I travel about once a month and usually pick up one or two books in an airport bookstore to
accompany me during long flights. In October, in the Houston airport, I came across “Wake Up
America” by Eric Bolling1 which carried a germane message, one that fits in with a book I had
or have2 intended to write. It is about the creeping gray hoard that will engulf us all. Slowly,
reliably, inexorably the effect is with us and it is grinding our western societies down to a crawl.
Since this same cause (too bureaucratic, and too inflexible to adapt to changing times) can be
attributed to the failure of the Roman, the Russian, and the British Empires, perhaps we should
examine the issue before it is too late to Iearn and adapt. Actually, if Canada adjusts, that
country can be a major beneficiary of this understanding since Canada is not as far along the
creeping-gray-hoard path as the United States, Mexico, or other major powers; and Canada is
probably ‘small’ enough to adapt, yet influential enough in Western societies to make a
difference.

We begin with four personalities
Frequently, CCCC parrots the message provided by Hippocrates in 350 B.C.3 of four types of
personality temperaments: the active, the detail-oriented, the venturesome and the people-centered
behaviors (which CCCC labels as P, A, V and F4 ). CCCC goes on to convince and demonstrate to
companies that their operations need all four to be in balance. Each of the four has its strengths and
each has its inherent weaknesses. Any one temperament left to work on its own will prove to be
dysfunctional resulting in an operational disaster.

Statistics show a population distribution of P 15.7%, A 39.9%, V 16.3% and F 30.1%. Most people are
not uni-dimensional and have two temperaments in strength and two which are recessive. Overall, ‘A’
has the highest distribution at 39.9% and without doing too much analysis, we can make the simple
supposition that ‘A’ might end up dominating any group and any society. In fact, that is exactly what
my associates and I, after a 10-year study, conclude is happening. Since we need P, A, V and F in
balance, yet one is dominant, then the dysfunctionality of the dominant one (A) is bound to show up
and cause difficulties.

Why we need them all
The Producer (P) gets things done, yet frequently is lacking in people skills. The Analyzer (A) is
thorough, yet risk averse. The Visionary (V) sees far beyond the average person’s sight, yet may be
sometimes narcissistic. The Friend (F) offers the glue that connects people, yet worries too much about
offending others. All have good; all have bad. They are what they are; the leopard does not change its
spots. For example, reflecting on yourself or a friend who constantly had demonstrated an undesirable
trait, observe how all the training and course registrations have done little to remove this basic
‘undesirable’ characteristic and resulted in money being poorly spent. For that reason, we at CCCC
ask companies to stop wasting time trying to correct ‘faults’ of individuals, but instead, we suggest
that managers focus on individuals’ positives and benefit from their strengths.

1Bolling, Eric, Wake Up America, St. Martin’s Press, New York, NY, 2017
2Bolling’s book hits on many of the ills that are creeping up on our societies, and almost made me decide not to write
my book. But since Bolling specifically blames the U.S. Democratic party for America’s problems, I probably need to
write “The Creeping Gray Hoard” book to warn us of the real, broader, danger.
3
Jung, Myers Briggs and a whole army of behaviorists also followed Hippocrates’ leanings to create quick tests for
behavior such as Disc, Colors, Myers Briggs test, and so on.
4P = Producer, A = Analyzer, V = Visionary, F = Friend.

For an analogy with P, A, V and F, turn to a chorus of a bass, tenor, alto, and soprano singers.
Together the four of them make wonderful music. If any, alone, tries to sing a variety piece, they will
do well on the parts their voice range can cover but poorly on the parts their musical range is not
equipped for; the soprano will have trouble with the bass notes and the bass will never hit the high C.
Often, corporations advise and insist that the timid persons (A) need to speak out in public more and
the salesperson (V) must fill in the reports with precise detail – the very opposite of their inherent
tendencies. The constant refrain “But it’s easy” makes it no better. This is not unlike asking the
soprano to sing a bass note and becoming bothered when she cannot.

We need all of P, A, V, and F because most tasks need the abilities of all four. Assume P, A, V and F
persons meet to solve a problem. P’s determination will ensure they keep at it till they arrive at a
solution; A’s focus on details will reduce the chance for error to creep in; V’s creative genius will
bring forward one new idea after another; F’s smooth people skills can keep the team on the right path,
especially at moments of conflict. Reflect on any issue in detail and you will see, in most cases, that
there is a benefit to having all four. On the other hand, reflect on what happens if we have no one to
drive the project to a conclusion, or if we have no one to look after the accuracy, or no one to come up
with ideas, or no one to keep the humans calm in times of difficulty5.

The creeping gray hoard and its manifestation
The ‘A’ person, frequently lacking excitement or creative ideas, is sometimes viewed as dull. I call that
individual gray. The slow growth of the tribe of A’s to a position of dominance, I call the creeping
gray hoard. It reaches a noticeable point when the society members expect government (and all the
other serving bodies) to take care of the person’s every little whim; when individuals are loath to solve
simple things on their own; are unwilling to accept responsibility for each’s own actions. It manifests
itself when risk is considered by the society as an evil rather than a balancing tab to the cautious prong.
It reaches a noticeable point when the debt of Canada and Ontario arrives at a trillion6
dollars, as it has now. It manifests itself when populations are willing to follow a leader who says and does stupid
things (Hitler). It reaches a noticeable point when trying to get timely responses from these
administrators seems virtually impossible – and, even worse, such lack of response is rationalized as
OK. In the private sector, a lack of timely response will doom a company to oblivion; not so in the
public sector.

How does the creeping hoard drag down our society, and, what can the average person do about it?
Tune into next month’s newsletter for answers.

5CCCC shows its students mathematically why all of P, A, V and F are needed to make balanced decisions, and while
CCCC will be pleased to share this information with the reader on request, such details here would overwhelm this
brief presentation.
6To get the idea of a trillion, counting at two counts per second, and avoiding eating, sleeping or anything else, a
person could reach a count of a trillion after 32,000 years.

Bill