MBTI

New research from The Myers-Briggs Company shares how MBTI® personality type affects views on sustainability and environmentally-focused organizations.

Delivery nurses and midwives find their voice and better leadership skills to improve patient experience on a large scale, online, in this case study

What is the MBTI Step II and what are facets? Learn more about uncovering the DNA of personality type in this blog.

Learn where interests and personality type combine to improve career planning 

If people think ability is innate, it could be holding them back

New research sends clear message to team leaders

How to decide if and when to include personality assessments in the selection proces

There are many psychological factors that affect team success. This article helps managers and leaders understand how those factors affect performance – and why the MBTI personality assessment is one of the best opportunities for growth.

In the workplace, there are hidden elements that can make or break team success. This blog post helps managers and leaders understand the importance of team orientation – and the role inclusive leadership plays in boosting it.

New research explores team performance, job satisfaction, and the role of personality type

In this post we explore practical strategies for improving team communication and recommend tips to improve how team members interact on the job.

What are the biggest challenges people face working across cultures? Listen to this episode of The Myers-Briggs Company Podcast with Frank Garten, cross-cultural expert and global leadership trainer to learn how to mitigate cultural challenges and improve communication.

In the ever-evolving landscape of HR and training and development, organizations are recognizing the significance of assessments in unlocking individual and team potential. Among these assessments, the Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation^™ (FIRO^®) assessment stands out as a powerful tool for team development and leadership growth.

In this episode of The Myers-Briggs Company Podcast, we’re joined by Dr. Marta Koonz, Principal Consultant for The Myers-Briggs Company, as she walks us through insights around using psychological needs to better work relationships and improve teamwork.

What can you do with an MBTI certification? Learn more about popular applications of the MBTI tool like leadership and team development, and why becoming an MBTI certified practitioner could be your best professional investment.   

See the latest news coverage of The Myers-Briggs Company personality assessments and articles featuring our in-house experts and psychologists, including links to all third-party sites.   

Stress can affect a leader’s approach to risk which is strongly tied to investment and business strategy. But if a leader knows how their personality type affects their natural approach to risk-taking, as well as what stresses them out in the first place, they’re less likely to react to stress by making poor decisions.

You may have heard or read things about the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator^® (MBTI^®) assessment that cause you to question its validity. Here, we’ll address some of the most common criticisms and misconceptions, and answer some common questions about the assessment.

How do essential skills help organizations adapt to uncertainty and disruptive change? 

We all have some introverted and some extraverted parts of ourselves, but according to the theory of personality types on which the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator^® assessment is based, ambiverts don't exist.

Where did the MBTI assessment and The Myers-Briggs Company pop up in the news last year? Check out these top articles… 

What does inclusion look like for executives and the people they lead? 

How can MBTI personality type help strengthen relationships? Do people with the same type get along better? Listen to this episode of The Myers-Briggs Company Podcast to find out! 

The world has been flattened by technology and working across county and cultural borders is now the norm. But can you use the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator assessment across borders? Here’s what you should know.  

New research and data shows how different personality types approach conflict. But what does it mean for Introverted types? 

Research shows that Introverted types handle conflict differently that those preferring Extraversion. Here’s how…

Paying closer attention to employee needs is the way to make remote, in-office, and hybrid teams function better

Conflict can be positive. New data and tips help you learn how to manage it.

If conflict management is something you dread, here’s how to start turning it around

How does a skincare giant smooth out the wrinkles of organizational change?

Dr. Martin Boult shares his expertise on leadership and connection in this episode of The Myers-Briggs Company Podcast.

What should leaders be aware of about these well-known personality differences?

If not, you might be part of a hybrid strategy that’s about to fail.

As employees return to the office, they’re expecting more flexibility in their social contracts with employers. How can HR help?

For diversity to thrive, inclusion is a must.

How FIRO helps people to build trust in their relationships, improve morale and reduce stress in the workplace.

Change is inevitable. And as the hybrid workplace becomes a new normal for many organizations, it brings specific benefits and challenges to managing uncertainty and successfully implementing change initiatives.

HR professionals get insight into team dynamics, individual strengths and more with potential leaders when using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator assessment.

