MBTI Workshop

In January, 2011, Ann B. Blake, Ph.D. presented the information below to retreat participants at Antioch University Seattle. The focus of the retreat was application of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) to work relationships and responsibilities.

Retreat Goals and Objectives

I. Understand self & self-acceptance;

II. Reclaim projections;

III. Understand others & accept others;

IV. Application of concepts and learning to work relationships, tasks, and context

A Ritual to Read to Each Other

William Stafford

If you don't know the kind of person I am
and I don't know the kind of person you are
a pattern that others made may prevail in the world
and following the wrong god home we may miss our star.

For there is many a small betrayal in the mind,
a shrug that lets the fragile sequence break
sending with shouts the horrible errors of childhood
storming out to play through the broken dike.

And as elephants parade holding each elephant's tail,
but if one wanders the circus won't find the park,
I call it cruel and maybe the root of all cruelty
to know what occurs but not recognize the fact.

And so I appeal to a voice, to something shadowy,
a remote important region in all who talk:
though we could fool each other, we should consider--
lest the parade of our mutual life get lost in the dark.

For it is important that awake people be awake,
or a breaking line may discourage them back to sleep;
the signals we give--yes or no, or maybe--
should be clear: the darkness around us is deep.

Stafford, W. (1994). The darkness around us is deep. New York, NY: Harper Perennial.

Different Drums and Different Drummers

If I do not want what you want, please try not to tell me that my want is wrong.

Or if I believe other than you, at least pause before you correct my view.

Or if my emotion is less than yours, or more, given the same circumstances, try not to ask me to feel more strongly or weakly.

Or yet if I act, or fail to act, in the manner of your design for action, let me be.

I do not, for the moment at least, ask you to understand me. That will come only when you are willing to give up changing me into a copy of you.

I may be your spouse, your parent, your offspring, your friend, or your colleague. If you will allow me any of my own wants or emotions, or beliefs, or actions, then you open yourself, so that some day these ways of mine might not seem so wrong, and might finally appear to you as right—for me. To put up with me is the first step to understanding me. Not that you embrace my ways as right for you, but that you are no longer irritated or disappointed with me for my seeming waywardness. And in understanding me you might come to prize my differences from you, and, far from seeing to change me, preserve and even nurture those differences. (Keirsey & Bates, 1984, p. 1)

References

Keirsey, D., & Bates, M. (1984). Please understand me. Del Mar, CA: Prometheus Nemesis.

Although I learned to approach the world with an Eeyore, glass-half-full mentality, I knew at a young age that some other philosophy was available and more useful. Just after undergrad school, I heard about Jungian philosophy, to which I was drawn because the philosophy values all aspects of self and others. Of course I continue to be a work in progress; at least I now have a vocabulary and conceptual framework upon which I can rely when I often get into trouble. We will explore the Jungian conceptual framework via the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and general Jungian concepts.

All of the information today is both theoretical and my opinion. These ideas make sense to me and provide support and ways to problem solve and make decisions. I am not asking you to agree with or buy any of this information. Please take that which is useful and discard that which is not useful to you.

The theoretical and practical applications of the MBTI are quite idealistic: humans actually using their pre-frontal cortex. The most common psychological  function carried out by the prefrontal cortex area is the executive function; executive function relates to abilities to differentiate among conflicting thoughts, determine good and bad, better and best, same and different, future consequences of current activities, working toward a defined goal, prediction of outcomes, expectation based on actions, and social "control" (the ability to suppress urges that, if not suppressed, could lead to socially-unacceptable outcomes).

All people are unique—therefore, different from each other: “want different things, have different motives, purposes, aims, values, needs, drives, impulses, urges. . . .they believe differently: they think, cognize, conceptualize, perceive, understand, comprehend, and cogitate differently. And, of course, manners of acting and emotions, governed. . .by wants and beliefs, follow suit and differ radically among people” (Keirsey & Bates, 1984, p. 2).

