Patterning Intelligence Secondary Expression

(formerly known as Sage, Pattern Recognition or Ray 7)

Known for forming new connections. As a Secondary Patterning Intelligence, or Secondary Storyteller, we seek to understand how to create enthusiasm in a group activity so we can become an ombudsman or guide for group expression.  We want small groups or communities to acknowledge our understanding of their needs. This means that if they do not listen to us, we feel undervalued or underutilized. Our big fear is that others will adopt foreign patterns that are not our own which will effectively keep us from participating or influencing the outcome. While the core challenge is being able to coordinate activities and ensure that groups fulfill their purpose or goals, it is common with this Intelligence to get personally caught up in how we are needed to make things work. This frequently means that we take a protective stance wherein we attempt to define what others should or should not do for the benefit of the group.

Secondary Storytellers seek to understand how to create enthusiasm in any group activity so we can become an ombudsman or guide for group expression. We are more concerned with self-image and social finesse and our influence on others than with the results we are trying to create. Our greatest desire is to smooth things over and get people to accept some pain in order to achieve a larger goal. This means we feel comfortable using any means needed, including telling different people in the group different things, in order to bring about the result we are identified with.  We tie our own self-esteem and success to that of the groups of which we are a part. If the group fails, then we are a failure. Undeveloped, we can become extremely seductive salespeople who will try to convince others of things, just to see if we can do so. Actualized, we will try to honor and entertain you to bring about some larger possibility.

The most important thing others can do to honor Storyteller Secondaries is to acknowledge our social finesse in working with groups to further personal objectives. We sometimes get caught up in our social position, getting lost in the degree to which we can exert our influence on others. Commonly, we inflate our sense of power and importance, but we actually seek to be the “good guy” in every situation. When Actualized, we are wonderfully personable. We are great comedians who know how to smooth over every problem with a great story. We are excellent at finding a way to engage others in their creative flow, thereby bringing a sense of relaxation that allows them to laugh at themselves. Our gift is to help others create personal meaning in their lives.

As Secondary Storytellers, we express our power by embracing seven techniques. First, we make others comfortable with us in all circumstances. Usually this entails being nice and being reassuring, even if we have a Dynamic defense style. Second, we learn seduction and/or sales skills in order to maximize our influence. Third, we rely on our verbal abilities to get us what we want and to help us avoid whatever we don’t. Fourth, we build a successful image (usually by acquiring potential possessions) through acting the way we want others to see and engage us. Fifth, we leverage our creative connections so we can ride the wave of others to our own success. Sixth, we find ways to differentiate ourselves in the minds of others to develop our legendary persona. Seventh, we develop political savvy so we can maintain our position in the community and prevent any erosion of our position in that community. The difference between Storyteller Primaries and Storyteller Secondaries is that Primaries make groups the center of our lives, while Secondaries interact only to the degree that it serves our personal or professional interest.

Storyteller Secondaries are about social finesse. We enjoy being influential and use our people-skills and speaking-skills to make others comfortable with our presence. Our key quality is to be able to speak for others in a way that they cannot speak for themselves. This ability to hold the bigger picture and yet speak very personally endears us to others so we create a large circle of friends. Paradoxically, we commonly use our ability to “be personal” in ways that give us leverage in impersonal situations, such as negotiations or in legal environments. This is further amplified as we become more politically sensitive and know how to establish priorities others will accept.

We excel in the implementation of the law because we enjoy establishing precedent for appropriate behavior. Being excellent negotiators and politically savvy, we also possess the skills to become politicians, public relations people or social commentators for newspaper editorial columns. Communication is the common thread in all of these different activities. Usually we are great speakers and writers and we believe we have a duty to make things understood. We seek to expand our influence by developing our speaking and storytelling skills so we can establish what is being talked about in society.

