How Does the TMS Profile Differ From Myers Briggs ?

In 1921, Swiss psychiatrist Carl G. Jung published Psychological Types in which he argued that what appears to be random human behaviour is actually the result of the differences in the way people use their mental capacities. He observed that people have different ways of perceiving and organising information, drawing conclusions and making decisions. Furthermore, he believed people were motivated by the external world (extraversion) and the internal world (introversion) and a person’s preference for either category is the determinant of their psychological type.

During World War II, two American women, Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers, set about developing a method of applying Jung’s academic theory in a way that could be relevant to people’s everyday lives. They believed that a knowledge of personality preferences would assist women who were entering the wartime workforce to identify the type of work where they would be most comfortable and effective.

Their original questionnaire (or personality inventory) grew into the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), which was first published in 1962. The MBTI is a psychometric questionnaire designed to measure psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions. It aims to make the insights of Jung’s type theory accessible to individuals and groups by focusing on normal populations and emphasising the value of naturally occurring differences.

Some academic psychologists have criticized the MBTI instrument in research literature on the basis that it lacks credible research data. Notwithstanding this, over the last 40 years the MBTI has become a widely accepted tool in career counseling, group dynamics, employee training, marketing, leadership training, life coaching, executive coaching, marriage counseling and personal development.

On the surface, the Nesso Team Management Systems (TMS) profile and Myers Briggs system appear to have many similarities, but there are some key points of difference. The first is that MBTI approaches personality assessment from a whole-of-life perspective. They take the approach that we are the same at work as we are with our family and friends or any time we are not at work. The TMS takes a different approach – the point of departure is that there is a clear distinction between the way we behave at work and the way we behave in social situations.

It is reasonable to assume that for most people, the context of their professional environment influences their performance in terms of expectations, responsibilities and social cues. Because so many people distinguish between their personal and professional lives, it is important to approach profiling from a “work” perspective. For those who are different at work, the TMS delivers a far more accurate, beneficial and useful response than the MBTI, which assumes there is one portrait of a person that is applicable in all situations and so necessarily introduces some inaccuracies if it only partially applies to a person’s working life.

The second key difference is that the TMS frames all the work that we do, the feedback and the discussion, in terms of a work preference as opposed to a personality type. Personality, by definition, is a stable set of constructs, whereas your work preferences are something that may be dynamic and able to change over time as we experience different roles and different organisations. This is a key point, particularly in a world where professional environments need to embrace change and developments in systems, processes and available technologies.

The third distinction is that the TMS approach originated from research into group processes. It investigates the work that teams do, rather than the personality theory or the psychology that lies behind individual behaviour. Consequently, the entire TMS approach has a foundation in the work activities that are required for effective teamwork. MBTI segments individuals into categories of personality type, but the TMS can deliver more valuable information within a discussion based upon “who I am and what does it mean for the work that I do?” Whereas the MBTI picture does not necessarily depict how you work, the TMS demonstrates how an individual’s personality will impact on their work.

Finally, the MBTI is a simple, vertical personality assessment, whereas the TMS profile is an integrated analysis and profile of an individual’s preference within the workplace – something that is beyond an individual’s capacity to control, but which has a major impact on team dynamics and individual performance.

Of even more value, the TMS provides teams with an entirely new language upon which to communicate, and a method of communicating that focuses on the problem, issue or idea, completely detaching the person who caused or raised the problem from the problem itself.

The adage that we should play the issue, not the man, is a valuable lesson. If we can always focus our energy on finding solutions to the challenges at hand, rather than dealing with the issues of personality, we can increase our individual and collective productivity. The TMS language provides the key to achieving this, offering improved teamwork through effective and constructive communication. The TMS profile delivers a methodology for profiling and assessing the processes of communication within teams, making it an invaluable asset to any organisation reliant upon the efficiency of their teams for profitability and success.