LESSON 4,2 / Decision Axes “When the sun shines,
it casts a shadow.”

Determines your
Strength–Shadow axis
in relation to
Carl Gustav Jung’s
mental “iceberg” compass.

This means your greatest strengths and your most vulnerable traits are two sides of the same axe. Both are part of who you are, shaped by genetic and temperamental factors that we can describe—but not change.

LEADERSHIP / 4,1

is the sum of all individual decisions and processes
that are aligned
toward a shared goal.

Secret 4

The deep level

From our experience, we’ve seen a strong connection between a person’s temperament and their decision-making behavior. Recognizing and accepting how people make decisions is key to understanding both your own and others’ roles in a group—what we often call “people chemistry.”
In knowledge-based work and teamwork, the ability to see the link between behavior and decision style is often the key to success. Whether it’s total quality management (TQM) or everyday collaboration, knowing each person’s decision strengths helps place the right person in the right role at the right time.
To explain this, we often use Carl Gustav Jung’s model of personality types, which corresponds to the four levels, purple, red, blue and red on the decision tree.

The pyschologist Carl Gustav Jung’s (1875 -1961) described two axes and four archetypes, which in turn drew its inspiration from ancient Hindu thinking from about 1000 years ago, before Christ. These four functions SGL has illustrated as an iceberg with the Strength above the water and the Shadow below the ocean surface.

Jung’s Four Decision-Codes

Carl Jung described four key ways people tend to experience the world and make decisions.
These are called Thinking, Feeling, Sensing, and Intuition.
They form the core of how we react to situations and make choices.
These four styles Jung grouped into two main axes,
similar to the cardinal directions of a compass,
called TF / Judging Functions and SI / Perceiving or Stimuli Functions

1.Judging Funchtions
– ( TF ) – About 6 out 10 people.

These are more structured, logical, and focused on reducing uncertainty.

Thinking (Blue) – Analytical, fact-based, and objective
Feeling (Yellow) – Emotionally aware and values-driven

Common Traits:
Persons along these axe prefer planning, clarity, and proven methods.
They like making decisions based on logic or values they trust.
These are known as Logic-Driven or Decision Axes (L)

2. Perceiving or Stimuli Functions
– ( SI ) – About 4 out 10 people.

These people are more spontaneous, curious, and open to change.

Sensing (Red) – Practical, detail-oriented, and grounded in reality
Intuition (Purple) – Imaginative, quick-thinking, and future-focused

Common Traits:
Persons along this axe, acts quickly and adapts fast.
They’re energised by new ideas and prefer flexibility over structure.These are known as Stimuli seeking Change-Makers or Decision Axes (S)

CONCLUSION

With four primary functions, one will always be your dominant trait — just like an arrowhead, meaning it accounts for more than 51 percent. The opposite of your dominant trait will be your shadow, or weakest function. The two remaining functions serve as supporting traits — like your right and left arms, in the arrow symbol.

How SGL Reflect

We asked ChatGPT
about the decision profile
to Barak Obama, and they answered:

” IF / Purple/Yellow –
Strength: Intuitive –
Help function: Feeling
A values-orientated and stimuli driven Decision-Profile.
Shadow side: Sensing “

According to Jung, either Judging, – or Stimuli Funchtions, usually dominates your personality. It becomes your natural strength—the part of you that’s most visible and active in decision-making.
In the illustration (the iceberg), your dominant function is the top, what’s above the surface—what others see.
The other functions lie beneath, either as hidden strengths or weaknesses that only show up in stressful or unfamiliar situations.

Risk Management and Visible Leadership

Leading means making choices—even when the path is unclear. Some challenges feel familiar. Others are completely new. The way people respond depends on their temperament and how they handle risk –
Our experience shows that people tend to be along one of the two axes: Logical Judging /- which SGL call (L) , or Stimuli seeking Change Makers, which SGL call (S)

Revealing What’s Already There

By observing colleagues and working together, many people gain an unconscious sense of others’ decision styles. Over time, this recognition becomes a valuable guide to understanding the dynamics of a team.
With practice, we can make these patterns visible—and use them to lead better, collaborate more effectively, and make smarter decisions under pressure.

Decision-making

is never just a rational act — it’s a leap into the unknown. While facts, analysis, and experience can guide us step by step toward the “Decision Gate,” they can take us no further than the final jump — what the philosopher Søren Kierkegaard called “the 70,000 fathoms deep.” This final moment, where logic ends and choice begins, often feels like a gut instinct, a cognitive breakthrough, or even a form of rebirth, revelation, or salvation. Many names have been given to it, but the truth remains: truly new and uncertain decisions emerge from the deepest layers of the self — shaped not just by reason, but by who we are.

Home Lesson 4,2

Curious About Your Colleagues’ Decision-Making Behavior? – Start finding your Decision Axis.

If you’re curious about how your colleagues make decisions, it’s helpful to start by understanding your own patterns. Once you’re confident in your own Decision profile, it becomes much easier to describe and recognise those of others.

Start by identifying the obvious traits. Revisit Lesson 4.1 and the questions that determine the color of your Decision Tree — Yellow, Blue, Red, or Purple.
Then, transfer that color to the Iceberg Illustration, placing the dominant color at the top. Since the two functional axes — TF (Thinking/Feeling) and SI (Sensing/Intuition) — are always present in the same way, the shadow function (below the waterline) reveals itself naturally, just like the supporting functions (at the waterline).
In short: Are you driven by Logical structure and certainty? – You likely lean toward the Logical Thinking or Feeling Axes, which SGL call (L)
Are you energised by Stimuli and new experiences and flexibility? – You likely lean toward the Stimuli seeking Sensing or Intuition Axes, which SGL call (S)

With this as input, we asked ChatGPT to suggest profiles for four well-known American presidents. The results were surprisingly accurate when compared with the first-choice assessments of the **SGL methodology, with the words: ““Good luck with your writing – this is an original and engaging topic!” ChatGPT ♟️”**
Interested? We invite you to test the AI-generated profiles for: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Donald Trump, – against their own assessments. Feel free to use Google and Wikipedia as references. Good luck!

NEXT LESSON 4,3:

Decision Functional

When you must make a difficult and “dangerous” decision. –
Who are you most in this situation: “Warrior / Fighter, or Helper?”

Decision-making temperament is SGL’s most important ingredient. –
In a “winning team” all colours are necessary.
Knut Birkeland – Norsk Hydro