Why the long silence?

So I’ve been quiet on the blog recently for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, much as I’m enjoying this series of The Apprentice, it hasn’t engaged me to the same degree as its predecessors. Maybe I’ve seen these same tasks too many times before. Or maybe I’ve seen this cast of candidate characters too many times before. With my HDS hat on (the Hogan Development Survey psychometric) I’m on the look out for dysfunctional leadership behaviours. But every time I spot a ‘dark side’ with the potential to de-rail a particular candidate, it looks like a carbon copy of that exhibited by last year’s identikit candidate.

Instead of Charming-Manipulative Jedi Jim, for example, simply insert smooth-talking sinister-eyed salesman Stephen Brady.

We’ve also lost (along with lots of dead wood) two of the most interesting candidates too early in the process. Bilyana Apostolova, had she not talked her way to the sack in week one, promised to be painfully brilliant television. And Katie Wright, who was nearly caught out in that opening week when she ‘went missing’, was shaping up to be an interesting contender as she demonstrated both amused detachment and a penchant for persuading project managers to take perilous risks.

After her near-sacking experience, Katie started to come across as the first candidate in years who actually seemed to be doing this for fun.

But then she got fired.

However, the other reason for my blogging silence is that I’ve been devoting some time to supporting the development of leadership potential among a different demographic from the ‘day job’. For the last couple of months I’ve been volunteering one day a week at a local Primary School – helping out for half a term each first in Year 1, then Year 3 and now Year 6 (I would be there today but for their SATS).

As a fan and frequent user of the MBTI, I’ve found it fascinating to see how facets of this personality model manifest themselves in those so young. The theory behind MBTI says that our personality type is set from birth and, if you subscribe to that, it should come as no surprise that spotting the ‘preference’ of a child is in some ways simpler than determining that of many adults. Most children have experienced fewer of those facets of life which, whilst having nothing to do with personality type per se, do have a huge bearing on who and how we are. And children also tend to just ‘be themselves’ to a greater degree than most adults can.

The Year 6 teacher set her class a debating topic recently which provided immediate insight into the Extraversion or Introversion preference of many of her pupils. As soon as the debate started, a number of the children charged in with their initial opinion – often to revise these before the end of the same sentence. Others could be seen sitting back, listening and reflecting before articulating their considered view. Neither approach had anything to do with the intelligence or academic ability of the different children, but plenty to do with their ‘E or I’ preference.

The Year 6 children also hugely enjoy an activity designed to develop their ‘mental maths’ capability – and again it readily reveals the Extravert or Introvert preference of many of the children. The activity starts with one pupil standing behind the chair of a seated classmate. The teacher calls out a ‘mental maths’ question (e.g. ‘what is the square root of 81?‘) and whichever child first shouts the correct answer then takes up position behind the next pupil’s chair.

There are a couple of clearly Extravert children in the class who are very good at mental maths and often ‘remain standing’ for some considerable time. There are others who blurt out the first answer which pops into their head, quickly followed by another if the initial response was wrong. Contrastingly, last week one of the more capable girls in terms of her numeracy was celebrating an unprecedented (for her) five ‘first correct answers’ in succession despite her obvious Introvert preference for thinking through the question before speaking.

I’m finding my time in the classroom fascinating in many respects. I also recognise (as I believe the education system now does to a much greater degree than when I was at school) that our personality type has a huge bearing on how each of us likes to learn (at the risk of sounding like ‘I’m 93 you know’, there was a very strong STJ bias in the way we were taught). So I may well return to this theme – and perhaps rather sooner than posting another Apprentice piece.

Although that might all change after tonight’s task; to ‘create a brand and identity’ for an English sparkling wine. What odds on a ‘Jubi-lympic’ tie-in?

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Sherlock Holmes and the Myers Briggs Mystery (with a bit of FIRO thrown in).

In my last post I promised a psychometric analysis of Sherlock Holmes (as reimagined for TV by Stephen Moffat and Mark Gatiss). I now rather wish I hadn’t – but I know at least two regular readers who are avidly awaiting my assessment of his MBTI type, so I suppose I should attempt to solve this Sherlock mystery.

Part of the problem is that the MBTI only looks at certain ‘normal’ aspects of personality. Myers Briggs also assumes that we are normal people. Not only would I imagine Holmes sits some distance along the autistic scale but might tentatively suggest we’re dealing with a borderline schizophrenic here. John Watson identified Aspergers as another possible affliction during last week’s episode (and he is, after all, a Doctor) so I think it is safe to say that Sherlock’s personality is not ‘normal’.

