I once read a book on the creation of Myers-Briggs. I forget the name and author. It is possible the book still exists with my stuff at my father’s house.
Anyway, the author argued that the test was invented by a housewife who found Jung fascinating and that it was all hokum. Her ideas were basically taken up by someone who saw marketing potential in pushing the test to companies as a way to screen employees and make a fast buck in pushing the idea that it would be a good basis for hiring and firing decisions.
There was a true story in the book that always stuck out to me. One of the big rental furniture/appliance centers fired a whole bunch of managers because they had the wrong personality. The company was bought out and new management insisted on testing all managers. Some were found not to be “sensitive” enough.
Instead of going off past performance data and how well the managers did based on retention of subordinates and how many subordinates they helped develop into managers themselves and rational stuff such as that, they decided only the results of Myers-Briggs mattered.
The company suffered a lot in terms of sales after the mass firing because the new people were incompetent and over sensitive to criticism.
I also had a situation at my current workplace where they wanted us to test ourselves and then compare the results with each other on a chart. All "in fun," of course. And it was kind of interesting to see how the majority of the marketing people fell into one bucket while the creatives mostly fell into another, with a few outliers.
But now, two months later, I am seeing discussions of giving certain people projects because "their personality type is more suited to developing processes." Hmm. I think I see a pattern here. In the future, I will opt out of any personality testing just like I opted out of "vaccination."
Cheshire, ISTP?
It reminded me of being a fad that people or companies tried to use to categorize people in an attempt to understand or work with them. IMO it’s premise was that one’s personality was “written” in stone. In my experience people can change as they get older or gain more life experience. A young introvert may become an extrovert as they get older or vice versa. I remember in my travails companies, especially contract temp agencies or consulting companies, using this test when it was the new “thing” in the business world.
A better book on business personalities IMO is “Snakes in Suits: Understanding and Surviving the Psychopaths in Your Office” by Dr. Babiak and Dr. Hare. I’m jaded about the corporate world, but this book describes many bosses and upper management personnel I crossed paths with when I worked in the corporate environment.