Imagine you are standing on the top of a ladder installing a ceiling fan. You finished the wiring and start to mount the fan. When you go to screw it in you find you have the Phillips screwdriver instead of the flathead screwdriver you thought you had. Now you have to unwire everything and undo your last 20 minutes of work. You had a screwdriver but the mistake in getting the right type of screwdriver was a pain, wasted time and made you feel dumb.
A Person is much more complex then a screwdriver. Attitudes, goals and opinions all change constantly. Over time some traits or attitudes are cultivated while others are culled. The only indicators we have to help us understand the people around us are:
Many books on sales, leadership, self help and parenting provide a solution to imperfect communication. They often hinge on the idea of classifying people into a set category, then treating them in a designated manner. Motives can be sincere or manipulative in these classifications. Many classifying systems have been inspired in one way or another by the work of Carl Jung, one of the fathers of modern psychology.
- The words they say
- The way they say them
- The actions they take
- Their body language while taking those actions
Many books on sales, leadership, self help and parenting provide a solution to imperfect communication. They often hinge on the idea of classifying people into a set category, then treating them in a designated manner. Motives can be sincere or manipulative in these classifications. Many classifying systems have been inspired in one way or another by the work of Carl Jung, one of the fathers of modern psychology.
100 years ago Jung worked on Personality Types calling it The Model of Typology. He developed the idea of introversion and extroversion though he defined it differently then people use it today. Jung used it to represent our focus. Introverts focus on the "inner world" and extroverts focus on the "outer world." Introversion and extroversion were coupled with personal interaction and could not be experienced in isolation. A simple example of how I understand this introversion/extroversion paradigm could be this:
In the 60's Katharine Briggs and her daughter Isabel Myers were seeking a way to group individuals into a set of classifications when they found Jung's theory. Realizing it was much more developed then their current system they utilized it to develop a test to assist in classifying people. The Myers-Briggs test attempts to classify people into 16 distinct personality types based on preference. In essence it creates a grid then places each person within a given box on that grid. There is also the caveat that each person contains a little of each box, though that is difficult to retain while focusing on classification.
Businesses especially gravitate to the Myers-Briggs classification methods when seeking ways improve employee interaction. Having this classification system lets you get to know someone well enough to place them in a box, then you know exactly how to interact with them, without investing the significant time it takes to get to know the individual. If both parties are playing the same game, they can interact very well very quickly. It is also not offensive because all boxes are portrayed equally important. If all are important there isn't a "best" or "right" personality trait, just different traits.
It may be attractive to order the world into classifications making sense of the vast variety of individuals without the need to personally know them. We won't be able to personally know everyone, however strict classification has side effects and pitfalls.
Jung never intended for his work to be a classification system saying "...the opinion has got about that my method of treatment consists of fitting patients into this system and giving them corresponding 'advice.'" His typology is "...not in any sense to stick labels on people." His typology is for "...the organization and delimiting of psychic processes that can be shown to be typical." He clearly took steps to prevent the oversimplifications of individuals within classifications even going as far as to say:
"Although there are doubtless individuals whose type can be recognized at first glance, this is by no means always the case. As a rule, only careful observation and weighing of the evidence permit a sure classification. However simple and clear the fundamental principle of the [opposing attitudes and functions] may be, in actual reality they are complicated and hard to make out, because every individual is an exception to the rule." (quotes can be found in the above link on Jung's theory)
Loose classifications may be a good crutch while getting to know someone, but to have a personal relationship more depth is required. It requires deliberate active listening to that person. I do not think I can overemphasize this. As you listen you learn the values that others hold. Instead of figuring out how they tick, you begin to understand what moves them. As you see the world through their eyes it will help you identify and celebrate the differences you have or make clear when and why you want to distance yourself from that person.
