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Dr. Pamela Armstrong
Psychologist, Therapist and Kolbe™ Coach

What is your relationship with details?

“I am not very detail-oriented.”  I have actually found myself saying that to clients at times.  It probably surprises them, as they might expect that someone who is trained to “gather data” about the feelings, behavior and history of other people would in fact be almost a sponge for details.

The truth is that I am a rather unusual individual in my profession.  I learned so much about the differences from Kathy Kolbe in 1990 when I first read her book, The Conative Connection, and took the first training she offered for therapists.  She explained that only about five percent of people have my method of solving problems and striving toward goals.

In the realm of “Follow Thru,” which is the action mode related to details and creating systems, I am actually in the mid-range, but just barely.  So what this means is that I will maintain the systems that are used to organize and locate detailed information.  But I should never be put in charge of creating a system to do this from scratch.  I know people who are fantastic at that, and it is such a relief to know they will help me to “follow thru.”

Usually I prefer to keep my personal, current, and important papers in piles on my desk.  If you offered me a personal secretary who would create a detailed, color-coded filing system for my important papers, I would turn that down.  I agree that it would be lovely to have a totally neat-looking desk.  But I would find it far too frustrating to go through all the steps to find an important paper in that kind of system.  My piles of paper follow a logic that I understand, and that I don’t really want to have to explain to anyone.

So here are the three different relationships you may have with details and systems.

If you have a strong 7, 8, 9 or 10 on “Follow Thru” in your Kolbe-A Index™ profile, this means that you systematize.   It comes naturally to you to create order out of chaos.  When a new project or idea is put in front of you, your immediate question is probably “How?”

You want to know the sequence of actions that will be involved in bringing about a desired result.  Once you have a grasp of what the desired result is and what time and resources are available to be devoted to it, you will automatically begin generating the systems that are needed.

How valuable is this inborn talent?  It could hardly be measured.  But in general we don’t tend to value it enough.  One of my best friends is insistent in “Follow Thru” and she accomplishes things with a quiet efficiency, never tooting her own horn.  I do notice however (and we joke about this) that she can come across as quite skeptical about some of the outrageous ideas I come up with because she knows I tend to “work out the details as we go along.”   When she asks “How are you going to do that?” it can sound critical.  It would be very alarming for her to take the risks that I do.  But we know each other’s instinctive “M.O.”s and we accept, and enjoy, our differences.

Insistent “Follow Thru” energy is quite visible in young children when you watch them at play.  In general, they will be creating some kind of pattern or order, for example, lining up the different colors and hues of crayons in perfect sequence.  No, this is not obsessive- compulsive behavior.  This is a beautiful kind of instinctive energy.  Routines and rituals are often used by those who are insistent in “Follow Thru”, for example, when a baseball player is preparing for a game.  The structure and the sequence is vital to them.

Those with a mid-range 4, 5, or 6 in “Follow Thru” maintain systems.  They can listen to those who insist on systematizing, and they can listen to those who want to adapt an existing system in a much more flexible way.  They can find compromises among those two groups and help find a middle ground so that the systems are being honored but are not strangling the creative process in the organization.

These maintainers tend to live within the systems that are created, and to follow procedures.  They try to put things back where they belong.

Those with a 1, 2, or 3 in “Follow Thru” adapt systems.  They are more attuned to creating alternatives to the existing systems, routines and procedures.  They do not like to feel boxed in by the parameters of the “status quo.”  They may resist filling in a form and make a comment about what needs to be revised, which leads to an improvement in the work team’s productivity.  They do not like to be overly structured.  In a group discussion, a resistant “Follow Thru” will generally help the group brainstorm more freely without needing to answer the question “How?” or to worry about having ideas which conflict with existing policy.

How beautiful is this?  In a really productive and efficient team, 50% of the members actually need to be in mid-range on “Follow Thru”.  Twenty-five percent should be insistent, and twenty-five percent should be resistant.  This way neither pole takes over, but there is enough diversity in the discussion about the details to ensure that the creative process continues, but with sufficient structure in place to ensure successful outcomes.

Research has shown that most elementary school teachers have insistence in “Follow Thru.”  So much of what is being taught is about routine, structure and systems.  Of course it seems like a perfect match of job to instinct.  However, a large percentage of elementary school children are less insistent than their teachers, and these children are “working against their grain” to get these systems memorized and mastered.  It pays to know your child’s “M.O.” so that the right kind of help can be offered.

Thanks for reading ZigZag--

Pam

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Dr Pam is a psychologist, therapist, and Kolbe™ coach. She can be reached at www.instinctivecoach.com

Her office is located in Elkridge, MD. Her phone number is 410-995-0760.

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