Personality Type in Organisations

Will using type make an organisation more effective and efficient? That depends on a number of things. Using type theories, like other ideas in organisations, requires more than the 45 minutes of self-awareness often provided at the beginning of a course on management and leadership. The organisation has to decide to use the method knowledgeably, intensively and comprehensively over a long period of time. This means leaving the world of instrumentation and using the theory and its applications more. Be aware though, that "efficient" and "effective" are loaded as terms, dating back to F.W. Taylor's "One Best Way" so, in a sense, they are inimical to any theory of difference.

Type approaches can also be used as a diagnostic framework for understanding organizations, in terms of corporate culture, including the various approaches of regions and departments within an organisation. In doing this, you need to be aware that the history of an organisation, rather than its current incarnation, may more truly reflect the culture (type or otherwise) than anything else. An easy and interesting test is to ask whether the advertising of your bank reflects the type of service you get.

While using personality type in and about organisations is initially simple and clear, it is deceptively so. You need to know more than the basics to get the benefit. But the knowledge is out there, even though you might have to look around for it. And the search will be worth ilk