You’ve Got Personality
I recently gave my team members the Myers-Briggs personality test. It was developed during World War II by a mother and daughter, Katherine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs-Myers. They wanted to help women entering the work force for the first time to find jobs that suited each one’s disposition and strengths.
Their initial questionnaire grew into the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), which was first published in 1962. Since then, it has become the world’s most widely used personality test. As many as 2 million assessments are administered annually.
I wanted to understand my teammates better because—with the exception of one person—the team’s composition has completely changed since Mark and I left the country in 2013 after three years of service. Moreover, the team now has new leadership. It’s a fresh season all around.
When I passed out the questionnaires, I discovered that not everyone was as excited about this assessment as I was. Some folks questioned the value or accuracy of such an examination. Others disliked narrowing down their answers—including one member of my household, who shall remain nameless. See, already the process was yielding insights into various personalities!
But despite their feelings toward the test, my teammates liked me, so they took it. After I tabulated the results and did some research, I discovered—curiously enough—that my personality type is the type most likely to be interested in personality types.
Obviously, we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” in the image of Almighty God (Psalm 139:14). Only He can know us fully. Amazingly the One who sees all still loves us—despite our frailties and shortcomings.
No personality test can quantify the complexity of a unique human being. But I like what the British mathematician George Box said in another context: “All models are wrong, but some are useful.” The MBTI is a just a tool. If it helps me understand and work with my teammates better, then I’ll add it to my toolbox.
The Myers-Briggs assessment measures an individual’s preferences on a spectrum of four pairs of opposites:
Each pairing answers a different question. Please note that these words have technical meanings, which are different from everyday usage. “Introversion,” for example, does not signify “shyness.” “Judgment” does not equal “judgmental.”
1. Where do you draw your energy?
Extraverts (spelled with an “a” instead of an “o” in Myers-Briggs’ vocabulary) are energized in the outer world of people and things, while introverts recharge their batteries alone in the inner world of reflection. I am an introvert. I enjoy spending time among people; but, after much socializing, I need to withdraw to refill my tank.
2. How do you gather information?
According to Psychological Testing: Myers-Briggs Indicator at MentalHelp.net, “Individuals who prefer sensing are more likely to trust information that is in the present, tangible, and concrete: that is, information that can be understood by the five senses. They tend to distrust hunches, which seem to come ‘out of nowhere.’ They prefer to look for details and facts. For them, the meaning is in the data.
On the other hand, those who prefer intuition tend to trust information that is more abstract or theoretical, that can be associated with other information (either remembered or discovered by seeking a wider context or pattern). They may be more interested in future possibilities. They tend to trust those flashes of insight that seem to bubble up from the unconscious mind. The meaning is in how the data relates to the pattern or theory.”
Another way to understand this difference is to contrast words describing each approach to information-gathering:
I trust intuition while I believe my late mother preferred sensing. I remember how—after school each day—Mom would ask me lots of questions about my classes, teachers, and friends. I always felt like she needed detailed, straightforward answers. My recollections of the day were much more vague and abstract. I could share something like, “I had this great conversation with my English teacher after class.” Mom wanted the transcript.
3. How do you make decisions?
The article from MentalHelp.net continues, “Those who prefer thinking tend to decide things from a more detached standpoint, measuring the decision by what seems reasonable, logical, causal, consistent and matching a given set of rules.
Those who prefer feeling tend to come to decisions by associating or empathizing with the situation, looking at it ‘from the inside out’ and weighing the situation to achieve, on balance, the greatest harmony, consensus and fit, considering the needs of the people involved.”
Please note that those who prefer thinking do not necessarily think “better” than their feeling counterparts. And those who prefer feeling do not necessarily have “better” emotional reactions than their thinking counterparts.
4. How do you go about your daily life?
Those with a preference for judging like to “have matters settled.” They are systematic, decisive, seek closure, prefer clear rules and guidelines, and like to plan and schedule activities.
Those with a preference for perception like to “keep decisions open.” They are spontaneous, good at improving, seek freedom, and like to “play it by ear.”
On each of the four spectrums, neither preference is “good” or “bad.” One preference is not “better” than another; they are simply different. It takes all types to make the world go ‘round.
Choosing one preference from each of the four pairings makes for 16 possible combinations or distinct personality types. Each type is identified by its initials. I am an INFJ, which means that I prefer Introversion, iNtuition, Feeling, and Judging. Of the 16 types, the INFJ is the rarest, representing 1.5 percent of the population. Defying the odds on our nine-member team, there are two of us INFJs. As you can imagine, the other woman and I connected immediately! The Good Lord knew that even rare birds need to flock together in the desert. Who else would share my enthusiasm for discussing personality types?
To take a free, abridged version of the Myers-Briggs Personality Test, download the following pdf from wedgworthleadership.com. You can print it off and score it by yourself without having to give your email address to an organization. Once you discover your personality type, just google your type’s four-letter initials to learn more.
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