Results from the MBTI Model

Discuss about the Self-Reflection Analysis And Organizational Behavior.

 
Organizational behavior that has been studied in this course essentially reflects upon the behavior of individuals in organizational settings. Through this course, we have been given an opportunity to conduct a self-reflection analysis. In order o conduct this analysis, various tools and models have been used. This report throws light upon my analysis about my own self post using these tools. These tools include, Johari Window, MBTI (Myers Briggs Test Indicator), Transactional analysis, DISC (Dominant, influence, Steadiness and Compliance) and Thomas Killman conflict matrix. The results and my personal analysis of those results are given as below.

The very first model test that I took was for the MBTI model. MBTI model has a set of 16 different personality sets which have been derived by 4 essential attributes of a personality (Furnham & Crump, 2015). These four personality attributes include extroversion and introversion, intuition and sensing, Feeling and thinking as well as perceiving and judging (Sample, 2017). After taking the test, I came to understand that I have an INFP personality type. From what I have noticed in my personal life, this analysis holds true for me. I have always been an introvert and have a limited set of friends. I sometimes find it difficult to associate with a lot of people and hence I feel better around my limited set of friends.

The test indicates that I have marginal or no preference of intuition over sensing and a slight preference of feeling over thinking. As a person, I have always preferred to follow my intuition or gut feeling while making decisions. In fact, I have often received a feedback that I lack practicality and let emotions take control of my decisions. I have been very creative and often buried in my thoughts. I am extremely imaginative and this is a predominant sign of an INFP personality. Therefore I would look for career options that help me in spending more time with myself. Throughout my school and college, I have had a major interesting in writing blogs and articles for the school magazine. After taking the test, I am surely considering writing as a career option.

Johari Window is the next test that I took. This was very interesting as I even took feedback from others. Johari Window is a matrix that covers four important personality attributes (Tran, 2016). Attributes that are known to other and known to oneself, attributes that are unknown to others and known to self, attributes that are known to others and unknown to self and lastly there is a black box of  personality attributes that are unknown to self and others (Saxena, 2015).
I have come to understand and accept various attributes of my personality after conducting this test. I sincerely took a feedback from my friends and family members in order to understand those aspects of my personality that I wasn’t aware of.
Known to self and others

Confident, introvert, writing skills, creative, imaginative and emotional.    Unknown to self and known to others
Superiority complex and major obsessive compulsive for cleanliness. Sometimes stubborn and dominating.
Known to self and unknown to others
Stage fear, fear of failure, futuristic and highly ambitious in my writing career  Black Box

The third is test that I took was for transactional analysis. TA is a model that helps people in identifying with various personality types (Berne, 2016). An individual has a parent personality type or a child personality type. There are different personality types that an individual adapts to during different situations of life (Erskine, 2015). I have come to understand that my dominant personality type is that of a controlling parent. I tend to prefer things being under my control. I am often dominating and try to make things happen the way I want.

This test also helped me realize that I can deal with my conflicts in a better manner by simply understanding people’s dominant personality state. Most of the conflicts take place because both the individuals adopt the parent state. However, I started putting a conscious effort in bringing out my adult personality type in the face of a conflict. This helps me in handling the conflict better.

The next test that I took was the DISC personality test. This test helps people in analyzing their personality on four important factors. These factors include dominance, influence, compliance and steadiness (Hancock, 2016). I scored the highest in influence. This reflects upon how I communicate with people and what sort of influences do I have on them. There is a small observation that I made during this time. Most of my friends often mention that when people especially younger spend a quality time with me, their thought process changes to the extent that they pick up words from my vocabulary and often start talking like me. I believe, this is an important attribute as a writer. And I sincerely hope that my writings would be able to influence people in the same manner.

I also scored fairly well in compliance as well as dominance. Since an early age, I have always been complying with rules and regulations. I have no problems in obeying the authority. In fact, I am the more disciplined sibling at home too. I have also scored high on dominance. I believe this is because I try to keep things under my control at all times. I have a relatively low threshold for patience. This does not mean that I become restless and do things in a hurry. But on the other hand, I perform best when things are in control but I tend to become impatient when I am simply asked to follow directions.