We are often self-oriented so that others’ behaviors seem temporary or odd, at best, or crazy, at worst. A part of us wants all others to be just like us—to comfort us about who we are and how we are—not to threaten or to shake up the status quo/comfort zone. We spend a fair amount of time complaining about the differences in other and another fair amount to time trying to change others—to be like us. This task is impossible—for the good of all. A normal stage of development is to be seen and agreed with (normal narcissism: grandson beaming at grandmother’s replication of his drawings). We are supposed to gain identity stability and confidence during that stage—so that we can branch out to revel in the grand variety in life. When we feel vulnerable, we revert (usually outside of our conscious awareness) to that need to see ourselves reflected in others.

In contrast to other contemporaries, Jung stated in 1910 that, rather than “fundamentally alike” (p. 2), “people are different in fundamental ways even though they all have the same multitude of instincts (archetypes) to drive them from within” (p. 3). Each person has inherent and unique preferences about perceiving the world, which are described as “functions,” “types,” or “psychological types.”

In the 1950s, Isabel Myers and Kathryn Briggs devised the Myers Briggs type indicator based on Jung’s four psychological types, but also incorporating concepts of Hippocrates, Adickes, Kretschmer, Sprager, and Adler. Similar to physiology, temperaments are thought to be inborn; attempting to change these temperaments is as abusive as trying to change someone’s physiology (e.g., making someone taller—other examples?). When we assess others’ physiology or temperament to be “flaws or afflictions,” we do harm to identity, self-esteem, and agency.

The payoff for seeing self and others as unique, different from self, and wonderful-as-is: appreciation of self, others, and the world. Start by exploring and understanding and accepting yourself; then work/play at expanding yourself by exploring and understanding/accepting others. For example, reading about your “type” is useful; reading about the opposite type is also useful. “The essence of type development is the development of perception [Sensing and Intuition] and judgment [Thinking and Feeling] and of appropriate ways to use them. . . .adequate perception and judgment make it possible to face the problems in a mature and credible manner” (Myers and Myers, 1983, p. 167).

Jung’s four pairs of preferences

(Keirsey & Bates, 1984, pp. 14-26):

E/I: Extraverted/Introverted

S/N: Sensing/Intuition

T/F: Thinking/Feeling

J/P: Judging/Perceiving

Preference = choice, not definition in concrete, although these preferences seem to be inborn, we continue to have plasticity from situation to situation or based on experience/trauma. Jung did not classify people as falling into one or the other of the four pairs; Jung understood the functions as a fluid continuum on which a person is described via degree of the function; preferences can change (become stronger or weaker) over time; functions tend to become stronger with application yet do not disappear sans use. The importance of Jungian typology is the possible description about differences in people’s preferred perception of and accompanying responses to inner and outer worlds (Keirsey & Bates, 1984, pp. 14-15).

The preferred function (dominant) (S, N, T, or F) is the highest score (see chart on page 7). The opposite function is less developed, less sophisticated. The other typology scores are auxiliary and can be accessed as flexible supplements and complements to the dominant function.

Example: INFP: Introverted Intuitive Feeling Perceiving. Bold = highest score and, therefore, dominant function; opposite of Intuition (N) is Sensing (S), which is the subordinate function and is, therefore, less developed and less sophisticated. The Feeling (F) typology is the auxiliary and is supplemental/complementary to the dominant function. The person’s typology indicates that the opposing paired typologies are not strong suits in this person’s life: ESTJ. Because the dominant function is Intuition (N), the opposite type, S/Sensing, tends to be less developed and less sophisticated (as are Extraversion, Thinking, and Judging).

Extraversion/Introversion: orientation to life

Extraversion: OUTER: outer world of people/things; external activities/practical application; outside environment

Introversion:  INNER: inner world of concepts and ideas; inner insight, reflection, contemplation; insight regarding self and others and relationships between ideas; perception of own unconscious processes

FUNCTIONS/PROCESSES (use of the mind)

                                                                  Thinking

Sensing	Intuition

                                                                   Feeling

Perceiving: awareness of life; finding out; knowing; understanding tasks

Sensing:    FACTS: direct perception/observation via senses; gathering information; actual; practical application; what and how

Intuition:    HUNCHES: indirect perception/observation via unconscious images/insight/imagination; possibilities; principles; theory; why

Judging: conclusions; deciding; applying information to decisions; implementing tasks/plans

