Q. I recently took the MBTI and came out as an INTJ. It’s all very interesting, but I’m wondering where to go next. How can I use my results to improve my work and my personal relationships?

A. The first main way to use your results to benefit you is to be aware of your preferences so that you can choose situations and environments that suit you and use your natural talents. As you will see, INTJs excel in logical, orderly work environments that allow them to be creative in solving problems. As you develop in your career and especially if you are considering making any changes to your position or workplace, keep in mind your type preferences. INTJs typically prefer a work environment that is logical, efficient, structured, and analytical, with colleagues that that are competent, intelligent, and productive. They prefer a job that allows them to use their analytical skills to problem-solve in a challenging environment, and to take responsibility for implementing their ideas to create efficient, innovative systems.

The second way your results can benefit you is by pointing out your blind spots or weak areas. Although each type has a set of natural talents and strengths, we also have areas that are not as strong. For instance, you indicated that you’d like to be more spontaneous, which is a common issue for people of the INTJ type. INTJs are excellent at long-range planning but not as good at making changes to those plans or going without a plan altogether.

While we tend to be most effective if we can use our preferred way of doing things most of the time, we also need to develop different skills in order to adapt effectively to changing environments. So, you will do best in a job that takes advantage of your ability to plan ahead and follow through. However, someday you will find you are working on a project that cannot be planned and offers constant changes and surprises. In order to deal with this effectively, you will need to develop that more spontaneous side and the skills that allow you to address uncertainty and surprises.

To address your challenges, the first step is to recognize them. You have already recognized spontaneity as being one, and you probably found a few other areas that you’d like to develop. Once you have found your challenges, practice in small ways to do things differently. For instance, if you take a vacation, you might set aside one day with no plans at all, and tell yourself that you will do whatever you feel like on that day. If you are not planning a vacation, try this with a bit of time on a weekend or evening. You might also practice adapting to last-minute changes. Make a plan, and then test yourself to adjust that plan at the last minute. Make it a game to see how quickly you can change your direction!

The third major way you can benefit from your results is in your relationships with other people. The Myers Briggs grew out of the idea that people are fundamentally different, and that we think in very different ways. People who have different type preferences from you will make decisions, prioritize, and communicate differently from you. However, the MBTI can give you a framework for understanding your differences. It can help you to see that some of the challenges we experience with others are just due to our different ways of seeing things. In the end, you will work and communicate better with others if you understand that not everyone approaches things the same way.

Q. I took the Myers Briggs personality test in college and tested as an INFJ. That seemed right for me at the time–I was studying psychology and in touch with my emotional side. But just this week I took the test again and came out as an INTP. Did my personality change?

A. According to Myers Briggs type theory, your type is fixed over your lifetime. Most authorities on the subject say that your temperament is fixed at birth, and although you may go through life changes, your fundamental nature never changes.

Well, that’s all well and good, but most of my clients who have taken the test more than once come out at least slightly different each time. Why?

The main reason is that the Myers Briggs is about preferences. It aims to measure how you like to do things, are most comfortable doing things, and how you approach the world naturally. What it does not measure are your skills and abilities in adapting to your environment. You may be an Introvert who, because of the demands put on you by your job, is excellent at public speaking. Do you, as an Introvert, enjoy public speaking? Probably not a whole lot. But you can be very good at it.

Most people who are effective in their life and work have developed skills that allow them to behave in an out-of-preference way if the situation calls for it. Sometimes, your life makes strong demands on you for a particular way of being or behaving. If you’ve been through an experience that has helped you to develop one of the weaker sides of your personality, you may alter your behavior and way of thinking so drastically that it changes how you score on the MBTI.

If you think this might be the case, try to reflect on your true nature. How much of the way you behave now is natural to you, and how much is an adaptation? Often, the test results we receive as younger people are more accurate because we have had less time to adapt to various environments and challenges.

Another reason you may test differently is a function of the model the test is based on. With Myers-Briggs, personality type is described as a series of polarities: outgoing vs. reserved, concrete vs. abstract, organized vs. spontaneous. In reality, many of us are more moderate. We may be logical one moment, emotional the next. If you are someone who doesn’t have a clear preference on one or more of the scales, you may test differently just due to a change in mood, surroundings, or frame of mind. If you think this is the case, it is critical to review your results with a type professional to find your best-fit type.

On a more personal note, I am somewhat chagrined to say that even though I am a type professional who has read every Myers Briggs book I can get my hands on, I still have trouble settling on my own type designation! Most of the time, I feel like an ENTP, but there are days when nothing fits better than INFP. I have found Myers Briggs to be an amazing tool in helping me discover and develop myself, but it does have limitations, and the biggest of all is trying to describe something as complex as a human personality in four short letters. Find what’s useful to you in the wisdom of the MBTI, but remember that it’s just one way of describing the person that is you.

Q. I keep hearing about the Myers Briggs personality test. What is it and why should I take it?

A. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality test is based on a theory of personality developed over sixty years ago. Personality theorists Isabel Briggs Myers and Katharine Cook Briggs set out to explain and describe the fundamental differences they perceived in people. Basing their work on the theories of psychologist Carl Jung, they developed a theory of personality based on four facets.

• Extroverted/Introverted—Do you get your energy from being around other people, or from being alone?
• Sensing/Intuitive—Do you see what’s real, or what’s possible?
• Thinking/Feeling—Do you make decisions based on logic, or feelings and values?
• Judging/Perceiving—Do you like to plan and schedule, or keep your options open?

Besides being interesting in its own right, knowing about your Myers-Briggs personality type can help you to improve your life and relationships. Much research has been done correlating MBTI type with career satisfaction, so that if you know your type, you can get an idea of what jobs will work for you. You can also use Myers Briggs to understand how you communicate with others, and where differences may arise. Many business executives take this assessment to become more effective communicators and leaders.