Your computer alert prompts you that you have ten minutes before your next meeting. Looking at your calendar you realize that you need to print the minutes from the last meeting which was last week. As you locate the email and print the file, you reach for the file on your desk with all of the notes from previous meetings. A quick scan prompts your memory on the issues last week and what is likely to be discussed this week.
As you stand and reach for the special ink pen your teenage daughter gave you last week, you say out loud to yourself that you are enjoying the elegance of her gift and her recognition that you would enjoy it. You walk to the meeting and immediately upon entering the room begin to talk to each person, telling a joke or asking about their previous weekend. To the team member who was ill last week you ask how he is doing. When the boss walks in and asks if everyone is ready, you ask if we can list all of the agenda items so we will know where we are going in the discussions.
Now let’s replay this paragraph with mental functions of psychological type associated notations:
Your computer alert prompts you that you have ten minutes before your next meeting (Se). Looking at your calendar (Se) you realize that you need to print (Si, Ti) the minutes from the last meeting which was last week. As you locate the email and print the file (Ti, Se), you reach for the file on your desk with all of the notes from previous meetings (Si). A quick scan (Se, Ti) prompts your memory (Si) on the issues last week and what is likely to be discussed this week.
As you stand and reach for the special ink pen your teenage daughter (Fi) gave you last week, you say out loud to yourself that you are enjoying the elegance of her gift and her recognition that you would enjoy it (Fe). You walk to the meeting and immediately upon entering the room begin to talk to each person (Fe, Se), telling a joke (Se, Fe) or asking about their previous weekend (Se). To the team member who was ill last week you ask how he is doing (Si, Fe). When the boss walks in and asks if everyone is ready, you ask if we can list all of the agenda items (Te) so we will know where we are going in the discussions (Ne).
Of course, this imaginary situation and associations with mental resources being used to get things done is hypothetical. While there is evidence that the neurological networks on the cortex have a sequence and level of use depending reflective of Jung’s eight mental functions, it is speculative to make too much of the connections, as Jung noted, his terms were intended to provide a common language for very complex processes.
The story opens with elements of awareness and action which can be associated with seven of the eight proposed mental functions of psychological type. As psychological type is about the way we use our mental resources to navigate the day, it is easy to see in this illustration that they are always present. If the story went further, patterns would begin to emerge showing a reliance on certain kinds of information (Sensing or Intuiting) and decision making (Thinking or Feeling) in the way this individual approaches solving problems and interacts with others. That pattern is useful to know and to realize its value for the given individual...a kind of psychological home base. That home base can become a psychological prison if the individual is not open to learning about other ways of seeing things and ways of approaching decisions.
One of the benefits of psychological type is that you can learn both about your habits of mind and about the whole set of mental resources that are available which can enhance perceptions and judgments. The Pearman Personality Integrator is the only assessment currently available that gives you access to every aspect of your psychological type and how it may show up in your life.
While Jung's framework of psychological type proposes that a lead or primary mental function (eg. Te or Si) drives the mindset of an individual, there was no assumption that you could not access and develop other functions. In fact, you are encouraged to embrace the type functions that may not feel the most natural and to see how these operate in your life. The design of the Pearman Integrator allows you to see how comfortable and how often you use the eight mental functions. It is not about stereotypes but the use of type where you discover the path to narrate the life you want.
The imaginary linkages suggested above are instructive in a number of ways. We can easily see that the use of our mental resources—another phrase I use for Jung’s mental functions—are used naturally in getting through our daily tasks. All eight mental resources are accessed consciously or unconsciously and the products of these mental resources are used effortlessly. The Pearman Personality Integrator™ allows individuals to explore how comfortable he or she is with and how often he or she uses these mental resources. The overall goal is to provide insights into how an individual can use these mental resources with greater clarity and intentionality. While there is no desire to categorize or stereotype an individual’s approach to everyday experience, the Pearman stimulates understanding of the depth of perception options and decision strategies that are available.
Each of the mental functions can be understood in its basic form, which is usually simple, limited, and fragmented to its more complex form, which is very complex, inclusive, and wholistic. Take the suggested descriptors below as benchmarks:
Se: basic--scanning the environment, complex--artful use of talents
Si: basic--repeating a fact, complex--identifying subtle shifts and adjustments in information
Ne: basic--expressing multiple ideas, complex--facilitating discussions about long term horizons projected from multiple angles
Ni: basic--a hunch about a situation, complex--creating metaphors about underlying meaning and potential scenarios
Ti: basic--using a formulaic analysis on a situation, complex--creating a multi variate method to study and analyze factors and possible outcomes
Te: basic--giving a criticism, complex--creating a system for exploring and testing the validity of assumptions and working principles in a situation
Fi: basic--attachment to an object as valuable, complex--identifying all of the developmental and constructive ideals and elements in a situation
Fe: basic--inclusiveness of others, complex--using empathy to empower relationships and to build networks for improving commitment for action
All of these conditions--using what is natural, what is demonstrated, shifting between functions and knowing the range and depth of available mental functions--consume energy and produce different kinds of strain. Flexibility enables these conditions to exist with minimal strain. Flexibility has dimensions that can be learned and utilized, thus reducing strain and making energy available for other, intentional purposes. with the Pearman you can learn about all of these conditions of strain and flexibility and begin to chart your course to manage your energy.
Why care? What are the practical benefits of this framework?
The way humans are wired, we develop habits and patterns in the way we respond to life events. Through our daily activities we find that preferences for our approaches to things make it easier and requires less strain to address what comes our way. We typically move toward comfort, avoid pain, and find an efficient path to achieve both goals. This “coding” of our overall system inclines us to efficiencies in taking care of life challenges while also creating resistance to learning new things (it would temporarily make us less efficient and not feel good). It is an act of willful intention to learn about new ways of seeing and responding, and we have to have a good reason to do so. If any of these items prick your awareness, then learning about your natural resources and how to more intentionally to utilize them when the situation requires is a worthwhile journey:
- Want to enhance influence with others?
- Want to become more effective in working with others?
- Want to gain clarity about your own needs and the needs of others?
- Want to be either a better team member or better team leader by understanding the differences on the team?
- Want to understand your own motives more thoroughly?
- Want to identify and address blindspots in your approach to life situations?
- Want to build or mend relationships?
- Want to strengthen your perceptions?
- Want to increase the soundness of your judgments?
- Want to reduce stress and increase resilience?
- Want to reduce conflict or use conflict as a constructive source in relationships?
- Want to manage life transitions more effectively?
- Want to build confidence?
- Want to inspire others?
- Want to be more learning agile?
Self-awareness is the first step to getting a handle on all of these areas of growth. Personality patterns and the use of your natural resources begins with a greater awareness of the architecture of those patterns and how to use them to achieve all of the items listed above—and more. My hope is that the Pearman unlocks insights so that each individual can use all available mental resources when needed.
The Pearman is based on Jung’s theory of psychological types. The report has three distinct sections of information. In the first section of the report, individuals get a score indicating how comfortable and how frequent an individual uses the overall dimensions of Extraversion, Introversion, Sensing, Intuiting, Thinking, and Feeling. The second section of the report provides data on five dimensions of flexibility which provide insights on how to build capability. The third section gives scores on the comfort with and use of Jung’s eight mental functions. this section gives the individual the whole picture of available resources.
Learn more: https://tap.mhs.com/pearman.aspx
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