But humans aren’t simple, and you started your post with “I have a theory that you can divide people into three different categories.” You made it all-encompassing and narrow.
That is not what you argued for though. It would be more like saying “All people either like steak or eggs.”
Yep. You have to be able to see the bigger picture and the part you play in it though.
I agree.
Shure, but it’s not definitive. And people can be classed in multiple categories that interact in unique ways,.
I thought it was vague and generic enough to be flexable.
This. Show people respect and a common goal and they will go the extra mile without being asked.
Treat them like a cog or just a labor cost - enjoy the turnover carousel.
I think there’s a lot more overlap than most assessments provide for.
Per your descriptors I see both catalyst and maintainer in myself, almost in equal parts, at least professionally.
I will create and then use “maintainer” traits to drive execution.
I don’t like the “organizer” headspace personally. Creating the check-lists is my kryptonite. I always hated accounting too, but found finance interesting. Sort of.
Most people exhibit fluidity, unless they’re in an assembly line sort of role and just going through motions. It can be weird in the corporate world though. The career progression chain tends to go from individual contributor to people management (maintainers) then to process management (director level and very clear organizers) and on to VP or other executive roles with thought leadership as the objective (creators). The prevailing thought is that each builds on the other but there are distinct personality differences and unfortunate promotions and/or passovers considering.
Which is why entrepreneurship & ownership are so attractive. Somebody like me in the corporate world would get stuck at director, probably moved back to people management and relegated as not competent to progress further as I would rather shoot myself in the face than writ up “play books”, but I am confident I could skip level to VP very successfully, and I do hire the organizer types intentionally for this reason. Not my forte.
In the gym I’m fully a maintainer. I don’t want to do my own programming. I don’t have time for research. I don’t want to have to organize my training either. Just sell me a program that works with templates. I’ll buy it.
Examples would flip circumstantially and I believe this is true for everybody.
This guy gets it. You’re going to go through phases in life. These ideas are snapshots of where you are currently, not your destiny.
I love making lists.
Yeah. I worked under a guy that was the commander of a ship yard (which he turned into a shit show), and also in the private sector.
So turnover and injuries were already skyrocketing, and he pulled the entire shift in for a dressing down disguised as lunch. He stood in front of the whole shift (about 400 people) and for about a half hour furiously talked at everybody like they were stupid children and bound by the UCMJ to carry out their duties.
He finished with “You’ll never get rich working here. We have a scale that we already figured out for your pay…
And if you don’t like it, there’s the gate!” pointing at the entry to the plant.
So about half, or 200 people stood up, walked away, and never looked back. 
Boy, he told them!
They’re simpletons. Several thousand years of history backs that up.
Who was that smart MF’er who invented history?
It was easy to be smart back when people didn’t know anything.
Now all of the cool stuff has been cherry picked.
I knew someone who changed a flat tire but forgot to put the nuts back on. So he was diving and noticed something was off. He pulled over and it was next to the mental hospital. He was looking at his wheel and telling himself he was an idiot. He wasn’t sure what to do. Then he hears someone from the other side of the fence surrounding the hospital telling him to just remove one nut from each of the three other other wheels and use them. He looks back at the car and thinks why he didn’t think of that, looks back, and the dude is gone. Anyway, I guess the point is, when it comes to intelligence it doesn’t matter what side of the fence you’re on.
Thats very good! 
Theres practical knowledge and abstract knowledge.
Occasionally they meet.
Did he look like this?
Many are, but that would speak to IQ or mental capacity, not the complexity of personality. Though IQ does have some influence.
I doubt they are complex in that regard either.
I don’t know. He was a mental patient. He probably looked like a serial killer or stumblebum. I picture the comic guy from The Simpsons.