So what if there is more than one person inside of us? What if it’s critical that there are many more than one? Would that make you feel like you had a split personality disorder? A bit confused on whom you should call upon in each situation? Which one would be in charge of all of these people?
Maybe it’s less complicated? Perhaps it’s just an evolution of the same core person who becomes more complex with new multiple layers? More of a straight line evolution that fortifies the weak spots as we grow; but does it just happen naturally or does it take willingness to learn and a humble open-mindedness?
The challenge exists in the simple wisdom that you don’t know what you don’t know, but that leaves you wondering, how do we then know to search and what would we be searching for? Maybe it’s not even a function of consciously searching for anything? What if we’re just wired that way from the start? After all if we’re designed to survive, then hunting and gathering must already be preprogrammed on the motherboard.
Once upon a cave ago, the best hunter-gatherers certainly didn’t know what they didn’t have a clue about, but through experience they learned. So by default, the evolutionary learning was in the doing of the thing. Those that hunted more, learned more, did it more efficiently and learned how to change their behaviors to succeed. Simply put, the workers that did the most in the beginning, evolved the fastest.
Passing that down to the newer members of their tribe, they would have advanced as a community faster then their competitors. Was there anything wrong with the other groups or people? Maybe not at all. In fact we could make a certain bet that many people evolved quickly, but did they continue to push for growth is the real question.
What does humanity really mean? Perhaps it’s better phrased as, what is the human condition? A discussion of being human quickly erases all reference to gender, race, class, and many other labels we place on other humans.
Simply put, as humans we all live the good and the bad. We’re driven by the same will to survive and then thrive. The term tends to be thrown around very easily and given a lot of lip service by marketers. “We want to consider the people first!” Well it sounds good, but do they really or does it just make for compelling headlines.
If you really want to study the human condition then just pay attention. Look to the people at the bus stop and wonder if they own a car. Watch the janitor mopping your floor and consider whether he’s working that hard to feed his family. Talk to somebody who lives alone and see if the isolation is killing their mind.
We all suffer because we’re human. It’s just a matter of time before the pit swallows you up. You should hope at that moment that some other human has true empathy and reaches down to help you up, but why not just be that human first?
We continue to shape our personalities all our life. If we knew ourselves perfectly, we should die. -Albert Camus (1913-1960), author and philosopher and Nobel Prize for Literature winner.
One of the most fascinating tests that I’ve ever been introduced to is the DISC personality profile test as developed by Dr. William Moulton Marston (1893-1947). The assessment examines the behavior of individuals in their environment or within a specific situation. The research shows that characteristics of behavior can be grouped into four categories of personality types; all individuals possess all four but what differs is the extent in each of us.
The personality types tend to blend together, yet they are certainly lead by the more dominant tendency. The four types are classified by the acronym DISC. D = Dominance relating to control, power and assertiveness; I = Influence relating to social situations and communication; S = Steadiness (Submission in Marston’s time) related to patience, persistence and thoughtfulness; Compliance (or Caution, Compliance in Marston’s time) relating to structure and organization.
So how does this relate to you? Well for me it was about awareness. My life has certainly showed clues of how I was wired from the get go, but without taking a true personal inventory, I’m not sure I could have ever gained (or moved in the direction) of true humility. As a natural High I and D, I clearly have had many moments where in business and life I’ve enjoyed influencing and leading people or situations.
Likewise, if I look to the characteristics of an S or C, I plead guilty to falling apart at times when it comes to compliance (crossing Ts and dotting Is) or steadiness (patience for process). Once I became aware of these quadrants, I had an “ah-ha” moment that put life in perspective. In business, I made the obvious changes to surround myself with natural S and C types to plug the obvious leaks, but recently I have discovered perhaps an even bigger opportunity for self-improvement.
