them?
_____29. Do you identify with most
of the
description of someone who has a high rate of idea production?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scoring:
Add the scores and divide by the
number of questions answered.
A score higher than 6.5
indicates High in the rate of idea
production.
A score lower than 3.5
indicates Low in idea production
rate.
3.5 to 6.5 indicates average, and
that it probably isn't an important vector for you..
Evaluation:
Should you trust this score?
NO WAY.
I don't trust any paperwork format to adequately describe much about a
person. This includes my best efforts. At
best, this self evaluation provides a rough rule of thumb, a
guideline.
The results are only as accurate
as the
information you
provide. If you provided accurate information, this
still does not provide data about the degree or strength of
aptitude, only about the existence or non-existence of behaviors I
associate with the aptitude..
There is absolutely no need
to jam
you into categories that you don’t
fit. You know yourself better than I ever
will. You make the call.
Ask yourself: “Does
this accurately describe part of what I am and have been?”
If the answer is yes, then you can
expect to be so for the rest of your
life.
If the answer is 'no' please send me an email. I'd be interested
in learning why it didn't accurately describe your rate of idea
production.
If you can't decide, ask others who know you well to rate you.
Though Rate of Idea
Production is an important aptitude, getting a read
on just one talent is equivalent to a doctor just taking a blood
pressure. It is useful as far as it goes, but it is not enough
for decision making. The general comments about HRIP
situations are valid, but much depends on other factors such as whether
you are high or low in Mechanical/Spatial, Flash Reasoning, etc.
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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Too
Many Aptitude Problem
Most
people have about four or five strong talents out of the roughly
two dozen independent aptitudes known to exist.
Most jobs require about four or five. As many
as 10% of the population has over double that number of aptitudes - and
that is a problem for them and employers.
The Johnson O'Connor Research
Foundation, the oldest aptitude testing
organization in the country, has statistical evidence that people with
too many aptitudes (TMAs) are less likely to obtain advanced education
and/or succeed in career than those with an average number of talents.
Being a TMA is a very mixed
blessing. Strong talents
are
extremely powerful internal forces. One of the most
important implications of my aptitude research is the strong
possibility that emotional intensity is directly correlated with the
intensity of a talent. Someone operating at a high
intensity level of talent (including reasoning) will also be operating
at a high intensity level of emotion. Every thought, memory
or perception is directly connected to emotion - a wholistic
phenomenon.
It is quite possible that TMAs are
continually operating in a
hypersensitive manner. People hypersensitive to
external and internal data in many forms and operating at a high
emotional intensity level might very well become overstimulated.
Ongoing
overstimulation could explain the paralysis felt by some
TMAs. They are so overwhelmed by perceptions,
memories, thoughts and feelings that they can't commit themselves to
anything. Many of them need a lot of time alone to
regenerate. Yet, this
same turbulence can also lead to
great insight and creativity.
The
existence of a powerful force implies difficulty in learning to
harness that force. Having a lot of strong talents
is a bit
like dealing with high voltage. You can do a lot of
things with high voltage. However, it can also fry
you. It takes a lot more knowledge and more safety
precautions to work with high voltage rather than low. A lot of
that voltage for TMAs is emotional. Few people know
how to handle normal emotion, let alone powerful, ongoing emotion.
Among the clearest psychological
effects of having many talents are
problems of focus.
TMAs are drawn in many different
and conflicting directions. It is like being an
engineer, a lawyer, a cook, a teacher and a musician - all at once and
all demanding their share of time and energy. Self
structuring thus becomes a major problem for TMAs. Unable to use
themselves well, they usually end up as employees - and resent
it.
TMAs often become job hoppers,
instinctively trying to satisfy their
diverse needs. Job hopping rarely leads to financial
success. It also doesn't lead to the consistent building of
knowledge, expertise and reputation that is necessary for significant
success in any area.
TMAs often don't fit in well with
organizations or
groups. They are
rarely willing to give up their
perceptual and decision making independence for the sake of group
membership. Basically, they are saying
'I will
join only on my own terms,' which is unacceptable to most groups.
Pecking orders exist in any human
activity. TMAs often
cause problems to the hierarchy. Most TMAs aren't
really
motivated (or all that impressed) by money or power.
They feel that they are anyone's equal and want to be treated as such -
a state of mind that is often seen as a direct challenge to authority
and the authority structure. Hyper-critical
and often irreverent, TMAs cannot act as if the boss
were always right. They notice the Naked Emperor and
comment, or
expend a lot of energy stifling themselves. Consistently
commenting on imperial nudity is seen by others - especially bosses -
as aggressive.