After seeking others’ individual perspectives, what we bring is a perspective of the larger picture, enabling them to connect them. We attempt to maintain the status quo by honoring people for their position in society rather than their individual merit because we believe leadership and recognized positions confer the ability to get the attention of others. In our world as Storyteller Secondaries, we tend to have problems with Storyteller Primaries because we do not always have a position to speak from. Storyteller Primaries do not have this problem because they do not care about social conventions per se, and they believe in their ability to communicate under all circumstances.

Storyteller Secondaries also like to be seen as community leaders and, therefore, gravitate toward being spokespeople for small interest groups that want to be noticed. Frequently, this conflicts with the status quo, especially when administrators are not functioning as their community expects them to. We can become activists, trying to bring about a change because we perceive we represent the status quo and not the administrators. We frequently see examples of this around zoning ordinances and laws about noise and community disturbances. We try to prove that we are the right people who know how to get things done in the world. We tend to see ourselves as movers and shakers, which usually reflects our ideas of ourselves rather than reality. What makes us so effective is that we have usually build great social networks that enable us to accomplish things quickly. We use our social and people skills to help us be effective go-betweens who can negotiate within political, social and even religious organizations. Storyteller Secondaries can easily be identified by the way we accentuate our own well-being at the cost of group interactions.

Ultimately, we love to be listened to and seen as important. To this end, we have great parties and attempt to be known beyond our regular work and neighborhood environments. We frequently become church leaders, promoters of political interest groups, or members of social organizers such as Elks, Masons, Knights of Columbus, Kiwanis, and Rotary Club. We seek to be plugged in so we know what is going on in our communities more than other people. When we have parties, it is important for us to be seen as being connected to others. In our minds, the perception of influence is just as important as being influential.

Undeveloped, we are mostly status builders as we learn how to make our ordinariness extraordinary through being seen with the right people, doing the right things and knowing how to build our image in ways others will enhance and agree with. One of the qualities that makes us so adaptable is being able to quickly recognize what other people are looking for— so we can define ourselves in a way to make us part of the reality others create. What solidifies our desire for prestige is being the conduit and/or coordinator in helping others get what they want. As long as we are seen as part of making things happen for others, we use this dependency to build our own self-image.

When Secondary Storytellers are Undeveloped, we attempt to do things in standardized predictable ways. At this stage we are consummate risk-avoiders as we fall into patterns of conformity that reflect a surprising ability to lose ourselves in things around us. Our superficiality and sectarianism can be seen in our fast judgment of others based on appearances. While we believe we are just doing what is best, most of the time our motivations are driven by doing what is safe and predictable. Overall, our primary fear is not getting the respect of others which we believe we deserve.

Patterning Secondary Intelligence is different from Patterning Primary Intelligence because of the intention we have in working with others. A Storytellers Primary brings more creative interactions to the fore and supports individuals in being themselves. A Storyteller Secondary focuses on the outer social conventions and tries to bring order and structure to how people interact on a more superficial level. The other difference is that Storyteller Primaries are typically much more confrontational when things are not going right because we believe in deepening and grounding others’ experience in new ways of doing things. Storyteller Secondaries, on the other hand, are more willing to go with the process and do things on a more superficial level. Storytellers on the Secondary see our contribution as facilitating activity without necessarily trying to make the group greater. The final major difference between Patterning Primary and Patterning Secondary Intelligences is that the Patterning Primary Intelligence is more impersonal, while the Patterning Secondary is more personal, using social conventions to build connection.

When we are unhappy, we typically become formal or petty in attempting to use the rules of the group or the organization to slow down or squash personally unapproved actions. When things are not going the way we want, our law and order stance is contrasted by the fluid response we have when the group is doing what we suggest. It is easy to see when we become rigid and resistant to change, because we fear we are losing influence or power over others. We seek positive feedback based upon simple routines, conventions and customs. It is for this reason that we frequently give certain individuals activities that distract them from creating trouble for us. 

