What's Your "Type"?... How the MBTI Became A Token of Corporate Culture
Often coined the astrology of the workplace, the Myers Briggs Personality test has been a popular tool among Fortune 500 companies for decades to "sort" their employees into roles that best suit them. In the first episode of Season 10, Savannah and Gracie (two INFJs) explore the unusual history of the MBTI, how it transformed into a must have tool for corporations, and what role it plays in displaying empathy in the workplace-our theme for the season.
Transcript
In the early 1900s, Katherine Briggs created what
Unknown:she referred to as a cosmic laboratory of baby training out
Unknown:of her Michigan home, a stay at home mother and aspiring writer
Unknown:who graduated college first in her class at age 14. She married
Unknown:her fellow classmate, Lyman Briggs, and she became
Unknown:fascinated with with the concept of self actualization after the
Unknown:birth of her daughter, Isabel. Little did she know that what
Unknown:started as a tool to document the growth of her daughter would
Unknown:soon become a multi million dollar industry and a token of
Unknown:corporate culture as we know it today. Hello, and welcome back
Unknown:to Walton BizTalk, a student run podcast where we have casual
Unknown:conversations about professional things. This podcast is powered
Unknown:by the business communication lab at the SAM and Walton
Unknown:College of Business. I'm your host, Savannah Rubino. And this
Unknown:season, we're taking a crash course into empathy, and how it
Unknown:has become the ultimate business buzzword. Now I want to
Unknown:introduce my co host here, Gracie. Hi, Gracie, would you
Unknown:mind telling the audience a little bit about yourself why
Unknown:you wanted to join this project? And maybe a little bit about
Unknown:what you do at the PCL? Yeah, absolutely. So my name is Gracie
Unknown:like Savannah said, I am a graduate tutor at the business
Unknown:communication lab. I mean, English PhD students. So that's
Unknown:been very interesting to like, think of writing in a business
Unknown:way versus like an academic way. Yeah. And I really, to be
Unknown:honest, I just think podcasting is very, very cool. And I hope
Unknown:to incorporate podcasting into my dissertation project. So
Unknown:yeah, that's a little bit about me. Can you tell us a little
Unknown:bit, I'm curious to know a little bit more about your
Unknown:dissertation project. Give, I could literally talk for like 45
Unknown:minutes about it. So I am a Victorian so which means I do
Unknown:19th century British literature, but I also do Neo Victorian
Unknown:literature. And primarily, my focus is in Jack the Ripper
Unknown:fiction, gender lens on that it's actually really funny
Unknown:without sounds kind of creepy. No, that actually sounds so
Unknown:interesting. So this is Gracie. This is one of our new co hosts.
Unknown:And Gracie, I'm so happy that you're here with us on the very
Unknown:first episode of the season, I wanted to kind of introduce the
Unknown:season because we are talking about empathy, which I think has
Unknown:really become you know, at the beginning of the pandemic, it
Unknown:was kind of like, here's this new transition into a more
Unknown:empathetic society, is it going to stay is it going to go and
Unknown:now it's really become something that I think a lot of businesses
Unknown:are seeing as sink or swim. We see like the great resignation
Unknown:now. And it's really like, if you can't provide an experience
Unknown:to your employees, that is under an environment that's
Unknown:understanding conscious and empathetic like we're talking
Unknown:about, then they will find it elsewhere. So today, I wanted to
Unknown:talk a little bit about the Myers Briggs Personality Test.
Unknown:And I kind of had a little bit of an opening with it. But this
Unknown:test is very interesting to me. I think it's something that we
Unknown:can use to really understand each other. And I wanted to talk
Unknown:a little bit about it with the theme being empathy in the
Unknown:workplace, because it's actually used by a lot of different
Unknown:companies. And I think we've all I think it's something everyone
Unknown:has heard of, Gracie, I'm curious to know, what was your
Unknown:initial understanding of the Myers Briggs tests? Well, it was
Unknown:actually interesting, because when I was talking to my parents
Unknown:about what the theme was, and I said, Oh, yeah, we're talking
Unknown:about personality tests. And using those in businesses. My
Unknown:stepdad told me that his business does actually use. I
Unknown:don't think he uses the Myers Briggs but it's some sort of
Unknown:personality test, and they actually post outside of each
Unknown:individual's office, like what color they are or what there's
Unknown:personality type. So I've heard of him using it. And to be
Unknown:honest, I kind of associated it with something like astrology.
