Definitions: (1) having to do with the practical, industrial, or mechanical arts; (2) showing technique <a technical skill>; (3) concerned with the applied and computer sciences

Balancing Quality: Intuitive

Observation: The following table is from: “Man versus Machine” — Wesley E. Woodson (1918-2003) and Donald W. Conover (1923-2006) Human Engineering Guide for Equipment Designers {1964}
MAN EXCELS IN:
• Detection of certain forms of very low energy levels
• Sensitivity to an extremely wide variety of stimuli
• Perceiving patterns and making generalizations about them
• Detecting signals in high noise levels
• Storing large amounts of information for long periods
• Recalling relevant facts at appropriate moments
• Ability to exercise judgment where events cannot be completely defined
• Improvising and adopting flexible procedures and alternate solutions
• Ability to react to unexpected low-probability events
• Inductive reasoning
• Ability to profit from experience and alter a course of action
• Ability to perform fine manipulation, especially where misalignment appears unexpectedly
• Ability to continue to perform even when overloaded
• Original problem solving

MACHINES EXCEL IN:
• Monitoring people and machines
• Performing routine, repetitive, or very precise operations
• Responding very quickly to control signals
• Exerting great force, smoothly and precisely
• Storing and recalling large amounts of information in short time periods
• Perform complex and rapid computation with high accuracy
• Sensitive to infrared, radio waves, et cetera, beyond the human range
• Able to do many different things at one time
• Deductive processes
• Insensitivity to extraneous factors
• Rapid, continuous, and/or precise repetition of operations the same way over a long period
• Operating in environments which are hostile or beyond human tolerance

Definitions: (1) moderate indulgence in or use of substance, speech, or action; self-disciplined; (2) even management of passion and feelings; patient; calm; cool; (3) in proper proportion; balanced

Compatible Quality: Self-control (No flying off the handle.)

Familial Qualities: symmetrical, synergistic

Quote: Being forced to work, and forced to do your best, will breed in you temperance and self-control, diligence, and strength of will, cheerfulness and content, and a hundred virtues which the idle will never know. — Charles Kingsley (1819–1875) Church of England professor, social reformer, & historian

Comments:
• Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle all extolled a common set of cardinal virtues. Shared by all of them were: wisdom, courage, justice, and temperance.
• There is a time component to temperance. All of the good things of life need not be crammed into the shortest time (or even one life). There is value in savoring the moment.

Symbols: 1) a beach; 2) the number fourteen

Fictional Figure: Sir Guyon, a knight, is the personification of temperance and self-restraint. — Edmund Spenser (1552-1599) Faërie Queene {1590}

Definitions: (1) holding fast to ideals, ideas, habits, or possessions; (2) having a highly retentive memory

Synonyms: courageous, determined, persevering, persistent, tough

Quotes:
• Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity. — Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) French chemist & microbiologist
• Tenacity is not about avoiding being overwhelmed but being indomitable in the face of the overwhelming odds of your venture’s failure. — Andy Dunn (1979-) American entrepreneur

Symbol: bamboo {Tenacity, Endurance, and Longevity}

Definitions: (1) mild; gentle; harmless;  inoffensive; (2) civilized; obedient; behaved; tractable; (3) humble

Balancing Qualities: Courageous, Spontaneous

Quotes:
• Stress is an important dragon to slay – or at least tame – in your life. — Marilu Henner (1952-) American actress
• Birds are the most popular group in the animal kingdom. We feed them and tame them and think we know them. And yet they inhabit a world which is really rather mysterious. — Sir David Frederick Attenborough (1926-) British biologist, historian, & author

Symbol: 1) a cat; 2) a dog

Definitions: (1) possessing the faculty of discerning <beauty, order, style, nature, or character> with appreciation; (2) able to act in a fitting or politic manner; using proper or decorous behavior; tactful; (3) elegant; refined

Synonyms: appetizing, flavorful, piquant, sapid, toothsome

Music: A Miles Dewey Davis III (1926-1991) trumpet ballad.

Quote: Power might feel tasty and good in the moment, but it will never be satisfying, never fill you up. Yep, no matter how much power you get, you will always feel empty. You just keep wanting more and more power. — Karen Salmansohn (1980’s-) American behavioral change expert

Visualization: Tasteful is often used to describe art, architecture, and gardens.