Are your employees stressed about the holidays? Help them recognize their stress triggers and better manage stress with better understanding of their personality type

How can personality assessments like the MBTI tool help teams work together more effectively and understand each other better?

The author of 5 Dysfunctions of a Team shares his insights on the MBTI assessment for individual and team development...

What happens at the intersection of race, type and leadership? 

Does personality impact survivor syndrome?

Teams and Google’s Project Aristotle

Women form half of the UK population, yet less than 5% of CEOs of Fortune 500 companies are female.  In 2018, only 6.3% of heads of state were female and most nations have never had a female leader.  What’s more, there are fewer female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies than there are male CEOs named James.  Plain old-fashioned sexism could be part of the reason for this, but other factors have been suggested.  Women are more likely than men to have a more interpersonally or...

MBTI Step II facets and the holiday season

Our commitment to reducing our impact on the environment

Want to stop people speaking to each other? Put them in an open-plan office

Gill Coombs, writer and career coach, shares her thoughts on Idealists and activism

Are introverts being limited by misconceptions?

How MBTI Step II facets affect our attitude to new experiences

In light of Stress Awareness Month, OPP Lead Consultant Helen Rayner asks what we mean by ‘awareness’.

How can two people with the same type be so different? Mike Moss explores MBTI type and why we sometimes feel at odds with our best fit.

Did you make a plan to get fit this year? John Hackston looks at the interaction between MBTI type and exercising preferences.

What does your MBTI type have to do with your enjoyment at Christmas? We conducted research to find out.

Do people with different type preferences use the same or different methods to develop their self-awareness?

Continue to explore research around self-awareness – this time focusing on the role of your MBTI type.

Research results are in! How do people benefit from improved self-awareness and how do they get there?

How does your MBTI type impact your well-being? See what the research says. 

Three tips to improve well-being in your organisation

Reflections on the first 18 months of an MBTI practitioner.

The goal of type development should not be equal strength in all the preferences, but to have behavioural flexibility.

How do you show your appreciation and thanks of other people? 

How do you show your appreciation and thanks of other people? 

How you can gain instant insight from colourful MBTI type resources.

How to use research to create MBTI solutions: this post looks at leadership accountability gaps

Any MBTI type can do any job and bring different strengths to the table

Gender, leadership and the pressure of organisational culture

Modern leadership in the context of core activities, blind spots and actions for results.

Exploring the MBTI Thinking-Feeling Step II facets in the context of Brexit

John Hackston explores recent OPP research. 

Myers, Briggs and International Women’s Day

Which MBTI book will you add to your collection this World Book Day?

It must be love

Research Study exploring leadership strengths through the lens of Type

Did you miss some of the most popular content from last year?

Exploring the glass ceiling using MBTI data.

What does MBTI Type impact when it comes to Christmas? We conducted research to find out...

Get the most from the MBTI assessment when coaching individuals.

Raising awareness of challenges to early Type development that we can all consider and explore

Research based tips for more effective email communication between different MBTI personality Types.

Using the MBTI framework to form effective communications during these strange, unknown and stressful times. 

How do different MBTI Types use and feel about email? We explore some recent research to see what we can learn

Looking for an easy to implement icebreaker? Bingo!

Answering three common challenges to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator 

Celebrate the summer of sport by downloading your MBTI Type sport tile

Personality, gender stereotypes and leadership

Damian Killen reveals the role MBTI Type has on successful influencing

Cycling-inspired tips for team and leadership development

Penny Moyle reflects on an inspiring MBTI user event

Change is afoot...

A robot workforce with personality? Where does the MBTI framework fit in?

To celebrate Chelsea Flower Show and the #greeninggreybritain theme, we've reimagined each MBTI Type as a garden.

How knowing your MBTI Type and Core Character can help you recover from stress

How the FIRO tool adds so much value to any MBTI coaching session

Inside-Outside Typies - a new way to explore Type dynamics by combining Typies and Core Characters

One of America’s most respected trainers in the MBTI framework shares his thoughts

Ever wondered why and how we create the Fun MBTI Type Tables?

How can we make it easier to talk about the real power of MBTI: Type dynamics?

Fun this Valentine's with MBTI Type - what's yours?

The power of persuasion in the context of MBTI Types - how do they differ?

