[davideous]

Five Dysfunctions of a Team completely was absolutely revolutionary for me and my team. It's not about MBTI at all, but MBTI is just a tool it mentions to help with dysfunction one.

Here are the five dysfunctions:

The foundational dysfunction is a lack of trust -- trust defined as belief that your skill weaknesses and deficiencies will not be used against you. So people conceal weaknesses and don't ask for help from each other, etc.

This leads to fear of (healthy, productive) conflict -- you don't hash things out, but rather any meaningful discussion gets suppressed. Creates an environment where back-channeling and politics thrive, etc.

This leads to lack of commitment -- the team has not really had heathy, productive conflict/discussion so they don't buy into decisions. There is ambiguity about direction and priorities.

This leads to avoidance of accountability.

This leads to inattention to results.

Here's a high-level overview: https://www.executiveagenda.com/application/files/3215/6401/...

[occz]

As mentioned - I have read the book, and I'm not opposed to the some of the ideas in the book. However, the endorsement of MBTI is just really damn hard for me to swallow.

[davideous]

Fair enough.

In your earlier comment you mentioned:

> MBTI has the predictive value of horoscopes, more or less

My understanding of MBTI is that it's not supposed to be predictive, but it helps you understand a different person's preferences or view-point. Preferences don't necessarily predict behavior.

Understanding the J vs P preference difference was revolutionary early in my marriage. I'm P and my wife is J, and our different preferences on that dimension helped explain much of our conflict. And understanding her preference helped me be more considerate and loving to her. MBTI helped me understand her (not predict her).

When I read a description of an MBTI type for someone I know really well, about half of it rings true -- but then reading and talking through it together sparks a great conversation where we learn a lot about each other.

The book does recommend using a qualified MBTI coach/trainer, so that it's not mis-used.

Hope this $0.02 is helpful.