the_siobhan (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
the_siobhan) wrote2002-06-14 10:56 am
the_siobhan) wrote2002-06-14 10:56 am
Entry tags:
work styles of the rich and famous
OK, so I have this theory.
I have recently come to the conclusion that there are two different styles that people have when they approach a task. (There are two different kinds of people in the world, those who think that there are two different kinds of people in the world, and those who don't. But I digress.)
"Hunter" style is very individualistic. Hunting requires very little interaction with other people, and even when there are a team of people involved, each tends to have a specific job that must be performed independently with a minimum of cross-over.
"Gatherer" style, in comparison is a lot more communal. Gatherer tasks are more hands-on, repetative, and work-intensive, so gatherers tend to want to work in groups in order to get the task completed more easily and they tend to interact a lot while they are doing it to make the job go faster.
I am very much a "hunter" style. Hand me something to do, and I will put my head down and grind my way through it no matter how big and nasty it is. It is really hard for me to ask for help or admit that something is too big for me. This has occasionally led to me being called "stubborn".
OTOH, I work with a particular individual who is very strongly a gatherer, and he is Driving. Me. Bonkers. There I am, minding my own business, doing my job and suddenly somebody is underfoot, moving things I have put in a very specific place, getting physically in my way, interrupting my flow -- and confusing the hell out of me. There are ten things that need to be done. I'm already doing this one. Can't he see that this one is already being done? Why is he trying to do it?
So I move on to the next task.
And he follows me.
Repeat nine more times.
This is frustrating the hell out of both of us, and leading to much confusion in the actual work.
I have recently come to the conclusion that there are two different styles that people have when they approach a task. (There are two different kinds of people in the world, those who think that there are two different kinds of people in the world, and those who don't. But I digress.)
"Hunter" style is very individualistic. Hunting requires very little interaction with other people, and even when there are a team of people involved, each tends to have a specific job that must be performed independently with a minimum of cross-over.
"Gatherer" style, in comparison is a lot more communal. Gatherer tasks are more hands-on, repetative, and work-intensive, so gatherers tend to want to work in groups in order to get the task completed more easily and they tend to interact a lot while they are doing it to make the job go faster.
I am very much a "hunter" style. Hand me something to do, and I will put my head down and grind my way through it no matter how big and nasty it is. It is really hard for me to ask for help or admit that something is too big for me. This has occasionally led to me being called "stubborn".
OTOH, I work with a particular individual who is very strongly a gatherer, and he is Driving. Me. Bonkers. There I am, minding my own business, doing my job and suddenly somebody is underfoot, moving things I have put in a very specific place, getting physically in my way, interrupting my flow -- and confusing the hell out of me. There are ten things that need to be done. I'm already doing this one. Can't he see that this one is already being done? Why is he trying to do it?
So I move on to the next task.
And he follows me.
Repeat nine more times.
This is frustrating the hell out of both of us, and leading to much confusion in the actual work.
no subject
home the explanation you just posted? I mean, it was perfectly clear
what you're talking about to *me* at least, so maybe it'll be clear to
him too.
There's another subvariant of Hunter too, that I at least recognize,
but don't have a name for. This sort doesn't seem to be doing anything
at all on a project for a long time, and then finishes it in a flurry
of effort and activity, often including 18-20 hour workdays. (For some
reason, these sorts gravitate into IT fields a lot. Classically, you'll
see programmers get an assignment due in six weeks, they'll spent a week
doing it wrong, play video games for a month, and then complete the
whole thing in a week. And, bizarrely, the whole six weeks is actually
necessary; it can't even be shortened to two weeks of getting it wrong
then getting it right. It's like it has to gel for 4 weeks to analyze
what was wrong the first week.)
no subject
Hunter and Collectors
Like you, I'm also a "hunter" type of worker. I'm quite amenable with touching base with my fellow hunters regularly, just to make sure we're not stalking the same prey or anything, but then I want to scurry back to my corner and work By Myself.
The thing with "gatherers" is that they genuinely want to help you. They think they're making the job easier for you, when all they're doing is getting in your way and really pissing you off. It's hard to tell a nice, well meaning "gatherer" type to please bugger off.
Re: Hunter and Collectors
It's a blowfish... and it's kewl!!!
(Blowfish rock!)
no subject
then you can take his good pens too.
-///
Just to be contrary...
I've got a group of folks with spears fanning out, and another group making loud noises to spook the prey to the spearfolk, or other cooperative kinda hunters images...
...and I've got the image of a gatherers grabbing up a basket or a sack and fanning out to the four winds, each going their seperate way, searching out the fruits and firewood and garage-sale bargains of the modern world, each lost in solitary contemplation.
Comes to the same difference in the end; the one group & the other just don't mesh so well, regardless of polarity.