TMAs usually have high reasoning
aptitudes.
Folks like this don't like applying
pat answers to routine problems -
it doesn't use their reasoning ability. They need to
work things out by themselves, need to solve real problems.
This can be a strength or a weakness (ever wonder why some people won't
read instructions?). At work they often feel they are
operating in low gear and tend to gravitate to fringe or trouble
areas. Without problems, TMAs will often find or make some.
TMAs
are powerful people. They are competent in many
ways. They are often either domineering or overwhelming in
relationships with others - only strong people aren't threatened
or influenced by them. TMAs often develop considerable
informal power at
work or in groups. At work a strong manager is thus likely
to require more submission gestures from a TMA than from
others. That invites covert (or overt) retaliation
and TMAs often find themselves in conflict with authority.
Rarely
identifying with group norms, and sometimes challenging the
basic assumptions of the group, TMAs are often resented and feared by
peers and subordinates as much as by authority.
Clearly perceived by others as powerful, they are also viscerally seen
as dangerous and unpredictable and therefore untrustworthy.
Thus, TMAs
often don't receive the rewards and protection offered by
the group. They recognize this. Their alienation
leads directly to the idea that "the system and the rules don't
work for me, so I've got to do something else." This
can mean crime or creativity, or both. It also seems
to mean internal conflict, self esteem problems and confusion.
These problems are usually not
apparent at first glance. At
any given time the TMA appears to be functioning very well.
Often, the TMA will be brilliant in many aspects of work and
life. It is only over time
that the pattern of difficulties
begins to emerge. It often leads to destructive self
criticism or self hatred - TMAs seem to have a rather high suicide
rate.
The
worst off TMAs seem to be the ones who try to be
normal. This includes using normal definitions of
success.
TMAs often find it personally destructive to try to fit into normal
molds. They aren't
normal. Not better, not
worse. Different, and with different needs.
TMA
is not something that can be ignored or cured. It
is something that has to be worked with. For most
multi-talented people, it is likely to cause problems at one stage of
life or another. Many TMAs never learn to use themselves
well. Usually their worst problems are associated with lack of
financial or professional success. Though there are
no easy answers, there are better or worse ways to work with TMA.
Not all TMAs are
unsuccessful. TMAs
seem to
function best at frontiers - intellectual, social or
physical. These are the places where learning
and
doing are the same thing. They can
operate well at interfaces between different parts of society - liaison
and translation. They often do well as
troubleshooters, innovators or problem solvers, in research or
investigation and in product or method development. Many teach
and practice in the arts.
TMAs can be thought of as
risk takers and, in some ways, as
warriors. They seem to do quite well in
situations like the Alamo, fighting long odds
and staving off the inevitable.
Sometimes they do the impossible. But real challenge
involves real risk. Frontiers and battlefields have
something unpleasant in common: high error and casualty
rates.
TMAs are most likely to be happiest with work that provides a lot of
variety and opportunity for use of diverse talents - usually
multi-disciplinary areas. Even
then, many TMAs feel that they are
underachieving, that they could do great things. And they
are usually right. The only thing that can motivate
the TMA
to focus enough for really high achievement is a value judgment.
TMAs are usually hypercritical, a side effect of
high reasoning
aptitudes. They notice flaws and loopholes, errors and
inconsistencies. They notice that 90% of almost anything is
bullshit. They are usually good
arguers and can tear just about
anything to shreds - including themselves.
TMAs will
sometimes set goals, prove to themselves that these goals are
worthless, and then repeat the entire cycle. Each decision
can be challenged, each goal can be laughed at - and thus nothing is
worth doing. This destroys personal motivation and
energy.
Money, power and self
aggrandizement don't really motivate TMAs.
Only finding something worth doing -
by their own high standards - can
motivate TMAs to focus enough for sustained very high
achievement. Then and only then can the powerful forces of
the diverse aptitudes be channeled.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Trait
list: Too Many Aptitudes
Being gifted or multi-talented is
a very mixed blessing. Many people
like this are caught in the maelstrom of their own strengths and never
achieve anything close to career success and satisfaction.
Below are some of the traits connected to being
multi-talented. All of these traits seem to be different
manifestations of the same phenomenon and, though there are no easy
answers, there are better or worse ways to work with it.
1---You've worked in many
different positions and ways.
2---Once you know how to do a job
you are soon bored with it.
3---Rate buster - sometimes
overproducing just from sheer boredom.
4---Perpetual identity questions
(you might wonder if you are a
Martian).
5---Lack of firm career choice,
especially by age 30.
