Beyond Leadership: Balancing Economics, Ethics and Ecology, Revised Edition

Applying Patterns of Thinking and Natural Intelligences

Our thinking about people in general, their nature and potentials, has shifted from “empty brains” and “anybody can do anything” to an acceptance of unique and innate differences and capacities. Mind/brain research, gene mapping, and even analysis of identical twins who were reared separately have heightened our awareness of both differences and similarities. The nature vs. nurture dial is shifting from “mostly nurture” to synergy between the two. In Spiral language, we are slowly draining the GREEN, egalitarian swamp and revealing natural differences in complexity of thinking. We are uncovering YELLOW and awaiting what TURQUOISE will bring.

For example, what kinds of minds were needed to work as air traffic controllers in high density airports in the days before powerful computers? The ability to visualize airspace three-dimensionally was crucial to sorting out and aligning blips on a flat radar screen. Quick decisiveness was also important since each green dot represented a different kind of aircraft, at a different altitude, speed, and trajectory. The controller was called upon to sequence airplanes for landing by integrating a large amount of data. Even though they were highly “intelligent,” up to 90 per cent of applicants washed out during training because the X Template was ill-defined and it was not until several weeks into the course that the 3-D thinking capacity was called upon.

Job models, however, do change. Now ...