What’s your type?

Have you ever taken a personality test? I am kinda obsessed with them, especially now that they are freely accessible.

I think I probably took my first Myers-Briggs test when I was in college or maybe in my first job. I could never remember the results – mainly because all the letters sound the same. A few years ago I found ​www.16personalities.com​ and suddenly I can remember. This methodology is Myers-Briggs-esque, but has some additional aspects AND it assigns each of the personality types with an avatar – which makes it so much easier to remember!

There is an extensive methodology description available on the website, so it’s legit, but that’s not what I’m here to discuss. Interested social scientists can find more on the methodology ​here​.

I LOVE to use the results of this test with teams at work. There are lots of similar resources out there, and I’d probably like any of them – I just use 16 Personalities because it’s free.

I think there is so much to learn about yourself and your colleagues by looking at your personality. I haven’t met a person yet who has taken the quiz and said “Nope, that’s not me at all.” Most of the people I know have been more towards the side of “This is so accurate, I can’t stop laughing at myself.”

That’s not to say it’s perfect – there are a few things in my own description I would challenge, but for the most part – it’s me to a T.

Besides just being fascinating and fun to do — what’s the benefit of using this at work?

First, you learn more about yourself, like:

• How to play into your strengths and pay attention to/accommodate your weaknesses.
• Why some activities drain you and some give you energy, why you are motivated to do some tasks more than others

Second, you can learn about your colleagues, including:

• Understanding how to work more effectively with your peers
• Identifying best ways to communicate with your manager or those who report to you

And finally, You can learn about your team as a whole.

• Are we all very similar? Is there one or two outliers? How does that play out in team dynamics?
• If our team challenges are very similar, what accommodations need to be made so we work effectively?

As with any “classification” system for people, there is a risk, of course, that it can be used in harmful ways. It can be used to make excuses for bad behavior, “Oh well, I can’t help it, I’m an Executive.” It can be used to throw up walls rather than break them down, “I refuse to work with so-and-so, our personalities aren’t compatible – the test said so.” (By the way, the test does not say so….)

But used with good intentions, this can be a useful tool both as an individual who wants to spend time thinking about how they show up, and for teams to develop a deeper understanding of one another.

Oh wait – you’re wondering what my personality type is? I’m an ​ISFJ – a Defender​. If you take the test, let me know below what you think about the results! (I especially want to know if you are the first person ever to say “Nope, that’s not me at all.”)

If you want to spend some time thinking about your personality type and how you want to show up at work, ​sign up for Session 1 of the Summer Workshop Series​ where we will be exploring this together! (Better yet, sign up for the whole series!)