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“He darted in and out of the role of 'one of the boys' with dexterity - but I should say he wasn't one of them. But he knew how to shut up, how to draw into the background, how to listen.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Major Twos
Resolution of 8 / Resolves to 4 / Antagonised by 1 / Antagonises 3
Friends 2,6 >8 / Lovers 2 / Allies 5,7 / Rivals 5
2 marks the first steps above the Landscape, where self-preservation becomes central once more to the mental orientation the individual. Twos avoid anything that hints at overcontrol or containment and may easily walk further (in a circle) than a One to get away from having to accept what is not central to their needs. This need for self-preservation shows up in Twos' abilities to categorize and systematize information and emotion in the organization of relationships and human networks. Both the Major and Minor employ a way of extracting duties and obligations from others that is akin to the organic growth of plant roots. The roots are both an anchor and a supply chain to the main plant. The binding energy is respect. Twos will offer respect of you but they also require it from you.
For Twos, an acquaintance is someone to be fitted into an arrangement. People who retain their independence and who are going their own way are of little interest to them. You may be able to wring concessions out of a Two but getting them to adhere to what you've agreed is something else again. If you think you've got the better of a Two then you're most likely mistaken. If a Two does make a concession to you then that is because he or she is looking to find another kind of commitment from you. Twos, however, are less keen on being held to any direct obligation themselves. They prefer a more subtle approach, and often give the impression of being above it all or a little to one side of the politicking. Do a favour for a Two and that Two will most likely find an unusual way or for someone else to return the favour. Twos are happy to help those who accept their arrangements, and they function best as leaders within a structure where they can generously assist those who are committed to the group.
In looser forms of organisation, Twos are best as ministers or second-in-commands with their private channels of action and communication. They tend to be employers of other's talents, and are adept at seeing where a gap can be filled and the person who would best fill it. Where they have power, they surround themselves with those who complement the needs of the group they are building. As partners in a cooperative enterprise, however, they are less content, and will have a tendency to perversely act at right angles to most agreed decisions. Twos like to work from behind the scenes and to take the less obvious routes to the goals, informing only their intimate band of what they are doing. Knowing that they are the kingpins around which important or necessary people circulate is often sufficient reward for them.
They enjoy knowing what you don't know but have little compulsion to crow about it and will happily tell you what they know if they think you need to know it. They take comfort in formalities, which help them relax, but they do not like to be coerced by order and precedent, or by detours and shifting ground. Realising that they are being out-manoeuvred is a great spur to action. A sense of exclusion or of being sidelined touches their vanity like nothing else.
Twos are not natural revealers of their intentions and they are often irritable in a diffuse and undirected way when their plans are disturbed by events. While they can unite disparate data into coherent sets of useful information, they keep mum or are—more usually—smoke-screening their personal motivations until the time is right to reveal them (and often only to a chosen few). On the other hand, they can enjoy the confessional aspect of a confidence, especially if their revelations bring people more strongly into their influence, even though they are unlikely to reveal the whole story. Twos normally have a calm and natural way about them, and manage to convey the notion that personal relationships exist for pleasure and stability and less for self-improvement or worldly success,
Twos are managers rather than leaders and prefer to manage already existing avenues of action rather than create new ones. They are the natural ally to inspirational leaders, and are most comfortable in the role of minister rather than chief. They are happy to partner those who do supply authoritative leadership, and their management skills are best directed to balancing their position among powerful but static interests. Any leader or ally that opts for open community oriented decision making would be undermined, and Twos often want to level those star performers who play to a large constituency. They understand the nature of gifts and support, and they keep people interested in them through their people skills and their general good manners and thoughtfulness. They will keep communications open even to those who have fallen by the wayside. They can handle information well, and they enjoy telling and hearing good stories.
Twos' main strength, of course, is in obligation, but not just the obligations to themselves but those that exist in the complex debts and counter-debts between members of a circle. A service rendered is a service remembered for all time, and eventually, Twos will call in the debt. Twos' fundamental criticism of anybody is that they fail to clear service debts. This is distinct from money debt. Twos are alert to the favour, and their vanity revolves around the extent to which favours are acknowledged. They don't have to be paid on any particular time scale, they want to know that you know there is a debt due, and once they are sure that you understand the system, then they cannot do enough for you.
