Ability: this term can be understood from the old term, metis. Metis implies flexibility in situations, dexterity, a good eye for detail, a sense of direction and apprehension of fluctuations (see Chapter 14). Ability involves the set of sensory skills directly related to the situational trends implied by reality. Tricking and skewing, as well as avoiding, handling, hitting a ball, throwing, sewing and operating as a strategist by observing weak signals are abilities. Ability certainly involves the kinesthetic field, but we prefer using the term “perceptive” (in Jullian’s sense) to describe what a skillful ability is.

Anticipation: this refers to the ability to observe the signs and indications that initiate a trend in a pattern; to assess (by assessment) this trend; to embrace it and, if necessary, to support it to our advantage – if it is not determined. Anticipation is not forecasting; one is correlative with reality, and the other is speculative of our ideas.

Appreciate: this is apprehended in the context of our work in its Chinese meaning, ji, in other words the ability to perceive minute nuances (wei) in observation, from which the operative tendency can initiate.

Aptitude: in our frame of reference, this is a person’s inclination to operate/ carry out an activity (aptitudo). Aptitude is the category into which skills-abilities fit, as well as the principle of capability: “I feel able to do this work, that is, to use this skill and this ability. Here’s how I intend to do it”. Thus, when we assess the aptitude of a person or a group, we try to assess, by correlation, the way in which the person mobilizes his/her natural-intentional operating modes, with regard to the expected utility.

Assess: this is the principle of assessing the gap(s) between a reference principle (which serves as a benchmark) and an operating principle (which sets out abilities in a situation). The sensory-perceptive skills (sight, touch, hearing, smell) that are useful to the assessment are supported by evidence, such as the repetition of operating modes and similarity in results (see Validation). Assessment is objective and figurative; it can be neither abstract nor alienated (alienare, “render as something other”) by the use of measurement (which “shows” a “point” in the process, but not the modus operandi underlying the process. Nor does it take the time and space into account, through which the operability deploys until the said result is actualized).

Coherence: this term is used when the proximity of a MO.O.N. is not correlated by similar operating principles (e.g. extra-personal-intrapersonal), but a result or indications in the observation suggest that a MO.O.N. may be relevant to investigate (e.g. kinesthetic-spatial, intrapersonal-interpersonal).

Combinatorial: this notion implies the principle that a person can naturally deploy several MO.O.N.s, some of which neither cohere nor correlate (mathematical-intrapersonal, extra-personal-musical-naturalistic). According to our studies and observations, there are no generalizations that allow us to affirm that a population could possess, as a matter of principle, such a sum of MO.O.N.s, just as we did not observe or assess any person “possessing” a “quantity” of identical MO.O.N.s.

Competency: intentional behaviors and/or operating modes that are useful for the production of an activity of the mind and the hand (generic term for the body), are designated as competencies. We recall that we write “and” in italic, to designate Chinese er (see the section on describing reality). Competency is neither declarative nor alienated to “knowledge” and consequently to the concepts of the being (nous), doing (technê-mathésis) and saying (logos-logismos). Competency is assessable; it is neither measurable nor abstract. It is a matter of knowledge, in other words an experience explained by words with a figurative tendency (whose meaning “shows” a perceptible operating principle), as well as an organized sum of gestures whose sequence produces an observable result that can be reproduced.

Core competency: this is the process by which a natural operating mode becomes intentional (competent). The concept of core competency comes from the observation of people with whom training (self-training, self-defined; heterotraining, training with others; eco-training, trained by “things”), repetition and constant vigilant attention made it possible to “surround” knowledge “around” a natural operating mode, just like myelin around a neuron. With time, this permeation bestows a specific, effective and operative “power” from which it weaves-permeates that which is natural and intentional, so that their effectiveness is precise, fine, fast, effective and efficient.

Correlation: in the field of assessment and detection of MO.O.N.s (talents), the “correlation” skill aims to apprehend what can produce useful and reliable information, from at least two apparently unrelated data/indications/trends. Correlating thus amounts to dynamically putting elements of observations that are separated in time and space under tension, in order to produce a reliable hypothesis. Correlation implies an operative proximity between two MO.O.N.s (e.g. extra-personal-intrapersonal, scientific-naturalistic); in other words, use and utility may lead to an amalgam if one does not remain focused on the C.U.P. Thus, to correlate implies memorizing the words (their meaning-signified), the sequences of movements and dynamics and the result produced. In principle, correlation is opposed to the sequential principle and to deduction (finding an established rule), in other words “unrolling” a logic of thought without making “links” between the data received. One the one hand, we have a logical-abstract (sequential) reasoning chain, and on the other hand, a functional (correlative) logic.

