Your Gut is at the Heart of Things - Part One

Don’t you just love discovering and learning new things? I do. And I really enjoy sharing information with others, especially when it can make a difference in their lives. I suppose that’s one reason I do what I do for a living. And it is also why I fell so fortunate to be able to write for EV Living; it is a fantastic venue to get information out to people quickly and easily.

Well, I’ve learned some new things over the past several months, and I’d like to share the insights with you over a series of articles posted here called Your Gut is at the Heart of Things.

When I meet with clients I talk to them about helping to get their “head, heart, and gut into alignment.” “Head” refers to their thinking, logical, cognitive mind. “Heart” of course is your emotional, feeling, affective mind. And your “gut”, well now, that’s a little harder to define isn’t it. You could call it your intuition, your inner knowing or sense; you may even call it your instincts. Your “gut” is your instinctive, conative mind.

The concept of conation or instinct as part of the human psyche is not new. Aristotle spoke of it. William James, Freud, and Jung all wrote about it but were unable to quantify instincts clearly. As psychology focused more and more attention on the role of emotions and cognition in behavior, conation took a back seat in the academic world. Seems that everyone knew it was there, but no one could clearly define, measure and codify instincts.

Let’s fast forward to today and a Phoenix based company called Kolbe Corp. Pioneered by Kathy Kolbe, Kolbe Corp. has created a scientifically accurate and statistically valid way of measuring instincts. (To read the validation and statistics, go to www.JanusCenter.com, click on Kolbe and follow the prompts) And they have been doing it quietly in Phoenix for almost twenty years. Kathy Kolbe’s life work has been analyzed by major universities and proven to be accurate and predictive.

What we are talking about here is not your instinct to stay alive, eat, or procreate. Kolbe measures what are called your “striving instincts.” These break down into four modes and three zones for each mode. Each mode measures a particular instinct and each instinct has a range of initiating to resisting.

Let me briefly review the four modes, the four striving instincts you and I have. We all have our own unique mixture of these instincts called a modus operandi (MO). This MO is unchanging. You are born with it and, unlike personality profiles, IQ tests, or other emotional assessments, your MO does not change. Kolbe has amassed a data base of 500,000+ case studies so the statistics are solid. Your MO is your MO. And it is perfect! There is no good or bad, no weak or strong, no plus or minus. Your MO just is. We all have one and we all have an equal amount of mental energy to use in a day. How we use it is determined, in large part, by our MO. Here’s an overview of the four modes:

Fact Finder. This is you instinctive need to gather information, to probe, research. It relates to the degree of detail, precision, and documentation you need. Fact Finder ranges from simplify to specify.

Follow Thru. This is your instinctive need to pattern, and organize. It deals with the way we organize, sequence, and need closure.  Follow Thru ranges from adapt to classify.

Quick Start. This is your instinctive need to improvise, innovate. We use Quick Start behavior to deal with unknowns, risk, and change. Quick Start ranges from standardize to improvise.

Implementor. This is based on the instinctive need to demonstrate. Implementor deals with the way we instinctively deal with tools, technology, or nature. Implementor ranges from imagine to build.

These four modes determine what you will do, are willing to do, and won’t do. You may know you should do a certain task by tomorrow, you may even wish you had it done. Your MO is the instinctive energy behind the action to do it.

Maybe you are asking, “What does this information do for me?” Think of it this way, your MO is the way you are wired. Your MO determines how you solve problems and how you create when left to do things your own way. If you have a lot of Fact Finder (you initiate your problem solving in this mode), it is as if you have a tall glass for the need for information. You need more data, more research, you need to probe before you can act. A person who is resistant in Fact Finder has a smaller glass. They need information to be satisfied, but nowhere near as much as you do. If you keep pouring information into the smaller glass it will overflow (overwhelm). If, on the other hand, you only pour the small amount into the taller glass, it will not satisfy the need (frustration) and will have to seek more.

You have a unique way of solving problems that may be very different from how your spouse, your children, your parents, or anyone else does it. And when you are left alone, you get it done, in your own way, in your own time.

How many arguments arise due to differences in “hard wiring” between couples? How much tension is there at work when people feel they are made to do a job in a way that just “goes against the grain?” How many people are hired into a position only to find out they simply cannot do it, they are the – even though they passed the skills test and the personality assessment?

In future articles, we will more closely examine the main behaviors of each of the four modes and the ranges within them. To truly understand what Kolbe is and what it does and does not do; stay tuned for more here, or go to www.JanusCenter.com and follow the link for Kolbe. If you are interested in discovering your MO, or you just want to learn more about this incredible information, call us at 602.527.0142.

George Gillas provides public and corporate workshops and seminars across the Valley while maintaining an active private hypnotherapy and NLP practice in Scottsdale.  He also teaches business, public speaking, and hypnotherapy classes at SWIHA.