„‚ CONDITIONS THAT HINDER EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

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USING PERSONALITY TYPOLOGY TO BUILD
UNDERSTANDING
Toni La Motta
Understanding how others function is a first step in working with them. Organizations
consist of people who differ from one another on almost every dimension possible.
Diversity certainly is a challenge that is here to stay.
However, diversity also offers an opportunity to appreciate differences. In the face
of constant change, organizations need the differing strengths of different types of
people. Increasingly organizations are turning to human resource development (HRD)
professionals to guide them in managing change and managing diversity. The HRD
professional then acts as a bridge between past and future technologies and as a
facilitator between employees and managers and among various teams within an
organization. As such, an HRD professional plays roles ranging from teacher to
technician to prophet to psychologist.
In a dynamic environment, the most important and least understood HRD role may
be that of psychologist. People react in many ways to changes around them; some adjust
well, but others see change as threatening and react defensively. An effective way to
diminish the defensiveness that occurs with change is to define roles clearly and to make
personnel feel acknowledged and appreciated. Understanding theories of personality
type can help an HRD professional in these endeavors.
This article begins with brief reviews of three related theories of personality
typology: Jung, Myers and Briggs, and Keirsey and Bates. Jung’s work formed the basis
of the later work of Myers and Briggs; the work of Myers and Briggs, in turn, formed
the basis of Keirsey and Bates’ work. Next the article describes the four dimensions of
personality that provide the structure for these three theories. These dimensions are
extraverts/introverts, sensors/intuitors, thinkers/feelers, and judgers/perceivers. The
article subsequently outlines Jung’s functional types and then provides detailed
explanations of the more widely recognized Myers-Briggs types and Keirsey and Bates
temperaments.
The explanatory material is important to an understanding of the next section, the
role of temperament and management style. Following that, four case studies of how
personality typology can be used in an organizational setting are presented. Finally, the
article describes action steps that can be taken by managers and HRD practitioners who
want to use personality typology to enhance understanding in the workplace.
Originally published in The 1992 Annual: Developing Human Resources by J. William Pfeiffer (Ed.), San Diego, CA: Pfeiffer &
Company.
The Pfeiffer Library Volume 6, 2nd Edition. Copyright ©1998 Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer ❚❘ 129