Transactional Analysis Journal

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The Behavior Matrix: A New View of Time

Structuring

Elliot M. Fox

To cite this article: Elliot M. Fox (1978) The Behavior Matrix: A New View of Time Structuring,
Transactional Analysis Journal, 8:2, 153-157, DOI: 10.1177/036215377800800216

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 The Behavior Matrix:
A New View of Time Structuring
Elliot M. Fox*
Summary
Applying the concept of time structuring
to the full range of human behavior re-
quires a more flexible and comprehensive
concept than the one presently in use,
especially as TA continues to move toward
fulfilling its potential for an ever widening
range of applications. The familiar six-fold
classification . of transactions is here
placed within a more inclusive classification
of the ways in which human time is struc-
tured, namely a matrix consisting of five
levels of behavior (mind, body, surround-
ings, transactions, organization) and four
modes of behavior (maintenance, prepara-
tion, replay, innovation).
Classifications of time structuring are
useful in helping us to analyze and evaluate
the way we now structure our time so that
we may revise earlier choices and improve
the quality of our lives by a planned pro-
cess of restructuring.
While currently used classifications work
well enough within the contexts for which
they were intended, they leave areas that
need further definition and clarification, a
need that becomes especially apparent as
TA continues to fulfill its potential for an
ever widening range of applications (Berne
1961, 1964, 1966, 1972; Fox, 1975). For
that reason, I propose here a more inclusive
classification of the ways in which human
time is structured, a classification that I
have found to be useful in suggesting areas
within which contracts for change may be
made.
·Thanks are due to members of the TA Systems Institute of Washington, D.C., whose comments helped to make
this a better paper.
Vol. 8, No.2, April 1978
Levels Of Behavior
There are five levels of behavior within
which time may be structured:
1) Mind. Phenomenology of the brain
and nervous system, including emotion,
cognition, thinking, judging, internal dia-
logue, fantasy-everything the mind can
do with or without attendant external action.
TA handles this aspect of behavior under
the headings of structural and functional
analysis.
2) Body. Action of the body musculature,
physical pain and comfort, internal func-
tions and external actions, including speech.
3) Surroundings. Actions that affect
one's physical ("non-transactional") sur-
roundings, relocation of objects, construc-
tion, destruction, adjusting, repairing,
manufacturing and writing-any human
behavior that changes the state or location
of any object outside one's own body.
4) Transactions. Actions affecting and
affected by the actions of other people,
communication through the use of words,
written or spoken, or other movement of
the body musculature or items in the sur-
roundings. Rituals, pastimes, games, acti-
vity, intimacy, withdrawal.
5) Organization. Mutual agreement for
the regulation of transactions necessary to
accomplish a purpose requiring the coopera-
tion of two or more people. The procecs of
organizing requires a particular type of
transactions, namely, an exchange of re-
quests and promises-sthat is te say, a con-
tract. A therapy group is an example of an
organization with a relatively limited and
closely defined contract; unencumbered by
153
ELLIOT M. FOX
complicating purposes, it is free to do one
thing well. Societies, families, institutions,
companies and other established human
associations often have concurrent purposes
that engender conflict. Traditional associa-
tions are largely based on unspoken con-
tracts. One incorporates the rules as part of
one's upbringing (Adapted Child) or makes
an Adult commitment to regulate indivi-
dual behavior according to the conventions
of the group in return for the benefits of
membership.
The first three levels may be represented
diagrammatically by three concentric circles
-mind within body within surroundings
with behavior radiating out from the center.
The transactions level includes at least
one other person who also has a mind and
body and who must share some aspect of
the surroundings with the partner to the
transaction. Figure 1 illustrates these rela-
tionships in a transaction. Organization, of
course, depends on the ability of the parties
to transact.
SURROUNDINGS
Figure 1
Relationships ina transaction
The organizational level is the most com-
plex. It involves regulated transactions,
unregulated or personal transactions, actions
affecting the surroundings, physical needs
and reactions of the members, and-at the
center of it all-their minds. It is not possible
to make a change in an organization without
affecting somebody's mind.
Modes Of Behavior
On each level of behavior there are four
possible modes that can be considered in
connection with planning one's life and
structuring one's time in a more healthy
fashion, both from an individual and from
an organization point of view. They are:
154
1) Maintenance. Maintenance behavior
is essential for every living process, which
by nature wears itself out and needs to be
replenished and restored. This need ex-
tends to all aspects of life. Our minds need
to be refreshed and updated and our bodies
fed, rested, exercised and groomed. Our
surroundings must be tended; the grass has
to be cut, the roof repaired, the clothes
washed and the house cleaned. Our rela-
tionships with others need to be kept alive,
friendships kept in repair and strains and
breaks resolved. Organizational procedures
must be monitored and enforced; income
has to be collected, bills paid, letters
answered and mailing lists updated. When
we have done all these things, we are still
about where we were when we started.
Like Alice, we have to keep running just to
stay where we are.
2) Preparation. Preparations are often
necessary in order to do something else.
They include operations such as clearing
the decks for action, setting up equipment,
making arrangements, exploring possibilities,
laying groundwork, rethinking positions,
decathecting tapes, warming up the muscles,
pastiming before getting down to business,
engaging in exploratory discussions, retiring
obsolete procedures, planning for contin-
gencies, conducting feasibility studies and
pilot programs. Properly speaking, prepara-
tion, like maintenance, is done not for itself
alone but in order to make some other
kind of behavior possible. "Be Prepared,"
say the Boy Scouts, and very good advice it
is, but a person with a certain type of non-
winner script can spend a lifetime preparing
without ever quite getting around to
the accomplishment.
3) Replay. Replay is repetitive behavior
that can be an end in itself. Much of our
lives is occupied in the reuse of existing
knowledge, skills, and habits, following
normal channels, practices, rules and regu-
lations, producing established products
and services, rerunning old tapes, reviving
memories, repeating performances, replay-
ing rituals, pastimes and games.
4) Innovation. Innovation is new behavior
that can be an end in itself. It means think-
ing, feeling, or doing something that has
not been a part of one's life before. It in-
Transactional Analysis Journal