CEO Penny Moyle shares a refreshing response...

This post explores Richard's experience in struggling to decide on his best-fit Type and how he finally felt comfortable with his preference for Thinking.

Tuesday 15th December is International Tea Day so we're celebrating the 16 MBTI Types in the form of our favourite hot beverage. Which Tea Type are you?

We all know that there’s only one Santa Claus ... or is there? Our fun Type table suggests there may be a few more! Which one would you like to come to your house this Christmas Eve? Take a look at our festive table and download your individual Santa Type here.

Alexis Hutson, professional coach and mentor, shares her experience of using MBTI Step II for team development. A great example of the differences between Step I and Step II.

Aidan Millar explores how coaches can help clients flex between operating with their natural MBTI preferences and outside them when necessary. 

Quick fixes are great, but what about a long-term solution to managing stress?

If the goal of the MBTI assessment is to establish best-fit Type, why bother with the questionnaire?

Great feedback exercise for practitioners, helping to convey the brilliance of the MBTI framework.

No-one likes open plan offices, so what can we do about it? Check out this research-based advice.

The employment market seems to be improving, which is good news for jobseekers but not necessarily for employers; having more jobs available means that there are more opportunities for workers to leave. All the more important, then, that managers don’t give their people that extra incentive to start looking elsewhere. Here are five of the most common ways in which managers can (and unfortunately do) alienate their staff.

I am coaching the CEO of a large charity. He’s 55 and has been in his job for nine years. He looks grey and anxious, slumping in his chair. “I’m tired of my team treating me like their parent. It’s hard enough being a parent at home. I’m exhausted, our funding is under threat, I don’t think I want to do this job any more”. He tells me readily that he’s been what he calls ‘psychometrified’ many times; but he’s never taken the FIRO- B assessment...

This is the second posting based on Jean Kummerow’s keynote presentation at OPP’s MBTI User’s Conference on 16 June 2015. The first post gave background on the ‘Four Crucial Cs’ Adlerian model. This second part describes how to use type within that model.

As you already know, the practice of Coaching has many iterations and even several definitions. The one I like to use is “a method of assisting individuals to improve their performance in some area”, from Davison & Gasiorwski in the 2006 Journal of Individual Psychology. That definition encompasses so much of what we do with personality type.

What's your idea of the perfect break? This holiday Type table looks at 16 vacations custom-made for each of the MBTI Types.

How do chefs create dishes spectacular enough to earn Michelin stars? And what can we do to encourage that same ground-breaking creativity within our organisations? At our MBTI^® User Conference last week, MBTI expert and co-author of Introduction to Type and Innovation, Damian Killen provided some really interesting insight into how Type influences the ideas we’re attracted to and how we respond throughout the innovation process.

As an OPP Consultant, I work with many teams across a wide variety of sectors and industries. I was recently talking to a client, herself an L&D practitioner, who asked me about my approach to team coaching – in  particular what my ‘top tips’ were for ensuring that the work had impact and made a real difference to how the team functions. This got me thinking about the key elements involved.

Few people would argue against the concept of thought leadership. Not listening to the views of leaders in our field, or ignoring ideas for better ways of doing things, is hardly a recipe for success. However, individual opinion leaders don’t always get it right, and the catch is that those who sound most confident in their pronouncements aren’t necessarily the most accurate.

Well, not necessarily. But it is true that her demise could have been attributed to an all-too-common Sensing blind spot: a failure to quickly and accurately recognise how facts and present realities connect to a bigger picture – and often, a very meaningful one.

Whether or not you are a sales professional, and even if you don’t see selling as part of your job, there are times when everyone needs to influence or persuade. OPP recently worked with a regional sales team in a financial services organisation to help them become more successful. The same techniques we applied there can easily be adapted to create more persuasive communication for anyone – not just sales people.

Last week, I had the pleasure of joining an MBTI Step II qualification workshop for the first time in several years. This revamped workshop incorporates several new ideas to help practitioners to engage their clients in MBTI in general, and the Step II instrument in particular.

People make decisions largely on the basis of intuition and emotion. We might like to think otherwise, but it’s true. Even the most logical and rational amongst us find our cognitive functioning heavily influenced by a broad range of both positive and negative emotions.

