4 ms·

I'm a Pisces... sorry... I mean INFJ ;-) I get terribly depressed by how often I see folks take MBTI seriously.

objclxt 14y ago
> "I get terribly depressed by how often I see folks take MBTI seriously" About four years ago I worked briefly for an IT department at a large university. Every staff member at a certain level had to have a one-to-one with the CTO shortly after joining. About a week before my one-to-one I received a folder from the CTO's PA. It contained: * The CTO's Myers-Briggs test results in their entirety * A two page document entitled "How to talk to our CTO", based off said test results * A discussion of why the CTO's results made him suitable for his job Needless to say, the guy was a huge jackass and I didn't stay there very long. Do a personality test if you want, but don't let the test dictate how you're doing your job.
- tokenadult 14y ago
  Needless to say, the guy was a huge jackass and I didn't stay there very long. The jackass in question should have read the references about the Myers-Briggs test that I've already submitted to this thread (above in this same subthread). And he should also have done some research on company hiring procedures http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4613543 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4613543 so that he knew that what really matters for his organization is whether or not his colleagues can do their work. He should have worked harder at developing himself as an effective CTO.
  - specialist 14y ago
    Agreed: CTO should have focused on his/her own development. My SO works in sales/mkgt. That segment relies heavily on personality and aptitude tests. My SO swears by them. Says it helps identify prospect's weaknesses, to better help them succeed. I'm dubious, but it's hard to argue with success. I'll chew thru all those links you provided. Thanks.
- namank 14y ago
  I would have loved to meet this guy head on.
jtheory 14y ago
It was certainly attempting to capture something useful about the test-taker's approach to interaction and problem-solving, though -- unlike astrological signs and similar things (which are based only on birthday). Of course, it depends on the context -- I'd be distressed to run into this as part of a job interview -- but in general the people taking it seriously are trying to figure out ways to help people with different styles of thinking/working interact with each other. On the whole, this is worth some effort, and you should encourage it (while gently dissuading them from using the MBTI as the starting point...).
thaumaturgy 14y ago
The problem is primarily that the MBTI is misapplied and misunderstood. It is misunderstood by most people as a set of absolutes without any nuances, whereas it's generally intended to simply classify dominant modes of thinking. i.e., most people will have some problems that they approach one way and other problems that they approach another way, but they will also have a tendency to approach most problems in one of a few ways. Think of it as handedness: most people have a dominant hand, but that doesn't mean that they use only their dominant hand for everything, and that doesn't mean that people can't change their handedness. Because of the way that it's misunderstood, it's also misapplied by a couple of groups of people: those gullible people that are seeking either self-understanding or validation without putting any real effort in, and those people that make a living by going around selling snake-oil psychology. So, while certain professional fields do exhibit certain MBTI trends, it should not be used as a way to determine what profession someone would be best at, or what relationships they should have, or any of that other nonsense. Likewise, all of that "ABCDs behave like this or that or the other thing" stuff is all bullshit too. That said, MBTI can be a useful tool. I use it to listen for certain cues in conversations, and then I slightly change my behavior in the conversation to communicate better with the other person. For instance, I listen to whether the person tends to say, "I feel like ..." versus "I think..."; one tells me to communicate with them emotionally, the other rationally. Another cue is in paying attention to whether a person tends to communicate action or observation. In a management context, you can generally rely on an "action" person to let you know if they think something needs to be done (or they'll just do it, if you've granted them the freedom); conversely, an observant person might be even more useful in a group, but you're going to have to take some initiative to find out what they see. I could have learned to do these things without ever learning about the MBTI, but the MBTI made it easier for me to figure out what I should watch out for. That said, I have exactly zero identity as a particular MBTI type, and it has otherwise zero guidance on my life or relationships, as it should.
- 001sky 14y ago
  It is misunderstood by most people as a set of absolutes without any nuances, -- Only the high priests of MBTI know the truth? Puleeeez. That is the nuance: It is in no way 'scientific'. Its about as scientific as any 2x2 (or: NxN) dimensionalized matrix. Which is to say, it says nothing about the dimensionalizing variables. Nor does it say anything about the underlying hypotheses of relevance. Nor the alternative or relative performance different dimensionalizations. It follows that referencing MBTI today says more about the acronym dropper than anything else.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
Mz 14y ago
Have an upvote. You have relieved me of the need to compare 16 personality types to 12 (sun signs). (Irony: I actually think astrology -- and MBTI -- has its uses. I just think dividing billions of people into twelve general groups is somewhat silly. Making it sixteen isn't tremendously better.)