eludes the creativity of a Beethoven or an
Einstein, and it also includes the first step
taken by a child, or a meal at a "new"
restaurant. Innovation includes developing
new concepts and plans, learning new skills
or subject matter, making new decisions,
increasing one's strength and endurance,
fashioning new artifacts, creating new
pictures, writings, inventions or songs,
going to new places, establishing new rela-
tionships, revising organizational structures,
developing new policies, practices and
channels, researching and developing new
products and services.
Any of the above modes flows easily into
any other, and various relationships between
them are possible. Figure 2 represents this
ease of flow and interrelationship by show-
ing direct access between all four of the
modes. Maintenance and preparation are
in the inner circle to indicate their centrality
and position of service with respect to replay
and innovation, which may be ends in
themselves.
I reasonable balance of all four modes at
-: --I ........
<,
R I
E o
p / MAINTENANCE
L
A
\- -P;~R~ION- ~I
y I
\ /
'-
" -,-
I
/'
/
Figure 2
Interrelationship ofmodes
Behavior Matrix
The five levels and four modes of beha-
vior combine to form the Behavior Matrix,
which is shown in Figure 3. The grid format
of presentation makes the matrix appear
more rigid than it really is, and for this
reason it is important to remember the
relationships between the levels of behavior
shown in Figure 1 and the ease of flow from
any mode to any other as represented in
Vol. 8, No.2, April /978
THE BEHA VIOR MATRIX
Figure 2. It is also important to note the
following:
• Different modes may operate simul-
taneously on different levels. A golfer or
tennis player combines exercise with socia-
bility, may practice new skills and establish
new personal relationships or reaffirm old
ones all in the same time frame. Multi-level
and multi-modal life styles are probably
. more exciting and fulfilling than the simpler
one-at-a-time, but then different people
seem to thrive on different styles.
• Two people in a transaction are not
necessarily in the same behavioral mode.
A student may be learning something new
which is replay for the teacher.
• The same behavior may appear to be in
different modes when viewed from different
points of view. Service and repair work will
be classified as maintenance activity from
the management's point of view, but in
relation to the person who does the work,
it may appear to be replay.
Applications
A healthy and fulfilling life will have a
I
N
each level of behavior, but it is up to the
individual or the organization to determine
\ N what a reasonable balance is in each partic-
ular case. For example, there are people
\ V with great creative ability who devote lots
A
T
of time to their creative pursuits. They con-
centrate on mental innovation and give
o minimal attention to their surroundings,
N health, friendships, and organized entangle-
ments. Less exotic people go to work every
day, do a job they are familiar with,
socialize with a regular circle of friends,
and satisfy their innovative needs by look-
ing for new places to play golf or go camping.
One life style is not necessarily less or
more fulfilling than another, but all of them
may profit by reevaluation.
To do this, examine each square of the
matrix and compare it with your own life,
making your own judgement on its relevance
to your needs. Then, take a representative
period of time, such as a day or a week,
and identify the amount of that time that
is spent within each square of the matrix.
The purpose is not to arrive at some kind
of arithmetic or graphic nicety, but to get
155
VI P".~ $l) tT1
0-
- t""
O::r ...... r-
:::I (1) (1)
MODE MAINTENANCE - PREPARATION - Pre- REPLAY - Replay, INNOVATION - Inno- 0 ..... (1)
Maintain, preserve, pare, plan, clear off, repeat, rerun, retain, vate, create, develop,
. . . g-- 0-l
=-.""1 Q>
repair, restore, re- make way, setup, carry on, reuse, revive. originate, invent, re- a So'" ~
plenish, recover, up- arrange, warm up. search, explore, learn. !D$l)::r 'Tl
0
LEVEL date. ~ ;;. ~ ><
0. .....
"0 ::r 0
-(1):::1
MIND- Emotion, Meditate, pray, re- Rethink, retire out- Reuse knowledge, re- Develop new concepts, ~ a (1)~
cognition, thinking, fresh memory, update mooed beliefs and ru n tapes, revive learn new subject o '"
judging, internal dia- knowledge. attitudes, deactivate memories, repeat matter, make new ~ l"""1"-'
~ '" -
'<",(»'
logue, fantasy. unwanted tapes. fantasies. decisions. '"
"""'fo) $l)
l"""'t- _ .
o ~.tI'J
..,_. '<...... "0'"
BODY - Physical Breathe, drink, eat, Limber up, warm up. Repeat habitual skills, Learn new skills, new a --(1)
feeling, internal func- exercise, rest, sleep, performances, performances; increase "0:::1:::1
.., 0Cl .....
tlons,actlon, speech. cure; cosmetic and motions, postu res. strength orendurance. o 0. ~
;S. v;o c,
sanitary care. :::I "0 (1)
0Cl 0 Q.

