Using What You Know to Get Along at New Job
—Cheryl A. Thompson
BETHESDA, MD. 03 May 2000 — Put your best
foot forward at your new workplace by gauging the
personalities of co-workers you met during interviews.
Suppose you learned during your interviews that
the pharmacy director had insisted on receiving written
justification before approving new hours for the
pharmacist-run clinic. Your director is likely a "thinker"---a
person who prefers to make decisions on the basis
of logic and objective analysis.
Now, you noticed that patients at this clinic tend
to have their anticoagulation therapy monitored less
frequently than at your previous workplace. You feel
tempted to propose increasing the frequency of anticoagulation
monitoring because, in your heart, you know that
patients will benefit.
By recognizing that your director would likely favor
logical analysis over one person’s value judgment,
you can avoid needless frustration when presenting
your idea. Spend some time finding supportive information,
preferably studies with a cause-and-effect design.
"Thinking" and "feeling" are
two of eight preferences for functioning incorporated
in the widely used Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI),
a system for characterizing personality types. The
MBTI consists of four personality dimensions, each
described as a pair of opposites:
- Extroverted, focusing outward toward people and
things, versus introverted, focusing inward toward
ideas and impressions,
- Sensing, focusing on the present
and on solid information gathered by the five
senses, and intuitive, focusing
on the future and on patterns and possibilities,
- Thinking, basing decisions on logic and analysis of cause
and effect, and feeling, basing decisions
on values and evaluation of personal concerns,
and
- Judging, liking a planned and organized approach
to everyday life, and perceiving, liking
a flexible and spontaneous approach.
A total of 16 personality
types can be described by the MBTI. Remember that
these types describe
a person’s preferences. Under any given
circumstance, a person can act out of character.
A whole industry of workshops and self-help books
has evolved to help people use personality typing
to more effectively communicate and function. MBTI
itself is owned by Consulting Psychologists Press
Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif.
There’s too much to learn at a new job to
waste time walking on eggshells during your first
few weeks. Look back on your initial interactions
to plan how best to proceed.
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