Type Talk at Work: How the 16 Personality Types Determine Your Success on the Job

by Otto Kroeger, Janet M. Thuesen, Hile Rutledge

In Type Talk, two renowned psychological consultants offered the first layman's version of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Here, they take Typewatching to the workplace and reveal how managers, executives, and workers can use the technique to better handle both personal and personnel matters.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Business, Self Help, Leadership, Reference, Personal Development

400 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1991

About the author

Otto Kroeger having become an internationally known organizational consultant, with his primary area of expertise being the implementation of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) assessment, has now retired. As a renowned speaker, trainer and best selling author on the subject of psychological type he was in high demand for over three decades for his talent in bringing type theory to diverse personal and professional groups throughout the world. He is a Past-President of the Association of Psychological Type and a current member of NTL. He has co-authored four leading books on Type: Type Talk, Type Talk At Work, 16 Ways to Love Your Lover, and Personality Type and Religious Leadership (with Roy M. Oswald), and has conducted extensive research with the “unscored” items on the Form G MBTI® assessment.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but dry reading. I looked at my type and then skimmed some others. I think it would be great to read if you knew everyone else's type where you work. If you don't know their type then you're guessing. All in all I was hoping for more from this book.

[Cass]

DNF at 120 pages. I love reading about the different personality types but I found everything a bit too generalised, simple and they pigeon-holed people far too much. The examples of how they helped others with Typewatching also felt fake in my opinion. Anyway, I'm happy to stop reading this and move on to something with more substance.

[Deepika Tunikoju · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book on personality types and why we behave in certain ways and why we enjoy certain tasks more than others. Helped me understand what changes I have to make in my choices at work and home related to communication and type of work and way of executing work to reach my goals.

[David Baer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Truth is I merely skimmed this book, looking for the bits that pertained to my personality type, either directly or in how it relates to other types.

The promise of understanding one's fellow creatures is a lofty one. And let us not neglect the promise of understanding oneself. For example, as a "Thinker", "it's not beyond [me] to argue both sides in a discussion simply to expand your intellectual horizons".

Let's take that little nugget: it is typical of what put me off of reading the whole book. There are too many little nuggets to make sense of, and the individual nuggets with which supposedly characterize my type are described just a little bit off the mark. For example, if I choose to argue both sides of a discussion, it's not for some self-centered "expansion of intellectual horizons", but because I think it advances the discussion group's understanding. Typically, it's a way I have (so I think) of showing respect and appreciation for another point of view: by rephrasing and/or expanding an argument that someone else has brought forward. So that characterization puts me off, but at the same time it's worth knowing that this thing I do is driving other personality types nuts.

I keep this book electronically for future reference: it is full of interesting insights. It's just too difficult to read in entirety.

[Michaela · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Myers-Briggs isn't a scientifically valid test, but this book helps remind us of differences in preferences and perceptions in the workplace. We don't get to choose our co-workers, just like we don't get to choose our relatives, so it's helpful to consider things from other people's perspectives, understand your own blind spots, and build tolerance.

[Jesse Carrasco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although dated, I still found a lot of useful information in how various personality types work in an office environment. Many of the descriptions were dead on to what I see. It was a good way to learn more about the practical aspects of my own type.

[Christopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't find this particularly useful for myself and found it almost harmful for working with others. I guess I could assume other people MB but even if I guess correctly there is very little actionable information.

[Heather Siegel-Hickman · Rating 5 out of 5]

ISTJ
While the book is general, it is intentionally so and outlines the ways in which it should and should not be used. I think it’s useful for career changers, questioners, and anyone who has to work or live with or near other people. 🙂

[Kassie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great book if you have taken the Meyers-Briggs assessment to understand how both you and your fellow team members think. I do think the book is very lengthy and could have been more concise however I will definitely be referring back to it when needed to navigate challenges or projects.

[Lisa Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid resource (even thought it's a bit dated)

[Mariska Davids · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall a nice view into people's personalities but a little too black and white for my taste. Also the later chapters are very repetitive.

[C.J. Capen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book very helpful in team building and managing groups.

[Brian Kramp · Rating 3 out of 5]

While it had some great info for my ISTJ (Life's natural organizers), it had terrible info on INFP (making life kinder and gentler), for my wife.

[Lauren Canaday Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit dated but still very interesting -- and helpful mostly. I would give 3.5 stars if I could.

[Paula Smith]

i like to read about the different types of personalities so that i can know how to deal with people on the level of identities and successes.

