Organizing for Your Brain Type by Lanna Nakone (St. Martin's Press, 2005)
Heather reviewed this book, and generated quite a discussion, some of which was actually related to the topic. I started adding my reflections as i read it, but have decided it's best not to clutter up her post anymore and have started a new post here. Below are a few of my reactions copied from her post; I'll add more in the comments to this post as I continue through the book.1. The library finally came through with this book, and I've just started reading it. I'm interested to see where it will go, because I've already been surprised by the quiz. I was sure I'd be a cross between the Harmonizer and the Innovator, but my highest score was Maintainer! Actually, I didn't score high enough in any category to fit well: 15, 11, 14, 10 [Maintainer, Harmonizer, Innovator, Prioritizer] -- and you have to have at least 20 in one category to fit that label. Just like me to defy labels, I guess. Maybe I'll get more insight as I read further.
2. I just took the sensory preference quiz: Kinesthetic=11, Auditory=9, Visual=4. I'm not too surprised, but wish I could take the more official test you (Heather) took in school, because I know the situation is much more complex than the book's quiz can show. As low as Visual is in some areas -- powers of observation, for example -- I'd much, much rather get information from a book than a lecture, and in some ways (albeit weakly) my memory is photographic -- I'll remember the location on a page spread of a quotation I'm looking, for example. Yet if I've talked with someone for two hours and you later ask me what color dress she was wearing, I'll likely not have a clue....
3. Although I know Dad [Porter] isn't 100% Maintainer, here's evidence that that Force is strong in him:
With your linear, structured style, you focus on details and develop effective methods that allow you to manage tasks and complete assignments, checking them off one by one. Your work style isn't about speed, but reflects a methodical approach that usually requires uninterrupted time to get the job done. Being slow-paced, deliberate, and sequential, your brain type prefers doing things in a way that can appear to others as somewhat boring. But who cares, you do it right the first time and would rather take the time to be right than [be] the first one done!
One of my first memories of Dad is that his programming style was painful (to me) but his programs always worked the first time! (I was much more of an iterative programmer - try this, make a change, try that, make a change, etc. as I homed in on the solution.)Despite the well-deserved skepticism of my high Maintainer score, I'm finding surprising ways in which I can identify with and learn from the Maintainer sections of the book. For example:
[Speaking of the Maintainer] The biggest enemies to your comfort zone are interruption and surprise. As a result, change, in any shape or form, can cause stress and may even make you so confused that you find it difficult to get back on track.... Your biggest time-related issue is how to combat interruptions. Anything that takes away from your schedule can cause enormous stress and lack of productivity.
Although the description of a Maintainer's minute-by-minute day planner made me gag -- I've actually tried it, and it does not work well for me -- the book has made realize that lack of a specific, clear, shareable plan makes me particularly vulnerable to interruptions. Much as the Harmonizer part of me relishes and cherishes certain "interruptions" to my work, I admit I sometimes have the above-described Maintainer's gut reaction to them; letting the Harmonizer rule is often a conscious, deliberate act of panic-suppression.
What this section of the book has helped me realize is that, to a Maintainer, a non-linear plan is no plan at all, and if I want the Maintainers in my life to respect my work, a little effort toward expressing my plans in a way they can understand might go a long way.
I identify with that paragraph as well, and Jon does not, I suspect. I very often forget what's going on when interrupted, causing the need to spend more time thinking it over again, or in other situations, leaving a big mess of "middle of project" in another part of the house.
Correct. There were some parts of the maintainer description which led me to think that the author is not a maintainer and doesn't really understand what maintainers are like. I forget if she says what type she would categorize herself as.
I don't usually have a problem with interruptions, and actually really dislike completely silent places. I forget what song the King's Brass played that I mentioned I had an mp3 of it that I listened to at work. My second to last day of work at DynaVox was a good work day, and I blasted (well, at least I call it blasting, some other folks might call it a moderate volume) Heather's brass cd while I finished up the last project.
Though, I did close the door (both for politeness to other folks that don't want to hear my music, and for keeping out other distractions that I didn't want to have at that moment). So, I am not completely immune to distractions and interruptions.
I didn't give this book the full attention it deserved, but gulped down about the last 2/3 in an effort to keep the library fine down to something reasonable. So I can't say I gave it a fair try, though I'm sure if I had found it resonating well with me I would have finished it much more quickly -- and thoroughly.
Perhaps the biggest problem is that I fit all the categories, and none. I would read part of the author's description and say, "Yes! That's definitely me!" and then a paragraph later I'd say, "No, that definitely is NOT me!" Funny -- there was little "maybe" about it; I either fit a particular example nearly perfectly, or absolutely not at all. I suppose I came closest on Innovator, but she completely lost me with the idea that that type works best with pretty calendars and decorative stickers and doodle pens.
The great thing I did get from this book, however, is the realization that one size doesn't fit all when it comes to organization, and no one method is "right." What counts is what works, and sometimes we need to be creative in finding what that is, rather than trying to fit our feet into a wrong-sized shoe. Rather than giving up and saying, "I'm just not an organized person," or continuing to struggle guiltily and ineffectually with a sub-optimal plan, we need to persevere, and think creatively, until we find a system that works.