Sherlock portrait stolen from Wikipedia - mystery solved

Nonetheless, I’m committed to an MBTI analysis and Sherlock’s preference for solitude certainly suggests Introversion. Whilst he does his best thinking playing the violin, my belief is that he needs to block out distractions rather than requiring the stimulus of music to energise the mind. Admittedly, Benedict Cumberbatch’s Holmes has a tendency to ‘think out loud’ (a typically Extravert trait) but that probably has more to do with the demands of television (with the exception of George Smiley, very few great screen characters keep their thoughts mostly to themselves).

In terms of Sensing or Intuition, I strongly believe Sherlock favours the latter. He is undoubtedly very good at assimilating information – instantly noticing and processing the most minute clues – but it appears to cause him actual pain to focus for too long on the detail of the here and now. His natural preference is surely Intuition – identifying patterns, themes, connections, possibilities.

In this second series of Sherlock, Holmes has called Watson his ‘one friend’ and found his ‘not interested’ default setting fleetingly challenged – but he doesn’t really do feelings and emotions (nor interpersonal skills, for that matter). Logical analysis and objective decision-making are his forte. Indeed, so adept is he at reasoned deduction that it often appears quite elementary. Not that it is always easy to follow Sherlock’s logic – great leaps of faith are sometimes required (or at least great restraint from the temptation to pick holes in the plot) – but we can put that down to the N influence on his T preference.

Judging or Perceiving presented me with the most difficulty. I even Googled ‘Sherlock Holmes MBTI’ to see what others thought – and found the jury to be evenly split (with one vote for INTX). The clutter and chaos within 221B Baker Street (when Mrs Hudson isn’t around to restore order) suggests a Perceiving preference. Sherlock also seems more energised by deadlines than engaged by plans. So I’m coming down in the P camp – but I’m open to persuasion should others identify evidence to the contrary.

Dr Watson is driven by his values and his loyalty to Holmes – which marks him down as a classic SF. As portrayed by Martin Freeman we also have a deep thinker and man of few words – suggesting he shares Sherlock’s Introvert preference. And I’m inclining towards Judging – perhaps as a counterpoint to Holmes’ P. But maybe that is just because ISFJ types are twice as prevalent in the UK population as ISFP. I guess my homework for Sunday is to watch more closely for the Judging or Perceiving clues for both characters.

I might also seek to validate my first attempt at Sherlock’s FIRO-B profile – in some ways easier to establish than his MBTI type.

FIRO-B looks at our differing needs for interpersonal interaction across the three areas of Inclusion, Control and Affection – in terms of the behaviours we express towards, and want from, others. The scale scores range from 0-9 – where 0 reflects a very low need and 9 very high.

A FIRO-B score of 0 does not represent a total absence of a particular interpersonal need but typically indicates very low frequency and very high selectivity (i.e. in terms of whom the behaviours are expressed towards or wanted from).  With that in mind, my initial assessment of Sherlock was scores of 0 for Expressed Inclusion, Wanted Inclusion, Wanted Control, Expressed Affection and Wanted Affection – and a 9 for Expressed Control. However, if a crime is sufficiently intriguing Holmes hates to be excluded – so perhaps he’s pushing towards a 1 for Wanted Inclusion.

Admitting that John Watson is his friend – even telling him as much – doesn’t elevate Holmes’ Expressed Affection above a zero. And his ‘feelings’ about Irene Adler (‘A Scandal in Belgravia’) were sufficiently unprecedented that the same score for Wanted Affection still fits. But perhaps the femme fatale’s intriguing challenge to Sherlock’s ‘not interested’ mindset hints at a suppressed higher need in the area of Wanted Control? That his hitherto dormant interest in the opposite sex should be aroused by a dominatrix might just be a clue.

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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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An MBTI Question I’ve Waited Years To Ask (and a slightly disappointing answer)

Communicating with others in a style which fits their MBTI type can be a powerful tool in influencing, engaging and building relationships.

Those with the Sensing preference typically like to receive information in a structured, sequential manner, prefer to focus on practical reality and tend to want detailed information which builds up the bigger picture and leads to the conclusion.

Intuitive types are more likely to want to start with a high level overview and perhaps dig down into the detail in areas which interest them. Intuitive types are usually happier to go off at tangents, more comfortable with gaps or ambiguity and more inclined to piece together information for themselves.

Recognising these differences, and tailoring your approach to appeal to the preferences of your audience, can really help you get them on board.

But why am I talking about this?

In a former life I worked at NATS Ltd – the UK’s leading purveyor of Air Traffic Management. In 2004 the NATS Executive set the organisation off in pursuit of 21 extremely challenging targets known as the 21 Destinations. The ‘Destinations’ programme was launched through a series of roadshows at which members of the Executive projected into the future and announced that in March 2007 NATS had achieved all of these targets. They then added ‘….and by the way, we don’t know how we’re going to do any of this’.

