Orientation to Interaction

We interact with others all the time: at work, at home, at play and in impersonal public environments.

Many of these interactions are conventional, habitual, situation-specific or reflex and require little attention. But when our self-interest is in play, interaction takes on a different colour. How we each interact to benefit ourselves, to prosper, and to serve our legitimate interests requires more attention and thought.

The basic framework clarifies the seven mutually-exclusive ways of interacting socially that anyone may adopt—or discover that they have adopted. The method is adopted by us because it seems the best, the correct, the most sensible way to «benefit». Of course, that presumes we have chosen, perhaps unconsciously, what counts as «benefit».

Prospering in life is nothing more than seeking and getting benefits. Each way to prosper is a self-contained system that makes it quite clear what to think and do to thrive in society as it is. We are not always aware that others use a very different system to benefit from our own. This is partly because it is intrinsic to prospering that we mostly mix with people like ourselves, with whom we can share assumptions, attitudes and activities—and so get the support and recognition that we all need.

Conclusion: It's a whole different world out there!

The story is rather simple. I took an interest in prosperity, marketing, commerce and profits in the early 1990s. Time spent in Singapore sharpened the sensation that there were people who really thought money and business were important. It was indeed a whole different world. So I started reading around the issues and reflecting. See what I read.

The way we perceive «benefit» (e.g. for our family, for ourselves, for our business) is intimately linked to our sense of obligation.

  • On the one hand, it is rather evident that we need to be sufficiently self-reliant and capable of making a living.
  • On the other hand, it is also evident that everything we do occurs with others, directly or indirectly, and within a social context that impacts and impinges in various ways.

As we strive to get «benefit», it becomes very evident that others demand some «benefit» from us if they are going to play the part we assign them (e.g. a customer, a contact, a supporter, an employer, an employee.)

Putting it like that made it evident that the necessary taxonomic framework had to be based on two of the approaches to making an ethical choice.

  • Individualist (PH'6-L4): i.e. core obligation to ensure personal security and interests and develop personal strength.

    &

  • Communalist (PH'6-L5): i.e. core obligation to consider the needs and interests of all concerned (including the chooser).

Frameworks made from adjacent THEE Types are formed by a Q-expansion: see how this applies.

To penetrate the secret of prospering, you must start from a basic appreciation of all seven approaches. The initial focus is on recognizing how people are different and helping you grasp that difference in a neutral and accepting fashion.

Becoming familiar with this framework can help you greatly:

● in handling yourself
● in handling specific important interactions
● in advising or mentoring others
● in motivating or enthusing people
● in getting teams working better.

However, if you stop at this point you will have covered less than 10% of what is on offer and possibly lack a proper feel for it all. There are several interesting Frameworks already posted, and newer developments still to come. The initial section is fundamental and valuable. It has the potential to be transformative.

If you are ready to put more effort into this Framework, then there are some powerful applications, intellectual technologies, already developed. These can be used to clarify socially problematic situations so that you can properly participate, manage or lead others.

●Career development
●Strengthening the commercial ethos
●Handling employees
●Interventions in the «economy»
●Strategies for marketing
and more …

The Interacting-for-Benefit Frameworkhas generated additional frameworks that are still under development and will be posted in due course. If you are interested and involved with this material, you are one of those people willing to recognize the existence of psychosocial reality.

ClosedApproaches & Mentalities exist in psychosocial reality.  

The Interacting-for-Benefit Framework is based on work that has been well-developed, validated in practice, and about which a fair degree of confidence exists. It is divided into sections.

Section 1: Basic account of the 7 mentalities/approaches.

Section 2: Seeing the 7 mentalities/approaches as a group using a TET.

Section 3: Recognizing two major groups and getting a deeper feel for the similarities and differences between and within those groups.

Section 4: Some applications to business and markets.

Section 5: The natural trajectory of career development: people vary greatly in how far they travel.

Section 6:Framework for cooperation.

Section 7: Frameworks for profitability and for marketing.

Section 8:Framework for government interventions in the «economy».

Section 9: Developing social status: Currently under development.

Section 10: Informal community leadership: To be developed.

Section 11: Making your way in society: Currently under development.

Each way of interacting-for-benefit touches on your deepest identity, and is an ethical outlook on life. The approaches are presented in a stark, unvarnished form. So you may find one or more:

  • irrelevant
  • incomprehensible
  • objectionable.

The equivalent result in everyday life is misunderstanding and suspicion, even hostility, towards people who interact using different mentalities from yours. You may see value in all of the approaches and feel doubtful about pigeon-holing yourself: but your intimates will probably be less inhibited. When you get your mind around the set, why not ask them what you are like?

Remember that interacting-for-benefit is just one aspect of psychosocial life. Within THEE,Closed there are many other areas that determine personal identity and affect choices in situations. It is the specific combination and subtleties of the many mentalities and approaches that each of us uniquely comes to possess that constitute our individuality and make for the incredible variety in human living, working and relating.

Originally posted: July 2009