SURROUNDINGS - Repai r, replace, re- Set up, arrange, Reproduce artifacts Create new artifacts, P"7"fr
Physical ambience, new, preserve, paint, clear off. and arrangements, pictures, writings, in-
cr'"
objects (non-trans- clean, polish, oil. manufactu re. ventlons, songs; goto t: 0
..... .., -
t ::::I
actional aspects). new places. $l) n
_~a
TRANSACTIONS - Keep relationships Terminate restrictive Repeat transaction Establish new relation- <2 0.
. . . Sl.....
Rituals, pastimes, alive, friendships in relationships, ex- patterns, speeches, ships and transactions, o $l) n
activity, games, inti- repair; reconcile change preliminary performances. deepen or make new ...... S;;~
o ...... (1)
macy, withdrawal. breaks. information orfeelings. intimacies, take new :::I
(1) ~
0.., '"
::;i tacks. "'~ ~ a
'"'"::s ..... n(1)
ORGANIZATION - Enforce estabished Lay groundwork, call Follow normal Develop new policies, -- ::r a
..,'" 3
(1) $l) 0..,
6"
::s RegUlated transactions practices, procedu res, for action, retire obso- channels and prac- practices, channels, "',<
~ under contract, explicit quality, standards. lete procedu res, study tices; reproduce products, services. a ~_.
~
orimplicit; activity $l)
'<(1) '"
::s feasibility, plan for products, services.
and process. contingencies. cr~$l)
~
'"
OJ"
'" (1) _.t: a '"
:>1":::1 ......
~ Figure 3 ('D~::t!
::::
., ~ e. O.
::s Behavior Matrix o (1)
s, _.:::1 :::l
...... ~ .....