Think of your MBTI Type and let your personality flower! We've re-imagined each of the 16 Types as colourful elements of the herbaceous border. If you were receiving MBTI feedback from Monty Don, Alan Titchmarsh or Charlie Dimmock, it might look something like this...

Many leaders leave much of their ‘true’ personality at home and try to present themselves at work in the way they think a leader should operate. Leaders absorb these ‘should’ models of leadership from how they see leaders behaving around them (for good or ill), as well as from hoping to emulate leaders generally held up as great: eg Churchill, Branson, etc. On top of this, over the years leadership courses have advocated different styles of leadership, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Leaders can feel they should be all things to all men; but isn’t it better for leaders to just be themselves, natural and authentic, whether at home or in the workplace?

This world of ours is changing. That’s hardly an earth-shattering statement. What’s less obvious is that change is happening more and more quickly – it’s difficult to visualise what the world will be like in five years time, still less in 10, 20 or 30 years. And yet this is what organisations need to do. Today’s new entrants, graduates and management trainees will be tomorrow’s leaders, and we need to prepare them for the challenges ahead.

Coaching has always been an important part of the L&D service that OPP’s consultancy offers. It’s also the mainstay of the practice for many of our independent practitioner customers. Why is there such a demand? In short, organisations need their leaders to develop a great range of responses to the challenges they face, and to develop greater psychological resilience. Additionally, many organisations are seeking to develop coaching skills among line managers, knowing that this too can have a significant and positive impact on organisational performance.

Visits to our Personality Matters Blog were at an all-time high in 2014, and we covered a wide range of topics in our weekly posts. Over the last 12 months we've talked about the best MBTI-based books and the various resources available for L&D teams. We’ve promoted Movember, and we’ve chipped in to the Paul Flowers furore. We've continued to thrive as thought leaders in a diverse range of workplace psychology issues, from recruitment and assessment centres to polarity management. But what are the top five posts that readers have returned to again and again?

If you were Santa, how would you approach the job? Our festive type table makes some type-based, tongue-in-cheek suggestions.

To celebrate the launch of the new shop we thought it would be useful to highlight the most popular resources that have been purchased through our online ordering during 2014. These are the items that our customers find most useful (along with the many popular reports ordered by practitioners via OPPassessment). How many of them are in your portfolio of essential resources?

Time. An ethereal concept, or a real resource? Something elastic, or an uncompromising task master? Sometimes there seems to be too much of it, and at other times never enough. Our relationship with time is one that travels with us through the stages of life and helps us to get things done .... or not… or eventually! Do we live in the future, the past, or the here and now? And what about the person next to you? You are both here and now, but are you really?

Training aids that are memorable and that bring clarity to descriptions of MBTI^® type are like gold dust. One of the commonest questions I come across in the various MBTI-related Linked In groups, including OPP’s own OPP Qualified Practitioners, is the plea for good exercises to help illustrate the MBTI preferences and dichotomies.

The point of bringing more fun into MBTI development is to help create impact and make the learning memorable. In order for people to get lasting value from their MBTI experience, we need these concepts to ‘stick’; to be something they take away from the training room and can come back to time and again. With this in mind, we’ve created Typies™.

Twenty years ago when I first started using MBTI in management development work, training room props were thin on the ground. I would often lead a development session armed with nothing more exotic than flip charts and masking tape for ‘living type table’ exercises.

In the second of our blog posts looking at 20 invaluable books about MBTI^® and type, we review another ten titles that have impressed MBTI practitioners or been a key support in their work with the MBTI assessment. As with the first batch, the books featured here are listed in no particular order, and comments are from individual reviewers who responded to our request for reviews on the Linked In group OPP Qualified Professionals.

L&D is a serious business. Get it right, and you can transform an organisation, propelling it to high performance. Get it wrong, and the consequences can be dire.

One of the criticisms that people often level at the MBTI questionnaire is that it ‘puts you in a box’. MBTI practitioners, however, know that this isn’t true – although we will have many similarities to people of the same type, there are also many ways in which we are unique. Whatever our underlying psychological type, we have all been brought up in different environments, and this will have a big influence on our personality and behaviour too.

