The Limitations for Coaching and Development of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and other Preference-Based Personality Questionnaires
In the case of Paul, his self-defeating personality preference patterns of not stating his agenda strongly, procrastinating, and avoiding details were temporarily “fixed”, but paradoxically reinforced by (and evident in) the coaching process!
How is that?
Paul struggled to define his goals for coaching, but didn’t want to hurt Sally’s feelings or create tension by disagreeing with her intervention. He tried her techniques for a while, but couldn’t sustain them since they were not driven by his own agenda. So he started avoiding her too! Sally’s own preference for a coaching process that moves forward quickly had also unintentionally reinforced Paul’s preference to procrastinate on self-driven and self-motivated action.
The first-order change didn’t last because (even though Paul knew his personality preferences) the coaching process did not examine and shift Paul’s underlying framework of thought patterns, beliefs, and emotional drivers that were reinforcing his self-defeating preferences – even within the coaching relationship!
This is also one of the key limitations of personality preference questionnaires like the MBTI. They tell us what we prefer, but they don’t tell us why.
Second-Order Change and Underlying Worldviews
“Second-order change occurs when we explore the dimensions of the worldview in which the problem arose and create new patterns of thought and new learned experience beyond the customary frame of reference.” (Mary Bast, 2005)
Imagine that both Paul and Sally had greater insight into the worldview or framework of underlying beliefs and motivations that was giving rise to Paul’s self-defeating preferences. Imagine that, instead of merely trying help Paul adapt his behaviour towards the opposite end of the Myers Briggs behavioural spectrum, Sally had been given a way to encourage Paul to fundamentally challenge his beliefs about himself and the world. Furthermore, imagine that Sally had been given specific guidelines for how to manage Paul’s coaching process in a way that would avoid unwittingly reinforcing Paul’s worldview and behaviours.
Imagine that a personality questionnaire existed that could go beyond preferences and characteristics to reveal what truly drivesPaul (and your employees) towards self-defeating cycles, while offering them alternative frames of reference and learned experiences.
The E-scale is an alternative to preference-based personality questionnaires and it is here to radically shift your framework of employee development and coaching. The E-scale Emotional Intelligence profiling process that not only reveals preferences, but goes deeper to uncover the worldviews or frameworks of underlying beliefs and motivations that give rise to patterns that hinder productivity and performance.
If you want to find out how you can move on from preference-based questionnaires (such as the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), DISC, 15FQ+, OPQ etc.) towards deeper, lasting, second-order change, then please get in touch with us.
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