My kids are part of the Facebook community. Just recently they took the MyType test created by BSM Consulting. This test uses a personality methodology developed by Katharine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers that is founded on the typological theories of Carl Gustav Jung. (source: facebook)
According to the Jung - Myers-Briggs typology all people can be classified using four criteria:
1) Extroversion - Introversion,
2) Sensing - Intuition,
3) Thinking - Feeling, and
4) Judging - Perceiving
Different combinations of the criteria determine a type. For example:
ISTJ - Introvert Sensing Thinking Judging - or - ENFP - Extravert INtuitive Feeling Perceiving (source: humanmetrics.com)
For those of you not on Facebook, you can take your own type test at http://humanmetrics.com/#Jung%20Myers-Briggs.
Understanding personality types is a great way to foster communication, learn preferences, build teams and help people find jobs that they have the best chance of succeeding in.
For business and personal growth, I believe that this understanding is a necessity. When building teams, they are like a complex jigsaw puzzle. Anywhere that the pieces do not line up can cause friction amongst team members. If team members better understand how their other team members operate, there will be a greater chance for understanding and harmony. For example, the last criteria mentioned above is "Judging - Perceiving". Judging people usually are very good with detail, they are organized and like to operate within guidelines. Perceiving people love flexibility, are less detailed oriented, and typically dislike guidelines and rules. If someone is a "J" and their job entails detailed work, they should derive satisfaction. If someone is a "P" in the same position, there is a good chance that he/she will be dissatisfied if the detail work makes up a significant portion of their job.
This is also very helpful when looking at strengths and weaknesses of individuals. I am willing to bet that many annual evaluations contain criticisim of observed weaknesses. When in fact, the supervisor has observed evidence of the personality type. This does not mean that we should not work on areas that need improvement or that if we have a predisposition to dislike "guidelines" that we cannot improve our performance. It does mean that supervisors should give greater importance to understanding one another to help each person succeed.
How about the issue of type testing or other testing during the hiring process? Yes, I like to use these tests and others to get a better understanding of an individual's strengths or weaknesses. Do they become the basis for hiring? Absolutely NOT! They become great tools to help us do a better job of understanding a candidate and how they can be a contributor to the organization.
Copyright 2009 Jim Lindell