Head Tale

Humanity is forever trying to put people into boxes – 34 CliftonStrengths, 16 Myers-Briggs Personality Types, 5 Conflict Styles, 4 True Colours, etc. etc.

One observation I’ve had over the years is that, when you boil it right down, there are really only two personality types – black & white thinkers and grey area thinkers.

Of course, no one is 100% either way but generally people lean strongly one way or the other in my experience.  And you need both types to a degree but generally, being a black and white thinker is the easier option compared to living in the grey area.

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This is because black and white means everything is a binary so yes or no, on or off, etc. and (theoretically) completely objective – even in a world that is nuanced, complicated and ever-changing.

Being a grey area thinker means that every situation, every problem, every decision is open to interpretation and subjective.

It’s not exactly the same but I think of the famous graphic illustrating the differences between equality and equity (and justice and inclusion).

Black and white thinkers will see “equality” as the best because everyone is being treated the same without having to do the much harder work of acknowledging that different people need to be treated differently – based on their personal situations, roles, experience levels and about a million other factors.

Black and white thinking leads to using “absolute” language – “All staff must call-in by a certain time” or “I always talk to staff directly” or whatever – which often leads to black and white thinkers often having to back off or clarify their statements and views.

Grey area thinkers can be frustrating as they view every situation as unique and rarely find rules useful beyond being a framework for guiding decisions but not a clear cut, unchanging answer.

Grey area thinking can also even be better for your mental health!