The last test that I took was Thomas Killman conflict resolving instrument. This instrument throws light upon five different strategies adopted by people while resolving conflicts among each other (Trippe & Baumoel, 2015). After learning about this instrument, I have focused on collaborating as an appropriate conflict resolution strategy.

Results from Johari Window

However, it is important to note that different situations demand different forms of conflict resolution. It is highly recommended to collaborate and resolve a conflict but at the same point of time, I have learnt that sometimes the most appropriate strategy to use is to simply ignore the conflict. The choice of strategy depends upon the nature of the conflict and the people involved in the conflict (Bélanger Et. Al., 2015). Conflict resolution is critical for the success and growth of any organization as well (Morris, 2016). Therefore, it is essential that through this instrument, different strategies of conflict resolution can be learnt and effectively adopted in the workplace.

I was recently appointed as a leader of a group project. Our team consisted of 5 people and I was given the responsibility to guide the team. Each member of the group was extremely effective in their own fields of work. However, I faced various conflicts with one particular group member which was widely impacting the entire group’s performance. When I came to know about the Thomas Killman conflict instrument, I realized that owing to my leadership position, I was adopting a competing conflict resolution strategy. This reflects high assertiveness and low cooperativeness. Therefore, I decided to adopt a collaboration strategy. This enhanced my respect for my team member and we were able to resolve our conflicts in an effective manner.
There is a particular incidence from January 2018 where 7 of us were working on a project after having taken the MBTI test recently. We all belonged to different personality types. This test is what helped us collaborate and work effectively. We divided the tasks as per our interests and skills. I took up the responsibility of writing the draft, proposal and the end report as well as minutes of various meetings. The final report was highly appreciated by our seniors and the project was a huge success.

Self-reflection is an essential part of one’s life. These self-reflection activities have not only helped me in gaining a deeper insight about my own personality but have also helped me in improving my communication and conflict handling attitude. The modes that have been discussed are renowned and they have helped me take better control of my attitude and behavior. I have learnt a lot through these analyses and have also gained a clearer idea about the career path that I wish to pursue.

This course has largely helped me in improving my personality and getting to know myself better by highlighting upon my strengths and weaknesses. Through these self-reflection activities, I have changed myself to a lot of extent. Communication is the backbone of an organization and these activities have helped in improving my communication skills as well as conflict management skills. Overall, the entire course has been highly beneficial. I will continue to take these self-assessment tests and activities frequently in order to keep my personality attributes, communication skills and conflict resolution abilities in check. This would not only help in enhancing my personality but would also assist me in forming long term relationships with individuals.
 

References

Bélanger, J. J., Pierro, A., Barbieri, B., De Carlo, N. A., Falco, A., & Kruglanski, A. W. (2015). Handling conflict at work: The role of fit between subordinates’ need for closure and supervisors’ power tactics. International Journal of Conflict Management, 26(1), 25-43.
Berne, E., 2016. Transactional analysis in psychotherapy: A systematic individual and social psychiatry. Pickle Partners Publishing.
Erskine, R.G. ed., 2015. Transactional Analysis in Contemporary Psychotherapy. Karnac Books.
Furnham, A. and Crump, J., 2015. The myers-briggs type indicator (mbti) and promotion at work. Psychology, 6(12), p.1510.
Hancock, D., 2016. To test or not to test: Assessing personality traits. Practice Management, 26(5), pp.23-25.
Morris, B., 2016. Human Resources’ Role in Avoiding Conflict in the Workplace (Doctoral dissertation).
Sample, J., 2017. A Review of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator in Public Affairs Education. JPAE, p.979.
Saxena, P., 2015. Johari window: An Effective Model for Improving Interpersonal Communication and Managerial Effectiveness. SIT Journal of Management, 5(2), pp.134-146.
Tran, B., 2016. Communication: The Role of the Johari Window on. Handbook of research on effective communication, leadership, and conflict resolution, 405.
Trippe, B. and Baumoel, D., 2015. Beyond the Thomas–Kilmann model: Into extreme conflict. Negotiation Journal, 31(2), pp.89-103.