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About the Myers Briggs Type
Indicator
What is it?
It’s a personality measure – but it’s much more!
Before explaining what it is, we should explain clearly what it
isn’t. It doesn’t measure ability; it doesn’t measure sanity (or
insanity); and it shouldn’t be used (on its own at least) for
selection. So what does it do?
Jung’s theory of psychological
type posits that there are a number of brain functions that are
binary, like a light switch. We can do one or the other – but we
can’t do them at the same time. In this, they are like left- and
right-handedness. And in the same way, we develop a preference for
one, and leave the other undeveloped.
The questionnaire helps us to understand our preferences for each
function – and how that affects our working style and our way of
communicating and relating to others.
The first of these dimensions –
the E/I dimension – is about energy. People who get their energy
from the outer world of people and things, Jung called extraverts –
literally, ‘turned outwards’. A preference of this kind tends to
lead people to have
· a preference for action
· a tendency to breadth, to knowing a little about a lot
· a need to do their thinking outwardly, by talking things over
· an open, ‘WYSIWYG’ personality – what you see, is what you get!
Of course, they can do the opposite: but it
will drain their energy, and feel like hard work.
Contrasting with them are ‘introverts’. Introversion has for
many years had a bad press (there is a famous if untraceable story
about a comment heard in an American supermarket queue, ‘My daughter
used to be an introvert, but she’s better now’.) But the term
‘introversion’ merely means that your energy is turned, and tuned,
to the inner world of thoughts and concepts, so that
· you will feel most at home in your inner life
· your strengths will lie in deep reflection rather than quick
action, and you will usually be more of a specialist, knowing ‘a lot
about a little’ (or having few friends, but knowing them very well)
· you will typically keep something of yourself in reserve
· in order to give of your best, others will need to allow you time
to think things over – to consult your inner sources of judgement
and experience and to pay attention to what they say.
Of course, introverts can and do extravert:
but it drains their energy, and can leave them with nothing to spare
for social interaction at the end of the day.
The second dimension, the S/N
scale, is about how we take in information. When we use our Sensing
function, we rely on the evidence from our senses – we take in what
is there, what is available to our five senses. People with a
well-developed preference for Sensing will tend to
· see what is, accept reality as it is
· enjoy the material side of life
· be realistic, practical, comfortable with detail
· adapt existing things
· focus on the past (because it is real and has really happened) and
the present (because it is really happening now)
· ask ‘What’ questions: ‘what needs to be done? What do you want me
to do?’
The contrasting way of taking in
information is through possibilities, connections, meanings,
relationships, patterns – in essence, not seeing how things are, but
how things might be. (It is sometimes said that ‘scientists see what
everyone has seen, but notice what nobody has noticed’, and that
ability to make connections and draw conclusions is characteristic
of Intuition as the term is used here.) People with a well-developed
preference for Intuition (it is always shortened to N to avoid
confusion with I for Introversion) are likely to
· see what might be, question reality
· be visionary, speculative, look beyond the present and the given
· seek out ‘big picture’ solutions and explanations
· invent new things
· focus on the future (because it hasn’t happened yet and so gives
plenty of scope)
· ask ‘Why’ questions: ‘why are we doing this? Why does it have to
be like this?’
The third dimension is the T/F
scale – Thinking and Feeling. This scale examines how we make
decisions. Jung argued that there are two perfectly rational, but
entirely separate, ways of reaching decisions. (The terms are used
here in quite a special sense: ‘thinkers’ don’t necessarily think
better, and ‘feelers’ don’t necessarily feel more.) When you use
your Thinking function to make a decision, you use logical
principles, you weigh things up carefully – even to the point of
counting the ‘for’ and ‘against’ arguments – and you remain
impersonal. If you have feelings, you seek to discount them: : ‘I
try not to act according to feelings unless there is a rational
explanation for them’ (Thinking type quoted in Bayne, 1995).
Thinking seeks to fit the world, and our experiences, into a logical
order. And its ultimate goal – even if there is a price to pay for
it – is truth.
The Feeling function reaches
decisions differently – with reference to values and beliefs. What
is the most important value at stake in a decision? What is the
right thing to do? Your guide is values and beliefs – sometimes
accessed almost by instinct rather than by a process that you can
spell out and make explicit. The Feeling function emphasizes
relationship and connection (rather than the detachment which is a
key value for the Thinking function). Feeling seeks to fit the
world, and our experiences, into a moral order. And the prime goal
of feeling – even if there is a price to pay for it – is harmony.
The fourth dimension is the J/P
scale – Judging and Perceiving – and it identifies how we like to
live our outer lives. (This, incidentally, is the scale which often
plays out most visibly in family life!). People with a Judging
preference seek closure; they wish their lives were organised,
planned, and controlled, they like the comfort of getting things
decided and settled, they enjoy having dates in the diary so that
they know where they will be and what they will be doing well into
the future, thus minimising uncertainty. Not surprisingly, a lot of
Js are managers in organisations: after all, they like things to be
... organised! They are usually great list-makers – not just making
lists, but enjoying the sensuous pleasure of crossing things off
them as they get done. If you want to keep a Judging type happy,
remember their motto: No surprises!
People with a Perceiving
preference look across at Judging types and think ... how sad! Get a
life! The Perceiving preference is for incoming information – for
leaving things open as long as possible – for curiosity,
spontaneity, variety, trying things out to see if you like them. (Tigger’s
exploratory approach to diet in Winnie the Pooh is a perfect example
of Perceiving in action.) Judging types can make themselves adapt;
Perceiving types naturally prefer adaptability and flexibility. The
structure that gives Judging types confidence and security, is
experienced by Perceiving types as a constraint and a prison: Don’t
tie me down! And the readiness of Perceiving types to leave things
to the last minute – because that’s the only way it is possible to
guarantee having the maximum amount of information – is seen by
Judging types as disorganisation and procrastination.
The linkages with family life are most obvious here: Perceiving
children leaving their homework to the last minute, to the dismay of
their Judging parents; the Judging partner wanting their week – or
their holiday – carefully structured with every day filled, while
the Perceiving partner wants to leave things open and ‘see how I
feel on the day’; the Judging partner sustained by lists, the
Perceiving partner watching with puzzled amusement.
How reliable is it?
The research base is huge and growing and its validity has been
tested and established world-wide. Over three million people take it
in English each year and it is now available in fifteen languages.
What’s different about it?
It looks at strengths – at what you’re like at your best. There are
no ‘wrong answers’ to the questionnaire!
How can it help?
It can help you and others to
- find their personal ‘best fit’ in job choice and work environment
- identify and resolve blocks and barriers to communication
- develop and apply a quick and effective problem-solving
methodology
- pick the right people in a team for the different roles and
responsibilities
- understand their life choices, and make better ones
How do I find out more?
Contact us at info@k2leadership.co.uk
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