WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM OUR FRIENDS
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avoid professional dependence on others as far as possible. Box 3 people have high drive and ambition, hate being employed but do not want the lonely life of the sole trader. They may be unconventional, but they are builders: they want to build a web or a structure around themselves. They are tomorrow’s entrepreneurs. Bill Gates, one of the two richest men in America, was a college dropout who was obsessed with personal computer software. But Bill Gates is not a sole trader. He needs to have other people, large numbers of them, working for him. Many people are like this. The ideology of empowerment has obscured this need and made the desire to build businesses slightly unfashionable. If you want to work with other people, but not for them, you are a Box 3 person. You had better recognize this fact and do something about it. Many frustrated professionals are Box 3 people who like what they do but are operating in Box 1 or 2. They do not recognize that the source of their frustration is not professional but organizational. Box 4 people do not have a high drive for career achievement but do enjoy working with others. They should ensure that they spend many hours a week doing so, either in a conventional job or in a voluntary role. Box 5 people are not ambitious but do have a strong desire for autonomy in their work. Rather than set up their own firm, the best role for Box 5 people is as freelances, working on particular projects for other firms to suit their own convenience. Box 6 people are individuals whose need for career achievement is low but who enjoy the process of organizing and developing others. Many teachers, social workers and charity workers are Box 6 people and are well suited to their roles. For Box 6 people the journey is everything; there is no need to arrive. Many people gravitate towards their ‘right’ box, but where alienation at work exists it is often because the person is in the wrong box.