Last week I attended a great webinar sponsored by CPP, Inc and AMA in which MBTI experts Nancy Barger and Linda Kirby shared practical tips for using the MBTI instrument. During the webinar, I heard a great analogy that I had to share.
One of the biggest mis-conceptions about the MBTI is that personality types "box you in." These mis-informed individuals worry that being labeled a specific type limits them and their behaviors. Those who know and understand personality type know the exact opposite is true. In fact, personality type and the MBTI are all about understanding that everyone has natural preferences (like being right or left-handed) and while we can always display behaviors of our opposite preference, we still gravitate towards what is natural for us.
Those who have a problem with personality type "labeling" should be equally against being called right or left-handed. The label itself means nothing good or bad, it is simply a way to describe a set of likely behaviors.
Nancy Barger and Linda Kirby further explained the idea of preferences by using a 16 room house as an analogy. In your home, do you currently have a favorite room? For instance, I prefer my office while my fiance prefers the game room. I have a good friend who can always be found in the kitchen. She says she feels "home" there. We all naturally gravitate towards one favorite room in our home. However, that doesn't mean that we don't spend time in other rooms...we just don't prefer to be there as long as our favorite room. Perhaps we feel a bit uncomfortable in that other room. Maybe we haven't found a "comfortable" place in that other room, but that doesn't mean we can't go in that room when necessary.
The same is true of personality type. In my 16 room house, I hang out in the ISTJ room. When at work, I often have to travel to the ENTJ room. I adapt to the room's surroundings, but as soon as I get the opportunity, I head back to my ISTJ room again. In my lifetime, I will occasionally visit each of the 15 other rooms in my house, but will never spend as much time in any room as I do in my ISTJ room.
Does this analogy make sense to you? What other analogies do you use to explain that type preferences are not intended to be limiting?
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2 comments:
So great to see your post on this, Breanne, as I've never before seen this analogy written up. I learned this two decades ago from the late and loved Susan Brock. I use it often, typically in the way you describe. Clients get it. Understanding personality type helps you see more clearly where you often "hang out" AND helps you choose to show up differently when that makes sense.
Great post, thanks.
This is a great analogy and can't really think of one better to describe the preference aspect and the fact that we use all of the 'rooms'!
What a great blog - I'm newly certified to administer the MBTI and am always looking for stories, analogies, etc to use. I especially like the "You might be...." lists. Would it be okay to use information from this blog in my upcoming sessions?
Lissa Jelly, HR Coordinator
www.mixcor.ca
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