Re: Myers-Briggs LO2043

FWADE@aol.com
Tue, 11 Jul 1995 16:51:29 -0400

Replying to LO2002 --

Ivan Blanco wrote:

>>One day in the not so distance future, many poeple would find out that
>>being an MBTI certified really amounts to ... nothing! This is a very
>>hard statement, but I have always wondered what good we get from the the
>>process of classifying people into different categories. Other than
>>boxing people, exactly like the White, Black, African American, Hispanics,
>>etc., there is no much anybody can really do to use the results of MB
>>tests in any positive way! I have taken it, I have given it, and ... it
>>is still very much useless to me.

I would have disagreed with you when I took it... as it gave me a good
deal of insight into who I was being as a person and really was an
eye-opener.

In reflection, however, the effect was temporary and short-lived. And
subsequent instruments that I've used have also been short-lived. In
fact, I had my astrology chart read and it was even MORE accurate, in my
opinion. (I read somewhere that a management consultant was using the
charts as a key part of their practice... if you can advise the First
Lady, hey... what's a CEO?)

I now see that all the MBTI does is reflect back to you a combination of
the answers you gave to the questions it poses. And the degree to which
one is unaware of one's habitual ways of being, is the degree to which one
is surprised and informed by the results.

As for its practical and ongoing use over time... I dunno. I recall a
colleague telling me about another instrument , whose results helped you
decide your strengths and what kinds of work you should do, and should not
do. My feeling was that I *wanted* to do the stuff that didn't come
naturally... so what good was the instrument?

Also, I hear over and over that the purpose of the MBTI is not to make
hiring decisions. Which seems wise. So what kinds of decisions can it be
used to make? If someone does decide to use to make any substantial
decision, how can they be sure that I'll interact with the decision from
my being and ENTJ, or some other determining characteristic such as: my
gender (male), my race (black), my ethnicity (Jamaica), my sign (Aries),
my professional training (engineering) or my shoe size (9.5). Any
decision made on any single characteristic will leave you coming up short.

I personally don't know anyone who has achieved a breakthrough or increase
in performance out of using the MBTI, in spite of the good sounding
reasons why people should be doing so. I have seen breakthroughs come
through other means, however, and I stick to working with those.

I'd love to hear some first hand accounts of the difference the MBTI has
made to people's lives, in any context. Francis

--
Francis Wade Consulting
fwade@aol.com
908-699-9116