Up Front by Emma Hart

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Up Front: Your Whining Is Important to Us

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  • BenWilson,

    Webweaver, yes, their idea of introvert/extrovert is perhaps not exactly how people think of these names. My wife is 'E' type, but never speaks in public - I'm 'I' type but have no qualms about it. That comes back to practice.

    I remember a deeply introverted (in both the MB, and the common-or-garden ways) database analyst in Australia who was actually a bit of a party animal. But apparently it was only over the last 5 years that he had been (and he was about 50). He claimed that alcohol had opened his eyes to the possibility of enjoying social interaction with others, and he'd just worked hard at the skills since then. Before that he was almost completely reclusive.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Islander,

    Have taken the Briggs-Myers profiling when I first joined AVEN (havent posted there for a couple of years, because I had given & received all that was useful and/or supportive.) It wasnt exactly...accurate. I am very introverted, more than a bit obsessive over some things (I emphasize *things*), dont socialise much (and mainly only with people I've known for many years)yet am emphatically not a recluse. I am entirely at ease with speaking publically.But I am also intensely practical, not at all spiritual - in any sense I've encountered- and very sensuous. I have a strong sense of social justness & equity, and an even stronger sense of whanaukataka. And I am *always* willing to learn something new.

    The either/or nature of the Briggs-Meyer test, just the 2 options, means a lot of subtlety in responses isnt being considered - it seems.

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report

  • BenWilson,

    Islander you must have done a different test to me. The one I did asked you to scale your response along an axis, with the only oddity that the responses had to be one side or the other, there was no exact middle. Each dimension (there are 4) also had lots of questions contributing, which gave it whatever nuance it has. The aggregation always put you one one side or the other too. I seem to remember that there were always an even number of choices and an odd number of questions.

    What letter combination did you get?

    I think the biggest danger with any personality test is to read too much into it. To me, the main value was simply to ask yourself a bunch of questions, then consider what that might mean for how you deal with people - but that was because it was being taken as part of management training. It was especially interesting as a group activity, seeing how different people, grouped in one dimension, approached the same tasks. Very, very different ways of thinking showed up.

    The groupings are fairly arbitrary. To boil down humanity to 4 binary dimensions, leading to 16 personality types, is obviously simplistic. There could be as many dimensions as questions. Also, you answer the questions yourself, so you could just be wrong about yourself.

    It's a self-analysis tool, really. Like all of them, you get out as much as you put in.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Islander,

    I'm pretty sure I did BenWilson! There were IIRC 60 plus questions and only 2 choices as a possible answer. The thing wouldnt work if you skipped answering either.

    It's a while since I did it, but I was either an ISTP or an ITSP: the given 'type' profile didnt fit in the least.

    You're right - it's what you put in, but in such a limited question form there wasnt a lot to input...

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report

  • Rich of Observationz,

    Nazis tried to infiltrate boy scouts

    To me the interest in those documents was quite how banal the whole thing was. SIS were writing terribly polite letters asking Chief Constables to look out and report on Nazi cyclists. The Chief Constables wrote back in equally polite form explaining that they had seen no Nazis but would be in touch should any eventuate.

    I imagine that the "work" of NZSIS is much the same today. Infiltrating hippies and reporting back that they were mainly concerned with the price of weed, that sort of thing.

    It's also clear quite how keen many pillars of the British Establishment were on Nazism, right up to the point when such enthusiasm would have led their spending WW2 in Wormwood Scrubs.

    Two good reasons they kept the documents classified for 70 years, I suppose.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report

  • BenWilson,

    You're right - it's what you put in, but in such a limited question form there wasnt a lot to input...

    Yup. I seem to remember something on the order of 200 in the one I did, with a scale of one to six. Even then, for some of the questions, I found it very hard to choose. But the even number forced you to one side or the other. I believe the rationale for this is to deal with the people who always answer in the middle. It forces them to make a decision, even if it's only just away from the center.

    Also, the final result may be one of 16 categories, but the extent to which you are in any dimension matters. You might be 'I', but only just.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Deborah,

    INTJ here. As is my partner. It can be very silent around here at times.

    I'm quite fond of the medieval humours. I'm definitely melancholic through to phlegmatic.

    New Lynn • Since Nov 2006 • 1447 posts Report

  • Sacha,

    Click on any of the 16 MBTI types in the table on the right to go to its in-depth topic. Trying to remember what I was last time..

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • BenWilson,

    Trying to remember what I was last time..

    Do the test again...you might have changed :). I wonder if I might answer the questions a little differently now that there's not even a chance of having some management wanker beating me over the head with it.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Sacha,

    ENTJ? shudder

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • BenWilson,

    y'know, I'm not surprised by that one, Sacha. I worked with a few ENTJs and they were all capable of giving me tachycardia ;-)

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Sacha,

    I still don't remember what we discussed that night

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • BenWilson,

    You laid out your master plan for the next 30 years. I struggled to keep up. Myer Briggs would probably suggest my P type was conflicting with your J, that planning the future in such detail caused me stress. But I think it was simpler than that...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Alien Lizard (anag),

    my P type was conflicting with your J

    conflict resolution...
    it's better with a J than with a P pipe
    to steal a lick from the Pure Prairie League...

    yeehah!

    The Arrrgh Complex • Since Jan 2010 • 158 posts Report

  • recordari,

    What day is it today? Tuesday. Right so I'm ISFP. I wavered on the ex/in descriptors so much that I suspect if you get me on a Friday, it would be ESFJ (I'm notoriously Judgemental on a Friday).

    The SF is pretty fixed though. Whoops, did somebody say Science Fiction?

    But seriously, it does strike me that there is a continuum, and, at least for myself, I tend to shift along it fairly regularly. Wait until you catch me near a dancefloor with some old school house music on the decks.

    Re-tweet, but it was months ago, so sue me...

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report

  • FletcherB,

    Here's another lesson learned from 10+ years of customer service....

    The level of service given and the happiness/satisfaction of the customer are.... not 100%, but significantly unrelated.

    If you give truely bad service, you will have a grumpy customer, and that is well deserved.

    But if you give fantastic, average, or below average service, you may have ecstatic, normal or grumpy customers in pretty much any combination with very little correlation.

    West Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 893 posts Report

  • Sacha,

    You laid out your master plan for the next 30 years

    Heck, I wish someone had recorded that - if only to stop me doing it again :)

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • BenWilson,

    It seemed like a good plan, especially for the disabled.

    The bit that really put my heart into overdrive was when you inquired into the nature of my work, appeared to grasp it totally (I don't usually even try to go beyond the basic idea, even with people in the same business), and then (the scary bit), began incorporating what you had gleaned into your plan, in a fairly convincing way. I had never realized spam blocking had such wide application.

    But it was good. A lot of fun, even if both of us were probably talking total bs.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Sacha,

    Sounds great, and serious about following up further in a more low key way. Wonder why I don't recall, given that forgetting is usually my challenge? Pain levels must have been higher than I thought - 'twere a right stormy night.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • BenWilson,

    Perhaps other people have the courage to tell you to slow down? Me, I just assumed it was my fault.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Sacha,

    tell you to slow down

    Please do - especially if it's a party. Practice on Friday?

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • BenWilson,

    Sounds good to me.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Steve Barnes,

    Note to self... "must remember voice recorder"
    Tee Hee.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report

  • Sacha,

    Note to self - practice mime

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • BenWilson,

    Note to self - stand well back during mime. 1000 words per minute can't hurt you but the mime equivalent could take out an eye.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

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