Each type, at work.
Benedict's Chapter VII gave each constitutional type a list of trades it was made for and a list of trades it was made wrong for. The trades have changed since 1921; the underlying logic has not. This is the modernised version, with Benedict's original role kept beside each entry.
By type
What suits the Digestive: roles where the work product is the relationship between the institution and the people it serves.
Thrives in Hospitality lead, Restaurateur, Family-firm principal, Clinic manager / GP front-of-house.
What suits the Circulatory: roles that are live, public, and high-tempo, where the work happens in a room with other people in it.
Thrives in Frontline sales (live, in-person), Founding-stage operator, Performer (musician, actor, presenter), Journalist / on-air correspondent.
What suits the Muscular: roles where output is observable, where the work has a shippable artefact, and where execution under pressure is the thing.
Thrives in Operations leadership, Trades (carpentry, plumbing, mechanic, builder), Surgeon, Founder-as-operator.
What suits the Skeletal: long-cycle work where the rewards arrive after most of the audience has stopped watching.
Thrives in Judiciary, Senior researcher (slow science), Architect, Institutional leader (university, museum, religious order).
What suits the Cerebral: roles where the artefact is a model — the design, the framework, the argument, the system.
Thrives in Research scientist, Writer / journalist with a thesis, Designer (product, type, system), Software architect.
By trade
Alphabetical lookup. Each trade lists the primary type best suited to it, the secondary that completes the picture, and a one-line note on why.
| Trade | Primary | Secondary | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Architect | Skeletal | Cerebral | Long-horizon design; the building outlasts the architect. Skeletal patience plus Cerebral structure. |
| Athlete (endurance) | Skeletal | Muscular | Endurance over years; the body and the patience to use it. |
| Athlete (explosive) | Muscular | Circulatory | Short-burst, high-output, decisive movement under pressure. |
| Auditor | Skeletal | Cerebral | Saying *no* steadily for years; long careful argument. |
| Banker (markets) | Circulatory | Muscular | Live, fast, decisive; the trading floor at its best. |
| Banker (relationship) | Digestive | Skeletal | Long-cycle trust businesses; the deal closes after years of not asking. |
| Builder | Muscular | Skeletal | The artefact is the answer; mastery is slow. |
| Cabinetmaker | Skeletal | Muscular | Patience plus hands; the work survives the worker. |
| Chef (head) | Muscular | Digestive | Operations under load with warmth at the front of house. |
| Civil servant | Skeletal | Cerebral | Institutional time; careful argument that compounds across decades. |
| Designer (product) | Cerebral | Muscular | Externalised model that has to ship. |
| Doctor (GP) | Digestive | Cerebral | Long-cycle relational practice with diagnostic depth. |
| Doctor (surgeon) | Muscular | Cerebral | Decisive kinetic work with structural understanding. |
| Engineer | Cerebral | Muscular | Model that has to compile; the engineer-founder pairing. |
| Entrepreneur (early) | Circulatory | Muscular | Founding-stage chaos; charisma plus execution. |
| Entrepreneur (operator) | Muscular | Skeletal | The founder who runs the thing. |
| Founder-CEO (long-cycle) | Skeletal | Cerebral | The institutional founder; the company is a building. |
| Hospitality lead | Digestive | Circulatory | Warmth at scale; the institution is the host. |
| Journalist (foreign) | Circulatory | Cerebral | Stimulus-rich live transmission with structural understanding. |
| Judge | Skeletal | Cerebral | Long horizons; careful argument; no need to be liked. |
| Lawyer (appellate) | Cerebral | Skeletal | Structured argument over years. |
| Lawyer (trial) | Circulatory | Muscular | Live performance; decisive in the room. |
| Mediator | Digestive | Cerebral | Warmth plus structural understanding of the conflict. |
| Nurse (senior) | Digestive | Muscular | Relational frontline that runs on capable hands. |
| Operator (chief) | Muscular | Skeletal | Engine-room of the institution. |
| Pilot | Muscular | Skeletal | Decisive, repeatable, under pressure; rules-respecting. |
| Researcher | Cerebral | Skeletal | Long attention to a single problem. |
| Sales (complex) | Digestive | Cerebral | Long-cycle relational sale. |
| Sales (live) | Circulatory | Digestive | In-room persuasion. |
| Strategist | Cerebral | Skeletal | Structured argument; long horizons. |
| Teacher (primary) | Digestive | Muscular | Warmth plus capable hands; the teacher remembered for thirty years. |
| Teacher (university) | Cerebral | Skeletal | Transmission of structure; depth over breadth. |
| Trader | Circulatory | Muscular | Live, fast, decisive. |
| Writer (journalism) | Circulatory | Cerebral | Live transmission; thesis underneath. |
| Writer (long-form) | Cerebral | Skeletal | Books that take a decade; the model is the work. |