Thinking:    ANALYSIS; yes/no; logical, objective, and impersonal observation (just the facts)

Feeling:      APPRECIATION: personal and subjective; appreciation of human relationships; pleasing/displeasing

ATTITUDES

Judging/Perceiving: (methods of dealing with outer world)

Judging:     CONCLUSION: agree/disagree; order life

Perceiving: UNDERSTANDING: open mind; just live life

(Myers & Myers, 1983)

Goal and Objective I: I. Understand self & self-acceptance

The following charts summarize Ann Blake’s Myers-Briggs Type Indicator results (based on Myers, P. B., & Myers, K. D. (1998). Form M Report form. Mountain View, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.

DEFINITIONS

E	Prefer to focus on the outer world of people & things		I	Prefer to focus on the inner world of ideas & impressions
S	Tend to focus on the present & on concrete information gained from your senses		N	Tend to focus on the future, with a view toward patterns & possibilities
T	Tend to base decisions on logic & on objective analysis		F	Tend to base decision primarily on values & on subjective evaluation of person-centered concerns
J	Like a planned and organized approach to life & prefer to have things settled		P	Like a flexible & spontaneous approach to life; prefer to keep your options open

Ann Blake’s scores over time: fluctuations: I/E; P/J; F/T

3-6-90	INFP
8-19-91	ENFP
10-24-94	ENFP
6-8-96	ENTJ
8-25-05	INFJ
4-23-10	INFJ
1-21-11	ENFJ

INDIVIDUAL SCORES: Ann Blake’s current scores (12/11) as an example: ENFJ

Reported type	E/I	S/N	T/F	J/P
Preference Scores	13/8 (slight)	8/18 (moderate)	3/21 (clear)	19/4 (clear)

Goal and Objective I & III: I. Understand self & self-acceptance;

Understand others & accept others

The following charts (pp. 11-16) offer information about typical typology characteristics. You can apply the information in these charts toward understanding yourself and others.

ATTITUDES: Extraversion (E) vs. Introversion (I)

Extraversion (E)	Introversion (I)
“Sociable” (p. 14) Desires contact and connection	“Territorial” (p. 15) “desires space: private places in the mind and private environmental places”
75% of the population	about 25% of the population
Choosing people as a source of energy Western society values and rewards this behavior	Choosing alone time as a source of energy Both society and the person often criticize this behavior
Loneliness: not with people	Loneliness: in a crowd, especially strangers
Breadth External Extensive Interaction Multiplicity of relationships Expenditure of energy Interest in external events	Depth Internal Intensive Concentration Limited relationships Conservation of energy Interest in internal reactions

(Keirsey & Bates, 1984, pp. 14-16)

FUNCTIONS: Sensation (S) vs. Intuition (N)

Thinking about things: area of most misunderstanding and negative perceptions;

 “widest gulf between people” (p. 18); often oppositional (p. 21).

Sensation (S)	Intuition (N)
practical	innovative
75% of the population	about 25% of the population
Sensible: wants, trusts, remembers facts; believes & knows via experience & history Has hunches, but tends to ignore inner voices If ignore hunches too long, tend to disappear	Metaphoric; vivid imagery; speculation; complexities emerge as complete whole Visions, intuitions, hunches—in all aspects of vocation or social life If ignore reality too long, might be out of touch with realities of environment
Earth-bound; Grounded in reality	Daydreams; Poetry, fantasy, fiction
Anchored to earth: terrestrial	Seems extraterrestrial: exploring; beyond present/past
Notices the actual event—wants to deal with the present	Possibilities/future: pulling like magnets
Accurate; notices specifics; Talking with others: interested in their experience, their past Focus on present rather than worrying about future Remain in reality; tolerate no nonsense Pick up on specific elements	Scans, glances; attuned to relevant things; might miss details; might be erroneous re facts Lives in anticipation: sometimes results in dissatisfaction and restlessness; might skip from one possibility to another—changing or improving the current situation; skip to something new rather than completing
Value experience, wisdom of past,  realistic Depends on perspiration Attuned words: Actual, down-to-earth, no-nonsense, fact, practical, sensible	Value hunches and a vision of the future; speculative Depends on inspiration Attuned words: possible, fascinating, fantasy, fiction, ingenious, imaginative
Negative descriptors (from N): plodding, exasperatingly slow to see possibilities	Negative descriptors (from S): flighty, impractical, unrealistic
Employer: past experience	Employer: verbalizes about the future; hypothetical situations

