Analysis and application of the Myers Briggs type indicatior team building - Essay Example

With a system of 4 toggling letters, a basic sketch of a person’s behavioral patterns and preferences emerges. The first space can be E or I, Extraversion or Introversion. The second space can be S or N, Sensing or Intuition. The third space can be T or F, Thinking or Feeling, and the fourth space can be J or P, Judging or Perceiving (Myers et al, 1985). All Myers Briggs Types are based on the personality type theories of Carl Jung (Pittenger, 1993). It is through the specific combinations of these 4 behavioral variables and each of their two options that we get the essence of the Myers Briggs personality instrument.

The Myers & Briggs Foundation actually asks that those using the process refer to it as an ‘instrument’, and not a test, or assessment. The word test implies that the assessment contains right and wrong answers, whereas Myers Briggs is a cognitive inventory with no value judgments. They also request that any information gathered through this instrument be applied in an ethical manner, as the potential for abuse by the less scrupulous is high (Myers & Briggs Foundation). Most people can wrap their minds around the fact that introverts and extroverts tend to not get along terribly well.

So if you were to design a dream-team of individuals to complete a task, you’d think that regardless of your preference, you might think to try for all team members having the same E vs. I preference. If you thought that alone could ensure harmony, you’d be wrong. The different ways that people process the world around them can make for profound differences in learning style and communication methods, despite initial similarities. And that’s not considering the occasional tendency for people who are ‘too similar’ to rub each other the wrong way as well.

All possible end letter combinations within the ‘I’ family are; ISTJ, ISFJ, INTJ, INFJ, ISTP, ISFP, INTP, and INFP. Out of those combinations, ISTJ, ISFJ, INTP, and INTJ have been chosen for our 4 person hypothetical project group. The one thing that they all have in common is the introverted aspect of their interaction and learning style, which creates a tendency to develop broad conceptual frameworks that connect the subject matter to related, influenced, or influential factors. If you want a group of people who as a whole tend to see the ‘big picture’, this is it (Brightman, 2011).

ISTJ is considered to be one of the four primary Myers Briggs personality types, indicated as ‘dominant sensing’. As a T with an I in front, ISTJ presumes that the world will always operate according to some sort of logic, regardless of whether they currently understand that logic. The illogical is discounted as ‘mental clutter’, and all beliefs and understandings are based on carefully evaluated factual information. ISTJ’s are compulsive problem solvers who often can’t help bounding after the latest riddle or conundrum, making them excellent problem solvers (Reinhold, 2011).

The S before I indicates a love of knowledge of any kind that interests them. They collect a mental warehouse of facts, figures, and trivia, and are on a constant quest to apply this knowledge base to the outside world. The J on the end of all of this indicates that this person prefers to draw conclusions from the careful analysis of pure fact,