Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics.

So my seasonal ‘Father Christmas and the Myers Briggs Type Indicator’ post narrowly outperformed Doctor Who & the MBTI for hits in December – but it was a close contest and Santa did have ‘home page advantage’.

Coincidentally, I have just this morning received an e-mail from the WordPress ‘Stats Monkey’ reporting on my blog’s performance over the past 12 months – which is all the excuse I need to dash off a quick review of these and buy myself a bit more time before I MBTI-analyse Stephen Moffat and Mark Gatiss’ reinterpretation of Holmes and Watson (which I guess I’m committed to now).

The biggest surprise in the 2011 stats was that my analysis of the good Doctor’s Myers Briggs type, posted in May 2010, was only the second most popular in terms of views. It was followed (at some distance) by two more MBTI posts – ‘MBTI Types of the World’s Greatest Novelists – Condensed into 140 Characters or Fewer’ (March 2011) and ‘How Do You Motivate an ENFP to Actually Do Something?‘ (September 2011). The former was inspired by a statement on Twitter suggesting that great writers typically share the same four preferences. And the latter was in response to a very specific Google search (which brought the frustrated manager of an ENFP to my website). It was the post which generated most Twitter activity – although I suspect this was mostly from people who only read the title.

Apart from being a great writer, what else might this man have in common with me? Why, his MBTI type of course.

Santa’s MBTI type, originally exposed in January 2011, only reached number 5 in the ‘hits’ parade – but did reach a wider audience via ‘TYPEtype‘ – the journal of the New Zealand Association for Psychological Type. I’m not sure how many subscribers it has but I’m hoping for Worldwide acclaim and riches beyond imagination on the back of this.

So, if not the Jolly Bearded Fat Fellow or the Tardis-dwelling TimeLord, what did prove to be my most popular post of 2011 (I pretend to hear you ask)?

Somewhat against my better judgement – but in keeping with Franklin Whybrow tradition – I devoted a few idle evenings in October to Celebrity MasterChef. Amazingly (given the viewing figures and scheduling of the show) my subsequent HDS analysis of the Champion-in-waiting – entitled ‘The Dark Side of Phil Vickery’ – was an instant internet phenomenon. I think it would be fair to say it went viral.

OK, it wouldn’t be remotely fair to say that – but judicious use of the #celebritymasterchef hash-tag on Twitter did result in a staggering number of views. For all I know, every one of them may have been Phil Vickery – but that’s WordPress stats for you.

Here are some links:

1. the-dark-side-of-phil-vickery-celebrity-masterchef-champion/

2. doctor-who-and-the-myers-briggs-type-indicator-colin-baker-was-number-six/

3. mbti-types-of-the-worlds-greatest-novelists-condensed-into-140-characters-or-fewer/

4. how-do-you-motivate-an-enfp-to-actually-do-something/

5. santa-claus-and-the-myers-briggs-type-indicator/

For what it’s worth, my most commented upon post was none of the above. Another piece penned in response to a specific Google search – ‘Is FIRO-B Rubbish?’ – achieved that accolade. The answer is ‘no’ but here, for good measure, is that link:

is-firo-b-rubbish/ 

Happy New Year – and Keeeeeeep Blogging!

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Santa Claus and the Myers Briggs Type Indicator – a festive repeat

If you are an avid reader of TYPEtype magazine (an MBTI-focused publication edited by Jenna Shaw of the New Zealand Association for Psychological Type) you may well come across my ‘2010’ Christmas blog post in your festive issue. However, most of my regular visitors are UK-based so you’re probably not subscribers. And disappointingly, Jenna was one of the precious few people who viewed that particular post (even if it is gratifying that she found it worthy of a wider audience). Nonetheless, there was a sudden surge in views last Saturday, coinciding with my own first Father Christmas sighting of the season, so maybe Santa’s MBTI type is of some interest after all.

But why so few views previously? Well, it could be that the piece wasn’t that great (surely not). However I’m hoping that timing was the main issue.  

Owing to the late airing of last year’s BBC Apprentice, and my obsession with analysing the HDS ‘dark side’ of each candidate, I didn’t post my Santa MBTI profile piece until 5th January 2011. It was topical (barely) for precisely 24 hours before our baubles were boxed up and fairy de-frocked (i.e. returned to her regular Barbie day-job) for another year.

