The Character of Organizations: Using Personality Type in Organization Development

by William Bridges

An enormous consulting industry has sprung up promising to help organizations overhaul themselves to meet today's competitive pressures. Yet far too often, such change efforts fail. The solution, according to best-selling management author William Bridges, lies in identifying, understanding and working with what he calls organizational character. Just as people have personalities, Bridges explains, organizations - as well as their departments and teams - have characters. An organization's character shapes how decisions get made and new ideas are received, how employees are treated and change is accepted or rejected - all factors that affect company performance. Using examples from McDonald's, Hewlett-Packard, GE and other companies, Bridges identifies 16 organizational character types using the framework of MBTI(c) personality types and shows how these influence an organization's growth and development. With a foreword by Sandra Krebs Hirsh and a new preface by the author, this updated edition of the time-tested classic includes the Organizational Character Index, Bridges' popular tool for assessing the character of your own organization or team.

Genres: Psychology, Business, Management, Leadership

176 pages, Paperback

Published June 27, 2000

About the author

William Bridges is an internationally known speaker, author, and consultant who advises individuals and organizations in how to deal productively with change.

Educated originally in the humanities at Harvard, Columbia, and Brown Universities, he was (until his own career change in 1974) a professor of American Literature at Mills College, Oakland, CA. He is a past president of the Association for Humanistic Psychology. The Wall Street Journal listed him as one of the top ten independent executive development presenters in America.

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Reviews

[Adrienn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book may be helpful to those who work in change management or intend to affect organisational culture change. While MBTI is facing lots of criticism (fair and unfair), I still believe this book has good ideas.

[Thanh Thủy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice!

[Jessica Buike · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a required textbook for a course that I took while obtaining my Master's degree. I enjoyed how it compared individuals to organizations and was well laid out with a steady flow. It would be a recommended read for any manager or person in charge of an organization in order to tap into the potential of all employees, thus utilizing the most important part of an organization. There were still many boring parts, as with any book utilized in a university classroom, but this was one of the better books I've read.

[M R B Davis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read the 1992 published version and found the first half a little too comparative without much direction. The second half was an improvement but still a bit of "if this then that". Could do with more on identification of the characteristics and what they mean.

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

recommended by a good friend and a great recommendation it was. Shed a new light on the MBTI framework. Most helpful and insightful.