Systems, Goals, & Personality

[Clay Anderson Johnson]

Socrates said centuries ago that the unexamined life is not worth living.  Still self examination and introspection remain among the rarest of qualities.

 

Most people define themselves by their locations, occupations, sexuality, or personal preferences.  Other than that they move toward nebulous goals.  You could think of this as, “I’m a Texas RE Broker who is married with a family.  I love the Dallas Cowboys.  My goal is to sell more homes than I ever did before.”

 

This is completely different from, “I am an intelligent, extroverted person who is friendly and charming so I plan to use these qualities to build a client base which will provide me with a continuing stream of referrals.”  This is systematic.

 

It has been demonstrated repeatedly that using a system is more effective than simply setting a goal.

 

If you know who you really are, it is much easier to establish a system to get what you want.

 

Psychologists say that personality is made up of five traits:

1. Extroversion, or how sociable you are
2. Conscientiousness, or how self-disciplined and organized you are
3. Agreeableness, or how warm and empathetic you are
4. Openness, or how receptive you are to new ideas and activities
5. Neuroticism, or how depressed or anxious you are.

 

People tend to be happier and healthier when they score higher on the first four traits and lower on neuroticism.  Most people fall somewhere in between.

 

• For the first I love audiences but am happiest at home with my family.  8

• For the second I focus like a missile and refer to myself as the family comptroller.  I do one thing at a time extremely well, I do not multi-task. 10

• For the third although I am opinionated and somewhat elitist I have deep empathy for people and love to help others.  8

• For the fourth I love change and to watch it happen but am not an early adapter as I tend to lean traditional in many ways.  7

• For the fifth self doubt is an unknown concept.  My biggest fear is that too many people may not have yet heard of my work.*  1

 

* Stephen Foster was a mediocre songwriter but is remembered today as he shoved a copy of his sheet music into the hands of everyone he met.

 

Where would you fall and how can you take advantage of these traits?

[Stuart Scholes]

1. Extroversion, or how sociable you are - I love being with close friends and family, yet I feel uncomfortable if I feel I can't have my personal space. I'm extremely open with people and wear my heart on my sleeve, regardless of the many imes that has bitten me in the butt. The thing that stands out for me though is that I LOVE performing. I'm happy playing music for 1 person, 50, 150 and I dare say if I ever got the chance to do it, I'd love playing for 50,000! 7
2. Conscientiousness, or how self-disciplined and organized you are - I'm very organised, and pretty disciplined. I've had some health problems recently that have undermined the self-discipline, but I'm well on the way to rebuilding. 8
3. Agreeableness, or how warm and empathetic you are - Difficult to say on this one. I feel like people are often alien and imcomprehensible, yet people are consistently drawn to my company because they tell me that I'm understanding and kind! I think it's a product of my disciplined mind to shelve the feelings before I analyse them, so I can analyse them at 3 in the morning after I've helped the person feel better! 😆 9
4. Openness, or how receptive you are to new ideas and activities - I can't stand stagnation. It drives me up the wall. For my need to be disciplined, organised etc. - the reason I want those things is so I know the basics are taken care of, therefore I can concentrate on new things. 10
5. Neuroticism, or how depressed or anxious you are. - probably not the best one to answer at the moment. I'll come back to it at some point. 🙂

[john]

1. Extroversion, or how sociable you are 9
2. Conscientiousness, or how self-disciplined and organized you are 8
3. Agreeableness, or how warm and empathetic you are 8
4. Openness, or how receptive you are to new ideas and activities 9
5. Neuroticism, or how depressed or anxious you are. 6
    

I don’t think we are set in stone. All we can give is an approximation of how we feel we are right now. A snapshot. Or how we believe we typically are.
 

To be honest, my answers can change considerably. I am naturally quite upbeat, but I’ve been a carer for a long time and have my own health issues. Both have taken their toll, leaving me prone to anxiety and depression, but I don’t spend all my time like that. When depressed, in particular, I am less sociable, less self-disciplined and a bit less open to new ideas.

[Clay Anderson Johnson]

1 hour ago, john said:

I don’t think we are set in stone. All we can give is an approximation of how we feel we are right now. A snapshot. Or how we believe we typically are.

