There Are Two Kinds of People in the World…

“… people who believe that there are two kinds of people in the world, and people who don’t.”

Seriously, most of the systems for sorting people out give you more than two choices. The most popular one for schools is, I think, the Meyers Briggs inventory, which divides people according to their choices on four continua:

• introverted/extroverted
• sensing/intuiting
• thinking/feeling
• judgment/perception

Hi, I’m an INTJ.

At my place of business, as opposed to the school where I teach, we like the StrengthsFinders system. I think this is very useful in a work setting, and it’s completely positive. With 34 different strengths profiles, and each individual having half a dozen of them to consider, it’s probably too complex for the classroom, but you might think about it for staff development. The book StrengthsFinder 2.0 comes with a special code that lets you take the test online. You may be surprised at how helpful it is to realize that your colleague is a maximizer, not a loose cannon.

But for the classroom, or any situation where you want a quick sort of a lot of people, the psychogeometrics approach is great. At its simplest, this system involves showing people four shapes and asking them to choose, without much thought, the one they are most drawn to.

Here, let’s try it now. Pick one, without thinking about it:

Write down your choice.

Finished? Here’s your personality type:

• If you chose the Circle, you’re a social person. Relationships matter more than products in work situations. You get bent out of shape if you feel that people aren’t interested in you as a person.
• If you chose the Square, you like systems and rules. You want things to be done correctly in work situations. You get bent of out shape if you feel that people don’t respect the rules.
• If you chose the Triangle, you like to be in charge. You prefer to lead in work situations. You get bent out of shape if things aren’t done the way you want them done.
• If you chose the Squiggle, you’re a creative person. You like a lot of variety and flexibility in work situations. You get bent out of shape if you feel that your work isn’t appreciated.

The thing I like about the psychogeometrics method is that it’s fast, and it can give you some good insights. For example, a small group composed primarily of circles may have a hard time getting any work done. A group that’s heavy on triangles may have conflicts. A square and a squiggle can have a hard time in pair work. Circles need some small talk at the beginning of the day. Squiggles get bored with assignments that are laid out in a step by step fashion, while squares love them. Triangles really aren’t happy when they’re not in leadership positions, while squares often dislike being in leadership positions. An ideal small group has a balance of all the shapes.

I like, on the first day of writing class, to put all the shapes up on the board, and have students quickly choose one. Then I present the system, and ask them to get into mixed groups — if they can have one of each shape in each group, that’s ideal.

Then I ask the students to discuss the concept, and to write about whether or not they believe that their geometric shape really describes them.

With older students, it can be interesting to discuss the fact that there is very little evidence supporting personality type systems. They can still be very useful in understanding people and figuring out ways to work with them, but they’re hard to defend scientifically.