Applied creativity
I’m working on a little graphic that describes work styles and I could use some help thinking about it. Check out the image below and tell me what you think ought to be in the blank "clouds" as descriptions of that quadrant’s extreme case. And shoots, if you think of a better description for the clouds that already have text, feel free to tell me about that too…
I think the graphic is pretty self-explanatory, but basically, the vertical axis shows the spectrum of "filers" (organized people) on one end and "pilers" (disorganized people) on the other end. The horizontal axis (yes, I say vertical and horizontal because I can’t remember which is x and which is y) shows the spectrum of emotionless, rational people on one end (Mr. Spock) and the other end of the spectrum on the other side (Group Hugs!).
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14 opinions for Applied creativity
Michelle
Aug 25, 2005 at 9:05 pm
Oooooh! I so love visual algorithms! WTG!
After closely studying your pic, I dearly want to fit inside the top right “cloud” - my mid-40’s crises has inspired me toward becoming a professional organiser (I crave order but live with pre-teens!) and I so want to be an organised people person!
‘Working with ideas and people’ actually fits in with that top right one as well - just that people who do those things can find stuff faster than their piler cousins! So maybe that top “cloud” is entitled “Personal Development Managers”. Mind you! - one of the best doctors I ever knew was a bottom right person - his desk was a vertiable Mt Vesuvius of precariously balanced piles but he was a brilliant doctor with a bedside manner deserving of a Nobel prize!!!
The bottom left “cloud” is for those who also work with data and structure - but I imagine them to have highly messy desks. “Messy Mathmatician” comes to mind but that’s probably too presumptuous!
Actually, if anyone were to “fit” inside the bottom clouds then at the very extreme ends of human organisation, one could assume from this algorithm that these are the people who do not want to or cannot get organised at all. They are either immature with their head in the clouds, living in la-la land, or they’re physically incapable of proactive decision making. At the opposite extreme, the top two clouds would indicate persons who were grossly cold and efficient to the point of moral depravity (Do serial killers go into that top left corner or not?), or are so “Martha Stewart” as to be impossible to emulate.
This is all very Jungian eh? But I guess if it helps to “Know thyself” then it’s worth it.
Once you have it down, along with a nicely controlled study of the different organisational temperaments, it’ll be interesting to see where the bell curve actually falls in your diagram
Keep this project up! It’s bound to be facinating.
Rene
Aug 26, 2005 at 1:10 am
Top right is shared data and structure. Such as a (public) library, a very well organized web site or team work space, social bookmarks (delicious) and the like. You might call it: communicating and transfering information and knowledge.
Bottom left is procrastination and feeling guilty. It’s work left undone, information lost, knowledge unattained, wisdoms unspoken. It’s the land of dreams and nightmares. But as Michelle points out, it’s also people who are in flow and completely focussed on one thing, and let all other things pile up.
Brock Tice
Aug 26, 2005 at 6:01 am
Interesting diagram… While the horizontal axis is typically referred to as ‘x’ and the vertical as ‘y’, saying ‘horizontal’ and ‘vertical’ in this case is more appropriate anyway. x and y are usually the labels for the axes because x is usually the independent variable, and y the dependent variable, but that’s just convention.
The ‘correct’ terms are, I think, ordinate and abcissa. Wikipedia tells me that the third one is ‘applicate’ if you have 3 variables.
But like I said, horizontal and vertical are aptly chosen here.
Matthew De George
Aug 26, 2005 at 7:56 am
I’m trying to think of a more positive spin on the bottom-right than Rene suggested. I think it might actually be architecting (one of my favourite topics). I call an architecture a ‘delineated shared understanding’ so it’s like a ’soft’ structure. To use your phasing the bottom right would be ‘working with social structure’.
Jeffrey
Aug 26, 2005 at 8:17 am
I like your idea - I tend to be a piler not a filer - however I think of myself as a fairly rational person but I really get enthused working with new ideas. The reduction of complex concepts into a two by two matrix leaves something to be desired.
What I would suggest instead is a spider diagram - which would allow more variables and demonstrate a deeper evaluation of a person’s work habits. Here’s an example:
http://www.isa.org.usyd.edu.au/research/tblone.shtml.