further precision is wanted. For the most
part, an hour is the smallest unit of time
that is worth keeping track of. Smaller
units become onerous and invite a "be
perfect" sabotage of the whole endeavor
(Kahler with Capers, 1974).
In planning for the restructuring of one's
time, it is useful to identify whatever time
segments are prescribed by one's work
environment and life style. Many of us
spend somewhere between 10 and 12 hours
a day eating, sleeping, reading the paper,
dressing, undressing, and getting to and
from work. This segment, which might be
called the "life support" segment, is mostly
expended in maintenance and preparation
of mind, body and surroundings. It profits
from being examined for efficiency and
content, and some innovation in this seg-
ment will not only enliven one's life, but
will make the maintenance and preparation
more effective. An eight-hour work segment
is a regular feature of many lives. Here the
time may be more or less structured by the
organization. Many jobs are largely replay,
although there is often more opportunity
for innovation than is used. The family is
also an organization and structures time
for its members. Lack of innovation here
leads to lackluster marriages, dull family
life and, sometimes, divorce. The time
not structured by family, work, or "life
support," such as evening and weekend
time, may be called discretionary time.
This segment, which normally offers the
greatest opportunity for personal renewal,
is all too often given over to a well-worn
path of uninspired replay.
Within each time segment, it is instruc-
tive to determine the balance of the various
modes and levels of behavior and to ask
whether this balance is imposed by the
nature of the circumstances, is a habitual
replay based on decisions that are no longer
relevant, or is a genuine source of joy and
satisfaction. It should be noted that any or
all of the ego states may be involved at
any point. While one would expect the
Free Child to be especially active in innova-
tive behavior, the Adapted Child in replay,
the Parent in maintenance, and the Adult
in preparation, such characterizations are
mainly a matter of emphasis since the Adult
Vol. 8, No.2, April 1978
THE BEHA VIOR MATRIX
is appropriate to any mode, and an active
Free Child can surely find pleasure in all
of them.
Organizations, like individuals, differ in
the balance of behavior modes and levels
that are appropriate to them. Certain types
of research or consulting firms place a
high value on innovation and may keep
their numbers relatively' small to avoid
bureaucratic complexities, which means
for one thing that they can keep their
maintenance activities on the organizational
level to a minimum. On the other hand, a
firm that supplies a product or service that
is in fairly constant demand may survive
quite well-for the time being at least-on
little beyond maintenance and replay.
In applying the behavior matrix to
organizations it will usually be necessary to
separate out departmental or functional
entities in order to break the task up into
units of manageable size. Whether used by
an individual observer or as a structure for
group discussion, the behavior matrix pro-
vides a means of analyzing an important
aspect of the present situation, is a stimulus
for identifying directions of change, and
forms a structure around which plans may
be made for implementation.
Elliot M. Fox, PhD, is a candidate for
Special Fields Membership in the ITAA and a
member of the TA Systems Institute in
Washington, D.C. He lives in Alexandria,
Virginia.
REFERENCES
Berne, E. Games people play. New York: Grove
Press, 1964, 16-19.
Berne, E. Principles of group treatment. New York:
Oxford, 1966,230-232.
Berne, E. Structure and dynamics of organizations
and groups. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1963, 42,
146-169.
Berne, E. Transactional analysis in psychotherapy.
New York: Grove Press, 1961, 86.
Berne, E. What do you say after you say hello? New
York: Grove Press, 1972,22-25.
Fox, E. Eric Berne's theory of organization. Trans-
actional Analysis Journal, 1975,5, 345-353.
Kahler, T. with Capers, H. The miniscript. Transac-
tional Analysis Journal, 1974,4, 26-42.
157