Customer Reviews

Type Talk at Work (Revised): How the 16 Personality Types Determine Your Success on the Job

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is just one of the books that shows you how to use personality/psychological type at work and is worth reading. It covers nearly all issues we face in the modern workplace like communicating with co-workers, handling stress in the workplace, ethics, time management etc. all from a Type perspective. Kroger and Thuesen do a good job at explaining how Extroverts handle things differently from Introverts, Sesates from iNtuitives, Feelers from Thinkers, & Judgers from Perceivers. Apart from this, in between it gives various tips on how people with different preferences can better understand and work with each other. It also tells interesting tales about the happenings in the workshops they conduct and how they explain to people that its because of their personality differences that conflicts arise and what they could do to prevent them. It even has some jokes at the end of the book.

I thought that the cream of the book was the descriptions of the 16 personality types. My type description was extremely accurate and insightful and three or four of the points mentioned in that seemed shocking to me because they described what went on in my mind and its something only I knew about.

But beware - It isn't so good on finding out what your type is.

Overall, a good read!

Kroeger and Thuesen are not my favorite MBTI authors, but the Type Talk books are a decent reference for those who consider themselves beginner and intermediate level in the personality theory world. The explanations of the four preferences and how to look for them in one's own self or in others is reasonably well done. I particularly liked how they borrowed from Keirsey's theory and delineated the NT/NF/SP/SJ categories. They do not delve far into the dominant/auxilary/tertiary/inferior functions.

Type Talk at Work explains how people of different types set goals, manage time, hire and fire, resolve conflict, solve problems, and deal with other workplace issues. The range of topics was pretty comprehensive, although by necessity a bit superficial. Given the length of the book the explanation of how different types interact was well done, and had some case studies also. I was not very impressed with the 'Z Problem Solving Model', but it may benefit someone else. The best part of the book is the last part, entitled 'The Sixteen Profiles At Work'. The Sixteen Profiles section details how all of the types tend to think and behave in a workplace setting. I'm sure many people will be amazed at how accurate it can be for them. Type Talk at Work is defintely meant to promote self knowledge, which the authors stress is the first duty of the reader: know yourself well, then try to figure other people out.

I have two criticisms: firstly, the authors are NFs, and in my view did not altogether avoid unconsciously writing the book for other NFs. That is a minor criticism, as the book overall is well done. I also believe that Kroeger and Thuesen did not warn readers to properly use type theory, in other words use it in a very careful, ethical way. The book is very dangerous in the wrong hands and misuse of knowledge and information about someone can and does happen in the business world. The reader needs to know that sharing this type of information can be very risky.

I don't mind recommending the book, particularly because a type book regarding the workplace is badly needed and I'm not aware of any others. econ

This book with mainly two things in mind: communication and understanding. The author's adopt their longstanding research about the world of typewatching into an intelligible book about the main areas of the work environment such as problem solving, conflict resolution, time management, etc.

Any manager that has direct reports would do themselves a favor by reading this book. This book will also provide support for a subordinate that doesn't quite "fit in." For those hurried types, each chapter ends with guidlines in a charted format for working with those of other preferences. Although this is somewhat useful, what I don't like about the approach is that they focus on the four preferences instead of focusing on the four major groupings, forcing the reader to combine and study the effects. For example, the charts will explain how an E should lead an I, etc. I believe that it would be much more useful to categorize the charts by the four major groups (e.g. NF's, NT's, SJ's, SP's) and how to interact with other types in each subject area.

To the author's credit, the book does provide an overview on the major strengths and potential weaknesses of each of the 16 types in the workplace, for those who aren't familiar with the MBTI. However, it does not really provide a concrete method of determining type, leaving the reader somewhat guessing with the use of anecdotal phrases.

Overall, I find this book well worth the investment. However, I would not recommend this book as an introduction to typewatching. If you are familiar with type, the specific chapters will be meaningful, if not, pick up either the precursor to this book by the same author's or one of David Keirsey's works prior to reading this.

Granted there are many good insights within the pages of this book. But if you made it to where you are in life and you never realized that people in organizations have many different learning styles, you must be a bit slow on the uptake. The authors of this book give us one way to understand and quantify how people are different. An "extrovert" might throw out 10 ideas, but only mean one of them to be serious, while an "introvert" might keep an idea to himself rather than risk ridicule. No doubt the seminars they do with companies make workers and leaders more aware of how others respond around them and that is of course a good thing. Though I found the book enjoyable reading, oftentimes it seemed too generalized or overcategorized. In short, it certainly doesn't hurt to acknowledge that that are many different types in the workplace, but you don't need to study the 16 combinations to really make yourself that much more of an expert about it. This being said, the authors do offer lots of helpful advice for how to deal with those who are very opposite to your type.

This book is chock-full of examples of how type comes into play in the workplace, and how understanding type can help us improve workplace dynamics. The authors look at type in the context of leadership, team building, problem solving, conflict resolution, goal setting, time management, hiring and firing, ethics, stress management and sales. The authors talk about what types are typically most successful or most represented in certain arena, what types are most challenged in certain roles. They are also quick to acknowledge that a strength, taken to extremes, becomes a liability -- so an individual who has not developed his/her non-preferred functions, or an organization staffed primarily by a certain type, is bound to have problems.

I found the presentation to be very balanced. The authors recognize the value of each type in making effective decisions. The authors discuss a decision-making model that starts with Sensing (gathering the facts), moves to Intuition (considering the possibilities), then to thinking (logically analyzing the options) and then Feeling (what is the impact). Without all four of these steps, it is difficult to reach the best decision. The authors also describe real-world example of conflict and misunderstanding among different types, and provide suggestions on how to better communicate and resolve conflict across types.

I think this book would be tremendously useful for someone trying to understand team conflict in a work environment, or someone trying to assist in team building. This is definitely one of the better applications of MBTI to the workplace setting.

I believe that I must disagree with the two reviews about these type descriptions. Keirsey's type descriptions cover more issues and don't necessarily focus on centering the descriptions around the four letters. I think that these are the reason why Keirsey's are so much more valuable as a reference to psychological type users.

David Keisey's book is a mult-million best seller for over 20 years. These descriptions do not have as nearly as much depth. David portrays the types from a much better perspective. I understand that this is work application but Keirsey's are much better.

I loved this book. I read it after Lifetypes. It takes the information on type and applies it to the workplace. I found the book helped me get a handle on why I do things the way I do, and it gave me insight into some of my colleagues. The writing is clear, and the descriptions are sufficiently detailed. The author covers all the relevant workplace topics, such as time management, problem solving, communication, and conflict resolution. The descriptions of the different types were really useful even if you've read other books on Type.

This book is a fabulous book for managers. I am the regional for several stores, and the biggest complaints from employees are of people not getting along. In assessing the complaints with the help of this book, I realized it was due to miscommunication, and perceiving a person of a differnt "Type" wrong. This book explaines each type and some common tendencies of each. It also has strategies and solutions for developing the opposite style you have to be able to communicate with all types of people. For example, if you tend to be an "F" or Feeler (using emotions to make decisions), there are pages of strategies to help develope the opposite side (the "T", or Thinker) without compromising your own personality. I have used this book in mediation and arguments with fabulous results, just by having the employees read the other person's type and knowing where they are coming from.

This book has done a phenomenal job of covering many bases on how personality types function in the workplace. As someone that works closely with others throughout the day, I'm amazed at the insight I've gotten on how people are wired and how each personality type's strengths and weaknesses can manifest. I'm hoping I can get some of my co-workers to read this because I really see a lot of value in the information presented. Empathy and understanding between people can be a very powerful thing.