[Mattie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this for a class in the MBA program at the University I attended. I learned a lot about different personality types and how to deal with everyone of them.

[Rob · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was highly recommended to me by a senior manager who was a huge fan of Myers Briggs, in particular to be successful in business. He himself was a very successful salesman (so by extension is good with people in a certain kind of way), so I figured it would be worthwhile to check it out.

I found the book intellectually interesting, but not actionable. Going through it I actually went around to colleagues to ask them for their MB types (I believe I was ENTJ). I wrote those types down. I referenced the book to see what it said about communicating with those people more effectively, particularly around corporate strategy.

My takeaway is that MB for work is not very helpful. It's much too blunt and coarse and instrument. Even within a personality type, very different approaches must be taken to be successful communicating the same idea to two different individuals. I believe I'm actually very successful at this in general, and have improved in the last few years substantially, but the MB system didn't help much or offer any particularly useful insight. Being more strongly cognizant of varying strengths of confirmation bias in listeners. Figuring out when to use email vs. be in person and for whom. Knowing when to give the hard pitch and when you're just testing the waters. Understanding people who are comfortable making decisions with little information and those who are not. Above all, maintaining completely honesty and integrity throughout everything. These things are important regardless of the personality type you're dealing with, and in my experience if you get them and others right the MB stuff doesn't matter.

I suppose maybe if you're a complete master of human affairs this MB stuff gives you one more dimension to use when understanding your coworkers, but to me you can get very, very far even without it.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good supplement to Type Talk, the first book on this subject by Kroeger and Thuesen (for my thoughts on Type Talk, click here. My criticisms of that book apply here as well.). It has a lot of the same information that Type Talk has, but it expands on that, and includes enough new information and content to make reading this book for its own sake worth it. It has descriptions for each type that are completely different from the more general profiles given in the first book. It also includes lots of case studies, scenarios, and anecdotes that cover how each type behaves in a work environment.

[Barry Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting resource on applying the styles of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) in the workplace. The book begins with an introduction to “typewatching,” as well as a list of the 10 commandments for using the information appropriately. Chapters on applying the information focus on topics like goal setting, conflict resolution, team building and sales. The authors do a solid job of explaining the limitations of “filing” people under a certain “type,” while providing some practical information on the opportunities and challenges of each of the 16 patterns.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was amazingly insightful into different personality types. I found the description of "me" as an ISTJ to be 90% accurate and my workgroup peers seemed to feel their type also accurately described them. The best part is learning how to better interact with other personality types. Too bad this isn't required reading when we are younger so we can apply the lessons before we've butted heads, burned bridges, and irritated others...repeatedly.

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a much greater appreciation of the power of personality types as a result of reading this book. I came to this book with a moderate level of experience with MBTI. I understand the different type indicators at a surface level. I've taken several MBTI assessments and have set through several MBTI debrief sessions but now I feel like I can truly leverage these experiences. This is a very practical book for those in marketplace leadership roles.

[Eva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Discovering myself and all my co-workers in here!

There are antiquated assumptions to chuckle over (like: integrating the "secretary pool" into decision making for a female perspective) but it's originally published in 1991 and their data sets are giant stereotypical US companies, so one can see past that.

It's also good at reminding everyone that most humans are too complex for type casting.

[Dave Wheatley · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're a fan of the MBTI (Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator) and want to know how those types manifest in the modern workplace, give this book a try. The back part of the book is organized like a reference, so you can just look up certain types at yoru leisure. I use this in my job a Human Resources professional and usually have the managers and supervisors I work with read it.

[Zacaro Caro · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love myers Briggs, and this book is good for understanding work types, i found myself disagreeing with many if the gender roles and found them to be distracting. This is my only complaint. Otherwise a very good book!

[Catharine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very useful for getting to know yourself better and
understanding your role at work and the why of your
work relationships.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Required reading for a class. Didn't read the entire book, but got a bit of good info. Had enough of it when it essentially said that my Perceiving personality would never be as great as I aspire because Judgers rule. And to essentially get used to it.

[Beneth · Rating 3 out of 5]

pretty helpful in applying Meyer Briggs analysis to work situations. I would like to check out the updated version.

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

What can I say? I'm a career counselor. It's an interesting book. Enough said. Ask to borrow it from me. It's sitting on my shelves at home.

[Janelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great resource book to increase your knowledge of yourself and others by learning about Myers-Briggs personality types!

[mlady_rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A variation of "Type Talk" focused on the workplace. I prefer the original "Type Talk", but this did have a few added insights.