4. Inventor Imprinting

If we are doing the Inventor expression at the imprinting level, we will not compromise our freedom in any way and like to be seen as unpredictable or unique in the way we do things. We like to keep people guessing. We are great at avoiding external commitments in order to honor our inner commitment to being free. Sometimes we hide our fears of commitment by attempting to look like we are very committed. We pride ourselves on never finding a problem that we cannot solve. We have a flair for the dramatic and love to rebel against the status quo. We pretend we are listening to people even when we are not, and pretend to love chaos even if it works against us in a situation. We believe we are incredibly sensuous and need constant stimulation. Actually, our superficial desire to be seen prevents us from going to our Creative source and being the resource we want to be. It is recommended that Inventor imprinted individuals not take jobs where they are always being told what to do.

Level One Inventor Imprinting (Society’s Social Imprinting Process)

Level One Inventor imprinting can be identified by our temperamental ambivalence about being seen by others. We attempt at this level to demonstrate that we don’t care that others don’t see us, and that in fact we don’t expect to be seen by others. This means acting like our opinions and others’ don’t matter. This covers up our highly sensitive nature around not being seen and hurt in our childhood. What we want most is to be seen and acknowledged as not being a pushover. We accomplish this by challenging others about their beliefs and playing the role of devil’s advocate. We believe the game is all about getting attention and therefore feel that the more confrontational and questioning we can be, the more we can be the center of attention, which is what we really want.

Level Two Inventor Imprinting (Keeping Others From Being Right)

Level Two Inventor imprinting is an impulsive desire to do anything to change the fact that we are not being seen. As our perceived value is providing customized solutions, we attack any “Mindless Standardization” where others don’t take the time to make sure what is being done is appropriate to the situation. When we feel misunderstood when others do not agree with our way of engaging a situation, we simply seek to escape their judgment and our own fear by taking any form of action to distract them.

Typically, this is by being impulsive in some way that surprises them. It is also our typical response when someone wants to standardize a way of being that we believe is dehumanizing. Our “rational inconsistency” drives them to avoid trying to place us in a box or to standardize our activity in a way that is predictable. What we want most is to be seen as unpredictable, spontaneous and able and willing to break all expectation frameworks. What we want is not to be bored or boring to others. The message of Inventors is: ‘Don’t try to figure me out— because you never will.’

Level Three Inventor Imprinting (Lost in Our Imprinting)

Level Three Inventor imprinting is about being different than what people believe we are to prove that we can’t be hurt by their evaluations of us. We instead, are lost in our creative needs, believing we will be short changed if we don’t prove our value and usefulness. This level reflects the fact that we have taken a preemptive stance that no matter what they think, they don’t really know us, so it is best not to be with them. In this situation we have taken our fixation about being unique to the ultimate level because we believe we are common. When others don’t agree that we are different from them, we have to prove them wrong even if it requires that we attack them or make them angry about some way that we are being with them.

One aspect of this imprinting is always switching to a different level of connection than how they are trying to engage us. In other words, if they are engaging us intellectually, we shift to an emotional way of engaging; if they are engaging us emotionally, we shift to an intuitive way of being. We operate from the belief that not introducing new ways of doing things in each and every moment will end up trapping us into a way of being where we are severely compromised. The effect of this can also be very negative when our parents are not willing to honor their creative expression and imprint us with the need to be different without supporting our capacity to be different. Another negative expression of this form of imprinting is putting other people down for their differences because they are not real in them. In this situation, we try to prove our differences by making other people’s differences seem less important.

Anti-Inventor Beliefs

1. “Acting like no one’s opinions matter” becomes Demanding that others take us seriously. The more we Inventor imprinted individuals are ambivalent about the way others interact with us, and the more we feel denied by them, the more we seek to have others acknowledge and affirm that our answers, ideas and actions have merit and can actually resolve the current situation. We hate ambivalence in others because it seems to state that they don’t have to be involved in the situation deeply. We resent it when others act like things don’t matter because they do matter to us.


2. “Attacking mindless standardization” becomes Attacking ingenuity and uniqueness. While Inventor imprinted individuals want to affirm their ingenuity and uniqueness, other people take issue with their perceived right to make things work in a common way. They believe that doing everything uniquely is an impossible dream and rail against people attempting to impose this on them. They feel that it is appropriate and effective to standardize a whole range of things so that people know what they are getting and when they are getting it. What others are resentful about is having to adapt to the constant differences and demands made by those with Inventor expression.


3. “Lost in our creative needs” becomes Transcending our neediness by being present with ourselves. Many creative energies associate neediness with defensiveness and like to promote a sense of independence by believing that people with needs are weaker. This cuts us off from the ability to receive support. Others do not believe we really want it because of how we don’t accept it when it is offered. Since the goal is to protect ourselves from the needs of others by denying our own needs, it become problematic to interact with others in open ways. We unconsciously avoid attempting to support others believing that we will become lost with them in their needs. What we want most is to avoid codependence by avoiding the whole subject of needs. This undermines our ability to co-create.