Personality and health & safety

It was only a matter of time! Read this article from the OH&S website linking Hogan personality ‘types’ with safety concerns. Defiant, panicky, irritable, distractible, reckless or arrogant – which one are you? Sometimes I feel like all six!

Conflict on the dark-side

Those of you who are familiar with the Hogan Development Survey (HDS) - the questionnaire that looks at ‘strengths overdone’, or the dark-side of personality – may be interested to know that it works well with Thomas-Kilmann conflict handling modes.  For example those who are avoiding conflict often seem to score highly on HDS Leisurely (passive-aggressive: can’t challenge), Reserved (schizoid: can’t connect) and Cautious (avoidant: can’t take risks); and their competing colleagues often seem to be in Bold (narcissistic: can’t believe self), Mischievous (anti-social: can’t conform) and Colourful (histrionic: can’t hide) space. Whereas accommodating individuals frequently have elevated scores on Diligent (obsessive-compulsive: can’t let go) and Dutiful (dependent: can’t say no) etc. All kind of makes sense.

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Political personalities

The trouble with a blog is that you keep thinking of things to write. I’ve just been reminded of a conversation I had with a journalist a few weeks ago. She asked me if politicians should be selected for their jobs in the same way as managers. And if so, what would I do? I said that amongst other things it might be an idea to check out their personality (especially when under stress), and to have  a look at their self-reported values. Given the forthcoming general election, and the ongoing trouble with MPs expenses, it still seems like good advice! The ‘what am I like when I am backed into a corner’ bit of personality is particularly relevant. This is sometimes called the Dark Side and is all about what pops out of the box when you’re under stress, or maybe a touch distracted, or sometimes even when you think you’re on top form. To contemplate a senior politician at random (guess who?) the dark side picture would be of someone who is sceptical, cautious, reserved and diligent. Which doesn’t sound too bad until you realise that in excess this points to a person exhibiting paranoid, avoidant, schizoid and obsessive-compulsive behaviour! This is probably going to make this character a bit indecisive, especially about elections… Anyhow it’s all fascinating stuff, and if you want to know more here’s a great link: http://www.psychological-consultancy.com Download their ‘A Decade of the Dark Side’ report.