One of our biggest challenges is to fully manifest ourselves on the physical level. We frequently have areas where we do not follow through or maintain ourselves, as we would like to. This is due to the fact that wherever we get good feedback, we deepen, but we avoid wherever we get inconclusive feedback. Since our primary feedback mechanism is completing patterns, we either feel empowered or disempowered based on our ability to intervene at the right moment with the right person to stimulate the activity of the group. Any group that denies our insight or no longer listens to us becomes either a challenge or an obstacle to our growth. Without positive feedback, we either give up or end up destroying the capacity of the group to move forward. When feedback loops no longer provide any additional information or insight, they become habits.

While some habits have symbolic value, most reduce our awareness or promote a layer of unconsciousness where we lose ourselves in the activity; this inhibits our growth. Breaking out of old habits or patterns of behavior is what rebuilds or sustains our forward momentum with others. By injecting a certain amount of unknown possibility into certain situations, we regain our interest in moving things forward. Otherwise, we become enamored with current patterns of activity that do not move others or ourselves into more creative opportunities. 

Another obstacle occurs when we become attached to a certain position or rank. The key issue is that we work better operating with the true quality of others rather than imposing artificial distinctions. This desire for self-importance is one of the key indicators that we are doing this Intelligence on this level. Any sectarian attitude or prejudice that is applied to others indicates that we have not yet found our own inner balance and truth. Another expression of this is trying to maintain a sense of respectability, which indicates an attachment to appearances other than the true quality of a situation. Finally, the more we get caught up in being a member of a particular group that has more influence over other groups, the more likely we are to reflect that we are still focusing on power over others rather than power with others.

What we really seek when we are balanced within ourselves is to create a reputation where we listen to others as much as we are being heard. In this way, the practical experience of others around us is that we are naturally responsive to them and wish to be of true service. This Intelligence builds upon the ideals of Visionary Intelligence by putting ideals in action. We provide the means to understand the differences between people, places, and things by recognizing the best means to implement change. While we are not a change agent per say, we naturally attempt to bring order to an area or group so the aspirations of the group are fulfilled. 

Our key gift is to see what works and does not work particularly in coordinating others to work together. Whereas Inventive Intelligence people work in the area of ideas, we work in the area of bringing people together to make those ideas possible. Another gift we have is to establish patterns of rhythm that build momentum. This enables us to implement activities with an acute sense of timing that guarantees a certain response. To this end, we use our resonant voice to co-ordinate the Emotions, Feelings and Sensations of a group. 

With the Secondary Patterning Intelligence, we are drawn to prove our influence by using our voice to attract attention and focus. Since our desire is to create an audience of willing participants to engage in fun-loving activities we learn to use questions to invite people into our world. We also learn to use the smooth tonality of our voice to have others deepen into their listening of what we are saying. It is like we are shaping or facilitating others’ ability to hear us. The key thing we are avoiding is being predictable so that we can keep others on the edge of their seats. What we like most is to build anticipation and then deliver some possibility that everyone will automatically agree to do. While it appears our objective is to awaken people to think about new ideas, the actual intention is to get people into movement as a group. 

To accomplish this we need to be able to suggest activities or ways that particular individuals can use to come together to serve the process. We need to develop a language that translates ideas into actions immediately. It is in our spontaneous expression that we can link where people are with what needs to be accomplished. We need to build a capacity to recognize when and how to bring people together. All this requires that we get more comfortable with our voice and more comfortable in our actions internally. What we discover is that to the degree that we repress or deny our capacity in these areas is the same degree that others resist or ignore our suggestions.

This means that one of the best ways to develop ourselves is to practice observing others speaking proactively with power. How do they command respect? What they do is to invite people to engage their plans. This provides us with a way to engage others to deepen or express their creativity in particular ways. Ultimately, how we become comfortable in asking others to do things is to have no resistance about doing them ourselves. When others know we are at ease doing it, we create a safe and secure means for them to do a particular activity. We also need to believe in others ability to do these activities and hold the possibility that these individuals will feel fulfilled in the process. 