(Keirsey & Bates, 1984, pp. 16-19)

Thinking (T) vs. Feeling (F) Selecting what to do/not to do; both necessary; matter of comfort; these functions can be complementary if understood and valued; each needs the person from the opposite pole to present the other perspective.

Thinking (T)	Feeling (F)
Impersonal, objective basis of choice; principles and logic	Personal, subjective basis of choice; personal impact
More men than women	More women than men; Culturally sanctioned
Easier for F to develop T (covered in schooling) than for T to develop F
Both types are equally emotionally intense
Emotions aren’t as visible and, therefore, not noticed as much by others (thus often described as cold and unemotional)	Emotions more visible via physiological responses; Others’ description: warmer and more capable of deeper feelings than T Others affected by F’s expression of feeling: contagious
Sometimes embarrassed to show intense emotions	Seems to enjoy excessive show of feelings
When Fs realize the depth of Ts’ emotions and Ts realize that F can think logically (though not always verbalize), misunderstandings can diminish
Objective, principles, policy, laws, criteria; Impersonal approach; Justice, categories, standards, critique, analysis, allocation; Priority: objective criteria Adept at argument/debate; wins people over to point of view via logic rather than appealing to emotion	Subjective values, social values, extenuating circumstance, intimacy, persuasion; Personal approach to people & projects; Humane, harmony, good/bad, appreciate, sympathy, devotion; Priority: subjective criteria; Adept at persuasion; making choices via personal impact of decision on other people
Negative descriptors (from T): rule-governed; impersonal; almost inhuman; heartless, cold, remote, intellectualizers; stony-hearted	Negative descriptors (from T): emotion-laden; muddle-headed; soft-hearted; unable to take firm stand; illogical; unable to face up to opposition; wear hearts on sleeve

(Keirsey & Bates, 1984, pp. 20-22)

Judging (J) vs. Perceiving (P) Closure/setting vs. options open and fluid;

differences can lead to criticism  in the work arena.

Judging (J)	Perceiving (P)
Sense of urgency until decision made, then at rest, at ease, sense of satisfaction	Experience resistance to making a decision, wanting more data, thus feeling uneasy & restless after decision made
Establish deadlines; take seriously and want others to do the same	Look at deadlines as a time to start rather than a time to complete
Take deadlines seriously; communicate deadlines to others; expect that deadlines be met	Might become anxious about others’ meeting deadlines and, therefore, move deadlines up
Jung’s definition: concluding	Jung’s definition: becoming aware
Equally distributed in population
Equally judgmental and equally perceptive
Source of conflict in relationships:
Push toward decision	Hold out for additional data & options
Desire or valuing of closure	Desire or valuing of the open-ended
Work ethic is paramount; complete work before rest or play; Preparation, maintenance; cleaning up afterwards	Play ethic is paramount; More playful; less serious; Work process must be enjoyable
Outcome-oriented	Process-oriented
Settle, decided, fixed, plan ahead, run one’s life, closure, decision-making, planned, completed, decisive, wrapped up, urgency, deadlines, move forward	Pending, gather more data, flexible, adapt as you go, let life happen, keep opinions open, open-ended, emergent, tentative, pleating of time, wait & see
Negative descriptors (from P): jumping to conclusions, hasty decision, driven, driving, too task-oriented, pressured & pressuring, rigid & inflexible, arbitrary, premature in planning & deciding	Negative descriptors (from J): indecisive, procrastinating, foot-dragging, aimless, purposeless, resistive, critical, blocking decisions

“Usually, irritation by another’s preference will dissipate when J and P behaviors are studied. Most people become fascinated and entertained by these differences, and with continued understanding, find it easy to make allowances for the other’s way” (p. 24). (Keirsey & Bates, 1984, pp. 22-24).