Develop (talents): from the same categorical family as “actualizing”, this term implies a spatial (to go out) and temporal (to grow) meaning. It is necessary to understand the term develop as the passage between what is initiated (not visible) and what is actualized (active). Talent development thus refers to the set of competencies that are active and non-active types, whose intention is to accompany the process of actualization of the natural and intentional operating modes of a person or a group of people. The term development is closely linked to the strategic principle, because it implies following an ongoing trend.

Elucidation: this refers to the method of questioning and simulation. The principle is to give visibility-availability to the meaning of the person contained in the signifier (the word, the gesture, the movement, etc.), expressed from the perceptual viewpoint (visual, gestural, olfactory, auditory, sensory) and intelligible viewpoint (chain of reasoning, writing mode and phonetic-figurative semantic structure, use of symbols (ideograms) to express an object of thought, etc.). Elucidation makes it possible to correlate observed sequences and then to apprehend the functional and trending logic of the person in order to make the meaning induced in the person’s activity visible. The expected result is not to have a preconceived idea on observation put forward, but to value an operational (and therefore observable-assessable) “reality”.

Emotion: according to epistemological study (the study of knowledge), this term leads us to place it as the consequence of a sum of forces that are internal and external to the person. The person can, by his/her actualizing capacity, transform this energy into movement (decision-action; decision-non-action). Emotion is then understood as a consequence (or consequences) under initial conditions, and not as “cause and effect”. It can be a disorder, a movement, a discomfort, a touch, a sensation or a feeling, but not the internal force (named fear, anger, sadness, etc.) that leads to the observable state.

Impact-effect: these two concepts are elucidated by François Jullien. Impact designates the inherent process of an action: a stone thrown into the water – wave propensity – bounces against the bank – return propensity. Impact means the consequences beyond the effect; the concept is considered through the “conditionconsequence” pair. Effect, however, is immediate and local. We measure the effect and assess the impact. Throwing a rock in the water causes a splash, a spattering. Effect is considered through “cause-effect” and thus, the “end-medium” pair, whereas the impact is organized with the “result-strategy” pair.

Indifference: this concept “lays down the principle of making oneself available to what is observed and consequently not integrating any distinction, difference, classification, subjectivity, difference or judgment between things and people [...] not putting any idea above another, not taking sides nor leaning towards any model, let alone making a difference – thus classifying-judging with subjectivity – between one thought and another” [RIC 16, p. 19; 192].

Intelligence: this is a Western concept of Greek origin which designates the skills of the mind (nous). Intelligence involves the tools of thought relating to discourse, reason (logos) and mathematical principles (mathesis). Intelligence is not a physical reality; it is a word (meaning) that has been elaborated in a culture whose foundation is truth and perfection.

Internal force: this is what is commonly amalgamated with emotion (see Emotion), in other words, anger, fear, joy, optimism, anxiety, contempt and so on. These internal forces permeate thought (mind) as long as they are not aware at the beginning of a situation. By “aware”, we mean having the ability to name and correlate the image with the origin of the force and its decision-making tendency. Motivation (its concept) would therefore be the ability of a person to generate images that, in turn, generate useful internal forces and are consistent with the expected result. Demotivation is the same process in its so-called “negative” aspect, in other words operating apart from the result.

Know-how: this refers to an abstract mental object, as well as to all of the so-called intelligible knowledge forming a person’s thought structure: “I know what management is, but I have neither the experience nor the desire to acquire it; I know what talent is, but I am unable to explain it, etc.” Know-how refers to the rules and principles of a norm or model. This use can be found in the three know-hows still in use in companies: know how to be, know how to speak and know how to do. The term generally remains a model put forward as an injunction and often uncorrelated with reality. It would then be abstract know-how. You have to “know” to “be”. In the use of “talent” as we treat it, the use of “know-how” is limited to the concepts from which the practice derives, which would then be a matter of functional know-how (see knowledge). Know-how is a construction of mental objects that may never be adapted to reality.

Knowledge (functional): this refers to the experience from which a functional principle can be explained. Knowledge mobilizes experiential memory to conjecture and match an ongoing situation. By functional principle, we mean guideline and practical (princepts) on one side, and that which produces a practical and operative result on the other. Functional knowledge designates the mastery of a sum of principles in the practitioner, which involves acting as well as not acting (wuwei) in one’s activity. From this mastery flows the ability to intentionally mobilize the said knowledge (otherwise called competency).