Twos are aware that what they know will change organically. They would never think they had the last word on anything, and they are quite happy to alter their opinions although they will never acknowledge or give a roadmap to the changes of their mind. This is the second level of their vanity. Their opinions must occupy the centre and it must never be suggested that once they didn't have that opinion. When it comes to negotiating contracts, Twos, during negotiations, will prefer to take back the whole document and present a new re-written one time and again, than to bat a copy back and forth that shows all the edits and revisions on it. Twos are best at the talking over a beer or a lunch bit, the weekend activity bit, but less good in the tightly wound world of deadlines and fast responses. In this respect, they are best leading the team from behind, immersed in the micro tactics, and their focus is definitely on the private success of obscure ploys, rather than on the open, straightforward, generalised good.
Stylistically, they may easily hide their good grasp of organisation, statistics and the patterns of knowledge, with whatever seems credible to their group. They may shy away from following up-to-the-minute fashions since their stylistic purpose is usually to misdirect rather than to give away specific attitudes. Twos enjoy a manner, a way of being, rather than fashion, however, and work on their manner in subtle ways.
If you are moving to a new town and you only know one person, hope that person is a Two. A Two will be able to help you find an apartment, even a new circle of friends. Twos know the best restaurants and hot spots. They may set you up with a couple of job interviews, and know who will take that new litter of kittens off your hands. In return, Twos will expect you to share your news, skills and resources on their terms rather than yours. You can expect Twos to listen to you but you cannot expect that Twos will do what you want or even what you think you need. In spite of their good deeds, Twos arrange things for themselves, and the favour they do you is part of their plan rather than yours.
Twos can be found in almost any occupation where personal contacts are essential to the conduct of business. They may also be active members of a church, club, PTA, etc. They are good bureaucrats, grants men, politicians and movie producers. The Minor Two is good at soaking up learning and arranging diverse elements into proper groupings.
Twos (2 is an fertile sign above the horizon) are by nature generally positive, optimistic and non-confrontational, easily acquiring a breadth of expression that may surprise others. Yet, it is the inner sensation of precariousness that governs much of what they do. They are unlikely people to starve in an attic pursuing their dream or following their own line of investigation regardless. Like Sixes on the same axis, they are keen on preserving their personal resources. The Minor 2 gives any Major a concern for keeping up appearances. Twos feel strongly destabilised when truths about themselves, especially about their errors and mistakes of judgement, are in the hands of others.
Twos like to form private inner circles of friendships, and they often create separate realms for work colleagues and family. They sense that their extensive circle of acquaintances is alive with favours, obligations and trades. They like to keep the strands of their networks healthy, and they see friendship as a purposeful activity where information and contacts, guidance and assistance are exchanged. They cling tightly to the interior family relationships that are often a source of inspiration and comfort for them, while they look upon exterior social connections as important means to further their actions in the world. All newcomers are likely recruits to a Twos network or circle of friends, but admission requires the tacit acceptance of the influence of the Twos. Doing a favour is a separate from what the favour actually is. In this way, Twos break the serial nature of cause and effect that their Antagony, 1 on the landscape accepts without question.
1 on the Landscape antagonises Twos. The idea that there exists a precise sequence of events outside of themselves that should be followed means less to them than finding a strategy that fits in with others already in play. They would not pay any heed to the concept that a project can be run with many people all on parallel paths. As a project manager, they think of themselves as the bearing of the hub around which all turns at a set pace and where the solution is planned to arrive at a particular turn of the wheel. They do not hurry, nor do they slack; only when they are balanced can they act quickly; the more unbalanced they feel, the more stately their progress.
Twos take care with how they present themselves, and as has been mentioned, develop a personal style that is designed to consolidate their place in the world rather than set them apart. They enjoy the material benefits of their success, and like others to enjoy them too. They are sensual and sexual, and they consider the enjoyment of their pleasures an art.
Twos are not afraid of paperwork and they understand what they are entitled to and how to get it. They subscribe to form but not to rules, especially inconvenient ones. They get things done their way simply by not doing it any other way. They passively resist any course of action that they do not perceive to be precisely in their best interests, and, unlike those on the Landscape, feel no obligation to consider other people's concerns when taking it.
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