Know Yourself

Being unique and doing what comes naturally to us rather than others, we solve problems with our personal habits—whether the specific problem fits our habits or not. We call that the “comfort zone” bias. We drag decisions into our comfort zone instead of considering the real needs of the decision situation. By knowing ourselves better, we can counteract that bias.

A popular approach to understanding personality differences and preferences is the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI®). MBTI®. It differentiates individual preferences along four dimensions that are relevant to our decision-making habits and styles. MBTI® is based on the observation that we all have a preference for one side or the other on each of the dimensions, just as most of us are either right-handed or left-handed.

However, to make good decisions, we have to use both sides.

Understanding our own preferences helps us to leverage our natural strengths as well as anticipate where we might want to work harder or seek help.

For example, in seeking out information, those with a Sensing preference would generally seek out specific, factual information and would be skeptical of “pie-in-the-sky” possibilities that are uncertain.

While this may or may not be right for the decision being addressed, the point is, unless we know ourselves, we can fall into such patterns whether they are appropriate or not.

There is no best personal style or profile. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses, depending on the task to be accomplished and the situation we are in.

‍

‍