Marc Orchant
Aug 26, 2005 at 9:15 am
Bren: Here’s a little brain hack to help you keep “x” and “y” straight that I learned from Mr. Frazen, my fifth grade Math teacher (and one of the few grade school teachers I distinctly remember because, as I can now appreciate, he was a life hacker long before that terms was ever conceptualized):
X is across (think “a cross”, which the letter X sort of looks like if you rotate it).
Dick Richards
Aug 26, 2005 at 10:01 am
Golly gee - I love 2×2 models!
Michele is quite right about her reference to Jung because this model seems to partly map onto his typology that was used as the framework for the Myers-Briggs and Kiersey instruments. Those two measure different things, but that is another story. Onward… your horizontal dimension maps onto Jung’s thinking-feeling dimension, reflecting his observation that people prefer one or the other when making decisions. Neither is superior although most people who prefer thinking (Spock) find it hard to believe that because it isn’t logical.
Your vertical dimension is more complex but seems closely related to Jung’s sensing-intuiting dimension, which reflects the kind of information people tend to trust — sensory or intuitive. Soemone who trusts sensory information more than intuition will want that information readily available (filing). Someone who trusts intuition more won’t care about that, and is not discomforted with, “I know it is here somewhere” (piling).
With all that in mind, Myers and Briggs or Kiersey would label your four corners something like this:
Upper Left (trust sensation, decide using thought)- promoter, crafter, supervisor, inspector
Lower Left - (trust intuition, decide using thought)fieldmashal, mastermind, inventor, architect
Upper Right - (trust sensation, decide using feeling)performer, composer, provider, protector
Lower Right - (trust intuition, decide using feeling)teacher, counselor, champion, healer
The variation within those four groups (four slightly different labels) occurs because there are two additonal dimensions in Jung’s framework. That too is another story.
Well, I could go on and on, and this IS fun — it feeds my architect, inventor bent — but duty calls.
Dick Richards
Aug 26, 2005 at 10:30 am
Another quick thought — the opposite of Spock is Yoda. “Feel the force.”
Liz
Aug 26, 2005 at 12:25 pm
my mind hack
the y’s tail is the axis
Todd W.
Aug 26, 2005 at 3:27 pm
Yes, to Yoda! I mean, for the left side, Spock is somewhat aspirational, but no one really aspires to group hugs.
Jim Schubert
Aug 29, 2005 at 2:18 pm
I would say people who like organizing people would be your top right - working with rules and policies. I would say people who like cerebral disorganized would be divergent conceptualizers - working with concepts and ideas.
It seems very reminiscent (albeit flipped diagonally in spatial representation) of Ned Herrmann’s work on left- and right-brained and cerebral versus limbic preferences. You might want to look into his research as supporting documentation for your work.
Wendy
Aug 31, 2005 at 8:59 am
I was thinking it reminds of the left brain/right brain thing, too. I like to think I’m a little of both. For instance, I do interior design, and was a photography major in college (for awhile). Both of those are very creative areas, but both use a lot of technical information to get the job done. Doesn’t really tell you about filers vs. pilers, though. I’d say the bottom right is the absent-minded professor. Top right would just be a really organized social worker or something. Interior designers probably fall in the bottom left ;)
Simon Heap
Sep 9, 2005 at 12:20 am
Bren, let me say Love your thinking…..nothing like mine, which makes your blog so refreshing to read. I get a different perspective, and seeing things from a different perspective is enlightening. Anyway here is my two bobs….
Forget the cloud’s! I’m more interested in your selection of axis. Why do you choose organisation skills and emotions? They are interesting choices but there are others you could use such as amount of supervision required, team work v’s individual work, amount of technical skills etc. Perhaps you can expand your axis and use a spider chart (like in excel).
There is also some confusion created by your description of the y axis, at least for me. I don’t understand why messy, disorganised people have more ideas than anally retentive, filers.
Charl
Sep 22, 2005 at 2:56 am
Have a look at Blake & Mouton: The managerial grid - there seems to be some overlaps with your conceptualisation (though the have flipped the axes!)
Charl Heydenrych - South Africa