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What is MBTI?
The middle two letters of the Personality Type Code refer to what Isabel
Myers and Psychologist Carl Jung called the "mental functions" (Sensing,
Intuition, Thinking, and Feeling). Although the four letter type code only shows
two of these functions, everyone has and uses all four of them. Examples. Those
who prefer Intuition (second letter is N) will use or rely upon their Sensing
nature in some specialized way - complimenting rather than conflicting with their
more preferred Intuition. Those whose preference is Thinking (third letter is T)
will value and use its opposite, Feeling, in certain ways and sometimes will let
this function be their guide even though normally the person favours thinking.
Those with a preference for Extraversion get their energy from the outer
world preferring to ‘talk through’ problems and learn best through doing or
discussing. By contrast those with an Introverted preference re-energies through
reflection and quite time and prefer to ‘think through’ problems. Every person
has two faces. One is directed towards the outer world of activities, excitements,
people, and things. The other is directed inward to the inner world of thoughts,
interests, ideas, and imagination.
While these are two different but complementary sides of our nature, most
people have an innate preference towards energy from either the outer or the
inner world. Thus one of their faces, either the Extraverted (E) or Introverted (I),
takes the lead in their personality development and plays a more dominant role in
their behaviour.
a) Extraverted Characteristics
b) Introverted Characteristics
a) Sensing Characteristics
b) Intuitive Characteristics
a) Thinking Characteristics
b) Feeling Characteristics
a) Judging Characteristics
b) Perceiving Characteristics
When you put your 4 preferences together, you get your personality type
code and there are 16 -as listed below. So, if you selected ENFP, this indicates a
preference for Extraversion, intuition, Feeling and Perceiving. Keep in mind this
is preferences and an ENFP will also use Introversion, Sensing, Thinking and
Judging too - though requiring more thought, or more energy to do so. Type is
more than just the sum of your four preferences with the four letters MBTI type a
shorthand way of way of telling you about the interactions of your four mental
functions and which ones you prefer to use first. It is essential therefore that you
work with a qualified MBTI consultant to understand how your type dynamic
works.
ISFJ INFJ
ISTJ INTJ
Committed to An Inspiring
Life's Natural Life's independent
getting the job leader and
Organizers thinkers
done follower
Using the MBTI, teams can evaluate their strengths and also clarify biases
in their working practices. For instance, does the team over-emphasise logical
assessment at the expense of considering personnel issues, such as morale? Or
does it focus too strongly on strategy and not enough on the practicalities of
implementation? By assessing these biases, teams begin to appreciate the
importance of valuing different approaches and perspectives.
5. Managing Change
6. Problem-Solving
The MBTI gives an insight into potential strengths and blind spots in
problem solving and hence can allow individuals and groups to improve the
breadth and depth of their analyses.
7. Counseling
Conclusion:
There are benefits to using the MBTI to develop employees, including increased
retention and satisfaction of current employees. Additionally, the MBTI can help
hiring managers place the right people in the right positions. Many companies
use the type indicator, not as a scientific study, but as a way of helping their
employees communicate better with each other and work through their
differences.
On the other hand, MBTI also has its detractors. The validity and usefulness of
the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) has been questioned by many
researchers and practitioners, including many in the performance improvement
field.
Among other difficulties with this instrument, careful psychometric study shows
that the MBTI is unreliable and invalid. There is no evidence that there are 16
distinct personality traits in the population at large. Although some of the traits
do have supporting evidence—for example, introversion and extroversion are
well-established personality traits—some key parts of the MBTI simply do not
work.
Overall, to be the best Human Performance Technology professionals, managers
need to have a large toolkit to solve the employee’s performance problems. The
MBTI is one of the tools that managers can use to determine which candidates
are best for new hires, develop effective and efficient teams, and develop leaders.