A More User Friendly Myers-Brigg Test

The questions, or rather statements, are relentless–all 574 of them.

But they’re succinct and to the point, requiring nothing more than a “true” or “false” answer from me. And yet many of them seem rather silly or frivolous.

“I don’t care for large noisy crowds.”

“I tend to be critical of others.”

“I like to talk to people.”

“I am often the last to leave parties.”

“People tell me that I worry too much.”

“I sometimes wanted to run away from home.”

Within 45 minutes, I complete the assessment andReflect, the new soft skills tool launched yesterday (Feb. 20) by the Graduate Management Admission Council, spits out a report card assigning me grades to ten different competencies.

The new assessment tool by GMAC is pretty much the MBA answer to the Myers-Briggs test, that HR-favorite psychometric questionnaire designed to measure psychological preferences in how people work and make decisions. In partnership with Oklahoma-based Hogan Assessments, GMAC’s so-called “soft skills solution” is made for students, professionals, business schools looking to develop leadership skills in the classroom, or corporations working to identify and develop talent in the workplace. GMAC is also positioning the product to MBA applicants, claiming that it can help graduate degree candidates to showcase their leadership qualities in a grad school application.

What makes Reflect, the first non-admissions product marketed by GMAC, different from Myers-Briggs or Gallup’s StrengthsFinder assessment is that it can be effectively used without a facilitator or coach. You just sit down in front of a computer, answer the 574 questions, and out pops your scores on skills that are important for job performance and career success.

Your score ranges presumably indicate your potential to demonstrate each competency according to your personality characteristics; ultimately, higher scores indicate greater potential. But then, you’re also given suggestions for follow-up readings and videos to improve your leadership abilities. Built into the product are more than 300 tips and 200 learning resources that you can add to a work plan. And you can also benchmark yourself against others in 15 different job functions, from financial analysts and operations managers to sales executives and CEOs.

GMAC is selling the product direct to students for $99 or at a bulk rate for business schools. Users of the product have access to their results and their action plan for three years after they take the test.

What did I learn by taking the assessment? On my report card, I received grades of ten (the highest grade possible) on “innovation” and “strategic vision.” I apparently did less well on “strategic self-awareness,” where I scored a two, and “decision making,” where my grade was just three.

There’s commentary beyond a mere grade that gets into more actionable detail. Wondering what my score of two means for “strategic self-awareness?” According to Reflect, “Your score suggests you remain self-confident during times of stress or change. You may be overly confident in your judgments and downplay others’ feedback. While you are not overly concerned about others’ opinion of you, this lack of interest may be interpreted as arrogance. When mistakes occur, you are more likely to blame colleagues or external factors rather than thinking about your own role.”

Hmmm. And what about that low score on “decision making?’ The product tells me that “Your score suggests you prefer to make decisions based on obvious solutions with a high chance for success. When faced with a unique situation, you may rely on guidance from others or build consensus before choosing a course of action. Others will appreciate your simple solutions, but may become frustrated when you fail to consider trying something new or using the ideas of others.”

To help with my strategic self-awareness, it is suggested that I read an essay entitled “Career Development: A Plan or an Adventure?” written by career coach Joanne Dustin, along with a couple of books, Daniel Pink’s “Drive” and Dean Shephard’s “From Lemons to Lemonade: Squeeze Every Last Drop of Success Out of Your Mistakes.”

And I’m also given some immediate tips, including these two tidbits:

“To heighten self-awareness, obtain feedback from external sources. Ask peers and senior leaders to provide feedback on how your behaviors affect your work.”

“Where you sit during a meeting makes a difference. If you sit at the head of the table, you’ll have less interaction and more deference to you as the leader. If you sit elsewhere, you will have more interaction and less deference.

There’s still more advice, including a list of things I should start, stop and keep. I need to start trying to address problems before they hit my desk, but I need to stop allowing detailed, intense projects from drawing me into micro-managing behavior. Reflect tells keep others up to date with consistent communication efforts.

All this sounds pretty reasonable to me. With business schools devoting more attention to leadership, team building and motivation, the GMAC-Hogan test seems likely to be a replacement for both Myers-Brigg and Strengthsfinder on many B-school campuses. But it's also a more user-friendly Myers-Brigg for any professional looking to improve his or her leadership skills.

For more info on the test, see our story at PoetsandQuants.com:

A Myers-Briggs For B-School Students