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 Myers-Briggs
This personality assessment,
also known as Myers-Briggs
Type Indicator or MBTI,
is the best known, most
trusted and most widely
administered indicator in
use in organizations today.
Developed concurrently
by psychologist Carl Jung
in Switzerland, and the
mother-daughter team of
Myers-Briggs in the US,
it consistently opens the
world to new possibilities
by providing a model to
interpret puzzling behavior.
Participants have told
me that it changed their
life. Some have told me
it was the most meaningful
model they ever learned.
On at least one occasion
a participant was so enthused
she immediately signed up
to become certified herself.
How does it change
lives?
Generally when someone sees
the world very differently,
we either feel judged by
them, or become judgmental
of the other person. Myers-Briggs
provides a framework for
understanding these baffling
differences in a way that
makes sense.
Fearless Type
Break out of your box. Taking
the Myers-Briggs test (it’s
really a ‘type indicator’)
frees you by identifying
your strengths.
We all operate by
habit, which is highly efficient,
and comes at the cost of
not having to notice the
wide variety of options
for interpretation and action.
Gifts Differing
is the name of the first
book published by Myers
and Briggs, because they
feel every preference offers
gifts. They were motivated
at the time by the hope
that if only we understood
each other, perhaps another
world war would not happen.
Talk about vision!
What are the preferences?
The dimensions indicated
by a questionnaire which
you take on your own, indicates
your preference for:
• where you get your energy
• how you prefer to take
in information
• the process you most consistently
rely on to make decisions
• orientation towards time
and closure, sometimes called
lifestyle preference
How does this help
me at work?
Whether you are a leader
or an individual contributor,
understanding your own habituated
responses expands your options.
Knowledge of your own Myers-Briggs
preferences helps you recognize
how to “translate” from
the language of your preference,
to another person’s preference.
It also helps you be more
aware of how to “recharge
your batteries” when you
have been flexibly meeting
another person’s preferences.
Understanding Myers-Briggs
differences helps you build
a team and be aware of what
preferences would add more
richness and effectiveness.
It can help a team advance
to a new higher level of
functioning.
The
workshop
We have been offering Myers-Briggs
workshops for over 10 years
to hundreds of people. We
use movie clips to illustrate
the different preferences.
Break-out groups and activities
help bring the learning
home.
Teambuilding
Knowledge of Myers-Briggs
helps highlight the value
of differences, and provides
tools for negotiating those.
While a diverse set of preferences
enriches group decision
making and innovation, it
also provides challenges.
Practice with the model
helps a group maximize understanding
of differences.
Coaching
I generally use
Myers-Briggs with Executive
Coaching clients, as it
is a useful reference for
understanding self and others.
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