UNDERSTANDING THEORY USING THE MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE …



Theoretical Foundations Competency

Personal Entry

Myers-Briggs Type Theory

Michelle Madsen

McDaniel College

One of the first things we did as a cohort was to complete the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) assessment. This instrument is based on type theory and was one of several key tools that influenced my personal career decision. Before starting the HRD program, I had been searching for some kind of instrument to help me learn more about myself and what kind of career I should pursue. My goal in life was to find a career best suited to the real me, realizing I would spend most of my waking hours in my job. Understanding the theoretical foundations and their related practices in core areas of Human Recourses is one of the key competencies defined by the Human Resources Development (HRD) program. For this personal entry I have included my MBTI as the artifact along with the following discussion to help demonstrate my competency in this area.

The Myers-Briggs Type theory was adapted by Katherine Briggs based on the psychological theory of Carl Jung and pertains to the way individuals observe their world and make decisions based on their perceptions. Jung concluded that differences in behavior result from people’s inborn tendencies to use their minds in different ways. As people act on these tendencies, they develop patterns of behavior (Myers, 1998). As described by Isabel Briggs Myers (1998), Jung observed that when people’s minds are active, they are taking in information (perceiving), and organizing that information to come up with conclusions (judging).

Exploring this instrument enhanced my understanding of myself and others. The theory of preferences in the MBTI emphasizes that everyone has a natural preference for one of the two opposite dichotomies: sensing versus intuition, extroversion versus introversion, thinking versus feeling, and judging versus perceiving. The MBTI gave me insight into what is more natural to me. I that in the past I have looked at other people’s behavior and thought that I need to do things the way they do. Now I realize that I should look for areas that come more naturally for me; I should nurture my natural tendencies. The MBTI also helped me understand that others are different from me and helped me become more aware of unique gifts, natural strengths, personal motivators, and potential areas for growth.

The MBTI results indicated that I am right on the border of “introversion” and “extroversion”. I do believe that over your lifetime you learn to adapt to given situations and therefore an instrument like this may not show a large preference in some areas. I enjoy the extroversion of variety and action at work and usually communicate freely, but once I leave the door I need quiet for concentration and can work better alone. Understanding the MBTI theories showed me the importance of my alone time. I had never understood before the MBTI how much I gained energy from within. I am around constant noise in my environment (work and family) and I must consciously turn on a switch in order to deal with people and organizing activities all day long. With the realization through the MBTI, I now give myself permission to walk away and re-energize alone. For example, lately I have discovered that it is very easy to get in the habit of skipping lunch breaks at work but, when I force myself to take a break, I can manage the rest of the day more effectively.

I truly believe that it is extremely important to gain a better understanding of one ’s self in order to find a career goal that you would be most satisfied with. This goes along with the trait and factor theory derived from Frank Parsons ideas that to select a career an individual needs to have a clear understanding of themselves, a knowledge of the requirements of success in different lines of work, and an awareness of how these go together (Sharf, 2010). The MBTI gave me insight into how I tend to react and interact with the world. Instead of using the MBTI to pigeon-hole myself into a career, I’ve used it to confirm what I thought I knew about myself and to learn more about how people perceive me.

On his website, Keirsey (2011) wrote the following description:

In their careers, INTJs usually rise to positions of responsibility, for they work long and hard and are dedicated in their pursuit of goals, sparing neither their own time and effort nor that of their colleagues and employees. Problem-solving is highly stimulating to INTJs, who love responding to tangled systems that require careful sorting out. Ordinarily, they verbalize the positive and avoid comments of a negative nature; they are more interested in moving an organization forward than dwelling on mistakes of the past.

I had a “deep breath” kind of moment. I thought, that’s exactly true! I would like to have a career that involves problem solving and making processes more efficient. It gives me an amazing sense of satisfaction. Before starting the HRD program, I had a problem – I needed to find a career after being out of the workforce 17 years. Through self analysis and careful planning, I determined the type of career that I would be happy in and then followed the plan strategically (getting my master’s degree) to get where I need to be. INTJ accurately reflects what I'm like.

I agree with Richard Schott (1992) in that each personality and temperament type has both advantages and disadvantages in positions of organizational leadership. At our organization, I have heard a chief officer say that they would prefer to have a mix or balance of different personality types. Different people can approach or see things from a different perspective obviously. The MBTI helps to understand what may motivate different employees and understand that there are different approaches to problems.

The Myers- Briggs Type Indicator highlights 16 types and shows and that we have different preferences and ways of thinking. For example, if someone prefering the sensing trait needs real world concrete experiences and facts. On the other hand, someone who prefers intuition relies more on perception. Intuitors can often see future possibilities from a global perspective and be driven by inspiration. I believe that both types are needed in an organization for balance. And, recognizing that we are not all alike can help prevent conflict and expand our horizons. The positive and affirming nature of the MBTI encourages self-disclosure and respect for differences (Myers, 1998).

By understanding our communication preferences, we can start understanding how other people communicate. In general, most conflict is created by misunderstandings in communication. People make assumptions about what the other person is saying and what their intent is behind it. Type theory and the MBTI facilitates negotiating what each individual needs in order to work at his or her best and gives leaders a rational structure for understanding the needs of the employees (Myers, 1998).

I have learned that an instrument like the MBTI is something that, when truly understood, can offer a lot more information than what appears on the surface. I believe that many people complete the assessment and think, “yes, that’s me alright” and walk away form the information never to use it again. In reality the MBTI, and other instruments help you to understand that there are different people that work better in different types of situations, and that different people react to situations in a variety of ways. When really analyzed and understood, the MBTI is a useful tool in learning how to deal with others. To accept that not everyone perceives the world the way you do is a step toward maturity and perhaps leadership. Now, with my increased understanding of type theory and the MBTI I am competent in this objective. Type theory gives structure for understanding normal differences between people in many work-related areas such as working in teams, project management, and needs during organizational change (Myers, 1998). After all, in the human resources field we have to deal with all kinds of people, and as HRD professionals we have to sort and manage others in ways that best suit the organization.

References

Keirsey, D. (2011). Rational portrait of the mastermind. Retrieved from



Myers, I.B. (1998). Introduction to Type. Mountain View, CA: CPP, Inc.

Schott, R.L. (1992). Abraham Maslow, humanistic psychology, and organizational theory. Retrieved from

Sharf, R.S. (2010). Applying Career Development Theory to Counseling (5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.

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