> "2) Does personality type play a role? Do NTJ's naturally pick up on system
> dynamics faster, and integrate the new way of thinking better, than do
> other personality types? (I know there was some discussion on this a while
> back, and I believe it was Robert who basically dismissed the Meyers-Brigg
> as nothing more than a sophisticated way of labeling people. . .I still
> wonder.)"
>
> Your question stimulated one I've had for years about the so called language
> of systems thinking. I've noticed in teaching the subject that some people
> find it hard to "see" systems in terms of loops. I've been wondering whether
> that is related to their relative N/S level, or whether some other factor
> (visual learning rather than kinesthetic or auditory learning?) is at work.
I was introduced to neuro-linguistic programming, ie,
visual/auditory/kinesthetic communication styles) about seven years ago.
Having spent that time observing people's communication styles from a
NLP perspective and observing their ability to understand problems from
a systems view, I have drawn some generalizations (not absolutes, just
generalizations, and all of them useful "lies" since we don't really
know what reality really is).
-- Many auditory people are not natural systems thinkers; many visual
people are. Many left brain-oriented thinkers are auditory; many right
brain-oriented thinkers are visual. Many kinesthetic learners also seem
to lean toward the wholistic systems view. The traditional management
profile favored the left brain-oriented, auditory fire fighter.
Therefore, many of today's managers, being left-brained, auditory
thinkers, will have a hard time understanding a systems view.--
Below is an excerpt from a recent education newsletter on learning
styles (with a few of my editorial comments in parentheses for fun):
Auditory learners are logical, analytical, sequential learners (sounds
left-brained to me). They are comfortable performing typical school
tasks and usually focus well in following directions and staying on task
. Auditory learners are often considered good students.
Visual and tactile-kinesthetic learners are global thinkers. They
generally are not very good with analytical, sequential and logical
tasks until they can see the "big picture". They learn by moving from
the whole to the parts. In class discussions, their thought patterns
seem scattered and random; they use divergent thinking and tend to be
creative in their responses (they are also the ones that get fed ritalin
).
Learning conflicts often occur in classrooms when one modality is used
to introduce the entire lesson. Students who do no function well in that
modality are at a distinct disadvantage (and are labeled "learning
disabled" - any possibility there may be a "teaching disability" there ?
).
Geof Fountain
tfyy93a@prodigy.com
--TFYY93A@prodigy.com (MR GEOFFREY F FOUNTAIN)
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>