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Comments
03.03.08
Hi Brandon: Refreshing to hear someone else who questions the usefulness of personality tests. I read Annie Murphy Paul's book last year, and would add my voice here: I'm concerned that personality testing leads to diminished diversity within companies. If, for example, the leader is an ENTJ, he/she may tend to hire other ENTJs. I worked in consulting, and skewed towards being an ENTJ during my tenure there -- even though that's really more of an adaptation for me. So, we can morph ourselves to fit a job -- that kind of "emotional labor" and adjustment can take their toll, until we lose track of who we really are. Another problem is that personality tests only give us a surface picture of an individual, and there's value in getting a "gut check" about a person -- in fact, research by people like Gershon (http://psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20070424-000001.xml) and Damasio (http://www.som.surrey.ac.uk/intres/Information/IntuitionAndTheBrain.pdf) shows that such information is, in fact, valuable. And, another important limitation of personality tests: they norm people against a population. So, you need to ask "Who is that population?" When I worked at UC Berkeley counseling MBA students, we used a tool that told students what careers they were best suited for. I often counseled students who wanted non-conventional jobs, so when they saw their results, they would be upset, saying "I don't want to be an accountant -- that's not me at all. I care about environmental matters and sustainability. Why is this test telling me I should be an accountant?" I'd have to tell the students that the population used for scoring this test is comprised solely of MBA program graduates working in Fortune 1000 companies. So, these "tests" can't look at the whole world. I have often seen personality testing done to create a short-list of candidates to interview. But I have also seen it used to put people into categories, and that can create strife instead of cohesion in a group. In our super-busy world, it's hard to take the time to get to really know people beyond the superficial details of personality testing. But I find it's worth it. Thanks for the reminder, Brandon, not to let ourselves be defined by these tests.
03.03.08
Thanks Susan for the insight. I haven't yet considered the idea of adopting to a personality type due to the industry and environment that your in. Makes alot of sense!
03.03.08
These tests are tools. Like all other tools, they can be used well or misused.
I think that personality types can be used as ONE part of a decision-making process. They should always be compared to reality. If the personality type does not seem to matchthe actual person, then take it with a grain of saly.
But the personality test can also provide valuable insight into a person's actions. For example, suppose you are trying to get an employee to assume a leadership role. But yet they seem to be resisting you every step of the way. Unserstanding their personailty type may help you understand that they prefer to work in the background, and have limited interpersonal skills.
Now, if they WANT to be in a leadership role, and are willing to work at it, then the test should not stop them. The test can then be used to points out 'possible' weaknesses so the employee can work on them.
Of course, this takes a lot of effort and time, so most people just look for the label and then stick employees in a slot based upon it.
And it's wrong to use any tool to do that.
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