Definitions: (1) possessing a specific faculty, natural gift, or extraordinary endowment; (2) skilled in some field; showing great capacity; (3) exhibiting eminent abilities in art; (4) having superior genius in science; (5) brilliant in more than one field; multi-talented

Derivation: Greek, referring to a balance or scale, also a weighed amount of precious metal

Compatible Quality: creative

Parable: There was a certain great man who called all his trusted servants before him and delivered into their hands all his goods. To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, according to their several abilities … My Father requires all his children to grow in grace and in a knowledge of the truth. — Jesus of Nazareth (7 BC-30 AD) Jewish theologian

Quotes: If you’ve got a talent, sometimes you’ve got to take that talent to where it is appreciated. — John Emmet Raitt (1917-2005) American singer, to his daughter, Bonnie, when she asked why he wasn’t home so much.

Comment: A talent may be innate, inherited, or acquired but it can always be enhanced.

Consideration: The one talent we all have been entrusted with is time. Its base use is taking care of physical needs. Beyond and above that, it should be devoted to the development and ennoblement of mind and spirit.

Symbol: narcissus flowers

Definitions: (1) possessing a keen sense of what to say or do <especially to avoid giving offense>; fitting; having skill in dealing with difficult or delicate situations; diplomatic; (2) considerate of and concerned for the sensibilities of others <particularly those who are troublesome or stubborn>; persuasive; (3) possessing a shrewd sense of what is appropriate, tasteful, or aesthetically pleasing; discriminating

Compatible Qualities: patient, sagacious

Familial Qualities: finesse, graceful

Quotes:
• Tact is the ability to step on a man’s toes without messing up the shine on his shoes. — Harry S. Truman (1884–1972) 33^rd President of the United States
• Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment. — Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American polymath [eight disciplines]

Comment: To be tactful is not to be compromising. One must perceive the consciousness of one’s audience to understand what and how to say precisely what is needed.

Definitions: (1) having insight into another person’s mental or emotional state <even though never having been in that state oneself>; (2) demonstrating affinity between persons or from one person for another; (3) an action or response arising from compassion; (4) showing pity and understanding for another’s trouble or suffering; condolatory; (5) in mental agreement; in cosmic harmony; in financial accord, etc.
See also: Nonjudgmental, Empathetic

Quotes:
• Developing our sympathetic compassion is not only possible but the only reason for us to be here on earth. — George Saunders (1958-) American writer
• Broad paths are open to every endeavor, and a sympathetic recognition is assured to everyone who consecrates his art to the divine services of a conviction of a consciousness. — Franz Liszt (1811–1886) Hungarian composer, pianist, & conductor

Comment: Although you can sympathize with and for another, it is not a good idea to try to sympathize for yourself. It is too easily turned into self-pity. When you are in need of sympathy, is just the time when you must focus on the talents you have, the things you like, the people you admire, the accomplishments you have made, and the good you can do. Also, a time to lean on a good friend.

Colors: green, red

Definitions: (1) working together in harmony; cooperative; (2) characterizes separate agents, persons, or qualities that [when acting in unison] have a greater total effect than the sum of their individual values; superadditive; (3) describes a balanced or symmetrical collaboration; teamwork

Synonyms: A synectic exercise is the bringing together of a select group of diverse personalities and areas of expertise for creative thinking about a specific problem with the free use of metaphor and analogy; brainstorming is the spontaneous contribution of ideas, no matter how obscure, in the hope of solving a specific problem or to generate a general stimulation of creative thinking.

Quote: Synergy is what happens when one plus one equals ten or a hundred or even a thousand! It’s the profound result when two or more respectful human beings determine to go beyond their preconceived ideas to meet a great challenge. — Steven Covey (1932-2012) American inspirational speaker

Observation: Any chemist can tell you about the synergistic/superadditive (definition #2 above) results which occur all around us. The most abundant example is water. From hydrogen, which burns freely, and oxygen, which supports fire, we get a substance essential to extinguish many combustible substances – not to mention its life-giving characteristics.
     Another example is salt. From sodium, an extremely reactive metal, and chlorine, a poisonous gas, comes one of the most necessary substances for human health.

Symbols: 1) Sagittarius (Zodiac); 2) the hurricane {Cosmic Synergy} (American Indian)

Definitions: (1) precisely organized; having a logical plan; methodical; (2) having the need to order things, ideas, or structures into an integrated whole; thorough

Balancing Qualities: It is easy for a systematic person to get caught in the rut of efficiency by pursuing a task in a linear manner. If you add the qualities of flexibility and objectivity, you will be able to focus on the detail as well as manage to see the overview.

Quotes:
• Science is the systematic classification of experience. — George Henry Lewes (1817–1878) English philosopher and critic
• Through systematic exercising of our thinking faculties, we can train ourselves for exact clairvoyance. Imaginative Knowledge is the first step in supersensible perception. — Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner (1861-1925) Austrian esotericist