Unknown:Or just like a fun thing. You know, I'm a Scorpio I'm a you
Unknown:know, whatever, oh, this
Unknown:is Scorpio. I know. Very Scorpio very Scorpio. Um, so I guess
Unknown:this is the time where we kind of talk about our little
Unknown:experiment in the VCL. So prior to this recording, we actually
Unknown:had everyone in the lab, take a personality test and I will say
Unknown:I was very surprised because I want to say, what do we have
Unknown:like 10 or 11 people in the office? I want to say about
Unknown:seven or eight of those people were either INFJ or Ian Jade,
Unknown:the majority of them being ENFJ. And I do want to say this
Unknown:podcast comes to you by two INFJ. So I'm an INFJ Grace's an
Unknown:INFJ. And did you think you were gonna get this personality type,
Unknown:too? Oh, so I will talk about this a little bit later. But
Unknown:I've taken this test before. And I think I got something a little
Unknown:bit different. Like, I think it said I was thinking rather than
Unknown:feeling. But to be honest, I wasn't super surprised, because
Unknown:I know that I'm introverted. I know that I have, oftentimes
Unknown:focus on feeling rather than thinking. So I wasn't super
Unknown:surprised by the test. But I did think was interesting, because I
Unknown:did, I did have different results last time I took it. I
Unknown:think that's interesting that you say that, because
Unknown:researching the Myers Briggs, like on their website, they they
Unknown:do kind of talk about, it can change a little bit. I know, I
Unknown:think my mom was saying before, that she's taken it a few times.
Unknown:And as she's grown older, it's changed a little bit. And I
Unknown:think that can be expected just with like, the different Myers
Unknown:Briggs does recognize that like, things like your experiences and
Unknown:how you were raised, and that sort of thing can definitely
Unknown:inspire who you are as well, and that you're an INFJ. I'm an
Unknown:INFJ. And it can manifest very differently for two different
Unknown:people. I do think it's interesting to that like that
Unknown:there is a majority and the BCL Yeah, I wonder if that's because
Unknown:we're have similar personality. So we're attracted to like the
Unknown:same kind of job or something. But it doesn't, it doesn't
Unknown:surprise me that we're all very similar, though. Yeah. So that
Unknown:kind of leads me to the next sort of question is, before we
Unknown:dive into, like, the history, the science, the methodology of
Unknown:this test, I kind of want to ask, in the workplace, and I
Unknown:know we have a little bit of like, a more niche workplace.
Unknown:But in in the normal business workplace, do you think that
Unknown:there are certain traits in the Myers Briggs that are more
Unknown:valued than others? And this is just something we can kind of
Unknown:talk about a little bit before we get into the research? Yeah,
Unknown:I mean, so um, I also teach at the university and I feel like
Unknown:to be a good teacher, you have to be extroverted in certain
Unknown:ways. And so I feel like that is valued more. And as an
Unknown:introvert, like I don't naturally want to be an
Unknown:extrovert, but I can perform extraversion whenever I need to,
Unknown:whenever I teach kind of thing. So yeah, I think that there's,
Unknown:there's a greater value often put on someone that is more
Unknown:assertive, which we often associated with extroverts. I
Unknown:think, like you said, it like depends on what job you have.
Unknown:Yeah, yeah, exactly. And especially in the in the
Unknown:business workplace. I'm talking about the thinking versus
Unknown:feeling. I definitely feel like the corporate America values,
Unknown:you know, what are the actual facts here? What's the hard
Unknown:evidence, and not so much like the feeling and intuitiveness?
