Introduction 5Our research on the mind originally
started with a concept which
psychologists refer to as cognitive styles.
This states that people can be divided
into different groups, depending upon
how they act and think. If you could
compare a group of people to a pie, then
cognitive styles uses a „knife‟ to cut this
pie into separate pieces. There are many
ways of dividing individuals into categories, just as there are many ways to
slice a pie. Some of these systems have been around for a long time. For
instance, the four divisions of sanguine, choleric, melancholic and
phlegmatic were initially proposed by Galen, a Greek physician from the
time of the Roman Empire.
The scheme that I will be using in this book arranges people into seven
thinking styles, called Mercy, Perceiver, Server, Teacher, Exhorter,
Contributor, and Facilitator. Each name describes a prominent positive
character trait of a certain type of individual. Each name also starts with a
different letter of the alphabet.
This system of categorization is not original with us. It is used by
others—although at a fairly rudimentary level. What attracted us to this
particular scheme was that it seemed to be the best way of slicing the pie of
human personality. Other methods ended up with leftover bits of „crust‟
and „filling,‟ whereas this method of seven thinking styles appeared to
divide people cleanly and accurately.
While others use the same scheme of cognitive styles, no one else who
follows this system has developed a comprehensive set of traits for each
type of person.A We also are the first to relate personality types with brain
regions. It is this correspondence between the „software‟ of human
personality and the „hardware‟ of human neurology which makes us think
that we are on the right track—that we have cut the pie in the best way.
Notice that I use the words „we‟ and „our.‟ This is because the initial
work on this theory was done by my brother Lane Friesen. He discovered
most of the personality traits and worked out the first sketches of the
theory. This basic understanding was then developed by the two of us. For
years we spent hours a day on the phone, discussing ideas. More recently,
my brother has chosen to focus on documenting these traits from history,
while I worked out the implications and details of understanding and of
programming thought. This volume summarizes my work.
A The information was first published in 1986.