The world is full of people who have their own perspective and experience. Perspective led them to think and see the world the way they do. If we put forth the effort to listen we may learn from others. If we open up and share something we know we might teach them something that can better their life. Try to act as though everyone is your superior in at least one way then try and figure out how. On the flip side be confident regardless of who you are around because you probably know something they haven't yet learned.
Fred Christensen
Additional references I enjoyed while writing this.:
http://www.petergeyer.com.au/library/CG_Jung_MBTI.pdf
https://www.psychologistworld.com/cognitive/carl-jung-analytical-psychology
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myers%E2%80%93Briggs_Type_Indicator
https://www.simplypsychology.org/carl-jung.html
- Your neighbor says to you "Nice hair cut."
- An introverted focus might begin to think of the things that make the haircut nice.
- An extroverted focus might begin to think of what things the neighbor notices.
It was an attempt to make a system that helped understand where and how people focus their attention. According to Jung a person can focus towards any orientation, but each person typically has a primary and an adjacent secondary orientation or lens through which they see the world. I found this a good overview of his theory.
In the 60's Katharine Briggs and her daughter Isabel Myers were seeking a way to group individuals into a set of classifications when they found Jung's theory. Realizing it was much more developed then their current system they utilized it to develop a test to assist in classifying people. The Myers-Briggs test attempts to classify people into 16 distinct personality types based on preference. In essence it creates a grid then places each person within a given box on that grid. There is also the caveat that each person contains a little of each box, though that is difficult to retain while focusing on classification.
Businesses especially gravitate to the Myers-Briggs classification methods when seeking ways improve employee interaction. Having this classification system lets you get to know someone well enough to place them in a box, then you know exactly how to interact with them, without investing the significant time it takes to get to know the individual. If both parties are playing the same game, they can interact very well very quickly. It is also not offensive because all boxes are portrayed equally important. If all are important there isn't a "best" or "right" personality trait, just different traits.
It may be attractive to order the world into classifications making sense of the vast variety of individuals without the need to personally know them. We won't be able to personally know everyone, however strict classification has side effects and pitfalls.
- Classification ignores the life experiences and personal choices of the individual.
- You may never actually get to know the individuals because you assume you already understand them and stop putting forth the effort to understand.
- Treating someone as a type of person instead of an individual may:
- Provoke them to act unnaturally or insincerely preventing you from getting to know them.
- Cause the cultivation of traits unnatural to that person. To a child this could have life long effects.
- Acting as a type of person will cultivate in you the attitudes and characteristics of that type.
- Classification has a diluting effect on the value of natural traits. In specific situations one trait will be preferential to others. Under the assumption that all traits are equal but different a trait's value for the given situations is discarded.
"Although there are doubtless individuals whose type can be recognized at first glance, this is by no means always the case. As a rule, only careful observation and weighing of the evidence permit a sure classification. However simple and clear the fundamental principle of the [opposing attitudes and functions] may be, in actual reality they are complicated and hard to make out, because every individual is an exception to the rule." (quotes can be found in the above link on Jung's theory)
Loose classifications may be a good crutch while getting to know someone, but to have a personal relationship more depth is required. It requires deliberate active listening to that person. I do not think I can overemphasize this. As you listen you learn the values that others hold. Instead of figuring out how they tick, you begin to understand what moves them. As you see the world through their eyes it will help you identify and celebrate the differences you have or make clear when and why you want to distance yourself from that person.
The world is full of people who have their own perspective and experience. Perspective led them to think and see the world the way they do. If we put forth the effort to listen we may learn from others. If we open up and share something we know we might teach them something that can better their life. Try to act as though everyone is your superior in at least one way then try and figure out how. On the flip side be confident regardless of who you are around because you probably know something they haven't yet learned.
Fred Christensen
Additional references I enjoyed while writing this.:
http://www.petergeyer.com.au/library/CG_Jung_MBTI.pdf
https://www.psychologistworld.com/cognitive/carl-jung-analytical-psychology
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myers%E2%80%93Briggs_Type_Indicator
https://www.simplypsychology.org/carl-jung.html
