Myers-Briggs Types - 1 comment
My employer has had the bright idea of organising a "card game" for everyone in the office, this Thursday evening. Intelligence reaches me that this is almost certainly boils down to a Myers-Briggs test, which is covered here at the Skepdic's Dictionary. See also this drivel.
I'm sure I speak for all B4L readers when I state that I'd really rather not undergo a pseudo-scientific test (if that's quite the right term) of this nature, and so I ask "How do I get out of this?" or, more realistically, "How can I render any results I produce unusable?". Presumably the worst possible situation would be to produce a 'clear' result (insofar as these results can be clear) that wasn't even 'me'.
If anyone has any suggestions or experience, please post them here, as I'm sure it's in the public interest that such testing is challenged.
Labels: employment, managerialism, Myers-Briggs, pseudo-science, psychology
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1 comment so far...
Good luck with your "card game". I'm not sure about Myers-Briggs itself, but am a good deal less sceptical than you I think ;)
An earlier employer paid for anyone who wanted to to sit it, but they didn't use the results centrally, only in process of career counselling to help people work out what kinds of roles they were suited to. A good counsellor we had used it to show me that I might like to apply for a new intranet job that I'd not at all considered as I didn't think myself techy, and 10 years later am still very happy working in new media.
However I think it's a bit convoluted though for activities like team building, as it doesn't give quick and easily shared insights. A lot of people get given it but can't use it themselves (I couldn't) and it ends up wasting their time, or boring them with a pointless new management obsession for 2 weeks.
I'm more a fan of the Belbin test, which identifies preferences in team roles rather than all-encompassing personality profiles, and does so quickly & clearly. I've used it in different teams, to find out more about how to work effectively with colleagues, and to find out weaknesses I didn't know I had but were definitely holding me back. Similarly useful was a quick test I did recently on learning styles, which helped me work out better how to organise more effective training options for team members.
But anyway, stress less I think about yours. You probably only need to worry if you start seeing your code stamped on your swipe-card, or signs in the canteen saying "ENFPs sit here" :)
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