Employment Research Institute's Chief Executive Officer, A. Harrison Barnes, in a webinar as he discussed and analyzed the characteristics of tangible and intangible people.

You are either motivated by tangibles or by intangibles. Understanding whether you are a tangible or intangible person is incredibly important to understanding the sort of career you should be pursuing, and how you should be spending your time. A tangible person is more likely to ask for concrete proof of things; focus on the present moment rather than promises about the future; and act only if he or she is sure about something. Such people are comfortable with routine and predictive sort of tasks; are excellent at handling detail-oriented tasks; and do things that have very clear guidelines. On the contrary, the intangible person prefers to be in jobs where he or she can come up with new ideas; see new opportunities; do not rely on facts and predictable routines; and see how their work fits into the overall scheme of things.

A great number of people’s impression of the world is based primarily on intangibles and on ‘what feels right’. What sort of a person are you? You need to be in a profession that makes use of your natural inclination. You are either slanted towards being a tangible or an intangible. Harrison concludes on the lines that numerous people fail in all sorts of jobs simply because they were in a job that did not make use of their particular skills and interests. You need to understand what sort of person you are, and to make sure that you are working in a job that takes this into account.