Meaning-signified: the term “meaning” designates the concept expressed by the word, and the term “signified” designates the acoustic representation. For example: horse (concept); the photo, video and sound of the latter are the acoustic representation. The meaning can be understood as the word (the layout) without the image, and the signified could be understood as the image without the word. The task is therefore to conceptualize what is observed without being “named”, as well as to be able to observe what is named. Then, the task is to develop a coherence between the word (meaning) and that which is observed (signified): when I say “this”, I show “that”. In the detection and assessment of talents, semantic-acoustic work is key, because it allows the person observed to naturally mobilize his/her operating modes without having to “think” about it.

Measure: this refers to a ideographic type of sign used and developed in the category of mathematics. The symbolic principle is to put an object of thought, and a general and fixed value, onto an object of reality. Measure (in its Western model) is an interpretation of reality from an abstract common understanding.

Mode: this is the first word of the acronym MO.O.N. (Modus). It designates the particular form in which and by which the operational process is activated, deployed and actualized.

MO.O.N.: this is a French acronym for mode opératoire naturel, which means a natural operating mode. It was created in the context of our work in order to offer an acceptable conceptual alternative to the theory of forms of intelligence proposed by Howard Gardner in 1983. The intention is to remain focused on the operational, dynamic and assessable (factual) aspect of skills. The acronym is categorically associated with the C.U.P. theory, so as not to isolate the MO.O.N.s intellectually, as is often the case for forms of intelligence. Finally, the MO.O.N. concept implies a process deployed in a temporality that can be spread over long periods (months/years). The MO.O.N. cannot be associated with a human quality, an ontological criterion, a belief or a “classical” cognitive activity. It distances itself from any ambiguous proposals that are spiritual, existential, educational, religious and so on.

Natural: this is the fourth word in the acronym MO.O.N. It designates what (skills-abilities) is put into activity in a “spontaneous” way, without formal learning and regardless of the form. It is therefore neither an emulative reproduction (implying a specific mnemonic) nor a knowledge that organizes-connects short-medium-long sequences of activities (process). That which is natural is distanced from the intellectual “conflict” between the innate and that which is acquired, a rational concept of the mind (nous) inherited from a philosophical culture. That which is natural is observable and detectable according to a specific C.U.P., because it is from the C.U.P that the conditions of attraction of the MO.O.N. emerge. A C.U.P. does not have to be “identical” from one place to another, but similarities would be favorable conditions in which to “attract” abilities.

Objective-result: the objective (objectum) refers to that which “stops the view”. Its principle mobilizes a mental image that it establishes. The characteristic of the objective is not to have continuation (since it “stops”). The objective stops the mind from establishing (like a lullaby for a baby). Thus, the objective requires at least two conditions: (1) its operator is the only one to ask it and (2) external fluctuations are small. For example, losing three kilos is a goal, but becoming an Olympic champion is an expected result. The result refers to the observable reality that is actualized. As a matter of principle, it incorporates the fluctuation: “Séverine planned to go to Lyon via Paris, but the storms (the fluctuation) obstructed the ‘established’ plan”. Séverine will actualize the result (by arriving in Lyon), but will not have reached the objective of arriving at the expected time. The potentiation of talents is considered in terms of results, and (most importantly) not in terms of objective(s). However, a person’s training can be organized and woven from objective(s) and, for a result, as long as the principles mentioned are respected in their dynamics.

Observe: this term is the cornerstone of our work. It involves all of the “forms of the viewed”, as well as the whole sensory system: listening, feeling, touching, perceiving, tasting and looking. Observation stems from looking. If looking consists of stopping the gaze, observing implies a process in time as well as a dynamic that requires maintaining attention on the physical “object” (the person, the animal, the plant), but additionally on the object studied (the theme, the question, the concept, etc.). Observation does not “think”; it records and then de-rushes. We use this term to refer to the stage in the production process between turning and editing. To de-rush that which is observed is to select the useful elements for the assessment, the actualization of a person, a group or an organization, as well as a natural environment, an animal, a fauna, a flora and so on.

Operate: this refers to the sum of activities related to MO.O.N.s whose result can be observed directly or indirectly. By direct, we must mean local, immediate, visible and halted. By indirect, we mean global, efficient, processual and delayed (whose result is assessed in a distant delay of time). “Operating”, as the second word of the acronym MO.O.N. (Operandi), designates both the capacity to produce an impact/effect in conformity (coherent) with its nature (opus, operis) and the capacity to produce an activity and a process which favors the actualization of an observable and assessable result in an efficient/effective manner.

Perceptive-affective: useful in the development of “talents”, this concept was developed by François Jullien. That which is perceptive concerns the ability to allow oneself to be imbued with indications without being overwhelmed by analysis and intellectualization. That which is affective is similar: it permeated the skill concerns oneself be one by sensations, smells, colors, sounds and so on, without letting the latter affect of letting, that is, without leaning toward ontology, psychologization or the intellectualization of the situation: naming without being overwhelmed.