Within the UK population, approximately 75% of us have the Sensing preference and 25% the Intuitive preference. As the company’s MBTI expert I was well aware that the NATS ‘population’ reflected a similar disparity. Like most commercial businesses, the culture of NATS was very STJ – perhaps even more than most given the safety critical nature of Air Traffic Control. Yet here was the NATS Executive launching the 21 Destinations in an extremely Intuitive style.

The HR Director at that time, Philip James, would have been well aware of the MBTI ‘mix’ across the business and as it happens has just posted a blog piece on his own website referring to the launch of ‘Destinations’. So I took the opportunity to ask him – Did the NATS Executive consciously decide to launch Destinations in a style likely to cause discomfort, and hence invite resistance, among the predominantly Sensing audience?

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The Dark Side of Phil Vickery – Celebrity MasterChef Champion?

Former England Rugby Captain Phil Vickery has made it to the final of Celebrity MasterChef – and I believe will pip Kirsty Wark to the crown. He is clearly focused, driven, committed – all qualities which no doubt contributed much to his on-field achievements. ‘Leisurely‘, however, is not a word I would apply to his cooking style nor sporting persona.

But ‘Leisurely‘ is the new ‘global scale name’ for the HDS (Hogan Development Survey) scale formerly known as Focused-Passive Aggressive. And I’ve been collecting evidence to suggest that this would feature prominently in Vickery’s HDS profile.

Whilst Kirsty Wark talks about ‘letting the passion take over’, Phil Vickery’s mantra is all about ‘being single-minded‘ and ‘staying focused’. In a soundbite to camera he describes himself as ‘probably the most stubborn person you’ll ever meet’. In the kitchen his concentration is absolute. Vickery looks like a man determined not just to win Celebrity MasterChef but to become a celebrated chef.

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The Cost of Leadership ‘De-railment’

Regular visitors to this site will be aware that I have written a number of blog posts using the 11 ‘dark side’ scales within the Hogan Development Survey (HDS) to analyse dysfunctional behaviour and the potential ‘derailers’ of politicians, football managers, Apprentice candidates and even last year’s Celebrity Masterchef finalists. However, these pieces are little more than idle (but I hope amusing) speculation whereas I do also frequently use the HDS ‘for real’ to support leadership recruitment, selection, coaching and team development.

Last week I attended a seminar hosted by SHL and was presented with some statistics which really reinforced the value the HDS can add for businesses and individual leaders. The HDS is specifically designed to look at how the day to day strengths of leaders can become dysfunctional when they are under unusual stress or pressure. As such, it helps identify potential de-railers before the derailment occurs. But it doesn’t have the high profile of the MBTI, 16PF or OPQ, qualified practitioners are nowhere near as plentiful and many businesses don’t even know about it let alone use it.  Which is unfortunate when you consider the following:

• 30-50% of ‘high potential’ managers and executives de-rail
• the immediate cost of replacing someone who de-rails equates to one year’s salary
• there is a strong correlation between organisational failure and the derailment profile of top executives (Garry Cook and Manchester City FC take note) and
• the long term cost in human capital (i.e. the impact on the individual’s career) is at least 5 years.

Psychological Consultancy Ltd (PCL), the UK license holders for the Hogan tools, would have been gratified to hear a competitor (albeit a much bigger ‘player’ in the market) presenting such a compelling case for the HDS.

Within the same presentation, SHL also referenced ‘Why CEOs Fail: The 11 Behaviors Which Can De-rail Your Climb to the Top and How to Manage Them’ by David L Dotlich and Peter C Cairo. The 11 ‘Behaviors’ (its an American book) are the 11 HDS scales and the book was produced in consultation with Robert Hogan. However ‘Why CEOs Fail’ has re-labelled the behaviours – and for the most part Dotlich and Cairo’s labels better describe the behaviours in question than the new ‘global scale names’ now attached to the HDS.

I touched on this bug-bear a few weeks ago – when I became aware that ‘Enthusiastic-Volatile’ was now labelled ‘Excitable‘, ‘Independent-Detached’ had become ‘Reserved‘ etc. Dotlich and Cairo use the following:

• Arrogance (was ‘Confident-Arrogant’ in the HDS, new scale name is ‘Bold’)
• Melodrama (was ‘Vivacious-Dramatic’, now ‘Colourful’)
• Volatility (was ‘Enthusiastic-Volatile’, now ‘Excitable’)
• Excessive Caution (was ‘Careful-Cautious’, now ‘Cautious’)
• Habitual Distrust (was ‘Shrewd-Mistrustful’, now ‘Sceptical’)
• Aloofness (was ‘Independent-Detached’, now ‘Reserved’) 
• Mischievousness (was ‘Charming-Manipulative’, now ‘Mischievous’)
• Eccentricity (was ‘Imaginative-Eccentric’, now ‘Imaginative’)
• Passive Resistance (was ‘Focused-Passive Aggressive’ now ‘Leisurely’)
• Perfectionism (was ‘Diligent-Perfectionistic’, now ‘Diligent’)
• Eagerness to Please (was ‘Dutiful-Dependent’, now ‘Dutiful’).

