I observe a continuum between independence and
compliance.
At one end of the scale, the strongly compliant
person is highly accommodative and adaptive to circumstances and people. In
extreme forms, this may produce blind loyalty and compliance such that the
person loses individual identity and the capacity to take their own decisions. Such characteristics help this person be a big contributor to group harmony, but limit their contributions to a group. They may not
question bad ideas or add fresh insights.
At the other end of the scale there is the
strongly independent person. This person has their own ideas about right and
wrong and pursues them irrespective of others. In extreme forms it can produce
such independence of action as to undermine a team and bring a fragmented
disunity. This person's team strengths are to be an independent voice
questioning what others take for granted and contributing fresh insights.
There is no best place to be on this
continuum. Note, however, that it
will probably be a rare occasion that either extreme is appropriate. As with
most continuums, it's usually a matter of a balance between the extremes.
Different people, at different stages of their life and in different contexts
may appropriately be on different parts of the scale. For example, a man may be
somewhat compliant towards his boss in the workplace but move towards the
independence end of the scale as he leads his family at home.
Where we are on the scale may be influenced by
the inheritance from our genes, rearing, life experience, social context and
immediate circumstances. These
factors may predispose us to a default position on the scale. Analysis of these factors is useful for
self- understanding, including awareness of what imbalance we need to be
constantly watchful for. However, rather than being paralysed by a
deterministic sense of why we are who we are, it is more useful to understand
where we now are on the scale and where it is appropriate to be.
The following questions are a prompt to this
process:
Where am I on the independence / compliance scale in this stage
and situation?
What is the appropriate place to be?
What can I do to move from where I am to where I
should be?
