MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR®

What is the MBTI®?

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI ®) is a forced-choice personality inventory, developed by Isabel Briggs Myers and Katharine Cook Briggs. It is based on C.G.Jung's theory of Psychological Types. Its purpose is to make this comprehensive theory of personality practical and useful in people's lives.

Isabel Myers worked on the MBTI® for nearly 40 years, until her death in 1980. The MBTI® has been continually researched and was recently revised in 1998.

The MBTI® is an extremely reliable personality questionnaire. On average, 75% who take the MBTI® report the same result on retake. For those with clear preference results, this can go up to 95%.

The MBTI® and psychological type enables you to use a non-judgemental language to talk about some serious issues, both within an organisation and in counselling and helping people.

Individuals completing the MBTI® are provided with a four letter code (e.g. ISTJ; ENFP etc.) which, when verified, indicate their personality preferences as one of 16 Types. The different type preferences lead to different ways of living and working, taking in information and making decisions. They describe different, effective approaches to working and learning styles and methods, managing, leading, coaching and teaching as well as general communication, teamwork, relationships, counselling etc.

The Benefits of Understanding your Personality Type

Learning Styles: Different Types learn more effectively in different ways. Some like and learn through group work, others don't. Some like to get their hands on what's to be learnt, others don't; some learn through discussion, others reading; some are interested in theory, others practice.

A manager may participate actively in a residential course designed to develop a mission and vision for his company, but may not apply the principles discussed on return to the office unless there is some practical reason or role-modelling by other managers that can convince them to change their approach to management.

This approach can stun fellow managers with a different preference whose mode of thought commonly includes appreciation of new ideas first, before testing out their practicality.

Teambuilding: Type is particularly effective in building and maintaining teams because it identifies similarities and differences in communication styles and how people prefer to work e.g.

Some types want to work smarter, not harder
Some types want to put in minimum input for required output
Some types think if they just work harder, things will work out
Some types want to be liked, in order to do their best work

Some different team approaches can be explained quite simply such as those who need:

• activity to participate, learn and understand

• time to reflect, often by reading, to interact

• hard, tangible data, often visually presented

• to know the vision, the big picture

• to see the logic

• harmony in the team

• to follow the plan, the order

• information in advance, to decide

Communication: Types communicate in different ways:

• big picture

• facts

• values

• objectivity

• talking

• writing etc

Making sure you're understood in the way you want means using type based strategies to deal with others more effectively. Many adult training methods presume the desire for group work and active discussion for all adults. For many types, this is not a productive way to learn unless there's a relevant context.

Leadership: This overused term means different things for different people. For some types, leadership means leaving them alone to do their job. Some usually don't want to follow leaders at all.

Others generally want someone to model the behaviours required, such as a traditional, authority laden role, for others as the leader of action. Some usually look for a charismatic leader.

Type theory contends that all types can lead in a valuable way. Most senior executives, however, prefer a particular type, thus limiting the possible roles and so also guaranteeing particular pitfalls and the invariable need for damage control when something goes wrong and affects people's lives and livelihoods.

Careers/Personal Development: The MBTI® helps people identify career and /or life paths. Your type preferences indicate the skills you're most likely to be able to pick up easily, as well as the occupations that you might be interested in or how you operate within your chosen occupation.

MBTI® can help people to access that part of themselves to find what it is that they feel driven to do and then to see how they can achieve or experience this calling in their job or day-to-day experience

While people whose preferences are consistent with large numbers of those in a particular profession or occupation may feel more comfortable operating in that field, those who have different preferences can add to the perspective and approaches simply through seeing things differently. No organisation benefits from people being much the same, particularly in senior positions.

Type is also useful in strategising interviews and helping people appreciate that everyone is not like them and so work, career expectations can be different. The MBTI points out that there is more than one way of completing a task.

Counselling: Different types get stressed or stimulated in different ways. Counselling strategies are more effective taking type into account, particularly in relationship counselling.