Four lenses unfolded

DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE Thomas N. Barnes Center for Enlisted Education (AETC) Maxwell AFB, AL 36118

1 Oct 12 Certified Current 13 Nov 14

AIRMAN LEADERSHIP SCHOOL STUDENT GUIDE

PART I COVER SHEET

LESSON TITLE: CF05, FOUR LENSES

TIME: 3 hours

METHOD: Experiential/Guided Discussion

REFERENCES: Bryce, Nathan K. Four Lenses Unfolded. North Orem, UT: Insight Learning Foundation, 2002. Covey, Stephen R., The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Simon & Schuster, 1989. Four Lenses Facilitator’s Guide, Shipley Communication, 2005. Four Lenses, 4-Temperament Discovery: The Kit, Shipley Communication, 2009. Fraser, George C., Ten Truths for Building Extraordinary Relationships, The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2007.

Headquarters, United States Air Force Academy Pamphlet 36-3527, The Officer Development System: Developing Leaders of Character, 2008.

Keirsey, David, and Marilyn Bates. Please Understand Me: Character and Temperament Types, Del Mar, CA: Gnosology Books, Ltd., 1984.

Luft, J. and Ingham, H. “The Johari Window, A Graphic Model of Interpersonal Awareness,” Proceedings of the Western Training Laboratory in Group Development, Los Angeles: UCLA, 1955

Shipley Communication official Website http://www.shipleycommunication.com/assessments/ (accessed 31 October 2014). STUDENT PREPARATION: Students are expected to complete the reading assignment (approximately 2300 words/approximately 20 minutes) and bring your results from the on-line Four Lenses assessment to class.

PART IA

GENERAL LEARNING OUTCOME: Students who graduate from Airman Leadership School are prepared to perform first-level supervisory responsibilities, effectively lead individuals and workcenter teams as evidenced by their comprehension of Four Lenses.

SUPPORTED COMPETENCIES/DIRECTIVES: This Four Lenses lesson supports Air Force Doctrine Volume 2, Leadership and AFI 36-2618,

http://www.shipleycommunication.com/assessments/

The Enlisted Force Structure.

TERMINAL COGNITIVE OBJECTIVE: Comprehend Four Lenses concepts and their impact on NCO, unit, and mission effectiveness.

TERMINAL COGNITIVE SAMPLES OF BEHAVIOR: 1. Explain Four Lenses issues and their impact on NCO, unit, and mission effectiveness. 2. Give examples of Four Lenses issues and their impact NCO, unit, and mission

effectiveness.

3. Predict the impact of Four Lenses issues on NCO, unit, and mission effectiveness. AFFECTIVE OBJECTIVE: Value Four Lenses and its impact on NCO, unit, and mission effectiveness.

PART IB ORGANIZATIONAL PATTERN: Topical ASSOCIATED LESSONS: Since this lesson is a Course Foundation, it is associated with all other ALS lessons.

PART IC LESSON OUTLINE

CONTENT

MP 1. Four Lenses Basics A. Green B. Blue C. Gold D. Orange

MP 2. Poster Presentations Exercise A. Green B. Blue C. Gold D. Orange

MP 3. Communicating Through The Lenses A. Blind Spots (Barriers to Communication) B. Anti-Tobacco Campaign Exercise C. Adjusting Communication to Address Each Temperament

MP 4. Maturity A. Maturity and the Four Lenses B. Strategies and Guidelines for Use (Applicability to NCO Effectiveness)

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PART II

STUDENT READING

MP 1. FOUR LENSES BASICS (Preferences/Colors/Temperaments)

Under the Four Lenses theory the terms ‗preferences‘, ‗colors‘, and ‗temperaments‘ are

interchangeable. Every person you meet or interact with is a unique individual. Each has

their own preferences, expressed in different styles, mannerisms, and ways of approaching

life‘s challenges. What they like, where and how they were raised, and their distinctive life

experiences make them different from any other person who has ever lived on this earth.

This diversity is what makes life so interesting, and is also the cause of much heartache

and misunderstanding.

It is no secret that the degree of happiness and/or success we achieve in our lives depends

heavily upon our ability to positively interact with others. In fact, almost everything we

want in life must come to us through the hands of another. Our parents, teachers, family

members, neighbors, clients, co-workers and the rest of the human race are linked in this

amazing way. Therefore, unless we plan on living in total isolation from the rest of the

world, the more we know about ourselves and others, the more skilled we will become in

accomplishing what matters most in life.

