One question that I have never been able to confidently answer about myself is whether I have multiple personalities. Not as in a Dissociative Identity Disorder where the different personalities hold compartmentalized memories, but rather a situation where the same labeled instances dataset is shared between the two halves of my brain with highly distinct (biological) neural network weights and biases, and at any given point one of them has the wheel. I call the two different personalities “The General” and “The Hero.”
The General is the one that is: Talkative, super optimistic, rational but artistic and romantic, strategic, dismissive of conventional wisdom, future-oriented, creativity-oriented, genuine, and naturally charismatic. The General is well-suited for recruiting and leading teams, and is the personality needed to scale organizations and projects. The General dreams unique futures, and is ecstatic if even a third of his dreams come true. The General shines in the Spring and Summer.
The Hero is the one that is: Hyper-realist, goal-driven, ultra-organized, tactical, truthful, taciturn, present-oriented, learning-oriented, observant, and ruthless. The Hero is well-suited for solving nearly insurmountable challenges that can be unclogged through the efforts of a single individual. The Hero is also the one that is best able to see problems clearly and make tough decisions when there are no great options. The Hero treats every failure as a personal failing, and actively seeks to learn to avoid the same mistakes. The Hero shines in the Autumn and Winter.
Recently, I have been advised (by multiple mentors) to essentially let the General run the show for this next stage of my life. It’s probably mostly correct. But my Hero needs to come out regularly, both because the Hero needs to occasionally set the example for the team, and because a rusty Hero is the worst of all possible leaders. So the only reason to not let the Hero take control at least 20% of the time is if there is a committed decision to kill the Hero. But that would never happen, because the Hero should be the one to make all hard critical decisions.
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