Here we are on How to understand people Part 7: HANDS ACTIVITIES.If you have been following through the 6 five articles you must really be interested. Thank you. If this is your first article by now you know that you have jumped into the middle of something. That’s ok if you want to plow ahead, feel free. However, I strongly recommend that you first go back and read the 6 preceding parts.
< Click here to go to Part 1
In this lesson we’ll be taking a closer look at the bottom of The Map of Activities; the triangular wedge we call HANDS. First let’s have the briefest of review.
Understanding people can be reduced to examining the simple choices we all make every day. The Map of Activities is a visual means to understand these choices and ultimately to understand the ways we and others live our lives, interact with our environment and other people.
The Map of Activity is a square divided into 16 triangles. It is divided top and bottom by the simple choice called FOCUS. On the top are PEOPLE and on the bottom are THINGS.
The diagram is divided left and right by the simple choice of APPROACH. On the left is CONCRETE and on the right is ABSTRACT.
The letters S,F,N & T stand for the four FUNCTIONS of SENSING, FEELING, INTUITION, and THINKING. The combination of the first two choices of FOCUS and APPROACH is what makes for the choices of FUNCTIONS.
- FEELING chooses CONCRETE PEOPLE
- INTUITION chooses ABSTRACT PEOPLE
- SENSING chooses CONCRETE THINGS
- THINKING chooses ABSTRACT THINGS.
Two FUNCTIONS combine to create the activities of WORDS, IDEAS, HANDS, and BODY.
There is a choice in each activity between INTROVERSION and EXTROVERSION.
The choice we have when dealing with the world is between gathering data (called PEERCIEVING) and making decisions (called JUDGING).
The 16 triangles in The Map of Activity represent what I call ACTIVITIES. Each one of us actually uses 8 of these ACTIVITIES in descending order of conscious awareness and skill. As you see in this graphic of HANDS ACTIVITIES (from the bottom wedge of The Map of Activities) I have left out the four letter Type designations from Myers-Briggs theory in order to reinforce the idea that they are used by many different Personality Types and not just the one that uses it most consciously.
The first ACTIVITY for us to examine in the OUTPUT called HANDS is named OPERATOR.
The people who us the ACTIVITY of OPERATOR are really “hands on” people. They might use a word processor, a scalpel, or a socket wrench. In addition they might tend to treat people as objects and be real “hands on” leaders. They might be store managers, policemen, secretaries or surgeons. The OPERATOR can read the environment and act upon it. The environment might be a gang fight or a car engine. The simple choices that lead to the ACTIVITY of OPERATOR are as follows.
FOCUS = THINGS
APPROACH = CONCRETE
ENERGY = EXTROVERTION
DOMINANT FUNCTION = SENSING
DEAL WITH THE WORLD=JUDGING
An IMPLEMENTOR is someone who sorts out the routine of life. Walter Lowen (Dichotomies of the Mind) tell u that he almost called this ACTIVITIY “engineer.” The engineer use the routine he know regarding speed, stress, temperature, etc. to create a machine or build a rocket. As with other HAND ACTIVITIES the IMPLEMENTOR can also turn his talent upon more abstract things like the routine of an organization. An IMPLIMENTOR makes a good administrator who get the whole organization purring like a “well oiled machine.”
The simple choice that lead to the HANDS ACTIVITY of IMPLEMENTOR are a follows.
FOCUS = THINGS
APPROACH = ABSTRACT
ENERGY = EXTROVERTION
DOMINANT FUNCTION = THINKING
DEALING WITH THE WORLD = JUDGING
The ACTIVITY called OPERATOR is next for our consideration. People with the ORGANIZER ACTIVITY are as interested in how things are done a they are in the results. Neatness, order, and efficiency are important to them. They are the worlds great systematizers. They make good secretaries and craftsmen. They are programmers and administrators. They accept responsibility and follow through with painstaking and thorough effort. They are the “guardians of time-honored institutions. The simple choices that lead to the HANDS ACTIVITY of ORGANIZER are as follows
FOCUS = THINGS
APPROACH = CONCRETE
ENERGY = INTROVERTED
DOMINATE FUNCTION = SENSING
DEAL WITH THE WORLD = JUDGING
The last HANDS ACTIVITY for our discussion is known as MOLDER. The most obvious use of this ACTIVITIY can be found among people in professions like sculpting and carpentry. However, people might use this ACTIVITY in less obvious occupations as they also are good at MOLDING facts and institution instead of clay or wood. The simple choices that lead to the HANDS ACTIVITY are as follow.
FOCUS = THING
APPROACH = CONCRETE
ENERGY = INTROVERION
DOMINATE FUNCTION = THINKING
DEALS WITH THE WORLD = PERCIEIVING
Continue to observe yourself and those around you and be looking for the next article in this series, How to understand people Part 8:BODY ACTIVITIES.
<Click here to go to Part 8