Which Component is about Thought?
If you were asked this question in an examination or end-of-course test, your "trick-question" antennae ought to be twitching. The fact that one component is called "Thought" makes it too obvious to be a straightforward question. (At least in all the jurisdictions in which I have sat exams). On the other hand, why call it "Thought" if it isn't about ... "Thought"?
Actually, this is one of those multi-layered trick questions, so rather than write a 5000-word essay, maybe I will do this one in pieces. We might start by panning way back (high Global, folks) and noting that as our species is called homo sapiens (wise or knowing man), it could be unproductive to tell anybody that they don't think. Doing the Grid Walk when I was first certified (in the Birkman sense), I only referred to the blue square as "the "Thinking" Quadrant a couple of times before deciding this was more trouble than it was worth...
So let's look at why the eleven Birkman Behavioral Components are named as they are. First thing to note - these are all bi-polar scales, so even if the one called Thought was simply about that, and a Thought Need score of 99 meant that you "thought a lot", a score of 1 would not mean simply that you didn't. It would mean you had just as intense a need as the person with the 99, but that your need was in some way the opposite of what their need was.
Secondly, naming things is a fundamental - and non-trivial - human activity. Naming the 11 bi-polar Birkman Component scales was never going to be easy. The scheme Dr Birkman and his colleagues came up with was to use the high-end Need score to label each component, thus it is "Esteem" because the high-end Need score designates a Need to be given Esteem by others, "Acceptance" because the high-end Need score designates a Need to experience Acceptance from others; and "Thought" because the high-end Need score designates a Need to be given Time to Think about important Decisions. "Time to Think about important Decisions" is a little clunky, so we use "Thought" as shorthand for this. BUT - and here's the first part of the multi-layered trick answer - the key ingredient to the high-end score is actually TIME - not Thought.
So what about the low end Need score on the scale we call "Thought"? Well, that is a Need to get Decisions out of the Way, i.e. a need for Closure and getting on with the Job. So the scale as a whole can be summed up by one word: Decisiveness. Why wasn't the scale called this? Why weren't you called Walter? Who knows. Actually the naming scheme works fine, as long as we understand what it stands for. The component called "Thought" is a measure of Decisiveness.
Hopefully we can all see that this isn't quite the same as it being a measure of Thought, per se. It is about whether your need is for time to think or to get rapidly to closure. Which ever it is, noone is suggesting thought isn't involved in your processing.
So - are there any other components which might be about Thought in a more direct sense?
Actually, this is one of those multi-layered trick questions, so rather than write a 5000-word essay, maybe I will do this one in pieces. We might start by panning way back (high Global, folks) and noting that as our species is called homo sapiens (wise or knowing man), it could be unproductive to tell anybody that they don't think. Doing the Grid Walk when I was first certified (in the Birkman sense), I only referred to the blue square as "the "Thinking" Quadrant a couple of times before deciding this was more trouble than it was worth...
So let's look at why the eleven Birkman Behavioral Components are named as they are. First thing to note - these are all bi-polar scales, so even if the one called Thought was simply about that, and a Thought Need score of 99 meant that you "thought a lot", a score of 1 would not mean simply that you didn't. It would mean you had just as intense a need as the person with the 99, but that your need was in some way the opposite of what their need was.
Secondly, naming things is a fundamental - and non-trivial - human activity. Naming the 11 bi-polar Birkman Component scales was never going to be easy. The scheme Dr Birkman and his colleagues came up with was to use the high-end Need score to label each component, thus it is "Esteem" because the high-end Need score designates a Need to be given Esteem by others, "Acceptance" because the high-end Need score designates a Need to experience Acceptance from others; and "Thought" because the high-end Need score designates a Need to be given Time to Think about important Decisions. "Time to Think about important Decisions" is a little clunky, so we use "Thought" as shorthand for this. BUT - and here's the first part of the multi-layered trick answer - the key ingredient to the high-end score is actually TIME - not Thought.
So what about the low end Need score on the scale we call "Thought"? Well, that is a Need to get Decisions out of the Way, i.e. a need for Closure and getting on with the Job. So the scale as a whole can be summed up by one word: Decisiveness. Why wasn't the scale called this? Why weren't you called Walter? Who knows. Actually the naming scheme works fine, as long as we understand what it stands for. The component called "Thought" is a measure of Decisiveness.
Hopefully we can all see that this isn't quite the same as it being a measure of Thought, per se. It is about whether your need is for time to think or to get rapidly to closure. Which ever it is, noone is suggesting thought isn't involved in your processing.
So - are there any other components which might be about Thought in a more direct sense?
Labels: Thought
posted by jon at
12:24
1 Comments:
Jon -
Occasionally I run across a "Birkman bit" which cries out for clarification, and your thoughts about Thought reveal two such items. First, the nine Components which are pure constructs (all but Challenge and Freedom)are in fact uni-polar scales(not bi-polar), meaning that more of the characteristic being described is exhibited (or needed) as the score goes higher. We don't know what "none" looks like, so we start with "very little" and go to "a lot." Secondly, what Birkman calls Thought is actually a worrisomness (my word) scale. Over the years it became confused with "decision-making" due to the clear correlation between worrying about consequences versus "making decisions quickly" (i.e., NOT worrying about consequences). The Activity construct is a better indicator of speed-of-decision-making (amount of thought in advance of a decision), although the Thought scale obviously impacts "time spent" making decisions when worry becomes part of the equation.
Lynn Greene
Performance Enhancement Group, Ltd
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home