6---Lack of advanced education,
due to unwillingness to specialize.
7---Problems of focus and self
discipline.
8---Good arguer- at times you win
arguments you know you shouldn't.
9---Threatening to bosses
(sometimes scornful of them).
10---High test scores, but mostly
mediocre grades and achievements.
11---Quickly achieve informal
power in groups.
12---Good grades, often with
little study, and mediocre achievements.
13---Prefer figuring things out
yourself to taking orders.
14---Don't particularly fear the
unknown - less xenophobic than most.
15---Confident about handling
almost anything - except maybe yourself.
16---Sometimes described as too
smart for your own good.
17---Show a strong sense of irony.
18---Easily bored in most normal
jobs and routine tasks.
19---Critical - you think 90% of
everything is BS.
20---Enjoy problems and trouble -
without them will often find some.
21---Described as a dilettante,
underachiever or jack of all trades.
22---Not willing to give up
perceptual and decision making autonomy for
the sake of group membership.
23---Quick learner, with
intermittent flashes of brilliance.
24---Ornery - love to prove you
can spit into the wind and not get wet.
25---At work, you gravitate to
fringe and unsolved problem areas.
26---Inherently creative but will
sometimes reinvent the wheel.
27---Strong emotions/ high
intensity.
28---Want to be perceived and
treated as an exception in groups.
29---Have a broad span of
interests.
30---Tend to react to the
environment rather than act upon it.
31---Think art is important
32---Not greatly motivated by
money or power.
33---Spiritual but not formally
religious.
34---Tend to be destabilizing to
pecking orders, at times by not
playing the game.
35---Often show a life pattern of
just getting by.
36---Do not especially fear death
37---Not so much domineering as
overwhelming to others in personal
relationships.
38---Find pomposity and pretension
irritating.
39---Occasionally broke and job
hunting
40---Trying to be normal doesn’t
work.
This list is not to be taken too
seriously. I've seen somewhat
similar lists associated with traits of children of alcoholic parents
and folks with attention deficit disorder (alienation?).
However
this is useful as a rough indicator of whether you might be a
TMA. If you are, you can expect to be one for the rest of your
life, with all that implies. And, since aptitudes seem to be
genetically determined, it might very well be a set of traits your
children have or will have.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The
US
Constitution: A TMA Influence?
As a student of history, it was clear to me that many of the
people who shaped early America were TMAS. People like
Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson are among the most well
known. It seemed obvious why. Frontiers
draw pioneer types.
However,
it was a bit of a shock
to notice what seemed to be TMA fears
of the individual being dominated by the group reflected in the US
Constitution. Then I thought about who the writers of the
Constitution were. Folks like Jefferson and Franklin.
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Being
Right About Being Wrong
Being
wrong is worse than being bad. Being
bad is often a conscious decision. No
one
ever
makes a conscious choice to be wrong unless it is a deliberate - and
correct –
tactic in achieving a more important goal.
Many
people show a dysfunctional response to being wrong. The message
that so many
people
seem to have internalized as children is "being wrong makes me less
worthwhile."
To
err is confused at gut level with "being" wrong or bad. A
false connection is made
between
being wrong, doing wrong, being bad and doing bad.
Among
the consequences of this attitude are denial of error, burying or
hiding
mistakes,
blaming
and rationalization. Some people spend
a lot of time turning small errors into
big
ones because they can't accept being wrong.
Fear of failure is also connected to fear
of
being wrong.
Being
wrong is especially difficult to deal with when it is pointed out by
others. The
person
- adult or child - who is wrong loses group power and status, aside
from the
direct
negative
results of error. The direct
consequences are usually lost time, effort or money.
Pointing
out error in others is a common power game.
Many people react as if they are
being
personally attacked if an error is pointed out to them - and often they
are
right. They
feel the need to act defensively. But
this can cause them to defend the error, rather
than
protect themselves. It's an important
distinction.
Defending
or denying 'wrong' requires ignoring 'right.'
And while this is going on, no
progress
is being made in dealing with reality.
Being
wrong is inevitable. It is easy to
operate well and efficiently with a lot of
knowledge. You can predict the problems and needs,
know the right questions, have a
map
of the territory and can bring the right tools. It is
entirely different going out
beyond
that, where what will happen and be needed next is
unclear.
Any
exploration of a new area involves making lots of errors and
mistakes.
Whether
exploring
in territories ( physical, social, or mental) that are new to you
personally or
going
"where no man has gone before", as the number of unknowns rises the
greater
chance
of error. Life itself is an exploration
and requires us to come up with our own
particular
answers to the changes and problems in our lives. Often we make
mistakes.
