To think work personality tests f*** you up

[managerofchaos]

Just that really I was quite oblivious to what a weirdo I am until a few years ago I had to do a Myers Briggs thing - turns out I'm I N T J
So others apparently regard me as odd, I was blissfully unaware of this until then. However luckily for me I was old enough for it not to have a huge impact on how I feel about myself - although I can't deny it does ring true in many ways.
But now my lovely son in his first adult job post degree has had to do a similar test where he has turned out to be " blue"
He has to try and be more "red" or he won't progress in life !? That's what he has taken from it.
What do others think?
Should we all be confronted with our positives and deficits?
Are they true?
Can you overcome this once you've been intensely and expensively evaluated it there any way to change?

I'm an ENFP and a yellow. I played in a female pool and dominoes team for years and we once did the colour test. Nearly everyone in the team was red - I suppose it explained the frequent arguments

@BoomTish wahaay another female Blue INTP Owl! Apparently we’re a rare breed.
Mind you, I’m so type that I’ve been tested for ASD at least three times in my life so not that well rounded :p

I'm an INTP. Have tried several tests, always the same result. I've been described as a dreamer, aloof, eccentric, weirdo, odd.......I probably am regardless of whether Meyers Briggs is quackery. None of my personality would be any different, and I would still feel misunderstood, at least this has given me a better insight into myself, I at least appreciate my own strengths, and if anything it has given me the confidence to continue being me. I'm also relieved not to have fallen into the trap of pathologising perfectly normal diversity and difference and having a diagnosis of Aspergers or similar. As though differences alone were enough to have you labelled as having an enduring medical condition and disability. I do not see myself as having a disability simply by virtue of being different.

So, I guess it depends what you do with this knowledge. These tests may have no scientific basis whatsoever, in fact the whole practice of psychology as a science may well be quackery, and psychiatry and neuroscience is king. Psychology will fall into the realms of relativity, the way in which normal and abnormal is decided is all relative, contextual and historical.

They're all psuedoscience bullshit, especially Myers-Brigg.

This.

Also, despite claims, you can cheat them. Just give them the answers they clearly want.

I always emerge from them as implausibly conformist and self-sacrificing. I'm not

I think it depends on how you use the results of the test. We've done the colour one as a team. It's helpful if you use it as a basis for a discussion about how different team members communicate. We've found it really helps with talking through what aspects of how you communicate work well for certain types of people, and what works less well. You can then have a productive conversation about how everyone might need to adapt. Using more neutral personality types rather than having to talk very personally about yourself makes it a much easier discussion.

When I was taught the red / blue / green / yellow thing we were taught that the difference between red and blue (and equally between green and yellow) is how control of a situation you normally feel. People can therefore change types depending on the context (e.g. home and work) - it's not static and fixed for ever.

Apart from introversion-extroversion which exists and is hard wired, Myers-Briggs is bollocks that’s long since been discarded by the psychology community but for some bizarre reason (probably that it’s easy to understand and puts people in ‘intuitively correct’ boxes) continues to be embraced by business. Look at the 16 profiles with an open mind and read the descriptions, at least 4 or 5 will apply to you. If you are interested in other tests, take a look at the Big 5 model of personality which doesn’t box people in, but you can use it as a tool to help you understand your personality a bit better.

long since been discarded by the psychology community but for some bizarre reason (probably that it’s easy to understand and puts people in ‘intuitively correct’ boxes) continues to be embraced by business

Test companies spend ££££s on marketing it to business. Managers are convinced it's "scientific".

Funnily enough, during my short-lived HR career (a decade ago now), lots of HR managers seemed to quietly dislike administering them.

I'm a big fan of the colour insights one. I felt they got me down to an art as predominantly blue. The difference I guess comes in the training provided and how the company encourages you to use that information. We were taught that it helps you become more perceptive and allows you to flex your approach to get the best out of your colleagues and raise your eq. No pressure to change your colour, just be conscious of your audience and ability and that other people will respond differently to you.

Though I have found it very useful on understanding how to use my tendency to procrastinate to my advantage

BoomTish can you elaborate, please? Turning procrastinating into a positive could transform my life TIA

I'm also an INTJ and to be honest it made sense to me. I have always been abit unusual and often people don't exactly 'get' me but it has never held me back.

But of course you can change if you'd like to, everyone has to make efforts to come across a certain way sometimes. I can be warm and friendly when needs must (even if it does come out slightly robot receptionist!)

I am (apparently) an INTJ. Some of the descriptors apply to me, some don't. It depends on your mindset when you answer the questions.

I think I have learnt to use "personality tests" as reflective and not prescriptive exercises. We can adapt our behaviour quite easily but people don't reflect on their own personality to do this, and these kind of tests should be a small part of learning about different personalities and working styles

I couldn't agree more, OP.

I'm absolutely sick of pseudo-science psychobabble being rammed down my throat at work, and being expected to regard it as being some kind of Holy Grail.

Most of it is utter, utter nonsense. I try to block it from my mind, because I really don't need that kind of rubbish upsetting me.