We also need to recognize when a person is unwilling to do more and to let them reduce their degree of participation and become an observer. The key to our success is to get people to engage things that are a little scary for them that they can learn from but without pushing them too far. We do this through enthusiasm, not taking ourselves seriously and laughing at the unusual situations people find themselves in. We also need to recognize that the more we have people reporting to us in a business or organizational circumstance, the greater our tendency is to push them too much, too far, too quickly. This occurs because we frequently take on the mantel of the organization’s needs and personalizing how others need to step up to make it happen. Instead, we need to listen to the emotional pressure that people are under to perform so that we are sensitive to how much they can deal with at any particular time. Our natural tendency is to keep the pressure on and to motivate others to serve the organization despite their objections or the stress this produces.

We can become stern taskmasters that demand that they do things the way we want them to at the cost of what they want to do. When this occurs we develop the reputation of expecting others to compromise and just do what we say which limits their growth and autonomy. What we need to learn how to do effectively, is to honor all goals first and translate these into the way the organization can be served. Otherwise, we will get into situations where there is little or no alignment to organizational needs.

Our ongoing development and observation as to what works is what guides us. Over time, we develop an innate sense of how to move things forward based on internal guidelines and rules we discover. Initially, we get caught up in the formality of role-playing, where we do what others expect. As we develop, we become a more effective leader by establishing our own direction. What assists in this development is our ability to synthesize and learn from others. We also possess an innate capacity to organize and direct development on the physical plane, which can offset or complement the Visionary Intelligence types. 

Our objective is to stimulate participation and encourage the voice of others, so that what is unconsciously sought after can be manifested by groups. In leadership (when evolved), we do not seek personal adulation, but rather represent the group that forms around us. We use our knowing of how things fit together to integrate different perspectives and people into a common solution. We are particularly adept at building strong foundations where, over time, new possibilities emerge. 

Another aspect of Patterning Intelligence as a Secondary is how we proceed in an impersonal manner to bring together the contributions of others. Our challenge is to overcome a focus on regulations and routines, where we can become subservient to previous habits. The more a pattern becomes a habit, the more easily it becomes a way where we do not think through long-term ramifications. The key issue is to bring our understanding to a conscious level and effectively use habits to awaken the consciousness of our constituents. 

On the Secondary level, we always confront the issue of under doing or over doing our Creative Expression. The goal is to find a point of flow within ourselves where we are not imposing ourselves on others nor are we being affected by their response to us. In this middle road, our energy can be expressed without taking a position about what is too little or too much. As a Secondary Storyteller, too little means that we are afraid to claim our Creative power and use our voice to bring order to others. When we under do, we fixate on structure, ritual and an attempt to manage detail so we do not have to actually show up with others. Instead our self-preoccupation with the interior view of our life prevents us from considering how we can creatively contribute to others.

We frequently make a choice not to impose ourselves on others because we have had confusing or misguided circumstances produce unpredictable outcomes. No longer do we want to be open to others without having a way to protect ourselves. In this way, our rituals (where we do thing in a particular order) create a sense of timing where it seems inappropriate when others accost us with unexpected demands. Under doing provides us with a way to create order in our lives without the interruption of others. Some reasons for under doing our Secondary Patterning Intelligence have to do with not being heard or seen as a powerful contributor by our family. Perhaps our attempts at being a comic in our family life backfired which produced a fear of speaking up. Other common obstacles are stuttering, issues with crooked teeth and low self-esteem. Under doing our Secondary Expression prevents others from knowing how and what we contribute. As a result, our Tertiary Intelligence is overtaxed and we are more oriented to self-protection than expression. 

When we over do our Secondary Patterning Intelligence, it is easy to get caught up in our idea of how we can get other people to do what we want. This leads to attempts to mold groups to see things as we do. What we really want to accomplish is to build and organize things the way we want them to be. Over doing our Intelligence also leads to a fixation on using the law to our personal benefit. What we seek is a high degree of influence where others are amazed at our ability to overcome obstacles and make things happen. The major downside of over doing our Intelligence is that it promotes a sense of self-importance and attachment to others doing what we want them to do, which can demean others. The real problem occurs when we use seduction and manipulation when others do not want to co-operate. 

