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Personality Tests

SoberasHotRod

Well-Known Member
We did the DISC personality test at work last week. It was kind of fun, but mostly felt like a waste of time. Every job I've had since college has done some type of personality test, so I've done all kinds of them. Some people really get in to them. I definitely didn't think my current job would be the type of company to do them, but here we are.

I do think personality tests can be helpful for self discovery, but it feels like one of the main premises is that once you know what personality type your coworkers are, that you will treat them differently. I just don't think it's realistic for someone to remember what everyone else's personality is, and to adjust their communication style accordingly.

It made me curious though, what do people on Jazzfanz think of personality tests, especially in a work setting? Should we do a JFC personality test?
 
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I took one at work years ago that was supposed to put into a certain category. A few of the categories I remember are type A (alpha, leader, etc) expressive (actors, comedians etc), detail oriented or something, and some others I can't remember. Seemed very hunger gamesey
Then they would tell you of famous people who are also in your category.
I remember that my results came back where I was the exact same amount im each category. Others were very excited and even proud about the categories they fell into.
I just shrugged my shoulders, did a little eye roll and chuckled to myself at the fact that I was getting paid to waste such a big amount of time.
 
I took one at work years ago that was supposed to put into a certain category. A few of the categories I remember are type A (alpha, leader, etc) expressive (actors, comedians etc), detail oriented or something, and some others I can't remember. Seemed very hunger gamesey
Then they would tell you of famous people who are also in your category.
I remember that my results came back where I was the exact same amount im each category. Others were very excited and even proud about the categories they fell into.
I just shrugged my shoulders, did a little eye roll and chuckled to myself at the fact that I was getting paid to waste such a big amount of time.

That's exactly how a person that has the exact same amount in each category would act.
 
I think they're generally worthless. It's been a while since I took one but I didn't really get anything out of it. They're also easy to game. If my work made me take one I'd go for the "leader" personality and I'm pretty sure I could get it. I do not have a leadership personality in real life.
 
Yes I've done tons of these personality tests. Humans like to categorize things, it's a natural thing for us and likely helped our ancestors survive (see a furry thing? Quick categorize it, is it more like the bear that ate Ogg last week, or like the deer we had for dinner yesterday?). I think all of them I've done provided a tiny amount of insight and were more like parlor games than serious tools for interpersonal relationships. Especially being in management for some reason they think if we know that someone is red/blue but with a yellow reaction space it will completely change the 5 minutes interaction I'm having with that person. Yeah, no, none of it sticks like that.

The only one I've found to be worth anything is a kind of hippy dippy new age one that my wife found and was all the rage in church where we lived oh I don't know, maybe 10 years ago. It's called Energy Types by Carol Tuttle, which she actually put out there as Dress your Truth, a guide to fashion based on your energy type, which I found silly. But my wife loved the energy type idea and had all of us take it, so with the kids too. It's one of the few things like this I've found that actually had an impact on how we interacted with each other. I found myself using it at work in my communication with people and it changed the way we interacted with our kids too, all for the good.

Here are the basic categories. And we look at it as what motivates each type and what is their basic driver. And to really simplify it's basically Type 1 - creative, fun and excitement, Type 2 - relationships and comfort, Type 3 - drive and getting things done and 4 - analytical and here's how we can do it better. But in this I've had more impact on my management style and even parenting and it has helped my relationship with my wife. Mainly because with a few cues to watch for you can pretty accurately guess someone's type at least close enough to color how you interact to a point. So for the type, everyone has some of all of them of course, but you generally have a primary mode and a secondary. Mine is generally 4/1 and my wife is 2/3 and once we understood that, it helped us get past some things each of us struggled with in the other person, and to have more patience for the downsides of those types. Like I'm just not a git'r'done kind of person, I want it to be fun. My wife is more of a "you can play after we get our stuff done" kind of person. We both struggled with that aspect with each other. But understanding the types like this (those particular ones are 1 - fun and 3 - task completion, which can really clash) we can adjust how we interact and react with each other, and I understand what I need to give her, like keeping myself focused on her list on a busy Saturday for example (3's tend to be very list-driven), and vice versa. I could go on and on but really it's been the best one I've seen yet, having done tons of them. It's the one that sticks.

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My work did WIDGET work genius.

Actually wasn't horrible. Didn't really delve into "leader" style personality types, just what type of work gives you energy.
 
Yes I've done tons of these personality tests. Humans like to categorize things, it's a natural thing for us and likely helped our ancestors survive (see a furry thing? Quick categorize it, is it more like the bear that ate Ogg last week, or like the deer we had for dinner yesterday?). I think all of them I've done provided a tiny amount of insight and were more like parlor games than serious tools for interpersonal relationships. Especially being in management for some reason they think if we know that someone is red/blue but with a yellow reaction space it will completely change the 5 minutes interaction I'm having with that person. Yeah, no, none of it sticks like that.

The only one I've found to be worth anything is a kind of hippy dippy new age one that my wife found and was all the rage in church where we lived oh I don't know, maybe 10 years ago. It's called Energy Types by Carol Tuttle, which she actually put out there as Dress your Truth, a guide to fashion based on your energy type, which I found silly. But my wife loved the energy type idea and had all of us take it, so with the kids too. It's one of the few things like this I've found that actually had an impact on how we interacted with each other. I found myself using it at work in my communication with people and it changed the way we interacted with our kids too, all for the good.

