Myers Briggs Personality type Indicator. That very sentence has already had a polarising effect, right? I know this because I have heard nearly every opinion that people have about this kind of awareness training, from the passionately in favour through to the completely against and the full spectrum in between.
Generally though, there are three common opinions:
Firstly those that are against any kind of categorising of people. Their whole approach to their life and work is based on the very fact that we are a species of infinite capabilities, and so they believe that to categorise people is to put limits and boundaries on what is possible.
Secondly, those that are ‘all for it and back again’, believing passionately that this kind of awareness training genuinely does aid understanding and build tolerance.
Thirdly those that just love to know as much as they can about the human condition.
For myself, I’m in the third category, but I do believe that engagement with MBTI stands or falls based on how individuals were first introduced to the subject.
Every effective MBTI practitioner should intrinsically know that people must never leave a feedback or training session without the deep understanding that we all use all aspects of our personality; and that the process only highlights those that we favour or show preference for. It should be placed in the context of the wider development of the mind and consciousness, and it should be described in terms that are loose fittings with fluid parameters. We should also be looking out for the people leaving a session wearing their type as a badge which they believe grants them an entitlement to be off balance or who feel categorised.
You see this is because I think there is a fundamental flaw in the way that trainers tend to run MBTI development sessions. They set out to illustrate the differences in types with exercises designed to draw out behaviours that emphasise the dichotic nature of opposing types; you do this, and you leave very little room for people to display a more rounded personality. Better I think, to illustrate the slower more exhaustive nature of working against type. For example, If I told you that you had to write a letter to someone using your non-preferred hand but that you had all day to do it in, you could probably make a passable attempt at it. You would be slower for sure and a tad messier, but all of the content and substance would be present. If I told you that you had only 10 minutes to write the letter, then the stress of operating against your preferred hand would build with the pressure.
This is without a doubt what it’s all about. When you are operating in your preferred way, things are smooth and flow. Going against type, you can still be equally skilled and accomplished, it’s just harder work that’s all, and will take more from you in terms of thought, energy and emotion. In the shorter term, this can be experienced as either a stressful or exhilarating feeling, but operating against your preference in multiple areas for longer times, well in those circumstances, you have to ensure that you’re monitoring and caring for your overall resilience, and it’s here that the true value of understanding your preferences lies.
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