Personality Matters Blog

Posted 05 January 2017 by
Global Marketing

What I'm Thankful For...

The cold, winter season is upon us. I absolutely love this time of year. The fog comes in a bit more often in San Jose, the leaves start falling (and falling… big thanks to our gardener Arturo for taking care of that!), and the air gets cool and crisp. California winters tend to be mild, and I’m thankful for that. With the holidays passing, it reminded me of being thankful for the little and big things that are part of our lives. I hope you all can find many things to appreciate in...

Posted 03 January 2017 by
Global Marketing

MBTI® Users Conference—Type, Interpersonal Needs, and Stress: A FIRO-B® and MBTI® Workplace Culture Connection

My breakout session took place on the second day of the conference. I was glad to see so many familiar faces in the room, although it also makes me a bit more nervous to see so many people I know when I’m presenting. However, remembering that I’m presenting for the attendees and not for myself, helps temper my nervousness. In my session I addressed the stress we all face when our interpersonal needs are not being met. What we need, combined with what we fear, can have a huge impact ...

Posted 27 December 2016 by
Global Marketing

MBTI® Users Conference—“Culture Matters” Panel: Macro and Micro Perspectives

For the second year in a row, I was asked to serve as moderator for the conference-wide panel session. Now that I have a little experience with panels under my belt, I was a bit more open to the idea of being a moderator. It helps to remind myself that the moderator’s key task is to encourage the audience to pay attention to the panelists and not himself. I just had to introduce the topic and the panelists and then keep things moving along. In the end of course, that is all easier said than done...

Posted 15 December 2016 by
Global Marketing

MBTI® Users Conference—Networking and the Step II™ Receiving Facet Challenge

The conference is in full swing. Walking from session to session, I’ve come across people I have worked with in past trainings over the years. I always worry at these events that someone will come up to me and call out my name, but I won’t remember theirs. I work with so many people each year, it is hard to commit everyone’s name to memory. Just yesterday, as I waited in the hotel lobby for my room to be ready, I noticed someone looking at me. Her face was very familiar, but I wasn’t sure why. ...

Posted 13 December 2016 by
Global Marketing

MBTI® Users Conference—Creating a Culture of Clarity / It’s Not Meant to Be Predictive

And finally, Patrick Kerwin shared the criticism that the MBTI® tool is not predictive of behavior. Guess, what? It’s not meant to predict behavior. Instead, the MBTI tool is about giving us some understanding around how we take in information (Perceiving processes of S-N) and make decisions (Judging processes of T-F). Isabel Briggs Myers called this “clearer perceptions” and “sounder judgments.” If you try to apply the MBTI tool beyond that, you are oversteppin...

Posted 08 December 2016 by
Global Marketing

MBTI® Users Conference—Creating a Culture of Clarity / It Is Reliable

Patrick addressed that the criticism that the MBTI tool isn’t reliable all tracks back to one article published in 1993, before the current form was even published. Data show that test-retest reliability for the MBTI tool is actually very good. When people get a different result on the assessment from one time to the next, it is usually because they reported “slight” the first time. With a result of “slight,” you could have answered just a few questions differently ...

Posted 06 December 2016 by
Global Marketing

MBTI® Users Conference—Creating a Culture of Clarity / It Doesn’t Just Flatter You

Continuing my overview of Patrick Kerwin’s session at the MBTI® Users Conference, Patrick noted that the criticism that the MBTI® tool just flatters people was somewhat odd. Those of us who know what the MBTI tool is really about know that it’s not a diagnostic tool. It’s not even a test. “Test” implies results of good and bad, pass or fail. The MBTI descriptions may indeed seem flattering at times. All of us bring something to every situation we are in. All of us have gifts. That may seem flatt...

Posted 01 December 2016 by
Global Marketing

MBTI® Users Conference—Creating a Culture of Clarity / There is Plenty of Research

Continuing with Patrick Kerwin’s session at the MBTI® Users Conference, Patrick addressed the criticism that the MBTI assessment is not in clinical psychology journals. He noted it's not in clinical journals because it’s not a clinical tool. It doesn’t belong in clinical journals. A CPP board member didn’t use it in his published research for that very reason. His research, by the way, was on coronary disease and other health conditions. Why would he use the MBTI tool for this? There is plenty...

Posted 29 November 2016 by
Global Marketing

MBTI® Users Conference—Creating a Culture of Clarity / Some Clinical Psychology Criticism

Patrick Kerwin then addressed a criticism about the MBTI® assessment he’s heard that “clinical psychologists don’t believe in the MBTI® tool.” I didn’t get training on the MBTI tool in my clinical program. Clinical psychologists are typically trained to administer “tests” that address psychological problems. As Patrick stated, the argument that clinicians don’t use the MBTI tool is like saying “it’s hard to find an engineer who uses a plunger.” The MBTI tool is not a test, and it doesn’t ident...

Posted 25 November 2016 by
Global Marketing

MBTI® Users Conference—Creating a Culture of Clarity / Ambiverts?

Patrick also addressed the idea many have that “People are really ambiverts.” He reminded us to keep in mind that just because we use both hands to type doesn’t mean we are ambidextrous. This reminded me that when I was younger and played volleyball, I used to brag a little that I could spike with both my right and left hands. In my mind I was as lethal with either a left- or right-side attack. However, when I really thought about it and when my teammates were truthful with me, I realized I was ...

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