 

People do change from day to day and can even consciously change long term although the latter is often hard.  The broader point is you can use your traits best generally only if you know what they typically are.

 

To use a system you have to know the best tools available to aid you.  Look at my set.  What musical path would this seem to indicate working best?

 

What was my system?  Join the union, play sessions for unknown artists on debut releases, go home at night.  It took advantage of being home oriented, focused, confident, agreeable, and being open to change and direction while also traditional.

 

What am I doing now?  It's simply a variation of the same thing I did before.  The music I write is eclectic, but not experimental.   It's based around traditional instruments using common music concepts of melody, harmony, and counterpoint, with call and response using heavy rhythm.  I never used a DAW until last Summer so although I am open to change I probably am among the least experienced here at using one because they have been around for years while I only worked in a traditional studio setting.

 

I played in bands when I was younger.  I haven't since the '90s.  My wife and I have discussed if I did by some weird twist of fate have some type of a hit whether I would be willing to go on the road to promote it.  The consensus is probably not.

Edited February 17, 2022 by Clay Anderson Johnson

[Clay Anderson Johnson]

4 hours ago, VoiceEx said:

don't really have a system which revolves exclusively around my personality traits.

 

From reading the above it appears you do have a system which is based upon your personality traits you simply don't conceptualize it as such.  Like myself you developed the system first.  I then analyzed it afterward after reading more about personalities.

 

What I was suggesting is for those who don't have a system in place, only some vague goal, that self analysis is good for learning your strengths and weaknesses.  Always playing to your strengths in designing a framework makes sense.

 

We both are planners, very organized, and methodical.  We don't just let things happen haphazardly, we make things happen by direct action.  Like myself you consider this a business not a hobby which might someday develop into more by busking, playing in a part time band, or doing writer's nights.

[Clay Anderson Johnson]

9 minutes ago, VoiceEx said:

Some people might get upset for me saying this, but I think that if an artist does not have some kind of game plan, than they will probably fail miserably or fade into obscurity.

 

Some people get upset with me when I say most bands which are democracies fail.  I learned this the hard way through personal experience.  

 

I played in a band in LA in the 90s which was set to sign a recording contract with Geffen Records.  Then the rhythm guitarist went to Rehab TWICE because he could not keep a hundred dollar bill out of his nose.

 

Five years work went down the tubes just like that.  If I had had control of the band before that fiasco I would have fired him and headed it off at the pass.

Edited February 18, 2022 by Clay Anderson Johnson

[MikeRobinson]

No matter what you do, I think that you need to "plan the work, then work the plan."  Lots of people try to get things done by "pantsing" – doing it by the seat of your pants – and it simply doesn't work.  Good creative work is the result of both inspiration and decision-making, and it isn't "deterministic."

 

I once attended a seminar where the presenter had the audience come up with a very short, three-measure "motif."  He then proceeded to develop that motif into a waltz, a country song, a rock song, and jazz.  Now, of course he didn't have the time to fully develop in each of these ways, but he was able to illustrate how the same bit of "creativity" which the group had come with on-the-spot could be developed in several entirely-different directions.  He was deciding how to do it, and you could have carried-on what he started.  The point was extremely well-made.

Edited February 19, 2022 by MikeRobinson

[Clay Anderson Johnson]

1 hour ago, MikeRobinson said:

Good creative work is the result of both inspiration and decision-making, and it isn't "deterministic."

 

 

Absolutely!  Too many people I have known believed some exterior force or causation controlled their ability to succeed.  It was the market or the timing or getting a lucky break.  It always comes down to using what you have in the best way possible through a planned method.

 

Your presenter showed this perfectly that even a random idea can be methodically channeled to produce unexpected results.

[john]

7 hours ago, VoiceEx said:

 

That is very unfortunate. I'm sorry to hear you had to go through that experiences. Rest assure, I know what it feels like to witness how a single person messes up an entire project because of their addictions. Which is one of the many, many reasons why I firmly believe that destructive band members should be replaced. The sooner the better. And if walking away is truly the only option that remains, than so be it.