We mature and find our fulfillment in our contribution by learning how to organize our Secondary expression in terms of our Primary . Either under and over doing our Secondary Patterning Intelligence minimizes our capacity to be fulfilled in our life work. It should be noted that any use and implementation of our Secondary Intelligence will get us noticed by others. This is a different experience than operating in our Tertiary Intelligence where others accept us but do not see our power. It is also different than any Creative expression imprinting that merely irritates others and pushes them to ignore us. When we can find the place of expressing our Secondary Intelligence in a flowing way it automatically re-orients us by organizing our Secondary expression in terms of our Primary. With a Secondary Patterning Intelligence, this means that our power to manifest and work on the physical plane is greatly enhanced by our capacity to bring people together for a common purpose.

This comes about by integrating our inner and outer experiences so that we can operate as a point of balance in our interactions with others. The power of our Secondary transmutes itself by serving the intention of our Primary. In effect, we naturally integrate and centralize our life energy to benefit our Primary expression. In this process, we become more unified and able to bring together different people and processes to fulfill group goals. 

When undeveloped, we can focus on our self-importance (being at the center of things) and measure our power by our ability to influence others. This attachment to materialism dies away when we realize that our creativity explodes as we honor the autonomy of those with whom we interact. Evolved, we bring out the best in others by encouraging the discovery of each individual’s unique contribution. This also creates a situation where synergy occurs, because a group produces more than the output of each single individual. Another indicator of our evolution is that when we are consciously developed, we no longer get caught up in superficial judgments based upon outer appearances. This ability to see the innate patterns in others provides the key for our creative development. 

It is interesting to notice that we primarily validate our success by the degree to which the solutions we propose are practical and easily manifested. From this perspective, we are more about the art of what is possible rather than the ideals of the Visionary Intelligence. The real difference between our two Intelligences is that Storytellers like more incremental change while Visionaries are more oriented to accomplishing things in an all or nothing manner. Storytellers tend to define, mold, and moderate the changes needed to satisfy a greater number of people. 

The Patterning Intelligence, like Investigative Intelligence, uses thought as a basis for understanding differences. These Thoughts are somewhat strongly anchored to our Sensations, which we use to notice what is changing in the moment. Thoughts represent 50% of our energy, Sensations represent 30% and Emotions and Feelings represent 10% each. It is Thoughts anchored to Emotions, Feelings and Sensations which give us a three dimensional framework to see what is happening outside of ourselves. While Investigative Intelligence individuals are more internalized in their thought processes, we are more externally focused in recognizing what is changing and what is staying the same. This ability to capture patterns of behavior permits us to be great mimics and/or comics, because it is easy for us to amplify or portray these qualities. It is possible for us (if we embody our Emotions and Feelings) to develop more intuitive insights than those who come primarily from thoughtful observation. When this occurs we can predict likely outcomes rather than remain static in our understanding. When focused inward, these skills help us to become more conscious and self-observant. When focused outward, these same skills help us move groups forward and not make the same mistakes over and over again. 

The problem we have on the Secondary level is that we can become identified with the groups we become associated with. This means we somehow lose our individuality and/or our originality within the groups that we relate to. We can validate this to the degree that we hold distinct perceptions and/or behavior that does not mirror those we are with. Part of this could be because we can get caught up in superficial judgments and therefore want to be similar to others so they cannot judge us. It is also likely that we can become enamored by complimentary attractions where we seek others to mirror our own beauty. The key is to not become subsumed into the frameworks of others just because it is easier. This does not mean that we seek out those who disagree with us to contradict this tendency but instead we go deeper within ourselves to find what is naturally different or unique. One contrary aspect to our development on this level is how easy it can be to get caught up in excessive perfectionism, believing we need to be different to have any true value. It is better to find natural and humorous ways to differentiate ourselves particularly in our capacity to bring out the best in others around us. In this way our distinctiveness is revealed. Another tendency is to seek the path of least resistance by emphasizing the need for the material aspects of our existence. What we need to remember is that our spirit needs to be nourished as much as our personality elements.