EFFECT OF THE EI PREFERENCE
Extraverts	Introverts
Afterthinkers. Cannot understand life until they have lived it.	Forethinkers. Can live life until they understand it.
Attitude relaxed and confident. Expect waters to prove shallow; plunge readily into new and untried experiences.	Attitude reserved and questioning. Expect waters to prove deep; pause to take soundings in the new and untried.
Minds outwardly directed, interest and attention following objective happenings, primarily those of the immediate environment. Their real world therefore is the outer world of people and things.	Minds inwardly directed, frequently unaware of the objective environment, interest and attention being engrossed by inner events. Their real world therefore is the inner world of ideas and understanding.
The civilizing genius, the people of action and practical achievement, who go from doing to considering [sic] back to doing.	The cultural genius, the people of ideas and abstract invention, who go from considering to doing and back to considering.
Conduct in essential matters is always governed by objective conditions.	Conduct in essential matters is always governed by subjective values.
Spend themselves lavishly upon external claims and conditions which to them constitute life.	Defend themselves as far as possible against external claims and conditions in favor of the inner life.
Understandable and accessible, often sociable, more at home in the world of people and things than in the world of ideas.	Subtle and impenetrable, often taciturn and shy, more at home in the world of ideas than in the world of people and things.
Expansive and less impassioned, they unload their emotions as they go along.	Intense and passionate, they bottle up their emotions and guard them as carefully as high explosives.
Typical weakness lies in a tendency toward intellectual superficiality, very conspicuous in extreme types.	Typical weakness lies in a tendency toward impracticality, very conspicuous in extreme types.
Health and wholesomeness depend upon a reasonable development of balancing introversion.	Health and wholesomeness depend upon a reasonable development of balancing extraversion.
Freud, Darwin, T. & F. D. Roosevelt	Jung, Einstein, Lincoln

(Myers & Myers, 1993, p. 56)

EFFECT OF THE SN PREFERENCE
Sensing Types	Intuitive Types
Face life observantly, craving enjoyment.	Face life expectantly, craving inspiration.
Admit to consciousness every sense impression and are intensely aware of the external environment; they are observant at the expense of imagination.	Admit fully to consciousness only the sense impressions related to the current inspiration; they are imaginative at the expense of observation.
Are by nature pleasure lovers and consumers, loving life as it is and having a great capacity for enjoyment; they are in general contented.	Are by nature initiators, inventors, and promoters; having no taste for life as it is, and a small capacity for living as it is, and a small capacity for living in and enjoying the present, they are generally restless.
Desire chiefly to possess and enjoy, and being very observant, they are imitative, wanting to have what other people have and to do what other people do, and are very dependent upon their physical surroundings.	Desiring chiefly opportunities and possibilities, and being very imaginative, they are inventive and original, quite indifferent to what other people have and do, and are very independent of their physical surroundings.
Dislike intensely any and every occupation that requires the suppression of sensing, and are most reluctant to sacrifice present enjoyment to future gain or good.	Dislike intensely any and every occupation that necessitates sustained concentration on sensing, and are willing to sacrifice the present to a large extent since the neither live in it nor particularly enjoy it.
Prefer the act of living in the present to the satisfactions of enterprise and achievement.	Prefer the joy of enterprise and achievement and pay little or no attention to the art of living in the present.
Contribute to the public welfare by their support of every form of enjoyment and recreation, and every variety of comfort, luxury, and beauty.	Contribute to the public welfare by their inventiveness, initiative, enterprise, and powers of inspired leadership in every direction of human interest.
Are always in danger of being frivolous, unless balance is attained through development of a judging process (T/F).	Are always in danger of being fickle, changeable, and lacking in persistence, unless balance is attained through development of a judging process (T/F).