Even
if someone is 99% correct in all aspects of life, he or she can still
be
expected to
make
a multitude of mistakes and errors, both large and small. The
number of decisions
we
make in a lifetime (or a day, for that
matter) is incredibly large. Many of
these
decisions
are based upon little thought, study or preparation. We are
forced to make predictions in areas with lots of unknown
factors - estimates of what other drivers will do, what school is best
for a
child, or whether to buy property at today's prices.
Decision-making
usually leads to some form of action.
Action requires decisions on
another
level. Even if someone makes the
correct strategic decisions, there are an infinite
number
of ways to do something wrong, and only a finite number of ways to do
it right.
The odds are against us.
Being
wrong is not an end. It is part of a
bigger picture. If recognized and
worked with
appropriately,
being wrong is a step towards being right.
Given that error is inevitable,
what
is the appropriate way to handle it?
I'm not talking about error prevention - I'm
talking
about error commission. Well, the
first thing is you gotta do is evaluate error
realistically.
Why
is this especially important for TMAs?
Because TMAs feel wrong a lot.
Part
of the reason is that they don't meet expectations of
others.
They are dancing to
different
drummers. Lack of conventional
achievement (AKA "If you're so smart, why
ain't
you rich?" and "You're not living up to your potential." etc.)
turns out to be an
ongoing
source of self esteem problems for many TMAs.
They haven't done it right.
Partly,
TMAs feel wrong because of a high error rate.
This is associated with operating
in
areas where they don't know what they are doing - the frontiers
of their knowledge
and
understanding and at personal edges.
A
frontier is anywhere you don't really know the answers. You
often don't even know
the
right questions. It is anything you
don't know how to do or where you can't (or
won't)
look it up in a book or on the
internet. A frontier is somewhere you
- often
empirically
- figure things out and make decisions about how to
proceed.
TMAs,
more than most folks, need to figure things out. They
are pioneers, innovators,
experimenters
and explorers. They enjoy taking a
shot at it - partly because they get endorphin rushes from figuring
things out
and also have a visceral confidence in their
ability
to cope.
TMAs
prefer learning by doing, rather than by following
instructions.
This is not learning in an academic
sense. It is often task oriented
problem solving, experimentation and innovation -
developing knowledge that
allows effective real life action. It
means using sensory input, assessing information in many forms and ways
simultaneously,
developing understanding and the capability of doing something with it.
Empirical
learners understand that error comes in many degree. On
frontiers, things are
not
as simple as right and wrong.
Learning what doesn't work aids in figuring out what does.
Eliminating non-viable options is an
important part of empiricism. The relevant
questions are likely to take the form "What are the lowest risk (best)
ways to proceed?"
The
meaning and value of error is important on frontiers. There
is a world of difference
between
grand folly, taking a calculated risk that turns out wrong and making a
minor
mistake
with insignificant consequences. There
are errors of commission and errors of
omission. A negligent error is different from an
mistaken judgment call. As known
risks
increase, a lot of empiricism is deliberately structured to err on the
side of
safety.
One
side effect of this trial and error learning style in TMAs is a strong
awareness of
their
lack of knowledge and resulting error rate.
They often perceive themselves as
faking
their way through, rather than solving problems under difficult
conditions. They
focus
on the errors, not the successes.
Being
wrong is not an end. It is part of a
bigger picture. If recognized and
worked with appropriately, being wrong is a step
towards being
right.
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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Conclusion
to Danger: High Voltage. Written in
1988.
When
I first began studying TMAs I had a strong impression of people looking
for
something. It was an impression that
persisted as I learned more and more.
I think that many TMAs are searching for someone to use them
well. I can empathize with that.
For
many years I knew that I was looking for something or someone to help
me use
the ability I knew I had. Unable to
use myself, I was looking for someone to use me.
It was much later that I realized that I couldn't let that
happen. I am not a tool and
ultimately
cannot let myself be used. If
no one
else can use me, then I have to learn to use myself.
No one else can take this responsibility - nor should they.
I
think TMAs are natural builders and explorers - more so than other
people. They
build and explore for two simple reasons: it
feels good if they do and bad if they don't.
They are explorers and builders of ideas,
art, perspectives, organizations, or machines.
They are creative, whether they want to be or not.
I
think a TMA is best off in areas where there are no answers, the places
where
doing and learning are the same thing.
These are the places where chaos and confusion exist, the
frontiers of
organized reality. Start with
nothing
and build a something. If you can't
buy other peoples answers - fine. Go
to places where there are no answers and build some.
