Job dimensions

Jobs can be divided in to three key activities:

• Manipulating relationships (with the archetypal people person being most focused on this activity)
• Manipulating information (with the archetypal knowledge worker being most focused on this activity)
• Manipulating the physical world (with the archetypal labourer being most focused on this activity)

On top of these three activities is another dimension: creativity. It is possible to be creative, or not, in each of the three activities. An inventor would be a creative manipulator of the knowledge space; the con artist a creative manipulator of the relationship space; and the dancer a creative manipulator of the physical space.

An expert is typically someone with a lot of knowledge about one (or more) of the key domains. This may or may not be accompanied by creativity.

A leader is typically a manipulator of the relationship space, but often accompanied by skill in manipulating information.