Unknown:And that's something that maybe is changing a little bit today,
Unknown:I don't really know. It'll be interesting to kind of like,
Unknown:look back on this time, and see how attitudes have changed
Unknown:towards decision making business and whether they do value
Unknown:feeling a little bit more. Because sometimes that gut
Unknown:instinct can be can tell you just as much as like, the facts,
Unknown:which, which sounds weird, but I think being a leader, you
Unknown:definitely need to possess a little bit of both of those. So
Unknown:I guess this is where we can kind of segue into the history
Unknown:of the MBTI. So Gracie, I'm just going to go through like a brief
Unknown:history of how this came to be. So I talked a little bit about
Unknown:Katherine Briggs story. Katherine Briggs Myers is her
Unknown:name. So Catherine, grew up in the late 1800s. And in the early
Unknown:1900s, she became enamored with the study of children's growth
Unknown:and development. And she really sought to discover like the best
Unknown:best methods to raise children. She actually would start working
Unknown:with like children in the neighborhood. This was something
Unknown:she was really passionate about. And I looked, I looked it up. I
Unknown:had
Unknown:mentioned this before she graduated at age 14 from College
Unknown:College, which is insane, like, this is a very, she's kind of
Unknown:ingenious, and genuine, and genius, and genius and genius,
Unknown:genius. Smart. She's smart. And this is also a time where women
Unknown:really weren't seen as like an asset in the workplace or
Unknown:really, they didn't have a place in business all it was kind of
Unknown:expected that you know her her husband was this famous
Unknown:physicist and she was expected to be the homemaker and she had
Unknown:so many passions and all this knowledge she was like I said,
Unknown:an aspiring writer. She would start Studying in 1923, Crowley
Unknown:yells word work, specifically Psychological Types. So this
Unknown:kind of birth, the idea of her classifying herself, and those
Unknown:around her. And this wouldn't really get too far until her
Unknown:daughter kind of became interested in this. So growing
Unknown:up, Isabel, Catherine's daughter was she, she knew of the
Unknown:language, she knew of the theories, but she really wasn't
Unknown:interested in it as much as her mother. But, um, as she would
Unknown:become a mother herself, she became interested in personality
Unknown:types. And so this kind of started around the 1940s. In
Unknown:World War Two, when society becomes so eager to be it's a
Unknown:play some role in the war. So this is when Isabel discovers
Unknown:the hums Whad worth temperament scale, which is a mouthful. But
Unknown:this is a tool that helps place people in the right line of
Unknown:work. And this was super important back then, because
Unknown:everyone wanted to be a part of something, something to better
Unknown:society at this point. So this has I looked it up, and it
Unknown:measures your motivation through characteristics, it really
Unknown:doesn't give too much information, which it was just
Unknown:like it gave you like, I'm not exactly sure how it measures
Unknown:like what if asked questions, or what but I was kind of looking
Unknown:through it. And I guess it matches you with like a type,
Unknown:like, how if you're an ENFJ, or INFJ, I believe you have like a
Unknown:certain game, like the thinker or magician or something like
Unknown:that. So it kind of matches you like that. But it will also tell
Unknown:you like what motivates you, and that kind of helps place people
Unknown:where I guess they would be best fitted in the place of work. So
Unknown:with the help and knowledge of her mother is about creates this
Unknown:172 Question assessment, which is so many questions, I didn't
Unknown:know it was that many too many for me, yeah, um, which is the
Unknown:form A as we know it today of the Myers Briggs Personality
Unknown:Type test. And she would really be getting commercializing this
Unknown:prototype. Her first client is none other than the Office of
Unknown:Strategic Services. So the government. And so this, the
Unknown:government had a group of wartime cycle cycle cycle
Unknown:psychologists who wanted to match covert operatives, to the
Unknown:Secret Missions best suited to their personalities during World
Unknown:War Two. So looking more into this, they were literally using
Unknown:this test to place spies on secret missions. That is really
Unknown:cool. So I didn't know much about this test, but like
Unknown:learning that I feel like anything government related,
Unknown:just kind of like, it has to give it some sort of
Unknown:credibility, right? Maybe not in this day and age, but it did.
