Trust and Teams: The Ripple Effect

New Research on the MBTI ^® Instrument

Written by Zane Cameron

Working with Royal Roads University’s Computer Services and Technical Training Department (CSTT), Roger Thorson put the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® to work in a thesis project that examined the effectiveness of the MBTI® assessment as a team-building tool. Roger focused on whether the MBTI instrument is a useful tool for overcoming communication barriers and building trust among leaders and teams.

The Royal Roads CSTT team provides comprehensive computer services, including help-desk support and technical training, in a post-secondary setting. In this environment, team members are highly interdependent; as one team member put it, “If one of us has a bad day, it affects all of us.” When interviewed, they revealed a strong need for trust among each other and with their team leader.

Thorson noticed that the desire for trust among the CSTT team was a finding echoed throughout leading business research. Without trust, teams are unable to take risks. Teams that do not take risks will never be high-performing teams. But the kind of communication necessary to build trust can only happen if team members are in an environment where they feel safe enough to share opinions openly.

Creating an environment of trust takes leaders who have committed to a process of development that improves their ability for self-understanding in relation to their teams, their clients and the technology that supports them. Good leadership and organizations built from a foundation of trust are adaptable to change and become a platform for people to contribute meaningfully.

The CSTT team considered itself to have a good work environment, but interviews with team members revealed communication barriers and difficulties for some of the team to work well with others. Drawing on contemporary adult learning models, Thorson had the team use the MBTI instrument to see whether they could overcome communication barriers and increase mutual trust.

Thorson's intention was to first help team members learn more about themselves. To do this, he used the MBTI Step II, preferring its more richly detailed picture of personality and behaviour. By learning about themselves, he says, people are better able to trust themselves: “If you don’t trust yourself, you won’t be able to trust others. From there individuals can begin to interpret their differences to others with a new insight.” This is what he calls the ripple effect: the beginning of a dynamic personal process that has impact throughout a team. “Good teams and strong leaders are able to look at the characteristics and needs of others, not just themselves.”

Through a process of pre-and-post surveys and interviews measuring attitudes and relationships, Thorson measured the effectiveness of the MBTI instrument as a team-building tool. His thesis revealed that 50% of the participants were more confident in their ability to communicate with others, and that 60% felt their appreciation for different “types” within their team had changed as a result of using the MBTI tool. They also felt that improved self-awareness and ability to recognize individual differences enabled better communication, openness and trust in the team. As one participant noted, it was beneficial not only for herself, but also for others to better understand her. This feeling of being understood gave her confidence. Another recognized that his need to vocalize his complete process had caused conflict among the team: “It’s helped already—I recognize where problems have stemmed from and realize that a lot if it was me.”

Thorson was recognized for his leadership efforts in pursuit of the master’s degree by receiving the Royal Roads Founders’ Award.

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Roger Thorson began his career as an educator. Realizing that he preferred to work with adults in practical and meaningful settings, he earned his MA in Leadership from Royal Roads University in 2005. He is now an independent team-building and leadership business consultant. His thesis is entitled “Myers-Briggs Type Awareness: Team Building and Personnel Relations in the Workplace.”

The overarching perspective and focus of his research was based on personal exposure to the MBTI instrument and the impressive power that exists within the detailed Interpretive Report (Form Q). He believes that to establish or create effective teams you must first have effective functioning individuals. Increased effective team function ultimately requires people to have an increased awareness of their own individual styles, strengths, blind spots and other key elements of effective team building, including communication. The MBTI tool offers such a powerful method of increasing individual levels of personal awareness, the first wave in a ripple effect that ultimately affects working groups, teams and entire organizations in a meaningful way. This involves an ongoing process built on trust and awareness. Used in a targeted manner, the MBTI tool offers an increased level of practical insights that enable even people who have had several exposures to it in the past to improve team building and personnel relations in the workplace.

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Trust and Teams: The Ripple Effect

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New Research on the MBTI ® Instrument

New Research on the MBTI ^® Instrument