This module contains background information about Multiple Natures, the organization: Multiple Natures International, and Steven Rudolph, the creator of MN.

To find out more about MNTEST, the Multiple Natures Assessment, you can visit this page.

About Multiple Natures

Founded in 2008 by Steven Rudolph, Multiple Natures (MN) is a groundbreaking philosophy and toolset used by career counselors, individuals, and organizations. Practitioners employ MN to find, nurture, and leverage personal potential for greater satisfaction, balance, and fulfillment in life. MN can be used to develop a stronger sense of purpose, build healthier relationships, and enrich careers. Organizations which utilize MN possess a powerful foundation for fostering leadership and teamwork, increasing employee satisfaction, efficiency, and productivity. Currently, MN is active throughout the United States, Switzerland, France, Lithuania, Poland, India, the UAE, and Sri Lanka. We have trained dozens of coaches and administered the test to over 100,000 people.

At the core of our philosophy lies the idea that every individual has specific intelligences and natures, which constitutes our potential. We believe that when these are identified, aligned, and engaged, our potential is optimized.

Our understanding of intelligences is based on Howard Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences, which holds that intelligence is not a single general ability, but rather a whole spectrum of abilities--Bodily, Interpersonal, Logical, Linguistic, Visual, Musical, Intrapersonal, and Naturalistic. While everyone possesses all of these intelligences, some have them to greater or lesser degrees.

Rudolph has expanded on MI theory, seeing it as only half of the picture. While MI reveals people’s abilities, it doesn’t address why they apply them in certain ways. For example, out of two people who possess strong bodily intelligence, why would one choose to be a mountain climber and another a dancer?

Rudolph conceived MN as a corollary to MI and as a way to account for how people tend to direct their energy. MN holds that people don’t just have innate intelligences, but also natures. Rudolph identifies nine of them--Protective, Educative, Administrative, Creative, Healing, Entertaining, Providing, Entrepreneurial, and Adventurous. These natures are responsible for how people tend to guide their energies in all of their actions and activities. For example, mountain climbers have strong Adventurous Natures while dancers have strong Entertaining Natures.

This combination of MI and MN provides a dynamic framework for individuals to clearly evaluate how well they are aligned with their activities. It enables them to be aware of friction in different aspects of their lives, and adapt their energies more optimally.

The MN Story

Multiple Natures all began 27 years ago when its founder, Steven Rudolph, moved to New York City to pursue a career in music. To supplement his income, he took on a part-time job as an English teacher. Rudolph instantly connected to his new role as an instructor, leading to an epiphany—he was not destined to be a professional musician, but an educator.

After this revelation, Rudolph began pursuing teaching full time and experienced joy like he had never felt before. At the same time, however, he began to notice how many people didn’t find the same level satisfaction in their jobs. As a matter of fact, many people were stressed and unhappy with their careers. It made him wonder why the current education system did so little to help people discover who they were. He wished everyone could get lucky like him and stumble onto what they were supposed to do with their lives.

This wish led him to dream of a world where all people knew their Natures and worked in careers that aligned with their innate potential. Ever since, Rudolph dedicated himself to this dream, taking concrete steps to transform his vision into a reality.

Rudolph’s first project was building a school that would help children discover their unique abilities and set them up for future success. In 1994, he established the Jiva Public School outside of New Delhi, India, with the help of three friends (it currently matriculates over 2000 students from pre primary to grade 12).

As Rudolph ran and expanded the school, he began to hone the tools and methodologies he used to assess innate strengths. He particularly liked Howard Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI), but believed it was incomplete since it didn’t offer much help when choosing a professional path. That’s when he came up with his own theory, Multiple Natures (MN), as complement to MI. Together MI and MN established a more robust framework for career planning. Rudolph soon developed his theory into the MN test and school program, allowing educators to make practical use of his innovative work.

The new test and program began to spread rapidly across schools throughout India, closely followed by the private sector. Companies like the Times of India utilized it for recruitment and reorientation, ultimately incorporating the MN test on their website.

From India, MN exploded internationally, and now has practitioners in the United States, France, Poland, Lithuania, and the UAE. As MN continues to spread globally, Rudolph's dream of a world where all people are happy and work in alignment with their innate potential is rapidly becoming a reality.

The MN Vision and Mission

Vision

As productivity increases and jobs continue to disappear due to automation and artificial intelligence, our society is faced with a challenge--how to engage people meaningfully. With the proliferation of technology, we now have the luxury of time to pursue diverse activities that don’t directly fulfill our needs for survival. This excess of time and options, once an ideal we strived for, has unexpectedly left us with a dilemma: what should people do? Caught in this maelstrom of abundance, more and more people end up seeking refuge in external sources of stimulation or flow, such as recreational eating, using stimulants, and acquiring excessive material possessions. The result of this trend is ultimately unsustainable, leading to personal and environmental degradation.

By helping people find deep and lasting pleasure through engaging their potential, MN establishes a future where sustainability and harmony can prevail.

Mission Statement

Our mission is to develop and promote innovative MN training programs and tools so that by 2030 every person on the planet will have the power to identify their nature and engage in society meaningfully.

For more information on the Multiple Natures organization, visit MultipleNatures.com