(Myers & Myers, 1993, p. 63)

EFFECT OF THE TF PREFERENCE
Thinking Types	Feeling Types
Value logic above sentiment.	Value sentiment above logic.
Are usually impersonal, being more interested in things than in human relationships	Are usually personal, being more interested in people than in things.
If forced to choose between truthfulness and tactfulness, will usually be truthful.	If forced to choose between truthfulness and tactfulness, will usually be tactful.
Are stronger in executive ability than in the social arts.	Are stronger in the social arts than in executive ability.
Are likely to question the conclusions of other people on principle—believing them probably wrong.	Are likely to agree with those around them, thinking as other people think, believing them probably right.
Naturally brief and businesslike, they often seem to lack friendliness and sociability without knowing or intending it.	Are naturally friendly, whether sociable or not, they find it difficult to be brief and businesslike.
Are usually able to organize facts and ideas into a logical sequence that states the subject, makes the necessary points, comes to a conclusion, and stops there without repetition.	Usually find it hard to know where to start a statement or in what order to present what they have to say. May therefore ramble and repeat themselves, with more detail than a thinker wants or thinks necessary.
Suppress, undervalue, and ignore feeling that is incompatible with the thinking judgments.	Suppress, undervalue, and ignore thinking that is offensive to the feeling judgments.
Contribute to the welfare of society by the intellectual criticism of its habits, customs, and beliefs, by the exposure or wrongs, solution of problems, and the support of science and research for the enlargement of human knowledge and understanding.	Contribute to the welfare of society by their loyal support of good works and those movements, generally regarded as good by the community which they feel correctly about and so can serve effectively.
Are found more often among men than women and when married to a feeling type naturally become guardian of the spouse’s neglected and unreliable thinking.	Are found more often among women than men and, when married to a thinking type, frequently become guardian of the spouse’s neglected and harassed feelings.

(Myers & Myers, 1993, p. 68)

EFFECT OF THE JP PREFERENCE
Judging Types	Perceptive Types
Are more decisive than curious.	Are more curious than decisive.
Live according to plans, standards, and customs not easily or lightly set aside, to which the situation of the moment must, if possible, be made to conform.	Live according to the situation of the moment and adjust themselves easily to the accidental and the unexpected.
Make a very definite choice among life’s possibilities, but nay not appreciate or utilize unplanned, unexpected, and incidental happenings.	Are frequently masterful in their handling of the unplanned, unexpected, and incidental, but may not make an effective choice among life’s possibilities.
Being rational, they depend upon reasoned judgments, their own or borrowed from someone else, to protect them from unnecessary undesirable experiences.	Being empirical, they depend on their readiness for anything and everything to bring them a constant flow of new experience—much or more than they can digest or use.
Like to have matters settled and decided as promptly as possible so that they will know what is going to happen and can plan for it and be prepared for it.	Like to keep decisions open as long as possible before doing anything irrevocable, because they don’t know nearly enough about it yet.
Think or feel that they know what other people ought to do about almost everything, and are not averse to telling them.	Know what other people are doing, and are interested to see how it comes out.
Take real pleasure in getting something finished, out of the way, and off their minds.	Take great pleasure in starting something new, until the newness wears off.
Are inclined to regard the perceptive types as aimless drifters.	Are inclined to regard the judging types as only half-alive.
Aim to be right.	Aim to miss nothing.
Are self-regimented, purposeful, and exacting.	Are flexible, adaptable, and tolerant.

(Myers & Myers, 1993, p. 75)

Goal and Objective III: Reclaim projections

Jung stated that all parts of us are valuable; each of us has at least some of all human aspects; traits we admire or dislike get projected/attributed to others.

Reclaim projections: individual projection exercise

Make two lists:

(1) List 2-3 annoying irritating characteristics 

For each characteristic, write the following statement: I too think/feel/behave in this manner in the following ways:

(2) List 2-3 characteristics you respect/admire.

For each characteristic, write the following statement: I too think/feel/behave in this manner in the following ways:

(3) Write a brief paragraph summarizing your thoughts, feelings, perceptions, experience regarding participating in the above self-exploration. Briefly describe the outcome of the above exploration.

Find four people with whom to share portions of the above experience (each person chooses the amount and content of shared information).

Goal and Objective IV: Application of concepts and learning to work relationships, tasks, and context

Ideally, co-workers constitute a team with a common purpose and should work for the same general goal. Their differences in type can be an asset because they help people to do and to enjoy widely different kinds of work. One job may be boring to one type and hence badly done, but it could be interesting and rewarding to another type and expertly handled. (Myers & Myers, 1983, p. 163)

Introvert types with intuition: think of new possibilities.

