18 THE INVESTOR
spectrum, they tend to bring together the entire range of human
possibilities within themselves.
These qualities are present in all of us, but usually we are
trained to develop only one pole of the dialectic. We might grow
up cultivating the aggressive, competitive side of our nature, and
disdain or repress the nurturing, cooperative side. A creative in-
dividual is more likely to be both aggressive and cooperative, ei-
ther at the same time or at different times, depending on the
situation [M. Csikszentmihalyi, Creativity, HarperCollins 1996].When I talk about this subject to groups, they get a funny look
at this point. It’s an expression that says, “Hmmm, there’s more to
this than I originally thought.” The eight traits are not simply a
laundry list of rituals to be completed, like flossing, brushing, and
gargling. A dynamic tension exists within each of the four scales.
For example, the second scale, observation versus creativity,
pits logical, linear, and detailed thinkers against creative, intuitive,
and big-picture thinkers. Both forms of thinking are valuable, but
it is difficult to be good at both, and quite impossible to be good
at both simultaneously. (It’s a bit like the Magic Eye pictures that
shift from two- to three-dimensional and back again as you stare
at them.) Typically each of us has a preference for one type of
thought or the other, much like left- and right-handedness; people
are born with a preference for one hand or one type of thought
over the other. In fact, to illustrate this point with a group, I ask
them each to write their name on a sheet of paper. No big chal-
lenge, right? People do it effortlessly, without thinking. Then I ask
them to write it again with the opposite hand. Usually there are a
few audible groans and some laughter. It’s difficult, and for those
of us who like to be masterly at all times, it’s kind of embarrassing.
But eventually everyone does it. If necessary—say, if he or she broke
the dominant hand—a person could become skillful with the op-
posite hand. Normally, though, we don’t even think about the choice
of hands; we just sign checks with our “usual” hand.
There is a way that these two different ways of thinking—03 ware 18 1/19/01, 1:00 PM