Seriously? Just do what everyone else does, take the test, read it and go hmm that's interesting and immediately forget the result and continue with your life.

I'm an INFJ too - we're supposed to be really rare but the internet is teaming with us!

Wasn't Nelson Mandela supposed to have been an INTJ? You're in good company.

I used to be a bit obsessed with those things, but age and experience changes a person. Self awareness is a good thing, providing you're able to apply that self awareness to your interactions with others. That's basically what it's all about I think. Common sense.

I am an INTJ. I do think it makes sense, even if it is 'astrology for wankers'. We did the test as a team at work, and it helped to identify those who talk all the time because it is their way of working, and those like me who sit with their mouths shut listening.

@AleFailTrail wahaay another female Blue INTP Owl! Apparently we’re a rare breed.
Mind you, I’m so type that I’ve been tested for ASD at least three times in my life so not that well rounded

Waves

We should set-up a night out for all the Blue INTP Owls out there. Then we can all text each other ten mins beforehand with excuses about why we can’t make it

While I’m not great with big crowds, I’m ok in small groups and tend to be a strong communicator, especially in written formats.

I also think I’ve found the holy grail of jobs for me. I love data, pay strict attention to correct spelling and grammar, and can spot a mistake on a document from 60ft (I was waiting for someone to finish with the printer the other day and was standing to the side chatting with them- as the pages of the 20+ document was coming out onto the tray at lightening speed, I spotted a typo).

My job is data-focused, but I then need to take it and tell a story with that information so it’s not just a pile of numbers on a page passed to someone else. I get to show comparisons with past performance, and then model the data to predict future trends.

I also manage a team. They’re used to me by now

@AndhowcouldIeverrefuse

BoomTish can you elaborate, please? Turning procrastinating into a positive could transform my life grin TIA

I not sure if you’re familiar with Myers Briggs but the P is linked to the following (taken from MBTI site)-

The following statements generally apply to me:

I like to stay open to respond to whatever happens.
I appear to be loose and casual. I like to keep plans to a minimum.
I like to approach work as play or mix work and play.
I work in bursts of energy.
I am stimulated by an approaching deadline.
Sometimes I stay open to new information so long I miss making decisions when they are needed.

That describes me very well, especially the bit about deadlines. I worked with a manager who would constantly check-in to see how I was getting on with a piece of work that was due in a month’s time, I’d say I hadn’t even started it, then she’d get irritated as she felt I was leaving everything til the last minute and it couldn’t possibly be done correctly being left so late. This irritated me as I always delivered work that was correct, by the deadline.

We ended up doing MBTI as a group and she was literally the opposite profile to me. While we got on well, we had very different approaches. She’s have all her work scheduled months out and everything broken in to bits, whereas I’d spend time gathering info, having a good think, and then putting it together when I felt I had everything I needed.

Because of the fact that we could have a conversation about how we liked to work, I was able to go to her and point out that I’d never once missed a deadline, my work was always top notch, and didn’t need her to check-in constantly. I also learned why she needed these check-ins, so we were able to come up with a way where I gave a once-off update each month on all projects, and she was happy that nothing had been forgotten. It transformed how we worked because I ended up taking on extra work that I could fit in around deadlines that others weren’t comfortable with as it impacted their schedule too much. I was promoted as a result of the additional responsibilities I took on.

It really worked for us, and made my work life a lot happier as I didn’t feel I had her breathing down my back for what I perceived as no valid reason.

I don’t think MBTI or similar tools should be taken too seriously. They’re not recruitment tools, and it’s bad practice to use as such. However, for me, I did find it interesting to see within my team how different people like to manage work and be communicated with. It took some of the guessing out of it.

Blue ISTJ here. I think it's a conspiracy from those pesky extroverts who find us threatening when they say we won't progress.... I've done pretty well for myself being analytical and methodical. Embrace your weirdness and mystery, I would much rather be one of us that one of them. Remember, empty vessels make the most noise!

Waving to all the analysts that are on this thread....

It's all crap. i did one and they told me I had the perfect personality to work in their credit card company screwing over poor people.
I left after two days.

I work for a company that produces these kinds of tests for training, professional development, leadership and so on and can tell you that they’re all kind of bullshit! You can fib on them, give answers that you think your boss wants to see, and quite frankly no one in the world is one thing or another. We are all vastly complex as people and what you ‘are’ in these tests can depend on where you are in your life now, your experiences, your age and even your mood on the day you take the assessment.

They only fuck you up if you give any credence to them.

Unfortunate we over value ‘outgoing’ people and personalities over quieter ones - can you imagine how unbearable work places would be though with an office full of ‘characters’...

@BoomTish well, maybe get round to organising something someday...yay for chronic procrastination.

I loved my old Curator job but with cuts on funding and people wanting free days out I lost that dream job. Data analysis, creativity in displays, deadlines for getting them up I could procrastinate until, a need for factual information....and until a new boss came in in the last year of the job I could choose when I did my 7 hours a day. 12:30-7:30pm rules!