Book Review by Jack Falt
There are lots of books on type and work, but this is the only one I know of that looks at the need to balance work with play. Ever since Calvin introduced the work ethic, many of us have become workaholics. Today, it seems we have to work twice as hard to maintain the standard of living we don’t have the leisure time to enjoy.
It really is a balance between our perception and judgment. People who have a dominant perceiving function with an underdeveloped judging function becomes eternal boys/girls. They never seem to grow up or take life seriously. If the judging function is dominant and the perceiving function is underdeveloped, a workaholic is born. These people seemed to have been born old.
The book looks at what adult play is like. It involves leisure, either compensatory or the spillover. For some people their work is play. They get into a flow where they loose their consciousness of what they are doing and just do it. For some people play provides stimulation. Sensing types look for activities that stimulate their five senses while intuiting types look for novel experiences.
Play is a way to develop mental functions. It can be a benign way to develop the inferior function. It can even provide the opportunity for a spiritual awakening. The author looks at play in relation to needs: psychological, educational, social, relaxational, physiological, and aesthetics. There is a paragraph on each of the sixteen types and their leisure styles.
Just because you get paid for it, doesn’t mean that you can have any fun at work. The author looks at ways each of the functions might find some fun at work.
The book looks at ways to balance work and play at work and in relationships. Sometimes, to get our needs met, we need to be assertive. A chapter is devoted to finding out what you want and how to go about getting.
This book is a good read and has lots of worthwhile ideas. It is one you can recommend to clients and there is lots of material for using in workshop. This book is one of the more playful books to read!