Personality testing: Friend or foe
Thursday, January 14, 2010 at 10:55AM People have often asks me how I have scored on the Myers Briggs test. I have never taken it, I reply. I've been a contractor for many years, and most companies only subject _employees_ to the test, I suppose due to expense.
But privately, I've always kind of questioned the value of personality tests. For instance, it doesn't seem to me designed to determine whether someone is a pathological practice of hoarding information or putting down peers. Now THAT would be truly valuable information. Barring that kind of hard-to-get info, I think a peer's work history tells me most of what I need to know.
Anyway, today a peer on my management list pointed out this 2004 article in the New Yorker, by Malcolm Gladwell, that goes into some depth about the limitations of personality testing. I hope you find it as interesting as I did.
I particularly enjoyed the author's self-created personality test, which tests four personality dimensions: Canine/Feline, More/Different, Insider/Outsider, and Nibbler/Gobbler.