Unknown:Yeah. Um, so that, shortly after the test will make its way into
Unknown:academia. And it will be administered to students at
Unknown:George Washington University, and then it starts being used
Unknown:pretty often with medical school programs to help people get
Unknown:matched up to what metal medical school, they would be best. play
Unknown:sax. And then in 1957, Isabel gets a chance to actually
Unknown:publish the indicator. But she would actually sign a new
Unknown:contract in 1975, with a smaller company that better saw her
Unknown:vision like this first contract, I guess they just didn't really
Unknown:see eye to eye. And the ideas start to spread to wellness
Unknown:centers and hospitals among the clergy. So this is like it's
Unknown:just pretty much creeping up everywhere at this point. And it
Unknown:wasn't until the 1980s, that corporations became heavily
Unknown:involved with the MBTI. So NPR, According to NPR, this is kind
Unknown:of like when the corporate culture shifts, we start to see
Unknown:this new push to try to help workers figure out how what they
Unknown:love to do and how to be content doing their work as they are at
Unknown:home. And Gracie, you did a little bit of research on what
Unknown:this kind of looks like today. Correct.
Unknown:So can you tell us a little bit about like, How can companies
Unknown:use this today? Yeah, first, can I say that? Like, regardless of
Unknown:what you think of the test, these two women are super cool.
Unknown:Yeah. Being women in the in the 20th century, and kind of like
Unknown:doing all of this stuff. So I just think that's awesome. Yeah,
Unknown:so today, one in every five fortune 1000 companies use it
Unknown:and the hiring process. And for most of my research, people use
Unknown:it in the hiring process. Like I said, team building exercises,
Unknown:leadership training, management and kind of things like that.
Unknown:consulting firms use it and JetBlue has also used it before
Unknown:so it's, it's like super prevalent in the way that
Unknown:businesses is run today. So still very significant. Yeah,
Unknown:what's interesting too, is that I was talking to you. And I know
Unknown:you agree with me on this when we were doing research for this
Unknown:podcast, you can find all the companies that use it, you can
Unknown:not find literally anything about how they use it like
Unknown:specifically how they use it. So is this like some I don't know
Unknown:if this is something corporate secret, or what? It's just a
Unknown:little bit. I don't know if it's just difficult to find on the
Unknown:internet, or if companies don't make this stuff public. But we
Unknown:could find out like, kind of the general idea of how they use
Unknown:this test, but not too much about the specifics. Or if they,
Unknown:like, look back on the tests, and if they do, like training
Unknown:with the test and that sort of thing. Did you kind of like see
Unknown:that? You know, I did? Yeah, it was early? Yes, I did see that.
Unknown:Because it's all seem very vague. Like leadership training
Unknown:could mean a lot of different things. And I mean, it's
Unknown:interesting, too, that the, the actual Myer Briggs, like tests,
Unknown:the website warns people against using it for stuff like hiring,
Unknown:but people or companies are still using it for things like
Unknown:that. But yeah, it seems to be very vague. So I don't know if
Unknown:it's just, it's like, yeah, I'm not sure why, but it does seem
Unknown:very vague. Yeah. And now that we know a little bit about how
Unknown:it's been used in the past how it's been used today, I want to
Unknown:talk a little bit about like the methodology behind the test,
Unknown:because I would say science, but there's actually a lot of,
Unknown:there's not a lot of credibility. So we'll get a
Unknown:little bit more into that. But first, I want to talk about what
Unknown:each letter means. So it's a four letter and matches up to
Unknown:like four different letters. And the idea is that these questions
Unknown:are kind of like self electing, which there's a little bit um,
Unknown:it's definitely pretty subjective. I don't know if
Unknown:there's any objective part of it at all. So it kind of makes me
Unknown:think, you know, if someone else were to do the questionnaire for
Unknown:you, yeah, we may come up with a completely different, but the
Unknown:idea is that you know, yourself best. So, first we have this is
Unknown:from 16 personalities. So the first aspect that we have is
Unknown:mind. And this is how we interact with our surroundings.
