About The Book

Relationship experts Jim Harden and Brad Dude have authored a new book destined to become a personal-development bestseller. In What Makes You Tick And What Ticks You Off, Jim and Brad present an easy and effective way to understand your basic temperament.

The book also reveals your shadow temperament, or the set of attitudes and behaviors that consistently ticks you off. By bringing the shadow to light, Harden and Dude show readers a path to more harmonious relationships with friends, family and colleagues.

"We thought the books available on the subject of temperament were just too technical in nature," Brad says. "And they offer little information on the shadow temperament."

Jim and Brad's reader-friendly book sheds new light on the conflicts we face every day. Colorful characters help us discover whether our dominant temperament is Earth, Air, Fire, or Water.

And by looking at each temperament as a husband, a wife, a child, and a boss, Jim and Brad offer insight into the situations each of us face every day, at home and at work. See Contact page for contact information.

Foreword by KEN BLANCHARD, author of The One Minute Manager, and SCOTT BLANCHARD, author of Leading at a Higher Level.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What exactly is temperament?
The dictionary provides three definitions that we feel accurately describe our view.  First it is the aspect of personality concerned with emotional dispositions and reactions and their speed and intensity; the second is a prevailing or dominant quality of mind that characterizes somebody; and, the third, taken from medieval physiology, the quality of mind resulting from various proportions of the four cardinal humors in an individual.

What is The Basic Elements© framework?
As we say in our book, the study of temperament and behavior has been going on for 2,500 years.  There are many good studies, seminars, articles, workshops, books and tools out there that have been helpful for many people for many years.  However, we found in our research and from our own workshops that participants who had been exposed to temperament theory were frustrated by the various words that were used to “classify” or “sort” them.  Some methods used colors, other approaches used personality types or animal names, or dance steps, and some used adjectives that connoted a “goodness” or “badness” about them—which got in the way of learning (Who wants to be in the phlegmatic group?).  We wanted to use neutral words that held no inherent negative or positive meanings so we chose nature’s basic elements—Earth, Air, Fire, and Water.  We believe that no one really cares if they are called an “Air” versus a “Fire” or a “Water.”  We also found that participants could more easily remember and apply these basic element terms in various classroom situations and back at home or work.

What are your temperaments?
Remember everyone possesses all four temperaments to a greater or lesser extent. (Jim has a dominant Fire temperament with a shadow Earth temperament and Brad has a dominant Air temperament with a shadow Water temperament).

What are dominant and shadow temperaments and how does knowing your temperament help to reduce conflict situations?

When you become aware of your dominant and shadow temperaments we believe you will better understand the reasons why you and others’ with your temperament behave the way you do (your dominant temperament); and, you will better understand why you and others’ have a strong negative reaction to certain behaviors (your shadow temperament).  When facing conflict situations, whether at work or with your spouse or child, a basic awareness of the four temperaments can help diffuse the situation by removing some of the emotions you are feeling and replacing them with information that can help you understand more accurately what is occurring around you.  Armed with this information you will, hopefully, make better decisions and reduce the conflict.

Can you give an example?
Let’s say you just made a presentation to your boss that you knew she absolutely didn’t like or appreciate. You are crushed, since you worked pretty hard on it.  You are a Water temperament, a people–person valuing the success of others, and your presentation included such points as the benefits to other employees and how their personal skills could be developed and enhanced by accepting your proposal.  It included nice quotes from employees and customers and it ended up with their commitment to continue to work with your organization to achieve your goals.  However, your boss is an Air temperament.  She didn’t like your presentation because there was no data or information included that justified nor validated what you were proposing.  It did not reference any reputable sources and mainly relied on the anecdotal comments of employees and customers.  Although you are unhappy and disappointed by her reaction, rather than arguing over the merits of the presentation, you quickly realize that what is happening is a difference in temperaments. 

If you had a better understanding of The Basic Elements© framework, you would have recognized that your boss was an Air temperament and that you needed to include data, research, facts and other evidence in order for the presentation to be acceptable to her.

Now, if the Air temperament happens to be your shadow temperament, you might have even more difficulties with your boss’s reactions.  You might feel that adding data, facts, research and further justification masks the true issue of your proposal—the impact on the organization’s personnel and customers.  Again, a better understanding of The Basic Elements© framework reduces your frustration because you now know that her reaction is not necessarily personal, but rather the difference between your shadow Air temperament and her dominant Air temperament.

Are there examples or uses of temperament in our culture?
While political leaders are often not playing themselves when we see them in public, we can guess at some recent Presidents.  Presidents Carter, Nixon, Ford and G.W.H. Bush exhibited Earth temperament behaviors while Presidents Johnson, Kennedy, Reagan and G.W. Bush certainly appeared to be Fires. Current President Barack Obama could certainly be an Air temperament with his intellectual and analytical approach to understanding issues.  It is interesting to note that it appears we have never elected a President that had a Water temperament.

Most all of the long lasting TV shows (MASH, Star Trek, Mary Tyler Moore, Seinfeld, Sex in the City) had ALL four temperaments as major characters. Disney theme parks have a “Land” for each temperament. The “Harry Potter” series has four distinct schools-- each representing a temperament.

We also know that all organizations have dominant and shadow temperaments which allow us to jump start where we begin interventions as Organization Development practitioners.

Does The Basic Elements© framework shed any light on addictive behavior (e.g., drugs and alcohol)?

While some research has been done and a few chapters of books devoted to possible connections, no direct correlation between addiction and temperament has been discovered as yet.  However it is our belief that scientists will find a linkage or at least a direct relationship between the two.  Based on what we now know, one could argue that anyone with any of the four temperaments could become addicted to drugs, alcohol, sex, chocolate, etc., but for different reasons. For example, a Fire could experiment with drugs just because it might be a fun experience; an Earth may not do drugs because it is illegal and against the rules, so they may drown their sorrows in private and become alcoholics; an Air might believe the evidence against drugs is faulty or illogical and decide to try them himself/herself as if it was a science experiment; and, a Water might not want to incur the wrath and disappointment of friends and relatives by doing drugs or drinking in public so he/she may sit in front of the TV night after night consuming chocolate bonbons and eating ice cream.  Temperament alone won’t cause someone to become an addict but it sheds light on some of the reasons why someone could justify becoming one. 

Why did you write this book?
Our main goal is to help the reader understand that his/her negative reactions to certain actions in others may indicate very real differences in the behavioral preferences with which we were all born. We believe that the current methods and approaches available on the subject of temperament are too technical in nature; are practically unusable for the average reader; and, have little if any focus on the shadow temperament.  We decided a book that captured the basic elements of temperament in a “reader friendly” format, would be useful and interesting.

What’s next for you two?
We will continue to conduct speaking engagements and hold workshops and seminars on The Basic Elements© framework around the country.  Also, at the end of our book, we are asking readers to provide us feedback on The Basic Elements© framework and to suggest additional areas of interest.  We believe an entire series on using this framework with such topics as rearing young children; teaching students of all ages in the classroom; organizational leadership; and, raising teenagers would be helpful to many people  We are also developing a children’s book and possibly a cartoon show focusing on temperament and The Basic Elements© framework.

For more information people can contact us at Shadowstonepublishing@me.com.