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Primary & secondary preferences
It is helpful to remind ourselves that every one of us houses and demonstrates the behavioral preferences of all four Elements. It's also interesting to remember that many of us have two preferences that complement each other to create our uniqueness. Whether a person is an Earth/Fire, Air/Water, Water/Fire, Fire/Air, or any other combination, how each perceives and reacts to the world is a unique blend of the Elements in the circumstance of the moment.
Understanding Earth, Air, Water and Fire for their more common preferences however, can be of great help to any manager, leader, facilitator, parent or friend. The distinctions between a Water/Fire Element and a Water/Air Element can range from a small behavioral tendency to a substantial difference in motives and approach.
The following letter came from a manager who has come to understand the Elements through a variety of team and planning workshops. This manager has obviously tapped into the deeper benefits and value that the TetraMap offers.
I have recently bought together a new team of people within a large New Zealand company. Team members came from different places within the organisation, and ranged in age from 25 to 53. They ranged in skill types from someone who was recently a customer service rep to someone who'd been responsible for running an IT shop with multi-million dollar budget responsibilities.
I used the TetraMap exercise for our first-ever planning session as a team. The exercise had a triple purpose - as an exercise to help people relax and feel comfortable with each other, as a tool to gain greater understanding of each other, and as a tool to give me, as their manager, a greater understanding of "where they are coming from".
Despite the variety of backgrounds and ages, the tool proved valuable for everyone, giving them greater understanding and placing them all on the same level irrespective of their place in the team or their age/experience.
Whilst it was relatively easy to recognize people's first Element, the second provided a valuable guide to behavior. For instance, one person whose primary Element is Water felt very insecure about the role in the new team. The second Element, Air, gave me insight into why the person seem weighted with so many problems. The person's role was new and not detailed or numerated in terms of specific responsibilities and deliverables. The person felt that there weren't enough facts or clarity about what was expected. There was concern about how they were going to be measured (performance appraised). As Water, this person was very in touch with personal emotions which, as an Air Element, created incredible discomfort!!!
I would recommend the TetraMap as a great tool for all teams. We continue to use it to explain to each other why we have acted the way we have and how to help us do our jobs the best we can, particularly when the going gets tough".
T. Sutton, Program Director Operations, Wellington, New Zealand