Unknown:And it's the introversion versus extraversion. And then we have
Unknown:the energy aspects. So this is how we see the world and process
Unknown:information. That is observant, which is the S versus intuitive,
Unknown:which, which is then. And then we have nature, which is how we
Unknown:make decisions and cope with emotions, that is thinking
Unknown:versus feeling. And finally, we have tactics. This is how we
Unknown:work plan and make decisions. Which seems a little bit similar
Unknown:to thinking versus feeling but this is judging versus
Unknown:perceiving. So let's get into grace tea. Can you tell us a
Unknown:little bit about the pros and the cons of the test? Yeah, so
Unknown:like you were saying, there seems to be a lot of controversy
Unknown:or question over the validity, the scientific validity of this
Unknown:test. But I did find several websites that really advocated
Unknown:for it using it in the in the business world. So some pros to
Unknown:using something like this is when you're making a team and
Unknown:you're deciding who to pair up with whom. If you know their
Unknown:personality types or their hybrid personality types, then
Unknown:presumably you would know who would work well with who? So us
Unknown:to introverts, like probably work well together. Right? I
Unknown:would I would say, you think I think I think we're doing okay,
Unknown:right? Yeah. And it also helps with things like communication.
Unknown:So if I know that, you know, you're more of a feeling person,
Unknown:maybe I would, I would communicate things to you a
Unknown:little bit more empathetically, right. Speaking of empathy,
Unknown:it's also stuff like motivation. So specific types are supposed
Unknown:to have kind of specific motivation. So for instance, if
Unknown:someone is more logical and more thinking, than if I asked them
Unknown:to do something, I'd give them the logical reasons for doing
Unknown:it. Right. Or if someone's if someone's more feeling, I maybe
Unknown:would give you more positive feedback, or something like
Unknown:that. It's good for mitigating conflict and being more
Unknown:efficient. Again, this is all assuming that like, these tests
Unknown:can actually tell us truly who we are, and how we interact with
Unknown:the world around us. And stuff like leadership training, right?
Unknown:And just being a better leader by understanding the way that
Unknown:your employees or the way that your employees are working are,
Unknown:how they respond. What one Pro that I found that I that I
Unknown:really think is something important to consider is that
Unknown:regardless of the scientific validity Have this test, what it
Unknown:does do is give us understandable language that we
Unknown:can use to talk about ourselves and others. So like I would,
Unknown:even before this test, I would have identified as an introvert.
Unknown:And if I was introducing myself to someone, I'd be like, I'm an
Unknown:introvert, and they would know what introversion is, right? So
Unknown:it gives us like a language that we already are all at least
Unknown:somewhat aware of, to talk about ourselves. So those are the
Unknown:those are the pros and the cons. And before you get to the cons,
Unknown:I do want to say that, like, I really appreciate that last pro
Unknown:as well, because I think it's kind of like the first,
Unknown:especially in the business world, it gives us a way to
Unknown:describe and understand others in a positive way, instead of a
Unknown:negative way. So like, for example, if you're gonna say,
Unknown:oh, that client was very chatty, you know, you would say, the
Unknown:clients very extroverted, I'm going to match her with this
Unknown:salesperson, because they're both the personalities, they're
Unknown:going to hit it off. So I do really appreciate that too.
Unknown:Going and go ahead with the cons. This is really
Unknown:interesting. I know. This was like, fascinating, because I've
Unknown:never done any research about this before. But I've heard
Unknown:people, you know, everyone, like I said, like, what's your
Unknown:personality type? Like, what's your zodiac sign? Right? What's
Unknown:your Enneagram? Yeah, all of that stuff? Again, it's like
Unknown:that language that we're all aware of, and that we all use.