> "I get terribly depressed by how often I see folks take MBTI seriously" About four years ago I worked briefly for an IT department at a large university. Every staff member at a certain level had to have a one-to-one with the CTO shortly after joining. About a week before my one-to-one I received a folder from the CTO's PA. It contained: * The CTO's Myers-Briggs test results in their entirety * A two page document entitled "How to talk to our CTO", based off said test results * A discussion of why the CTO's results made him suitable for his job Needless to say, the guy was a huge jackass and I didn't stay there very long. Do a personality test if you want, but don't let the test dictate how you're doing your job.

tokenadult 14y ago
Needless to say, the guy was a huge jackass and I didn't stay there very long. The jackass in question should have read the references about the Myers-Briggs test that I've already submitted to this thread (above in this same subthread). And he should also have done some research on company hiring procedures http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4613543 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4613543 so that he knew that what really matters for his organization is whether or not his colleagues can do their work. He should have worked harder at developing himself as an effective CTO.
- specialist 14y ago
  Agreed: CTO should have focused on his/her own development. My SO works in sales/mkgt. That segment relies heavily on personality and aptitude tests. My SO swears by them. Says it helps identify prospect's weaknesses, to better help them succeed. I'm dubious, but it's hard to argue with success. I'll chew thru all those links you provided. Thanks.
namank 14y ago
I would have loved to meet this guy head on.

jtheory 14y ago

It was certainly attempting to capture something useful about the test-taker's approach to interaction and problem-solving, though -- unlike astrological signs and similar things (which are based only on birthday). Of course, it depends on the context -- I'd be distressed to run into this as part of a job interview -- but in general the people taking it seriously are trying to figure out ways to help people with different styles of thinking/working interact with each other. On the whole, this is worth some effort, and you should encourage it (while gently dissuading them from using the MBTI as the starting point...).

thaumaturgy 14y ago

The problem is primarily that the MBTI is misapplied and misunderstood. It is misunderstood by most people as a set of absolutes without any nuances, whereas it's generally intended to simply classify dominant modes of thinking. i.e., most people will have some problems that they approach one way and other problems that they approach another way, but they will also have a tendency to approach most problems in one of a few ways. Think of it as handedness: most people have a dominant hand, but that doesn't mean that they use only their dominant hand for everything, and that doesn't mean that people can't change their handedness. Because of the way that it's misunderstood, it's also misapplied by a couple of groups of people: those gullible people that are seeking either self-understanding or validation without putting any real effort in, and those people that make a living by going around selling snake-oil psychology. So, while certain professional fields do exhibit certain MBTI trends, it should not be used as a way to determine what profession someone would be best at, or what relationships they should have, or any of that other nonsense. Likewise, all of that "ABCDs behave like this or that or the other thing" stuff is all bullshit too. That said, MBTI can be a useful tool. I use it to listen for certain cues in conversations, and then I slightly change my behavior in the conversation to communicate better with the other person. For instance, I listen to whether the person tends to say, "I feel like ..." versus "I think..."; one tells me to communicate with them emotionally, the other rationally. Another cue is in paying attention to whether a person tends to communicate action or observation. In a management context, you can generally rely on an "action" person to let you know if they think something needs to be done (or they'll just do it, if you've granted them the freedom); conversely, an observant person might be even more useful in a group, but you're going to have to take some initiative to find out what they see. I could have learned to do these things without ever learning about the MBTI, but the MBTI made it easier for me to figure out what I should watch out for. That said, I have exactly zero identity as a particular MBTI type, and it has otherwise zero guidance on my life or relationships, as it should.

001sky 14y ago
It is misunderstood by most people as a set of absolutes without any nuances, -- Only the high priests of MBTI know the truth? Puleeeez. That is the nuance: It is in no way 'scientific'. Its about as scientific as any 2x2 (or: NxN) dimensionalized matrix. Which is to say, it says nothing about the dimensionalizing variables. Nor does it say anything about the underlying hypotheses of relevance. Nor the alternative or relative performance different dimensionalizations. It follows that referencing MBTI today says more about the acronym dropper than anything else.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

Mz 14y ago

Have an upvote. You have relieved me of the need to compare 16 personality types to 12 (sun signs). (Irony: I actually think astrology -- and MBTI -- has its uses. I just think dividing billions of people into twelve general groups is somewhat silly. Making it sixteen isn't tremendously better.)