Positive-negative: this refers to the trend in relation to the expected result. A positive trend is one that is as close as possible to the expected result. A negative trend is one whose direction deviates from the said result. The result may be negative but have positive potential, and conversely, it may be positive but decline due to a loss of potential.

Potential: this is the sum of forces needed for a system to become active. Potential is neither a human property nor a category or subcategory of personality; it is neither a skill or component of identity, nor a synonym for talent. Potential is the sum of forces extrinsic to a person. Potential can be represented by the wind, the sea and the currents on which the sailor relies to sail their boat forward. In Chinese thought, potential (shi) refers to what carries possibilities in a situation because of trends and emerging forces.

Potentiation of talents: this is a concept expressing the process by which the company’s operators or those commissioned by the latter (coach, trainer, psychologist, mentor, consultant, advisor, etc.) initiate, pair together, actualize and detect the necessary forces (che) on which the natural and intentional operating modes of people can rely in order to “perform” and develop.

Psychomorphism: this is a concept developed to imply the principle of studying, thinking, describing and considering all human and animal activity from the point of view of Being and ideas.

“Let us recall that the aim of this work of de-psychologization is to re-found a resource of thought that is ‘stuck’ in the middle of the in-between and the gap (mind ↔ meaning ↔ reality). Now from this in-between of reality and the human, one can observe and perceive (perceptive) a tendency that words of the Being cannot process, because the latter is looked at by an established knowledge, whereas the tendency is observed and examined by indescribable indexes; the (alphasyllabary) word is not elaborated in order to ‘look’, but to think-abstract that which is ‘viewed’. We’d like to highlight again that there is no question of denying the useful contribution of psychology and sociology, especially when the latter remain centered on the said reality, but it would be incorrect to associate modus operandi in these categories, that belong to other categories. Denying this would amount to making human sciences a ‘psychomorphic’ or ‘sociomorphic’ thought, that is to say, aiming to explain, study, analyze and think of any situation or any phenomenon in terms of Being (the person, the group), such as anthropomorphism, which is a ‘tendency to study, describe and consider any phenomenon in human terms’. 1710, Leibniz” [RIC 16, ndp 523].

Skill: this belongs to the categorical family of aptitude and capacity. It implies the principle of possibility, in other words the availability-potential to carry out such and such an activity (according to the C.U.P.). It is not the person who “has” potential, but his/her skills which, when potentiated in the favorable configuration, become available and operative. Skill involves knowledge and know-how; hence, we associate it with the “cognitive” family without, however, fixing it to it. One will speak more eagerly of intellectual skills than physical skills.

Talent: “talent is the observable result, the consequence of actualizing a sum of natural (and/or/er acquired) operating modes that have been mobilized and deployed in a configuration where potential, as well as utility, have proved to be beneficial” (see sections 2.3.4 and 4.1.5).

Theory: this refers to the elaboration of an object of thought with the intention of being able to apprehend the functioning of a phenomenon, or an observable or unobservable principle. Theory makes it possible to produce a sum of functional principles that can be reproduced and are assessable, reliable and, where applicable, measurable. The measurement condition incorporates flexibility with respect to fluctuations and the principle of propensity (as discussed by both Popper and Jullien).

Transformation: this must be taken in the Chinese sense: hua 化 (transformation, caterpillar → butterfly), ji 幾 (transformation to come, summer → autumn), bianhua 变化 (what transforms the situation: creases), bian 變 (what transforms without kernel radically changing what operates: a residential neighborhood develops around a field), bianyi 變易 (transformation from one state to another, a grain of corn → popcorn). Transformation is approached from multiple points of view (three clistince ones), and is based on a process principle. It thus implies attention to detail over time. Taking notes, photos and videos is recommended in order to make memory more reliable.

Validation: the validation of a MO.O.N., in addition to the correlation, coherence or combination of MO.O.N.s, involves specific evidence, such as the factual (and systematic) observation of at least three capabilities per component that form the core component. Validation is correlated with the identified utility. The result, if useful, can be measured (one can measure a consequence, not a process). The identification of the type of potential on which the operating mode is based is an equally important validation factor. Thus, a MO.O.N., or the weaving of a MO.O.N., cannot be validated by the simple translation of a subject, or by interpretations resulting from purely academic knowledge. Only evidence that can be assessed (and therefore that is observable-understandable) directly – observing the person in action over short to long periods – or indirectly, in other words, from the result and, by investigation, going back to the indications, that could pose a hypothesis, if it can be validated of a MO.O.N. or a combination of MO.O.N.s.