Contracting, Consulting, & the Personality Traits that Support Success
So what does this have to do with Contracting and Consulting? People who find long term success in Contracting and Consulting generally possesses similar mixtures of these Dimensional Perceptions. Use any system that you want to Myers-Briggs, the Strong Inventory, the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, or the approach I've described above. Test a collection of Contractors or Consultants who have been successful for a while, and you will find common traits, no matter how different these people seem to be on the outside.
Let's take a look at the four redefined dimensions, and the activities that each supports. Pay attention, there will be a test!
Physical Reality
Our most rudimentary dimension is that of the Physical Reality. It was the first to develop in society, and is the first to develop in newborn humans. Animals use this dimension almost exclusively. People who have great affinity for this dimension prefer to work in the physical realm. They may be watchmakers, explorers, ranchers, builders, excavators, demolitionists, truck drivers, etc. No matter what scale they use¾ large or small¾ they will pursue mostly physical endeavors.
The Present
The next Dimensional Perception to develop in people is the sense of the Present. Those who best perceive the Present will find themselves driven to control¾ to set things in order. Among other things, they have great talent for spotting trends. Scheduling, order, and planning gives them a sense that they control what is happening. Whether they actually have that control is beside the point. They most successfully influence their environment to support their survival in this way. They pursue endeavors such as project management, meeting planning, organizational consultants, and technical writers (information organization).
The Past
On the heels of the Present, we develop an awareness of the Past and the Future. Individuals who operate best in the dimension of the Past concern themselves with things that have happened¾ sometimes known as "facts." This could involve the immediate past or the distant past, but their orientation remains "historical" at some level. They support the collection and transfer of information. They believe in learning and the setting of precedent. Because they have such focus on the clear storage and communication of information, they often have great facility for writing and reading. In many cases, they will have the same facility for learning how to use languages other than their own. They often become lawyers, researchers, scientists, linguists or writers.
The Future
People who prefer to focus on the dimension of the Future live in the arena of hope and possibilities. These people make lemonade when someone hands them lemons. They discover connections between events, people, and situations that no one else can see. They don't enjoy implementing as much as they enjoy having ideas. They get bored with projects quickly, so they usually work best by utilizing the assistance of others to implement for them. They see into the future and know they can't predict exactly what's coming, so they play the odds. They spend much of their time figuring out which ideas deserve the investment of their energy. The moment they see that an idea won't pay off, they stop investing their energy into it. For this reason, they often acquire the reputation of not being able to stick with anything long enough to finish it. In fact, they have too many ideas, and, often very publicly sort out what works and what doesn't. When they do bring an idea to full fruition, it often happens with a lot of last minute effort and frequently with brilliant results. These people become so used to selling their ideas that they usually make excellent sales people. Society at large will see them as either "visionaries" or "flakes," depending how they've chosen to manage other people's perception of them.