At least the labels used by Diltlich and Cairo convey how the behaviour can become dysfunctional and a de-railer – something which has been lost in the ‘new’ (to the UK) HDS labels. Ho hum. I’m sure next week when I start trying to predict the potential de-railers of this year’s Celebrity Masterchef finalists I’ll be thinking (and maybe blogging) in the old currency.

I’m cheering for Kirsty Wark, by the way (another Intuitive/Perceiving chef I’m fairly sure).

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MBTI and Celebrity Masterchef – let the culinary carnage commence

Celebrity Masterchef is back – albeit relegated to an early afternoon slot (plus a 30 minute highlights package on a Friday evening). I have better and more important things to do with my days – but via Virgin ‘On Demand’ I have been drawn in. No doubt as the competition progresses, I will start to analyse the contestants in terms of the Hogan HDS – as I did for the three finalists last year – but at this stage incompetence and stupidity should be sufficient to see off most of the aspiring chefs. So I have instead been looking out for clues as to their MBTI types.

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‘How do you motivate an ENFP to actually do something?’

According to my site stats, someone (among the many searching for Doctor Who’s Myers Briggs type) arrived at this website last week by Googling precisely that question: ‘how do you motivate an ENFP to actually do something?‘. It sounds like the desperate plea of a despairing manager.

It also sounds like a question from someone whose grasp of, and/or expectations from, the MBTI are somewhat flawed.

‘How do you motivate an ENFP to actually do something?’ implies that all ENFPs are inherently difficult to motivate. It also suggests that our MBTI preferences hold the key to what motivates us. And it further implies that ‘one size fits all’ – i.e. that all of these notoriously lazy, work-shy, diffident ENFPs will be motivated by the same things.

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And the £250,000 goes to….. The Apprentice is hired

The Apprentice candidates in this series have been battling to win a £250,000 partnership with Lord Sugar. It therefore made sense that the concluding episode, traditionally a head-to-head task in which two finalists led candidates fired earlier in the process, should this year involve rigorous scrutiny of the CVs and business plans of four potential partners.

'Sugar Sugar, Oh Honey Honey.....'

Fun though it would have been to watch aggrieved former colleagues seeking ‘kharmic retribution’, this year Lord Sugar instead used the interview from hell format to help him determine who was worthy of his investment.

I say ‘rigorous scrutiny of CVs and business plans’ but to my mind the interviews were designed more to test the resilience of the candidates than the robustness of their business propositions.  Margaret Mountford came across as shrewd and insightful, as ever, but in the other interview rooms we had Claude, who mistakes rudeness for shrewdness, and two young entrepreneurs seemingly in serious need of selection skills training.

Tom was first in front of rude Claude: ‘Would it be fair to say, Tom, that your career is floundering at the moment?’

‘I don’t believe that to be the case but I’m wondering what would point you in that direction’, was Tom’s response.

‘Well, just your CV really.’ Clearly Claude believes in bringing the best out of candidates by easing them into an interview.

In another room Mike Suter, a ‘pioneer of Britain’s free magazine market,’ greeted Jim with the observation that ‘your CV is packed with clichés, buzzwords and blarney.’ Fair comment, perhaps, but hardly the warmest welcome.

Meanwhile Susan was receiving an even more unsettling reception from Matthew Riley, young entrepreneur of the year in 2007. ‘Stand behind the chair for a second. Don’t sit down,‘ he instructed before inviting her to deliver ‘the elevator pitch’ (i.e. summarising her business proposition in a 30 second ‘lift ride’).

Susan’s smile slipped for only a split second before she smoothly and succinctly explained her idea for a mass market organic skincare range.  

Only Margaret was willing to open her interview with a degree of warmth, applauding Helen on her outstanding performance in the process thus far. However, if Helen was reasonably relaxed at this early stage, she was anything but at ease when Mike Suter confronted her with what I consider to be a horrible and wholly inappropriate interview question (even within the context of a TV programme).

‘You come across as very professional, very controlled,’ he began. ‘Tell me something that shows your human side. Tell me a joke. Make me laugh.’

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