Unknown:Yeah. So some of the some of the, the question, questionable
Unknown:aspects of this, particularly this test, but a lot of
Unknown:personality tests in general, are that you'll get inconsistent
Unknown:results. So I think I said earlier, when I took this test,
Unknown:like two years ago, I did get something different. And of
Unknown:course, like we can respond to it. Well, I've probably changed
Unknown:since two years ago. But you know, a valid scientific test
Unknown:would probably come up with the same or similar results every
Unknown:time there's anything. And then I also found that there's not
Unknown:actually a verified connection between job performance and like
Unknown:how people are what type people are. So just because someone's
Unknown:extroverted doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to
Unknown:perform well in a sales position. And then traits,
Unknown:traits are lumped together on a continuum that shouldn't be so
Unknown:like, thinking and feeling, the way the test has it is it's
Unknown:you're either thinking or you're either feeling, and it kind of
Unknown:puts those things on a continuum, when those two things
Unknown:aren't actually that separate. Like, I can think about
Unknown:something and feel very strongly about it, but then go back and
Unknown:be able to reflect on it later. And then also, the final thing
Unknown:that I found was that it doesn't actually accept assess emotional
Unknown:stability versus reactivity. So for example, I am, I am the
Unknown:personality type that has a lot of stress, which you are, too,
Unknown:because we're the same personality types. Um, and which
Unknown:was not surprising, because I, I knew that not here, either. I
Unknown:knew that about myself. But the problem is, is that, okay, maybe
Unknown:I get really, really stressed, but maybe I'm good at taking
Unknown:five minutes, to be really, really stressed. And then to
Unknown:think about it to logically, rationale, like, this is what I
Unknown:need to do in order to mitigate that stress. If the test doesn't
Unknown:doesn't test, emotional stability versus how we actually
Unknown:react to the stressors, right? That makes sense. Yeah. Um,
Unknown:so of course, someone could be, I kind of like how you talked
Unknown:about the, that is kind of like a spectrum. Because even reading
Unknown:over the results of when everyone sent me their
Unknown:personality types in the lab, there would be a few where it
Unknown:would say extroverted and they were like 51%, extroverted and
Unknown:49%. introverted. So it's really like, it really doesn't take any
Unknown:of those things into account. And I think that, on the other
Unknown:hand, you can say that the test does make you aware of like what
Unknown:your strengths are, and then you can figure out, okay, if I'm
Unknown:extroverted, and I'm really, or I'm really intuitive, maybe I
Unknown:can work on using a little bit more logic when I make decision
Unknown:making. So I guess you could kind of spend that a little bit.
Unknown:And I will acknowledge that, like, we looked over the Myers
Unknown:Briggs website, and they did address a lot of these concerns.
Unknown:And they were actually a very mindful of like some of the
Unknown:ethical implications, which is what we're going to move on to
Unknown:now. So Gracie did a little bit more research on that as well.
Unknown:Yeah, I noticed that. I noticed that too, because as I was doing
Unknown:the research, I was like, well, this seems a little biased or to
Unknown:one side. And I wonder how Myers Briggs would actually respond to
Unknown:these criticisms. And like you said, they they already
Unknown:anticipate the criticisms on their website. So for instance,
Unknown:I got this from the Myobrace website. Under their ethics
Unknown:policies, they and this is for people that are administering
Unknown:the test and using it that way. They say It's unethical and in
Unknown:many cases illegal to require job applicants to take the
Unknown:indicator if the results will be used to screen applicants, the
Unknown:administrator should not counsel a person to or away from a
Unknown:particular career, personal relationship or activity based
Unknown:solely upon type information. So the website tells you like, you
Unknown:can't, you shouldn't use this for hiring purposes. Even if a
Unknown:company does the website acknowledges that you should.
Unknown:They also stress that type does not imply excellence competence
Unknown:or natural ability only what is preferred. So they do
Unknown:acknowledge that, okay, maybe I am an introvert, I'm naturally
Unknown:that way. But I can be an extrovert, whatever I have to.