Don't waste your time in conflict with yourself or with
established systems. Proving 90% of
everything is bullshit is fruitless - it’s been done many times.
There
really are choices that can make you feel good.
You can live a life of stimulation and challenge or you can stew
in your own powerful juices. It is
an
infinite universe and there is no lack of opportunity.
The physical and mental frontiers are
further out than they used to be, but still exist.
Out there where there are no answers and it's sink or swim, you
can't slick the system or just slide by.
It won't work.
Ask
good questions - your own methods of problem solving and standards of
excellence should provide you with paths and directions.
Out of nothing, you have the ability to
build something. It takes aptitudes
and determination and knowledge and courage and common sense and a
little luck. But mostly it takes the
gut level knowing
that you can. You don't need
permission
or a job description to think, to build and to create.
If
you don't commit yourself to something, you have
committed yourself to nothing. There's
a Renaissance going on. Why don't
you
get out there and grab a piece of it?
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Am
I In the Wrong Career?
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A
warning. Dilbert accurately depicts a very real part of the
work scene. A horrible boss or a company going bankrupt can make
any job a pain. Non aptitude factors also play a big part
in job performance & satisfaction - knowledge, working conditions,
etc. etc..
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If
your guts cramp up on the way to work, it doesn't matter how well
you are paid - that job probably won't work out for you.
If
going to work feels deforming, if you spend your time doing something
other than your job, there is something very wrong.
Having
the wrong aptitudes doesn't mean you can't do something and
success in a given job doesn't mean you have the right
aptitudes. I've worked on my car even though I
don't
have the mechanical aptitude. It once took me a week to
correctly diagnose a simple problem, and it took several errors and
some skinned knuckles replacing a part before I achieved my
success. I felt frustrated and dumb and inefficient
and I cussed a lot. But I did the job.
It
is entirely possible to achieve apparent success by working harder
and longer, by learning more, or by using other (known or unknown)
talents to cover for areas of low or inappropriate high
aptitude. Hard work will always get you somewhere,
especially if it is sustained.
If
you've done well, had a reasonably good time, and feel comfortable
doing it - you probably have the aptitudes (and other factors)
necessary for your career. If you have achieved success and
feel it cost you far too much, then you may very well have the wrong
aptitudes for your work. Do you feel successful? Was
your
success based on mostly grim determination? Was it blood,
toil, tears and sweat?
If you have failed over and over
again - maybe you don't have the
aptitude for the job, whatever your educational level is.
Do you have to find something totally
different? Not necessarily.
Training and experience are very valuable in themselves.
Sometimes people have significant time invested in a field and might
have professional and academic credentials. Usually people
need to make a trade off between practical considerations and aptitude
optimums. Often an immediate career change isn't possible due to
a need for training or preparation.
Even
if you can't fix the problem, you can work to make things
somewhat better. Sometimes it is possible to change
a job
description, get extra training or take other measures that will reduce
stress without sacrificing the results of years of effort.
A low aptitude electronics
engineer who got through engineering school
on hard work and long hours can choose to become a technical writer or
go into engineering management. Or he/she can decide to
throw several years of education away and become a
chef. It depends on the individual to apply aptitude
knowledge as he or she sees fit.
How about if you are mediocre at work? Many
people work in
jobs that aren't great fits but aren't great misfits either. They
have some of the aptitudes for their job, but not all. Again,
once the relevant strengths and weaknesses are defined, steps can be
taken to make the job fit better or to start preparing for a better
fitting job.
The aptitude concept offers a way
to better understand and work with
your own (and others') uniqueness. In my experience, the most
important single element in happiness is being allowed to be who you
are and having it work for you. When your work is a
legitimate part of your life and not an unwanted intruder, when it
affirms your being and doesn't diminish or restrict it, is when you
have some important elements in both success and happiness.
You have no choice about dealing
with your aptitudes (and those of
others), whether you recognize them as such or not. They
are operating all the time, within you and all around you.
For good or ill, consciously or not, everyone has to live and deal with
these powerful forces.
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Signs Of People In The Wrong Job
Many people are in somewhat
imperfect jobs for their
aptitudes. Others are, for one reason or another, in jobs
that are terrible for them. These are some of the signs of
people who should be doing something else. That
something else is not necessarily a demotion or a career
change. It can mean that, but sometimes it might mean a
small shift in work emphasis or a promotion into management.
Performance:
Distractible from main
tasks (ie: tinkering with
office machines when they break down, instead of doing job).
Low average or low
performance.
Occasionally brilliant but
erratic performance.
Attracted most to problem
and trouble areas within the job.
High error rate.