The RPS Personality Model
There are three basic temperaments in human nature. The RPS personality model permits its practitioners to classify people (by evaluating their problem-solving strategies, response to stress, and methods for resolving conflict) into six distinct types.
RPS is less concerned with predicting people’s behavior than with modifying the practitioner’s behavior in order to obtain the approval, acquiescence, or the indifference of the various types. The mindset is intended for getting things done and establishing accord.
You may readily identify people in your life exhibiting the three temperaments, identifying themselves as each of the six types. Think about your loved ones: It’s easy to classify them. The clever Scissors, the confrontational Rocks, the fastidious Paper people.
Adopt the RPS mindset when you face a challenge. You can use it to avoid conflict (or prevail), to eliminate an interpersonal headache, to raise your productivity, and get unpleasant tasks off your to-do list. Use it to streamline your processes, to strengthen your team, and encourage camaraderie.
R is for Rock
Rock craves authority and finds meaning in confrontation. He or she believes in merit and hierarchy — that the boss deserves respect and must safeguard his authority. If Rock already is in a management or supervisory role, he relishes the exercise of power. If not, when it comes to work habits, Rock likes to roll downhill and then stop. He looks for clearly-defined tasks with definitive goals and end-points. Rock will tend to over-delegate, portioning out work to collaborators and leaving himself with little or nothing to do aside from supervising. The answer to the why question is “because I said so.”
P is for Paper
Paper is in love with documentation and process. There is a way of doing things and reasons for doing things in that way. Often those reasons amount to “because that’s the way it’s always been.” Paper is the type of worker who will take on too much and end up drowning rather than asking for help. The answer to the why question is “because it’s what we always do.” When seen to be out of line, Paper either has an excuse, or can consult the record and document a counterclaim.
S is for Scissors
Scissors is energized by overcoming obstacles and solving problems. Always evaluating procedures and with a critical bent, these people are never happy with the dull routine and are unable to simply follow orders or go along with the crowd. Scissors bristles under close supervision and resents being disciplined, although they often love to be questioned when they see the chance to convince someone that they are right. When accused of breaking a rule, Scissors will provide justification and attempt to demonstrate the trouble is with the rule itself, and not him. The answer to the why question is “because this is better.”