Unknown:And then they finally say that the person administering it
Unknown:needs to explain how people can and do act in ways contrary to
Unknown:their preferences, because of personal history, education,
Unknown:training and experience. And also, you know, sometimes too,
Unknown:because of pressure that, and so this kind of goes in with the
Unknown:socialization aspect of the ethical implications. So what
Unknown:the test doesn't acknowledge is that certain people are
Unknown:socialized with certain traits. So like, as women, we're
Unknown:socialized to be less assertive. And the test doesn't really take
Unknown:that into account. In different cultures value, assertiveness
Unknown:and introversion, differently. I know you did some research on
Unknown:that. I did, because I actually have a book, it may sound a
Unknown:little bit nerdy, but I have this book called introvert
Unknown:power. And I remembered that the author had talked a little bit
Unknown:about how here in America extra extraversion is highly, highly
Unknown:valued, and we see it everywhere and workplace. Networking is
Unknown:highly valued, especially in corporate culture, and
Unknown:connecting with people small talk, like everywhere you go,
Unknown:you're kind of, and I thought it was interesting that you we
Unknown:mentioned a couple times, Gracie, or you mentioned earlier
Unknown:on in the podcast, that you're introverted, but you know how to
Unknown:be an extrovert. And it's kind of cool that we have just taught
Unknown:ourselves how to do that, even though that's not really the way
Unknown:that we naturally are. And that's I would attribute a
Unknown:little bit of that too, or maybe even a lot of that to the
Unknown:culture that we grew up in. So I want to take a little bit to
Unknown:talk about countries like Sweden, and Japan, that have
Unknown:historically valued introversion instead of extraversion as a
Unknown:leadership quality. So if we look kind of like at the
Unknown:countries
Unknown:who are historically more extroverted, and then those who
Unknown:are more introverted, we can kind of see this through the
Unknown:lens of cultures that are more individualistic, and then those
Unknown:that are more collective. So I want to take a moment to talk
Unknown:about Sweden, I did a little bit of research about this. And it's
Unknown:so crazy to me how different society works there. And here's
Unknown:a few things that I found. So first, small talk is kept to a
Unknown:minimum. And it was actually named the worst place in the
Unknown:world for foreigners to make friends, because everyone just
Unknown:keeps to themselves so often, and it's not to be rude. And
Unknown:maybe I'm portrayed that way if you're a foreigner, and you come
Unknown:to visit, but it's just kind of the way that things work here.
Unknown:Like, I think I like that. Yeah. And it's even like, we have a
Unknown:little bit of that here in the US because we have so many
Unknown:different people speak different dialects and just have different
Unknown:cultural, like customs and that sort of thing. So if someone
Unknown:were to come from the south and go to the north, north, I know a
Unknown:lot of people say New Yorkers are so mean, and it's just
Unknown:they're not there. It's not necessarily that they're mean,
Unknown:they just don't have that southern hospitality that maybe
Unknown:you're used to here. Yeah, yeah. So um, despite the fact that it
Unknown:was named the worst place in the world for foreigners to make
Unknown:friends. The Nordic countries are known for their high quality
Unknown:of life, and they attract a lot of expats. So they have this
Unknown:saying, which is Logam magome. And this means not too much, not
Unknown:too little. And this is kind of like how they live. So the idea
Unknown:is that in business, you'll be outgoing, but not enough to the
Unknown:point where it's obnoxious because they see you coming off
Unknown:as a little bit selfish or just a little bit too much if you're
Unknown:being too outgoing. I kind of it I kind of read this as reading
Unknown:the room and simply being able to read the room. And that's
Unknown:something that they say there I guess. I also found that they
Unknown:have the highest proportion of single properties, and they have
Unknown:a 15% unemployment rate. which continues to creep up. And many,
Unknown:many people say that this is because building a network, let
Unknown:alone finding a job is more difficult because the country
Unknown:has this like introverted nature. So they actually have
Unknown:apps kind of like LinkedIn, I guess I would say. But these are
