MBTI^® Instrument for Teams

In the new global economy, the value of organizations is no longer determined by product inventory or market exclusivity. When information can be disseminated in nanoseconds, competitive advantages deriving from technological innovation are short lived as well.

This means that the primary sustained competitive advantage of any organization in the 21st century is its people. A study by the Society for Human Resource Management indicates that over 75% of a company's value is tied up in its human capital. Unlike equipment and inventory, the quality of employees can appreciate in value with time—but only when treated with respect and wisdom.

The shrinking world makes interpersonal communication and teamwork skills essential, as regional and even continental barriers disappear for both a company's workforce and its market. Diversity is no longer just a feel-good HR department term—it's a business essential.

And diversity refers to more than such skin-deep observables as gender, race, or ethnicity. An organization which embraces the diverse ways in which individual employees perceive the world and make decisions based on their perceptions will, simply stated, better understand business realities and make better decisions.

For decades, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator^® instrument has been the gold standard for assessing the diverse ways individuals perceive and process information. With over 10,000 published articles and references, the MBTI^® instrument offers a validated system of understanding and leveraging the uniquely valuable contributions offered by each of the different personality types and their preferences.

CAPT, cofounded by Isabel Myers in 1975, is an invaluable resource for team applications of the MBTI instrument:

• For books on the MBTI team applications, click here.