HBO Max’s new documentary is an all-out attack on how personality assessments, like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI®), are being used throughout talent management at companies — hiring, developing, and placing employees. A great deal of what Executive Producer Merve Emre is reporting is true: The wholesale abuse of personality tools occurs throughout organizational life.…
DetailsResponding to the question: How was type represented (and misrepresented) in the HBOMAX show PERSONA? A psychometrician’s reaction to the Movie Persona . . . It is an interesting movie! I will watch it again to ensure I catch it all. I do have a response based upon a first look: There are often individuals…
DetailsWhat strategies will make YOU successful in business? A group of C-suite executives agreed that the key to a rising business career includes four main characteristics. They are described below in our series, “The 4-eyed employee” : So what are we talking about? The first “eye” or “I” attribute is the underlying foundation for business…
DetailsThis blog covers some of the things that I have learned about the power that is found in the 8-Process Scores when combining the scores in meaningful ways. It involves using a calculator (in brain or electronic) and adding up pairs of scores. We have presented to us the attitudes of E and I (all…
DetailsWe live in the three-pound universe between our ears, but it’s surprising how little most people know about themselves. How we see the world develops from our earliest years as our innate, inborn tendencies (our temperament) interact with our experiences and the environment to build underlying patterns of thinking, emotions, and other characteristics that become…
DetailsMagic is about making things happen using mysterious forces. We all accept that behind the magician’s act are “knowable” steps to repeat the magical moment. We are actually all using magic on a daily basis. We can describe and detail how our brain works right down to the molecules of chemistry interacting. However, how and…
DetailsMany people believe that psychological type consists of four pairs of opposing preferences. Learn the pairs and the behaviors associated with each one, and that’s all there is to it. When you read Jung’s (1921/1971, paras. 570, 571, 575, 588, 608, 637, 736, 764, 956) Psychological Types, you discover there is a lot more to…
DetailsIn the book Straight Talk: Turning Communication Upside Down for Strategic Results, Eric Douglas describes four different communication styles: the director, expresser, thinker and harmonizer. Each different style is based on a unique set of assumptions. Here’s a quick snapshot:
This weekend a colleague thrust another “personality type is useless” article in front of me. I was asked to explain what was right or wrong in the critique. I pointed out that the article consistently referred to a narrative about the type tools, which is pretty old. It was developed by a non-psychologist bored housewife. …
DetailsNothing last forever – not even our troubles. – Arnold H. Glasow In Bits & Pieces, a story is shared about Somerset Maugham, the English writer who once wrote a story about a janitor at St. Peter’s Church in London. One day a young vicar discovered that the janitor was illiterate and fired him. Jobless,…
DetailsI recall my first exposure to Psychological Type (mid 1980s). After completing an assessment I was told a litany of what I prefer. Most of the information that I received was accurate and very helpful. Some of it was off and a bit confusing. This is not a criticism of the 16-Type model or any…
DetailsSince my introduction to type as a professional in 1992, knowledge about type has proven incredibly valuable in my home and work life. Using the multiple lenses of type (see Figure 1) my personality type code ENFJ, provides shorthand for capturing the following rich information.
Why would a professional want to use the Elements of Personality Type (subscales)? People have long known that individuals of the same type can function and appear differently. This has at times been a frustration for professionals because they have two people of the same type and yet they seem to be opposites in some…
DetailsHave you ever watched a highly functioning department accomplish a goal or objective? The secret ingredient I have noticed is that “natural leadership” is encouraged from every team member or participant. Within groups, each participant brings a unique combination of skills, talent or style to the discussion. Great groups take advantage of this uniqueness.…
DetailsIn this blog, I’ll discuss a practical ethical method of using the 8-Process scores in a group or team context. This method can be applied to dyads or large organizations. There is a lot of power in the information provided in the scores, but errors in use can come from errors in beliefs. There are…
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