Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.
Carl Jung

How will it benefit me to know my Myers Briggs “type”?  WIIFM?

For some the major benefit of type is discovering that their own personality style is normal and healthy, whatever others might have said of it or how they have thought theselves different or wrong. For some the main benefit of knowing type is in understanding the basis for differences, disagreements and discomforts in relationships which are important to them, and in learning strategies for limiting the possible destructive impact of differences on relationships and shared work. For others, type provides a useful shared framework or language for working to get the best from every team member."

In a nutshell the benefit of knowing Myers Briggs is that you will know, understand and manage yourself better and know, understand and manage others better. 

And as Isabel Briggs Myers wrote in the Introduction to Type^® booklet, “There is no right or wrong type, and there are no better or worse combinations of types in work or relationships. Each type and each individual bring special gifts.”

What is Myers Briggs (the MBTI)?

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) instrument is a questionnaire designed to make Jung’s ideas about psychological type useful in everyday life. It identifies a person’s four basic type preferences that combine into one of 16 different personality types. These results help you understand normal differences in the way people think, communicate, and interact—differences that can be the source of much misunderstanding. The MBTI instrument has been used for more than 50 years to establish greater understanding between individuals, and has been translated into more than 15 different languages for use around the world.

What do the letters associated with the MBTI instrument mean?

The MBTI instrument has four sets of letters:

E and I stand for Extraversion and Introversion—indicating whether you get energy from being around people or from time spent alone.

S and N stand for Sensing and Intuition—indicating whether you become aware of specific facts and concrete details or prefer to focus on hunches and the big picture.

T and F stand for Thinking and Feeling—indicating whether you tend to make decisions based on logical analysis and the principles involved or prefer to decide by considering your values and promoting harmony for the people involved.

J and P stand for Judging and Perceiving—indicating whether you prefer your life to be planned and like it when things are decided or prefer to go with the flow and like keeping your options open.

 How do I find out about my Myers Briggs type preference?

The best way is to work through an individual or group session with me so that you get to understand the MBTI and how to use it best for you.  You can also take online tests but they are not as useful as a full discussion with a trained practitioner.

Group sessions are great for team building and getting understanding of each other.  Myers Briggs workshops are fun and give the team a shared language to understand each others' preferences and call each other out when individuals need to work in ways that are not their preference but are required by the job.  Knowing your Myers Briggs preference helps you to understand your tendencies but they are not an excuse to NOT do something!

 

It all depends on how we look at things, and not on how they are themselves.
Carl Jung