What an interesting experience. While not specifically into the whole conference atmosphere, I was intrigued enough to go to the latest edition of the Association of Psychological Type (APT) International conference in Baltimore. Having never been there before and never been around that many practitioners of psychological type I was amazed at how many different ways people are trying to use psychological type. That in itself was a strong indication that there are entirely to many that are not using it correctly. Let me explain.
While attending at least 3 different leadership courses during my career in the Army, I was given the MBTI® or Myers Briggs Type Indicator® instrument to assess my personality type. In all cases I came out nearly the same, and in all cases the only thing I remember is that I was a somewhat extraverted Introvert with confusion on some of the other choices. I also remember being told that my type was rare in the Army and so I was different than the average officer. What I discovered later while attending a qualifying course to become a facilitator myself is that I was probably given such an incomplete interpretation of the results very little self-selection, that more harm was being done than good. I also got a terrible impression of what the MBTI can do for a leader.
So how are they not using the instrument correctly – simple, many practitioners are not providing any idea of how to apply this knowledge. And that is a terrible injustice to those leaders that could really use some assistance in working, talking and developing their subordinates. I hope to come back and talk some more on the subject of applying psychological type theory to teams.
Ken