Unknown:more to connect employers with. Individual contractors, and a
Unknown:lot of people are a part of the startup community, community,
Unknown:our individual contractors, a lot of people just kind of have
Unknown:their own place of work that they're like is it's not really
Unknown:like you're working for a corporation as much. And I found
Unknown:that interesting that they have such a big startup community,
Unknown:because they're very innovative, despite being I guess, socially,
Unknown:a little bit introverted, introverted, and a little bit
Unknown:isolated. But yeah, these are kind of what I found. And I, I
Unknown:think it's so interesting that like, they're using technology
Unknown:as sort of like a buffer to close the gaps between so like,
Unknown:where they can't. Or I guess they have gaps in their society
Unknown:that the human contact, tap, the human contact, like the in
Unknown:person contacts can't really fix, they kind of bridge the gap
Unknown:with the technology, which I feel like, I didn't have to not
Unknown:to take us to off topic. But I feel like that's what we've had
Unknown:to do since COVID, is come up with these different digital
Unknown:ways to create a community. So like having zoom happy hour or
Unknown:something which comes with its own negatives, because it's, I
Unknown:mean, Zoom exhaustion is an absolute real thing. Yeah. But I
Unknown:think that that's cool, too. And I do think that, I don't know
Unknown:that we've had to start doing more of that since COVID. And
Unknown:probably, we're gonna have to keep doing that. Yeah. And it's
Unknown:interesting that you kind of talk about the Zoom happy hours,
Unknown:and like the digital society that we kind of have going on,
Unknown:because we're going to have an episode about the metaverse here
Unknown:later in the semester, and virtual empathy. But to kind of
Unknown:wrap things up, we talked a little bit about the history, we
Unknown:talked a little bit about our own personality types, and what
Unknown:we can connect with and what don't really resonate with. And
Unknown:then we talked a little bit about the ethical implications,
Unknown:but I kind of just want to go back to square one and talk
Unknown:about why this is all relevant to us talked about the sink or
Unknown:swim idea that like, you really have to be on board with empathy
Unknown:and leading with empathy, otherwise, people will find it
Unknown:somewhere
Unknown:else. So I guess, after learning all that I have about the Myers
Unknown:Briggs test. Am I going to say that it's like the most
Unknown:knowledgeable tool in the world and the most credible tool in
Unknown:the world to use to better understand the people that are
Unknown:around you know, but as someone who is an astrology girl, I know
Unknown:that going into it. So I guess, Gracie, you can tell me your
Unknown:thoughts. But I really just see this as more of a fun thing,
Unknown:like as long as you're using this tool as a way to connect
Unknown:with others and not to separate others, then, and even the Myers
Unknown:Briggs website acknowledged that it really comes down to what you
Unknown:want out of it. Yeah, I think I think I agree. I, I still feel
Unknown:like I'm changing my mind. Like, the more I think about it, I do
Unknown:think it's probably unethical to use in hiring practices. And
Unknown:again, Myer Briggs says that they say that in their website,
Unknown:but I think it's fun to like, I think it's it's a fun way to
Unknown:say, This is who I am, even if you know, maybe it's not
Unknown:entirely scientifically accurate, but it's fun to say,
Unknown:I'm an intp F. J. And then that's
Unknown:something you can automatically relate with someone. Exactly.
Unknown:And it's, it's just like that. That's a fun thing.
Unknown:Yeah. Because I know that I'm a Scorpio I don't know exactly
Unknown:what that means. But it's fun to tell people that I'm a Scorpio.
Unknown:Yeah. So. But yeah, I think like you said, using it as a way to
Unknown:connect and build personal relationships. Right. And like
Unknown:not using it to separate I think, yeah, I think I agree
Unknown:with that. Yeah, so that about sums it up for this episode. If
Unknown:you want to reach out to us on our social media, let us know
Unknown:what your personality type is and if you relate to that, but
Unknown:if you like what you heard, please download and subscribe
Unknown:wherever you get your podcasts. While you're at it. Go ahead and
Unknown:follow us on Instagram at Wharton. Biz talk and also at
Unknown:Pat Walton BCL that's all for this week and next week. We will