So, encouraged by Jenna’s request to re-produce the post, I’m shamelessly re-hashing it for December 2011. Come Christmas Day, and a cracking Doctor Who special, I’ll be interested to see whose MBTI type is most searched for….

With Christmas approaching, and Santa soon to emerge from his Lapland hideaway, I was wondering how much we really understand about the man we call ‘Father Christmas’. Of course, Myers Briggs isn’t the whole story when it comes to who we are and how we are but perhaps reflecting on his MBTI type might shed a little more light on this most enigmatic character.

Ho Ho Ho - and have I got a surprising MBTI analysis for you

Extravert or Introvert, that is the first question.  We all use extravert and introvert behaviours (MBTI is about preference not capability) and for one month of the year Santa spends an inordinate amount of time ‘extraverting’ as he interacts with (mostly little) people.  However, there is very little that is spontaneous about these interactions – just a brief ‘Ho Ho Ho’ and ‘Have you been a good little boy/girl?‘ before he hands over some tat and sends you packing.  And these interactions clearly drain his energy to such a degree that he refuses to perform the most important part of his job unless his ‘clients‘ are all fast asleep.  Not only that, but he then needs eleven months of ‘down time’ to recharge the batteries. Santa is one serious Introvert.

So what about Sensing or Intuition?  How we like to communicate often provides clues to this one – and Santa is no exception.  This is a man who is very much grounded in practical reality rather than possibility and imagination. He only does small talk (‘Have you been bad or good? What would you like for Christmas? Will you put out a carrot for my reindeer?‘) and he definitely asks ‘What?‘ not ‘Why?‘ questions. In terms of how he likes to be communicated with, this is a man who wants a bullet-point list of your requirements not some rambling, anecdotal flight of fancy.

Clearly he’s Introvert and Sensing but what of Thinking or Feeling?  One might be tempted towards the latter given that he’s chosen to go into a seemingly people-focused and ‘caring‘ profession.  But essentially Thinking or Feeling is about our preferred basis for making decisions and I believe Santa’s is reasoned, objective analysis (practical and fact-based given his accompanying Sensing preference). Why do I say this with such conviction? Example 1: ‘Do you deserve any presents?’ Well, have you been bad or good? Are you awake or asleep?  Have you been shouting, crying or pouting (if so, he might not even come to your town)?  Example 2: ‘Who did he ask to pull his sleigh and why?’  For years he was perfectly happy to use Dasher, Dancer, Prancer and Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder and Blixen.  And he didn’t seem remotely bothered that they wouldn’t let poor Rudolph join in all their Reindeer games. No, Rudolph’s call up to the first team wasn’t a values-driven act of compassion. It was a practical solution to the problem of poor visibility on a foggy Christmas Eve.  ‘Rudolph with your nose so bright, won’t you guide my sleigh tonight?’

Which brings me to Judging or Perceiving.  Firstly let me dispel the popular misconception that Judging types are necessarily ’judgemental’.  The J/P dichotomy isn’t about that, it is about how you prefer to live your life (planned, ordered, under control or flexibly, spontaneously, keeping options open) so Santa’s clearly judgemental nature (e.g. ‘Have you been bad or good?‘) is a red herring. Similarly, one might think that it takes a lot of meticulous planning to deliver the right presents to the right houses for all the (well-behaved, sleeping) children of the world in just one night. But he has eleven months and countless elves to get the plan right. And just look at his December schedule? I know for a fact that he will be my daughter’s Primary School in Teddington on Saturday 10th, the Trafford Centre, Manchester on 11th, my son’s nursery in Hampton, Middlesex on 12th, the Arndale, Huddersfield on 13th and the Bentall’s Centre in Kingston, Surrey, on 14th.  What sort of a plan is that?

Moreover, Judging types like to avoid last minute stresses whereas Perceiving types are typically energised by last minute pressure.  Santa doesn’t need to leave all his deliveries until Christmas Eve.  He likes it that way. He could choose to spread the load across a few months (not even such a strong Introvert as Santa Claus really needs eleven months to recharge the batteries). No, Santa doesn’t spend the whole of January to November recovering from the previous Christmas any more than he spends it planning for the next one.  He just whiles away the months wibbling around Lapland until his big deadline approaches and he feels sufficiently under pressure to become energised again.

