MBTI Questionnaire and Change
Here we look how we can use the MBTI questionnaire to help a team to anticipate issues around a period of change.
This exercise is an extract from, 'MBTI Team Building Programme: Leader’s resource guide' by Sandra Krebs Hirsch, and has been reproduced with the kind permission of Consulting Psychologist Press (CPP).
The resource guide offers practical advise on how to use the MBTI instrument within a team environment, and has over 20 structured activities to follow.
Exercise M: Tension Around Change
| Purpose: |
During the change process, opposite Quadrants generally exhibit the most tension and irritation with each other. This activity can help team members anticipate and address these issues. |
| Time: |
30-45 minutes |
| Materials: |
Flip chart paper, markers, masking tape, the Team Members Guide for reference (particularly page 10 where the Quadrants are discussed), and RMs 31-34, Opposite Quadrants |
- Divide the group into Quadrants: IS, EN, ES, and IN.
- Display the following on a flip chart or overhead:
What do we value about our Quadrant?
What do we do that annoys the opposite Quadrant?
What does the opposite Quadrant do that irritates us?
What do we value about our Opposite Quadrant?
- Direct groups to give specific answers and place their remarks on flip charts to report to the large group
- 4 With the entire team, discuss each group’s responses to the questions. Compare the Quadrants’ responses to those on RMs 31-34. Use the Team Member’s Guide as an additional reference.
Team builder Notes
The following lists were compiled from participants in team building sessions using Activity M (RMs 31-34, Opposite Quadrants). In most cases, each quadrant realises it needs its opposite to provide balance and a different perspective. When reading the lists, notice that Ns realise Ss are needed for implementation, because they make change concrete and practical. Ss tend to resent how frequently Ns think their work is done once they come up with the idea.
Overall, ESs have the most terse lists, filled with practical words about getting things done. INs have the most unusual words and often hold debates in their IN groups on the precise meaning suggested by a given word.
ENs lists are the most verbose and are filled with active, energetic words. ISs are inclined to do the task quietly and to be more modest in their self-descriptions.
See below to view characteristics of each quadrant
Opposite Quadrants - EN
What ENs value about themselves. ENs:
- Stimulate, motivate and activate others
- Are open to change, adventure and risk
- Create, innovate, and challenge
- Are engaging, charismatic, inspiring and persuasive
- Push the limits, work to make a difference, and set a new direction
How ENs annoy others – especially ISs. ENs:
- Overpower, overshadow, and steamroll
- Dominate in social situations
- Advocate too much too soon
- Lack respect for history, tradition, time and the practical and procedural
- Answer their own questions, don’t listen and talk too much
How ISs irritate ENs. ISs:
- Go too slowly, obstruct progress and resist change
- Cite too many rules and regulations
- Offer little verbal feedback
- Lack imagination and don't like to take risks
- Are traditional, security conscious and stubborn
What ENs value about ISs. ISs:
- Implement change/visions
- Divide change into manageable portions
- Are practical and aware of the present situation
- Read the fine print, fill in the gaps, and cover for others
- Are reliable, accurate, considerate and loyal
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Opposite Quadrants - ES
What ESs value about themselves. ESs:
- Get things done, make things happen, and don't waste time
- Are practical and budget conscious
- Lead through action
- Combine organisational skills with a positive attitude
- Interact well with others
How ESs annoy others – especially INs. ESs:
- Jump in too quickly and make snap decisions
- Don't listen and talk too much
- Are short sighted and don't plan for the future
- Are overly concerned with detail
- Dampen ideas by referencing reality
How INs irritate ESs. INs:
- Leave tasks for others to finish
- Are impractical, abstract, unfocussed, and vague
- Are hard to read and have hidden agendas
- Think but don’t express their thoughts or act on them
- Make too many factual mistakes
What ESs value about INs. INs:
- Supply new ideas and visions
- Are good listeners
- Inspire others
- Understand conceptual relationships
- Are creative and innovative
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Opposite Quadrants - IN
What INs value about themselves. INs:
- See trends and connections
- Are independent, self-reliant and self-contained
- Challenge current thinking
- Invent useful frameworks, systems and models
- Think before acting
How INs annoy others – especially ESs. INs:
- Are too theoretical and abstract
- Make the simple complex
- Think too much and don’t implement their ideas
- Ask deceptively simple questions
- Provide too many options
How ESs irritate INs. ESs:
- Talk too much, intrude on others, and don't listen
- Jump in too quickly with short-term solutions
- Don't see the big picture and have too focussed a view
- Are bottom-line orientated and too practical
- Lack imagination
What INs value about ESs. ESs:
- Get things done
- Catch details others miss
- Are entertaining, social and active conversationalists
- Energise others
- Communicate others intentions and champion their ideas
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Opposite Quadrants – IS
What ISs value about themselves. ISs:
- Do what needs doing in a quiet, practical way
- Make sense of lots of facts and details
- Use proven procedures in problem solving
- Have a well-thought-out process that utilises careful advance preparation
- Provides stability, consistency, predictability and efficiency
- Consider the reality of the situation
How ISs annoy others – especially ENs. ISs:
- Inundate others with details
- Impede progress and slow others down
- Don’t show what they’re thinking, don't speak up, and withdraw in order to reflect
- Ask too many specific questions
- Act as spoilsports and 'wet blankets' to others' ideas
How ENs irritate ISs. ENs:
- Don’t attend to details and often leave them for others
- Talk too much and may be noisy and aggressive
- Discuss theory and abstractions without consideration for practicalities
- Leap before looking (thinking)
- Don't focus on the present reality
What ISs value about ENs. ENs:
- Exude energy, enthusiasm, and a willingness to jump right into a project
- Focus on the big picture and the future
- Display creativity and imagination
- Use interesting metaphors, analogies and stories
- Present unusual remedies and solutions that can be put into practical use
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