U-shaped People

U-shaped people are U-shaped in that they open up, hold and live in a space that welcomes, creates and dissolves paradoxes, polarities and potential transformation. Simply, U-shaped people are complex folks. Able to attend to a wide range and diverse sets of priorities, principles and perceptions they may seem to dance through life. Things just seem to happen around these people. 

So how do we see U-shaped people? 

• For one, we don’t see them very often. In a study of over 4000 adults in the US roughly 1% were U-shaped*.
• U-shaped people are many things at once and tend to delight, confuse, inspire, mystify, frustrate and intrigue others.
• U-shaped people see things that earlier stages of development don’t. This highly attuned awareness and perception allows them to act in particularly powerful ways.
• May act seemingly impulsively or not act at all.
• Deep systemic awareness. Can also perceive and leverage inter-systemic or meta-relational awareness.
• Seems to do the right thing at the right time even if the “right thing” looks like the “wrong thing” in the short term.
• Unpredictable yet generally dependable. 
• Sense of self may extend to systemic identity. 
• Often capable of summoning earlier action logics to best suit the context.
• There is no typical U-shaped person as their identity often emerges from the field or context of engagement.
• May end up being “gurus”, mentors, jesters, tricksters, dead, promoted or fired depending on the context and their elected mode of participation.

And you thought A-shaped people were tough to figure out? U-shaped people have transcended much of what limits previous stages of development. Certainly not “enlightened” they may exhibit behavior consistent with the conventional wisdom around enlightenment. When and if they choose, U-shaped people can become powerful attractors for community and action. Gandhi was most likely U-shaped as is Nelson Mandela. However, it is just as possible that the slightly eccentric woman next door could be U-shaped as well. We at Interkannections are involved in a community dedicated to learning more about later stage development and the capacity that accrues from it. As we continue to learn we will share our learnings with you!

 

*Based on research done by Susanne Cook-Greuter