Extravert types with intuition: translate ideas into action, but not much interested in implementation.

Sensing types: great satisfaction in producing tangible results and problem-solving issues that interfere with production.

Thinking types: effective in jobs dealing with inanimate objects.

Feeling types: good at dealing with people.

Sensing types with judging: function well and contentedly in structured jobs with sharply defined procedures that must be followed.

Intuitive types with perception: chafe at structure; want to take initiative to pursue the possibilities they perceive. (Myers & Myers, 1983, p. 163)

Any team, therefore, should include a sufficient variety of types to perform the required job effectively and with satisfaction. Cooperation, however, can run into difficulties because people of opposite types often disagree on what should be done, or how, or whether anything needs to be done at all. (Myers & Myers, 1983, p. 163)

Morale and effectiveness will survive intact if the members of the team recognize that both types of perception [Sensing and Intuition] and both types of judgment [Thinking and Feeling] are essential to a sound solution to a problem. (Myers & Myers, 1983, p. 163)

Communication between different types is a greater problem than is generally recognized. A statement that is clear and reasonable to one type may sound meaningless or preposterous to another. (Myers & Myers, 1983, p. 164)

To be useful, a communication needs to be listed to, understood, and considered without hostility. . . .Of course what is deemed interesting varies from type to type, but the presentation of a good idea can usually be designed to fit the listener’s interests. (Myers & Myers, 1983, p. 164)

Sensing types: take facts more seriously than possibilities; want an explicit statement of the problem before considering possible solutions.

Intuitive types: want interesting possibilities before looking at the facts.

Thinking types: need that a statement have a beginning, a logically and concise sequence of points, and an end—especially an end.

Feeling types: mainly interested in matters that directly affect people. (Myers & Myers, 1983, p. 164)

Employers/supervisors and employees/supervisees cooperate to accomplish specific tasks. In addition to payment/salary and self-satisfaction of doing a job well, people also need recognition and appreciation. The following list specifies support areas for each of the perceiving/judging typologies. When we offer support, we can be informed about the specific type of support that might fit the individual.

Satisfaction earned by successful striving à incentive; support, reward, recognition

S: extra pleasures or possessions

N: special freedoms or opportunities

T: new/additional dignity or authority

F: new/additional praise or companionship

Goals and Objectives I & III: Understand self & self-acceptance; Understand others & accept others;

Applied learning: Application of concepts and learning to work relationships, tasks, and context

Describe your current perception of the gifts you have to offer to your team.

Describe the increase in your self-valuing of your gifts:

Describe your current perception of the gifts your teammates offer to your team.

Describe the increase in your increased valuing of others’ gifts.

Goal and Objective IV: Application of concepts and learning to work relationships, tasks, and context

Job context

Brief questionnaire:

Rank in order the most important features of your ideal job:

(1) use special abilities

(2) creative and original work

(3) stable and secure future

(4) source of satisfaction

(5) earn a substantial salary

(6) be of service to others

(7) experience fulfillment

(8) start new tasks

(9) finish ongoing tasks

(10) appreciated for social investment in relationships

(11) appreciated for competency

(12) other

(Based on Myers & Myers, 1984, p. 149)

If your current position matches your four highest ranked items, you are fortunate and, probably, satisfied.

If your current position does not match your four highest ranked items:

(a) Is this position a stepping stone? If so, describe your occupational/professional goals:

(b) What can you do to alter the job to increase your satisfaction?

(c) What can you do to alter your response to this job to increase your satisfaction?

Our deepest fear

By Marianne Williamson

(Quoted in Nelson Mandela’s inauguration speech)

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of god. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of god that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. (Williams, 1992, pp. 190-191)

References

Williamson, M. (1992). A return to love: Reflections on the principles of a Course in Miracles. New York, NY: Harper Collins.

References

Keirsey, D., & Bates, M. (1984). Please understand me. Del Mar, CA: Prometheus Nemesis.

Myers, I. B., & Myers, P. B. (1993). Gifts differing: Understanding personality type. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.

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