There are as many different ideas and theories about human interaction as there are people.

The four lenses is but one approach. This lesson on the four lenses is specifically designed

to help you learn to look with understanding into the heart of another…to open lines of

communication, to reduce personal misunderstandings, and to foster mutual understanding

and acceptance of the ideas of others.

The founding father of this modern research was the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung. He

believed that observation of the habitual exercise of individual choice, consistent with

certain shared preferences, could be used to help identify fundamental differences in

people. According to Jung, each person is born with a specific predisposition toward a

particular preference. In the early 1940‘s, Isabel Myers and Katherine Briggs combined

the works of Jung with their own findings and created an instrument called the Myers-

Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Today, it is one of the most widely used personality

surveys in the world. David Keirsey also used some of Jung‘s research to develop the

Keirsey Temperament Theory. You can take the Keirsey Temperament Sorter on-line at

http://keirsey.com/ and the website often offers it free-of-charge. Both of these instruments

are foundational to the Four Lenses on-line assessment that gives you an awareness of your

specific predisposition toward one of four particular preferences…the Four Lenses.

The Four Lenses on-line assessment helps you identify your primary and secondary

preferences in the form of ―colors‖ which are also your ―temperaments.‖ The highest score

identifies your primary color and the next highest score identifies your secondary color.

These four colors can help you determine your preferences and the preferences of others.

They are broken into: green, blue, gold, and orange. The green represents those that prefer

competence and logic. The blue is opposite the green and represents those that prefer

relationships over other preferences. The gold represents those that prefer organization.

The orange is opposite the gold and represents those that prefer excitement over other

preferences.

http://keirsey.com/

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MP 2. POSTER PRESENTATIONS EXERCISE

NOTETAKER FOR IN-CLASS POSTER EXERCISE

Green Orange

Gold Blue

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MP 3. COMMUNICATING THROUGH THE LENSES

Blind Spots

One of the most commonly used models used to illustrate your self-awareness and what

others are aware of is The Johari Window (see figure 1). This framework, developed by

Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham, is essentially a matrix with four quadrants used to deter-

mine how you typically operate as levels of self-awareness and others‘ awareness of you

change.

Figure 1 Johari's Window1

In this model, the blind spot refers to an aspect of our personality that is not known to self,

but is apparent to others. For example, others may notice that you lack eye contact when

talking to people. You, however, may be completely unaware of this. It is only through

the process of receiving feedback that the blind spot can be addressed. You become aware

of the eye contact issue and change this behavior. In effect, the blind spot is reduced

through identification and learning—moving you to the left of Johari‘s Window to the area

of ―known to others and known to self.‖

During the Four Lenses on-line assessment, you were asked a series of questions that

indicate your preferences. If you scored ―20‖ or less in one of the colors, you will have a

Blind Spot for that color (preference). Let‘s consider an example of a person whose results

indicate he has a strong Gold temperament but scores a ―10‖ in the Blue. This identifies

some interesting characteristics about this person. As we know, he is likely to prefer

structured, disciplined environments, schedules, and timelines – real task-oriented.

However, he may have difficulty expressing emotions or being affectionate to others and

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sensitive to their feelings.

The results could be devastating to his family, friends, and coworkers! They may perceive

him as ―insensitive‖ or ―cold‖ which negatively affects maintaining a healthy relationship

with this person.

The first step to reducing these Blind Spots is being aware of them. Once you realize they

exist, you can then explore ways to reduce your Blind Spots.

MP 4. MATURITY

Maturity is the ability to express one‘s own strengths, feelings, and beliefs in a manner that

is considerate to the abilities, thoughts, and feelings of others. With the Four Lenses, it is

the ability to take off your primary ‗lens‘ (or color) and put on someone else‘s. One‘s

maturity can be viewed as a continuum of low maturity to high maturity.

A person with a high level of maturity can be referred to as humble, modest, and discreet.

It can be very difficult to determine the primary temperament of a mature person because

they are operating from ‗the nexus‘, which is the place all four colors connect. A person

with a high level of maturity can be compared to a chameleon, which is able to adapt its

colors to its environment. A person with a high level of maturity will not ―force‖ their

temperament on others.

