Can you guess someone's type, and is that a good thing to do?

From People Types and Tiger Stripes, written by Gordon Lawrence and published by CAPT.

When we are trying to understand, influence, manage, or teach someone else, we often do not know the person's type. As soon as we learn type concepts, we see the value of estimating people's types so as to reach them better. Making a wild guess about someone's type is easy and fun, yet often inaccurate, and sometimes the guess seriously defeats its own purpose. If I make a wrong guess about a person's type and act as if it were a truth about the person, I may be increasing rather than closing the communication gap between us.

Accurately guessing someone's type is a skill that takes a long time to develop. Type concepts have been important in my life for over 20 years, and I am continually learning new ways to recognize characteristics of type, and correcting misconceptions I have been carrying. People who know type concepts well will tell you that the learning never ends.

When you do want to guess someone's type preferences, to improve communication between the two of you, treat your guess as a hypothesis to be checked out, then listen carefully and be ready to change your guess.