I’ve found this question a valuable one in coaching and just talking over personality assessments with friends…”Is that you or the enneagram/StrengthsFinder/(insert your favorite assessment here) speaking?

When someone says something that is a little too spot on to be true, it’s a good question to ask.

When we ourselves are assuming a lot about ourselves or someone else based on an archetype we should ask this.

The assessment should serve us, not we serve the assessment.

We do this when we don’t recognize the assessment as a shortcut. It’s a shortcut to quicker understanding or quicker connection.

That can be massively useful! But it cannot be used as a crutch to avoid experiencing another person as they are or doing work to understand our own motivations and personality.

What’s better than an assessment is a walk and talk with someone else or a phone call.

What’s better than an assessment is creating a rhythm of journaling or another reflective practice.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a good assessment. I’m a big advocate for the enneagram, the StrengthsFinder, and the DiSC but they are shortcuts. Useful shortcuts at certain times but still shortcuts which bypass the real work often needed. A little knowledge can be dangerous.

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Initially inspired by Seth Godin from his Akimbo podcast episode “Spirit of Ecstasy” (Go to minute 28:00). He points out that personality tests can be used as a shortcut to actually get to know someone and build intimacy.

Per an academic paper in International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring, strengths assessments can lead us down a path that is not congruent with our true selves, especially when we may learn something not totally true, it can be tough to unlearn it. In order to ethically use these assessments, we must create a space for ourselves and others to “dispute, validate and add to their test results.”