Maturity is a product of, and the proverbial ―face‖ of, our character. Maturity develops as

character develops. A low level of maturity doesn‘t necessarily mean a person is

immature; it simply means the person requires development. To develop maturity, one

should expand their knowledge of the four temperaments, recognizing each one as

different. Seek enrichment opportunities to experience all temperaments first-hand to

complement the learning (and maturing) process. Be willing to make personal behavioral

changes (sometimes sacrifices) to better empathize, relate, and communicate with people

of different temperament preferences. As maturity develops, your ability to operate in

your non-primary color improves. The result is a person who, regardless of primary

temperament, is capable of genuinely connecting with each person they interact with so

naturally that their primary color is difficult to determine. Others often view a person with

a high-level of maturity as an influential member of society.

As a person develops their maturity, he might start out with a low-level, firmly believing

that his way (or color) is the best/correct way. They may even ―force‖ their preferences on

others. He matures as he gains knowledge and experience, such as learning about the Four

Lenses and recognizing each of the four colors are different temperaments. As he matures

even more, he realizes that ‗change‘ isn‘t the goal; rather behavior is. For example, an

Orange would never become a Blue, but perhaps could learn to ‗act‘ more like a Blue

when appropriate. As he moves along the continuum toward higher maturity, he would

gradually increase his ability to operate in his non-primary color. Eventually, he would

reach a high-level of maturity, with the ability to ‗do‘ the attributes and mannerisms of the

other colors with little effort, selecting the most reliable and appropriate behaviors. This

would be done without ‗advertising it‘, in other words, with humility.

Real-life Guidelines and Strategies of Colors 2

With all of the information you have learned about yourself and others in this lesson, you

now have enough information to be dangerous to yourself and others. Inappropriate use of

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this information (well-meaning or not) can potentially damage relationships and threaten

communication. To help you avoid doing this, the creators of the Four Lenses have

developed a list of real-life guidelines and strategies.

1. Don’t stereotype others – Everyone is their own unique blend of colors. Something that is true for one person of a certain color may not be true for another person of

the same color.

2. Don’t try to change people – When we look at other people, we are using our own ‗lens‘ to view them, so we tend to compare others to ourselves. You might have a

tendency to believe that because someone is different from you, that person is

flawed and you may want to try to help them become more like you. This is

counterproductive and very difficult (if not impossible).

3. Don’t negate the values of others – Refrain from judging color characteristics as right or wrong. As you learned in the values poster exercise, each temperament has

its own set of values and standards that differ (often greatly) from the others.

4. Don’t let strengths become liabilities – Sometimes, when people are down and/or stressed, they can tend to minimize or maximize certain traits to the point that the

traits that were once strengths become liabilities. For example, a Gold being so

obsessed with cleanliness to the point that it drives people away.

5. Don’t use colors as an excuse – Our colors are our preferences, not our capabilities.

It is counterproductive to blame personality type for behavior (or non-behavior).

6. Keep your observations private – People tend to react negatively to being ‗figured

out‘ or ‗diagnosed‘ easily by others. Even if you recognize someone as a Gold,

refrain from pointing it out; rather, use it to improve your communication style

with that person.

7. Give good gifts – Give people what they value, not what you value. This applies to

communication as well. Instead of addressing or relating to someone in a way that

you prefer, you should consider doing it in a way they would prefer.

8. Carry your colored lenses with you – Try adopting another perspective if one isn‘t

working for you. If communicating in one style doesn‘t work, try a different

colored lens (you have four to choose from).

9. Validate the strengths of each color – Each temperament has a unique set of strengths that the others don‘t have. Recognizing, accepting, and validating them is

important to the success of any organization. It also encourages growth and

development in others.

10. Learn from others – By becoming familiar with the skills and strengths that other

temperaments have, you equip yourself with either the ability to potentially develop

new skills or possibly compensate for ones you are unable to develop by

surrounding yourself with friends or coworkers who have mastered those skills.

Doing either of these things enables you to successfully adapt to various challenges

life brings.

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Homework Question (be prepared to discuss your responses in class)

Given what you have learned about the Four Lenses, how will you use the information to

enhance your effectiveness?

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NOTES

1 Luft, J.; Ingham, H. Proceedings of the Western Training Laboratory in Group Development.

2 Bryce, Nathan K. Four Lenses Unfolded.

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