Of course, now that I’ve identified Santa Claus as an ISTP we all have to hope he never reads this blog. Should he do so, there’s every possibility he’ll decide the role of Father Christmas wasn’t the ideal career choice for one with his MBTI preferences. And where would that leave us? Before you know it we’d have every parent in the land conspiring once a year in a massive cover-up involving red gowns, false white beards, forced joviality and a carrot, mince pie and whisky supper beside the chimney….

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Doctor Who and the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (Colin Baker was number six)

As I’ve said in a previous post, I’m a great fan of MBTI and have used it extensively with individuals, teams and in development programmes.  One of the challenges I have most frequently heard from sceptics is along the lines of: “understanding personality types is all very well but unless someone tells you what theirs is, or we all wear a badge with ours on, what practical use is it?”

Part of my stock answer is that you don’t need to know someone else’s ‘type’ to use MBTI to influence more effectively or build better relationships. If what you’re doing isn’t working, make some assumptions about how their type might differ from yours and try another approach. If you’ve been giving lots of detail and they seem to glaze over, see if starting with the ‘big picture’ headlines gets them more interested. If you’ve bombarded them with a host of brilliant, logical reasons why your solution is best, and they still don’t get it, ask how they feel about it and try to find out about, and connect with, their values.  You don’t need to know whether they’re Sensing (S) or Intuitive (N), Thinking (T) or Feeling (F), just that you need to try a different approach (after all, “if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got“).

But you can also pick up clues if you observe and listen carefully. In fact with some people (mostly Extroverts of course) you don’t even have to listen that carefully.  As well as being a great fan of MBTI, I’m a great fan of Doctor Who. Not a nerdy, techie, go to conventions dressed as Colin Baker type of fan, I hasten to add (with due apologies to any nerdy, techie convention-goers), I just think it’s brilliant television. So I’ll use his current incarnation, as played by Matt Smith, to illustrate the point.

Whether the Doctor is an Extrovert (E) or Introvert (I) is easy enough. He tends to speak or act first then (maybe) reflect, he thinks out loud all the time and clearly draws energy from those around him (although not in the literal way some of his adversaries might). Take this exchange from episode 5 (‘Flesh and Stone’):

Father Octavian: “Doctor, we’re too exposed here. We have to move on.”

Doctor: “We’re too exposed everywhere and Amy can’t move and anyway that’s not the plan.”

River Song: “There’s a plan?”

Doctor: “I don’t know yet, I haven’t finished talking”.

Of course, the Doctor doesn’t really do plans. Flexibility, spontaneity and adaptability are more his things. He does his best work to tight deadlines and under last minute pressure. Undoubtedly Perceiving (P) not Judging (J) then – and only a ‘P’ could have such an elastic grasp of the concept of time.

What about Sensing or Intuitive? I would say he’s very much a ‘big picture’ person (ok, Time Lord). Great at making connections and seeing possibilities but not always entirely practical, down to earth and grounded in reality (let’s face it, he is fictional). Definitely bored by detail, too. So we have E, N and P but what about Thinking or Feeling?

The Doctor can certainly do reason, logic and analysis – but MBTI is about preference not capability. What is his preferred basis for making decisions? Does the Doctor prefer to decide with the head or the heart? Well, his sentimental devotion to a small, insignificant planet and, for all their flaws, to the ‘human race’ that lives there, gives me a clue. I would also say that his decisions are often ‘values driven’ – and if you offend those values you’re in trouble.  In episode 6 (‘the Virgins of Venice’) he tells Rosanna Calvierri, Queen of the Saturnyrians (or ‘big fish from space’), ‘I’m going to tear down the house of Calvierri stone by stone’. The specific reason for his anger? She didn’t know the name of the girl she had just executed. Anyway, he’s a Time Lord. One head, two hearts. I rest my case.  So I have the Doctor down as ENFP. Now, what about the Daleks?

Not everyone gives as many clues as the Doctor – and complex though his character is, real people are rather more complex than a fictional Time Lord, no matter how well scripted and acted the series may be. But if you’re not quite connecting with someone, and you’re armed with good listening skills and a reasonable understanding of MBTI, you should be able to pick up clues about how their type might differ from yours. You can then test these assumptions by adapting your style a little to see if that makes a big difference to how you connect with them.

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