A paradigm shift for me was when I was introduced to psychometric profiling at my first large corporate job. Psychometric profiling is the measurement and assessment of your personality using data-intensive, scientific methodology. Myself and my colleagues received a fun, data-filled report that fairly well described our behavior and temperament in relation to one another. It was an impactful process. We laughed at the differences and celebrated the nuances between us. We left the seminar understanding ourselves and our coworkers in a much deeper way.

We live in a world where many outdated tools are still used and widely popularized to describe someone’s personality “type”. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is probably the best example of this. I recently had a discussion with a quantitative psychologist who has been consulting with me on my business. He bluntly stated, “Any self-respecting psychologist/clinician knows MBTI is outdated and inaccurate. Personality science has moved on.” And he’s not wrong. MBTI is 100 years old. It absolutely was foundational to how we understand personality within individuals and groups, but there has been a ton of progress in this field in the last century. Myers-Briggs (organization) claim 2 million assessments are taken each year. These will be spread out across companies, government, academic institutions and the general population. In my humble opinion, that’s 2 million too many.

Very recently, a prominent member of the intelligence community (CIA) was on a very popular podcast (Lex Fridman) and stated that the MBTI was the best, most accurate personality assessment out there. He explained its efficacy and that it is widely used by all major branches of the intelligence community within the United States. I was dumbfounded by this shocking statement. If true, the brave men and women of our government are terribly behind the times. This, however, is not so shocking of a revelation.

Enter: the science.

The Big Five Scale or Five-Factor Model of Personality has been developed since the 1990’s and remains - from what I can tell - the very best the field of Psychology has to offer to accurately measure someone’s unique personality markers. The Big 5 are Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. Within each trait there are also sub-traits. For example, Extraversion might include traits like assertiveness, positivity, excitement-seeking and more. What I think is most important and distinct about the Big 5 is the fact it includes what would be deemed a ‘negative’ personality trait in Neuroticism. It’s not to say it’s wrong to be neurotic, as we all have neurotic tendencies. But what the Big 5 does that many other soft assessments or outright unscientific methodologies do not - is provide an honest overview of an individual, without softening the results. Are you emotionally volatile? Well, there’s a test for that. And it would serve all of us better, to know ourselves in a more truthful manner.

Many personality assessments (both free and paid) available to consumers use cute labels or feel-good descriptors to push false narratives about someone’s true self. It’s marketing. That’s all. It deceives people into believing all the aspects of their personality are positive no matter what. They push a narrative that they are unique butterflies, and in all scenarios and environments they are perfect and should be celebrated. Sure, lets celebrate our unique differences and individuality. But let’s also commit ourselves to embracing modernity in relation to personality science. A highly disagreeable individual, who’s also low on extraversion and openness might not be your best Customer Service Rep. The reasons are self-explanatory. Exercise science is a field constantly adapting to the latest and greatest. It definitely doesn’t always get it right, with rampant malfeasance within the influencer community - but there are many stalwart scientists & professionals within the field that continue to put out honest, educational material that keeps up with the latest studies and breakthroughs. Psychology needs this as well. We are stuck in the past. Individuals and companies could benefit from this paradigm shift. Truth is a competitive advantage. Companies can hire better & individuals can choose better jobs and managers that fit their temperament.

We now come to the point in the presentation where I soft sell you on my idea. I want to democratize truth. That is, the access to truth about yourself. I want to empower companies to have better conversations & individuals to be provided the same level of expertise and guidance. It’s not complicated. Simplicity is key in this endeavor. No fancy labels, no softballs, no doctoring results. Just honest science, packaged in a format that we can all embrace and leverage for self-mastery. More to come…