I few weeks ago I read this article in Slate, where the author attempts to classify the presidential candidates according to their Myers-Briggs personality types. It reminded me of my first job upon graduating from university as an ‘inventory coordinator’ at a container leasing firm (and yes, it was just about as fun as it sounds).
The company (long since bought out and sent to that great business cemetery in the sky) was really interested in cutting edge business ideas and they made me take the MBTI (a three hour process) before my first day on the job. The philosophy was that if everyone knew everyone else’s personality type (we had to post our types prominently in our work space) we’d be more productive. The example that was frequently used was that if we knew that executive ‘A’ liked to engage in small talk before discussing weighty business issues, you could tailor your approach when going in for a meeting. Likewise, some personality types prefer to take time and reflect on issues before making a decision while others prefer to make snap decisions. If you want the latter from someone who prefers the former, you’ll be in for a lot of frustration.
I thought it was kind of dorky when I was working there (what the hell did I know, I was only 23) but know on reflection, I’m starting to see the value of such a tool. One aspect of production in the intelligence cycle that doesn’t get a great deal of attention is audience analysis. It’s important to not only know what information a customer is looking for but also in what format they best absorb that information. Are they visually focused, do they like to fire off questions the minute they pop into their head, do they like ambiguity, etc., etc. The MBTI (or similar tools) would certainly help in such evaluations.
Of course, using such a tool really requires an organization buys into it and uses it on a widespread basis. Mentors would need to make sure new analysts are incorporating this sort of analysis in their production, senior personnel (customers) would need to have the assessment done so that analysts could target their products and all us worker bees would use the assessment in their collaboration efforts. At my company, it was deep in the culture and I don’t think I was in one meeting where a reference to someone’s personality type didn’t come up.
Me? I’m an INTP. I seem to recall being an INTJ when I took the full evaluation way back in 1993 but I don’t remember for sure. It’s pretty shocking how close the write ups are to what I see in myself. Some of the most notable…
“They like being the architect of a plan, because of the scheming and thinking involved, far more than being the implementer of that plan. Implementation tends to be drudgery. They are content to sit back and think about what might work, given their view of the situation. “
“the INTP will become quickly bored with anything that he has successfully analysed to the point of understanding it. Once understood, it has nothing left to offer, once the satisfaction which comes with achieving the goal of understanding diminishes. Indeed, most primary interests of an INTP are things which he cannot fully understand, usually because they are highly complex or have some exotic, mystical element that does not yield to analysis.”
There’s more but I won’t bore you with the details. Pretty fascinating stuff.
You can take a free version of the test here.