 

However, there is a fine line between a leader and a tyrant, just as a complacent sheep could equally take part in marching a project into its own demise. That is something that every artist should also keep in mind. Meaning, whatever format people chose to go with, I do think that they can make it work for them if they have the right people onboard. Both bands and solo artists can function in all sorts of ways. I do believe that a democracy can work under certain conditions, and with the right people.

Very true.

 

I am a pragmatist. Whatever is done has to work at a minimum, work really well as a preference. It really is the old adage that you are only as strong as the weakest link. It is good to be compassionate and give people a chance, but you are not there as therapy or to risk all to accommodate the weaknesses of an individual. Sure accommodate weaknesses, just not weaknesses that can derail everything.

 

I do tend to give people multiple chances in life (depending on what the issue is), but where my art is concerned I have largely come to a “one strike and you are out” policy. We can still be friends, or even play music between ourselves, for fun, but no serious projects. It’s like starting a race with a broken leg. Why would you do it?

 

It doesn’t stop me wishing them well for their own projects.

[Glammerocity]

Personality tests became important in recruitment, until it started becoming clear to corporations that they were hiring the wrong people, then studies began to debunk. I discovered this after interviewing for two afternoons for a job I didn't get, based on one question in a personality test. So I did a search to find they were behind the times.

Ref: https://www.salon.com/2004/09/29/personality_tests/

 

Myers-Briggs (MBTI) is popular, though not particularly scientific, applying a black or white label to many hues of grey. It was created by a housewife and her daughter, who followed Jung, but Jung didn't think you can pigeonhole people so easily.  We're a mess of contradictions, which can change. People love being told they share the same MBTI with John Lennon or Nelson Mandela, that they're "the Architect" or "the Teacher," not so much when you give them Hitler's MBTI.

 

When Stuart needs personal space but loves performing this is an apparent contradiction, often apparently to recruiters, but it isn't. Introvert/extrovert is often misinterpreted as being a wallflower or the life and soul of the party, whereas it's an energy thing. You can be Freddie Mercury onstage but still be drained by other people's company and need your alone time to reenergise. That's very me, to an extreme. Curiously, my songwriting partner is extreme extrovert; when he leaves I'm surrounded by the hind legs of donkeys. Yet we gel very well. I guess Paula Abdul was right. So what does it tell people about you? Not much. Intro might not want to go out for a pint tonight. Why is Extro always coming round and outstaying their welcome? They just need to energise, but erm, rude!

 

For extroverts, sociability equals happiness. For introverts, I have my doubts. I'm very happy. Psychologists might find some flaws in my armour but I know many extroverts who have deep woes. Data showed that simply not worrying about dying will add more years to your life than going to the gym or giving up smoking. Nothing to do with your social life, though it might make some extroverts feel more useful, which is in itself useful for long life. However, having a hobby, like making music on your own, does the same job.

 

Band-wise, I've been a follower and a leader. As a follower, it was the leader's band, though we all threw in ideas, particularly to try to stop sounding so much like his favourite artist. He and I had started it together, playing pubs and even a pizza parlour - three hours of Chicago blues, please - to fund ourselves. Not being wet behind the ears, we had a system planned: we'd follow the Proclaimers' method of taking a small deal, recording the album quickly - we had the musicians to do it as live as possible - then get out on the road to sell it and pay back the company asap. This is why the Proclaimers didn't have to release an album a year and tour continuously between albums. But when the offers came in he was blinded by the big numbers. The band (his friends) were jettisoned. It soon became clear his manager and the label had a system, too, but theirs failed miserably, as his album, full of name session musos, flopped and he was dropped without a second album. The best-laid systems o' mice, men and record labels gang aft a-gley, as the bard almost said.

 

As a leader I was democratic, so the band all got an equal vote, though it was clear without me there was no gig. I can't remember a time when I exercised that power. There are different types of leader. Maybe that's why we got 16 years of a living and not just a flopped album.

 

TL;DR: I'd agree that "using a system is more effective than simply setting a goal" but the statement itself seems to be saying understanding complexity beats simplification. Having a tactic to win a football match beats "just stick it in the net." That seems self-evident but it's important to get the right system and that is as much luck as judgement, so trust your own, because in the music business I came to believe that nobody knows anything.

Edited April 11, 2022 by Glammerocity