Socrates said, "Know thyself," but he didn't tell us how to do it. I recall once setting aside time when I tried to "know thyself." It was a lovely summer afternoon, so I sat down with my philosophy books under the shade of a giant tree, and I tried to "know myself." Nothing happened. No insights bubbled up from inner me beyond how nice the cool breeze felt. I scanned the indices of my philosophy books to learn what I needed to do to "know thyself," but I couldn't find any practical suggestions. It was a disappointing afternoon, but being only in high school, I thought that people must get to know themselves when they are in college.
Today business consultants and psychologists have a number of tools to stimulate self-discovery. The Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is popular with human resources managers, but many psychologists, especially those in academia, think the MBTI is scientifically flawed. David J. Pittenger, a dean at Marshall University, published an article, "The Utility of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator" in the Review of Educational Research and cited unfavorable, independent evaluations by both the United States Army and the Educational Testing Service. In my book "The Normal Personality," I suggested that many of the items on the Myers Briggs Type Indicator actually measure motives, not personality types. I think the tool has value as a stimulus for self-reflection even if it the items do not measure personality types.
An instrument I wrote, the Reiss Motivation Profile (RMP), is attracting increasing interest as a self-discovery tool. The instrument meets scientific criteria: peer reviewed factorial validity; peer reviewed concurrent validity with Big 5 and other assessments; and peer -reviewed criterion validity against real-world choices and preferences. The results get people thinking about what they want from life deep down, what they intrinsically value, and how these play out in their personality, relationships, work, wellness program, and even on the athletic field.
At the second annual meeting of the World Society of Motivation Scientists and Professionals held on the campus of Franklin College this month, Dr. Maximilian Koch, Management and Leadership Consultant, Human Assets Management, Vienna, Austria provided case examples of how to stimulate self-reflection for persons in professional or corporate leadership positions. One the examples was Sophia, a middle-aged business executive living in Italy who had become unhappy at work.
The RMP results suggested the following:
1. Sophia doesn't pay much attention to what is happening in the lives of the people she works with (people pay attention to whatever satisfies their needs; since Sophia scored low on the RMP desire to socialize, socializing doesn't satisfy her needs, so she does not keep up with people).
2. She is out for herself (she scored low on the RMP desire for honor), and probably shouldn't be trusted (she disagreed with statements that she wants to be an honest person).
3. She may stubbornly insist on doing things her way and may resist "going along, to get along." (She scored high on the RMP desire for independence. Since others learn to work around independent people rather than put up with their ways of doing things, at work independent people tend to separate off from groups over long periods of time.)
4. She is quick to fight with others on the slightest provocation. (She scored high on the RMP desire for vengeance; she endorsed statements that she values getting even with people who offend her.)
Guess what: She is unpopular, and this is holding her back at work. Now Sophia doesn't mind being unpopular because that is consistent with her values and desires. What she minds is that her unpopularity is frustrating her career ambitions and status. Sophia is very ambitious (she scored very high on the RMP desire for power endorsing statements that she likes to lead) and scored high on the RMP desire for status scale (endorsing statements she values prestige.)
Dr. Koch used the RMP to stimulate self-discovery. Sophia has failed to become a leader and make a lot of money because she is unpopular, and she is unpopuar because she has little interest in other people, likes to win, and wants to do things her way. Unless she does a significant personality makeover, her work situation is unlikely to improve, and likely will get gradually worse. In my opinion, Sophia might be happier finding a different career better suited to her needs. The career should require being liked by no more than a small circle of close friends; she might become an independent small businessperson, for example, and hire likeable salespeople to sell her product.
Dr. Koch's presentation at the World Society showed the progress he and his group are making in providing methods for knowing thyself. Sophia was just one of a number of examples Dr. Koch presented; in each one Dr. Koch used self-discovery to bring about human growth in leaders. If I ever set aside another afternoon to know myself, I will take some psychological test results of my own personality, values, and motives with me when I sit under a tree to self-reflect. I am leaving my philosophy books home.
This is the first of a 14-part series on translational models of human needs theory. These blogs will comment on innovative methods for applying human needs theory to business, education, wellness, world-class athletics, media psychology, and spirituality, everything from high school guidance programs that assess the needs of all incoming students, to Olympic Gold medalists who use motivation science to train for competitions, to multinational companies that have innovated leadership training, to parents and professionals who use motivation science to plan the futures of people with autism and intellectual disabilities, to military armies that evaluate risk of PTSD in new recruits, and to new efforts to strengthen faith-based counseling. Next up is how motivational science is being applied to strengthen the mentoring process. The third annual meeting of the World Society (www.motivationscience.org) will be held in Vienna in Fall, 2011 (exact date not yet announced.) Please help get the word out to follow this blog and plan to join us in Vienna.
