I did love it though: I loved the first season, its novelty. I love the excitement, the pacing. I love the real time(ish) nature. I love how preternaturally competent Jack Bauer is. A chemist, bomb expert, computer expert, hand to hand, mechanic. I loved how he performed some type of “killing Russians” help-desk action aboard a submarine. I love the linear focus ruthlessness. At least part of me does.
DiSC Profiling
I’ve been thinking and messing with the DiSC profiling system sinc probably 2003-2004. Howard Brinton, Star Power does DiSC stuff. It’s a quick shortand for typing people, and the shorthand often works. It’s not perfect. Over-labeling people dehumanizes them. DiSC has been called other things. (BOLT, ETC), but the basic premise is this:
D- Dominance. Classical Type A. My way/high way,
i – Influence. Artsy type, wants to be the life of the Party.
S- Supportive. Think: people pleasing, maybe submissive. (always thought supportive was submissive.)
C- Contentious. Analytical. To a fault. Loves them some rules.
So, Jack Bauer is a D. A machine, do whatever it takes, break the rules, bend the world to my will. I’ll torture, the mission, the objective is all that matters. I’ll cut you open, if you have one nugget of information. I’ll rack up a body count. Whatever it takes.
I’ve DiSC’d myself, and I generally identify with D and I. Or I and D. Depends on the day, the mood, and if my wife’s responded to me. I used to want to be more D. More of a ruthless bastard. Now–not so much. Oh, sure, when necessary, I’ll break ‘social conventions,’ to get my way. If you cheat me, wrong me, or if you wrong a friend of mine, I’ll tear you in half. Try it some time. It’ll be fun. Seriously.
Debt Collection Methods for the Insane.
I did collect on my last debt by using ruthless methods. I was shorted big cash, and i had it in minutes by being the most important event in the debtor’s life. It took little time using modern tools to, and an anxious story to get everyone in his office complex knocking on his door, letting him know that I wasn’t kidding. D’s count on that, and if you can convince them that you’ll go as far as it takes, they’ll acquiesce. I am not kidding. I don’t go to war often. OK sure, the method used was illegal. I don’t care, it is also illegal to charge back a credit card after you’ve had your cash refunded. It’s also illegal to drop a deal after you run out of money. Side note: ths was way, way more than a simple misunderstanding. This was a corrupt sociopath that I damn well should have avoided.
A written agreement–as Austin Realtor Eric Bramlett suggested…would NEVER have solved anything. Sociopaths are not really bound by what they said, put in writing, promised, vowed, or affirmed. I’m a heartbeat away from being a sociopath. It’s a daily battle. I’m winning currently.
A Life Past Type A
Back to Jack, though, cause he’s the subject header, and I just used Hulu to catch up on 24. He’s ruthless, and this season has him even more so. D personality. F#@% the rules, it’s time to go to war.
Now…a D type has some place in the world. When you’re trying to hit a deadline or achieving a goal, it works. Channeling some ‘whatever it takes,’ into your brain helps a ton. When you’re trying to deal kindly with people? Well, let’s leave that personality at home. When you have to build teams, you need some I and some S.
D b.s. doesn’t work. It pulls you into drama land. “How Dare You Do This To Me,” crap. I’ve been there, and I’m mostly gone from that world. Mostly. I think that the “D” type was the baby boomer personality.
I wrote a book about mostly that. Which will be live tomorrow, it’s for sale now, but the website looked like it was done by a kindergartner. In 1997. More later, as is always the case on teh inter-web.
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