Another attachment is how we become fixated on whatever is mysterious and secret. We   believe we are going deeper into ourselves and being more substantial when others are willing to play with us around issues that are ambiguous or imaginative. We also get caught up in the revelation of secrets in a step by step way where we want people to appreciate the sequence of discovering us as much as the content of what we say. Any pre-empting of our process where people want to jump ahead creates fear within us because we need the process to feel comfortable with others. It’s the sequence of the revelation which makes us feel seen, supported and valued which gets upset if others don’t want to engage us in this way. This attachment to relating in a particular way as a way of honoring ourselves sometimes backfires with others who do not want to explore us in the way we want to be revealed.

This leads us to either push the mystery onto others and/or hold back that which we don’t need to say right now. In our minds this gives us something to be revealed later. What occurs out of this fixation is to reinforce our inner mystery while being attracted to the mystery of others. This leads to situations where we are scared to reveal too much which ends up complicating enormously how we relate to different people. Another downside of this process is that it forces us to remember what we have told to various people so we can continue to deepen our story of what they know about us. Unconsciously, this leads us to try to systematically insert pieces of our story in conversation so others get to know us over a period of time. Others do not understand why we are bringing these pieces into play at the time we talk about them. The core is that since security is our biggest desire, the reactions of others to us, is a particular concern. 

The more we fall into this pattern, the more we are likely to reveal ourselves as a bonus to those who interact with us in ways that we like. The problem with this approach is that we get caught up always needing to update whenever our story slightly changes. This emphasizes constant communication where others begin to think we are narcissistic because everything is framed in terms of what is going on with us. The problem with this approach is that we used a layering of ourselves and parsing out pieces of ourselves in response to other people’s interactions with us. The reaction of others is that they are not sure that they can trust us. More importantly, others may be confused and feel limited in their ability to love us. This occurs to the degree that we make them jump through hoops to get to know us and to the degree that others perceive we are hiding who we really are. Others’ assumption is that if we loved ourselves we would be more forthcoming. We can identify this pattern by how others constantly prompt us to “get to the point”. When others get exhausted and tired of our story, it should indicate to us that this pattern is in play. 

The Intelligences that have the most difficulty with this are Compassionate, Orchestrating and Intentional, all of whom demand a certain amount of simplicity and congruence to accept us. The more complicated we are, the less willing they are to interact with us. This is accentuated and amplified because these Intelligences tend to make us nervous and feel judged, which further develops our anxiety around them. To overcome this issue, we need to be more “in the moment” instead of projecting it as a process in order to get to know us. We need to learn to respond where others are by discussing their participation in the process as much as our own. We have to realize that our need to be secure is actually interfering with our capacity to be seen. Until we take ownership that we do not need to prove ourselves and that we are mysterious (as is everyone) without needing to amplify ourselves, then we will continue to demand others’ attention in a way that will cause them to eventually become resentful.

Another issue is our need to see everything in terms of everything else. The more fixated we are about not making a decision until we can see all points of view the more likely we have internalized a point of view that is going to limit our incremental growth. Secondary Patterning Intelligence individuals grow through incremental improvements. The more we get fixated on the big picture and need everything to be the best solution, the more difficult our growth processes will be. Sometimes this is revealed when we are not willing to confront our situation until we can do it all at once. The likely outcome of this approach is to never get to it. We see great examples of this when we idealize people, places or processes that will change our circumstances if we just adhere to them fully.

What we need to recognize is that our growth happens best when it happens in small shifts or choices that actually bring about a feeling of more congruence within us. It is also important to notice that it is our Feelings and Sensations that most guide us in terms of the choices we can make. This means that our Emotions and Thoughts can send us off our path if we fixate on them too much. In fact, the more we define ourselves in terms of our intellect and emotional content, the more likely we get in the way of our own best effort. Two examples of this diversion is when we start “head-tripping” (such as doubting ourselves) and when we get caught up in doing things just to please others.  In both cases, we end up being completely lost.