Here are the basic categories. And we look at it as what motivates each type and what is their basic driver. And to really simplify it's basically Type 1 - creative, fun and excitement, Type 2 - relationships and comfort, Type 3 - drive and getting things done and 4 - analytical and here's how we can do it better. But in this I've had more impact on my management style and even parenting and it has helped my relationship with my wife. Mainly because with a few cues to watch for you can pretty accurately guess someone's type at least close enough to color how you interact to a point. So for the type, everyone has some of all of them of course, but you generally have a primary mode and a secondary. Mine is generally 4/1 and my wife is 2/3 and once we understood that, it helped us get past some things each of us struggled with in the other person, and to have more patience for the downsides of those types. Like I'm just not a git'r'done kind of person, I want it to be fun. My wife is more of a "you can play after we get our stuff done" kind of person. We both struggled with that aspect with each other. But understanding the types like this (those particular ones are 1 - fun and 3 - task completion, which can really clash) we can adjust how we interact and react with each other, and I understand what I need to give her, like keeping myself focused on her list on a busy Saturday for example (3's tend to be very list-driven), and vice versa. I could go on and on but really it's been the best one I've seen yet, having done tons of them. It's the one that sticks.

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I can see how these personality tests would be more beneficial in a family relationship than a business relationship.
 
I did one for a job interview. Was super accurate, and I still have the 15pg results printout. Has it helped me or did I change, maybe only in having more self awareness of what works for me and getting out of situations that don’t work for who I am. I did less of waiting around in a bad place when the writing was on the wall. I don’t have time to be unhappy at work and wait/push others to change. Not gonna happen. Most of us can’t change much even if we want to. I also no longer change tactics for job interviews. I am who I am, and if you don’t like me I don’t want to be there. No more masks.

I guess the personality test triggered that in me. Not to meet others expectations but to double down on me. Emphasize my strengths.
 
I can see how these personality tests would be more beneficial in a family relationship than a business relationship.
I see it as another tool in the tool box when dealing with people. Never hurts to have something else to fall back on in difficult conversations or even in preparing things for my team. I know that player A is kind of a type 1, so I can gear his assignments to his spontaneous or creative nature. Player B is more a type 4, so I know to set things up to take advantage of his ability to find better ways to do things. It has helped me at work for sure.
 
Since my father was a psychotherapist, when I was young I took the MBTI. I was an extreme introvert, so I decided to actively work on changing that. For many years I was more even on it - I was fine alone, I was fine with people or crowds, whatever. The last few years, I feel like I've reverted back to where I was before.
 
I see it as another tool in the tool box when dealing with people. Never hurts to have something else to fall back on in difficult conversations or even in preparing things for my team. I know that player A is kind of a type 1, so I can gear his assignments to his spontaneous or creative nature. Player B is more a type 4, so I know to set things up to take advantage of his ability to find better ways to do things. It has helped me at work for sure.

Interesting. I know this is how it is supposed to work, but it's always felt more aspirational than practical. For me, it feels too difficult to remember what everyone's personality type is and to adjust my communication approach accordingly.

On a theoretical level I just don't like the idea of categorizing personalities. I think personalities are too fluid and unique to be categorized in a helpful way. Memorizing someone's personality type and adjusting my communication based on our personality type feels really robotic. Just because someone prefers to communicate in a specific way in certain circumstances doesn't mean they will always prefer that way of communication. I just think it's more practical and theoretically more pleasing to me to try and just be empathetic and patient with everyone.

I suppose though that these personality tests are a tool to help people with empathy, and if some find it helpful, then I would agree they are worthwhile, even if it doesn't seem helpful for me personally. Almost like we all have different personalities...
 
Since my father was a psychotherapist, when I was young I took the MBTI. I was an extreme introvert, so I decided to actively work on changing that. For many years I was more even on it - I was fine alone, I was fine with people or crowds, whatever. The last few years, I feel like I've reverted back to where I was before.

Interesting. I'm finding that I have become much more introverted as I get older. I do think living through the pandemic and loving not having to deal with as many people pushed me along that path.

On one hand I've become more comfortable being an introvert and since I feel like it is ok, I try less hard to be extroverted. On the other hand I do feel like it limits me in some ways, and so there is still a part of me that would like to be more extroverted.
 
Just because someone prefers to communicate in a specific way in certain circumstances doesn't mean they will always prefer that way of communication. I just think it's more practical and theoretically more pleasing to me to try and just be empathetic and patient with everyone.
That's why I called it a tool in the toolbox. It isn't like we would spend 5 minutes before every single interaction assessing each individual then completely changing every single approach. That's also why I said that most of them I've seen are interesting but useless in practice. I pointed out the one I did because it is the most intuitive one I've seen and has the easiest and most natural and practical application of all of them I've taken. And even then it's just a tool I find useful now and then.

It's always useful to practice empathy with everyone. My default mode in dealing with people at work is that I approach everyone with the attitude that each person legitimately tries to do and be the best they can in their circumstances. Yeah that isn't always true but taking that approach helps soften my interactions and pushes me in the direction of discussing things with folks and not just dictating. In other words, learning more about their circumstances. Or in the case of corrective action not just assuming the worst and rather taking the time to get everyone's side to help take a better approach in those cases. I've found that serves me better than any personality test I've ever seen.

Frankly the best tool I've seen in terms of "managing" or supervising people is called Situational Leadership by Ken Blanchard. But that's a different topic altogether.
 
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