Which books about MBTI^® and type have had the biggest impact on practitioners? We posted this question on the Linked In group OPP Qualified Professionals earlier this year, to discover the titles that had most impressed and inspired practitioners or been a key support in their work with the MBTI assessment. Twenty books rose to the top of the pile. Here are the first ten – in no particular order – with comments from the individual reviewers.

We love hearing the ‘aha!’ or ‘lightbulb’ moments when individuals experience the profound insights that the MBTI framework can bring. We know that these insights can lead to increased awareness, such as valuing the diversity of people’s views, or developing a more flexible approach to working with others. However, are anecdotal reports of great impact enough to convince us as consultants, and our community of qualified practitioners, that MBTI interventions are in fact worthwhile investments?

Reflecting on the fantastic sporting prowess displayed at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, we wondered which sports best capture the essence of each MBTI type. Here’s what we came up with - what do you think? Please feel free to share alternative suggestions!

With the World Cup upon us, the prospect of hearing about little else on the news for the next six weeks and seeing very little of my husband for the duration, I wondered if type might have anything to do with why some of us really aren’t enamoured of the “beautiful game”. So, I give you this type table. Please take it with a large pinch of salt: if you don’t like football you’ll probably agree with many of the statements. Whatever you do, don’t use it to work out what your type is! If you want to know that, take the MBTI questionnaire! I’d love it if you have other type-related reasons you’d like to share. I’d also really like to put together a table of reasons why each type loves football, but I’m afraid you football fans are going to need to help me out...

Few things in life are free – but OPP has some really cool free resources to support you in your work! To help celebrate our 25 years in the business, we’ve taken a trawl through the various goodies available for zero outlay on our website. They range from white papers and feedback materials to fun quick guides and infographics – many of which can also be found on our practitioner downloads page.

Think of your MBTI type... and then re-imagine it as a type of shoe! There are more possibilities than you'd think: cosy slippers or feisty firefighter's footwear? Boots for exploring other worlds or flip flops made of fish? Have fun with your type using our latest type table!

If your MBTI type was a drink, what would it be? A fiery flaming sambuca or a complex vintage wine? An irrepressible energy drink or a zen green tea? Discover your type tipple with our alternative type table!

I once travelled a lot with an INFP. As an ESTJ, our styles were quite different. I would notice, for example, that we could be within two blocks of the hotel and he would have no clue as to how to get there, yet he would never admit he was lost nor would he ask for directions. Perhaps this was a guy thing, but perhaps it was a type thing, too!

The blog has been increasing in popularity over the last year. We've celebrated 70 years of the MBTI system with posts on best practice, ethics and the diversity of applications; we've blogged about topical events such as the horsemeat scandal, the European elections and Andy Murray's Wimbledon win; and we've continued to thrive as thought leaders in a diverse range of workplace psychology issues, from stress to benchmarking to onboarding and retention. But what are the top five posts that have kept readers coming back again and again?

Introducing people to the MBTI instrument is the highlight of my role at OPP. Friends question me if I’m bored training the same content over and over, but I’m still passionate and excited to do it. Every workshop is different, as every delegate comes to a deeper understanding of personality preference in terms of what it means to them, and experiences their own personal ‘light bulb’ moments. However, the danger with training the same topic is that we might lapse into our favourite or most comfortable ways of training, and not keep up with the latest thought leadership about how people learn. I imagine MBTI practitioners running team events or group feedbacks have the same challenge.

You’ve tripped over the tinsel, you’ve eaten too many mince pies and you’re the only one who came to the office Christmas party dressed as an elf. Cheer yourself up by feeling all smug about your MBTI^® knowledge, and carry on counting down to the holidays.

Some people leave their Christmas shopping until the last minute, while others have had everything sorted since the previous January sales. Some enjoy working through their Christmas lists amongst the buzz of high street shoppers, while others prefer facing the Christmas consumer blow-out online.

According to a recent CIPD report, job turnover has slowed significantly over the past 15 years. This means that, in general, people are choosing to stay in their current roles rather than make voluntary exits (ie resignations and retirement). On the surface it might appear to be nothing but good news for an organisation that much-valued members of staff are choosing to stay. However, for this to be a wholly positive trend, people need to be staying put for the right reasons...