O Goody! Another Test!
I am one of those annoying people who greatly enjoy making ‘personality tests’. I just found this one at CCN.money (via an article I plan to write about later today). If you enjoy tests too, take it and drop a comment with your result in the comment section of this post.
My result:
Your final score:
24 out of 30
ANALYSIS:
You have a balanced view of what is within your control and what is not. Your responses to circumstances are fluid and complex, leaning toward internalism in some situations and externalism in others. You might, for instance, believe that much of what happens at work is under the control of others (external), but once you get home, your life is under your own control (internal) — or vice versa. (And some areas of life are beyond anyone’s control: a major illness, an economic recession, a terrorist attack…). As a manager, you’re able to adapt your approach to each individual case. Bear in mind that externals and internals need to be handled differently to achieve their best work.
Generally I agree with it, be it that I am more internal, in every area of life than this result shows. Seemingly, I gave an answer that doesn’t accurately reflect my views… One question, for instance, I was in doubt about was “whether I succeed in a major project is mostly dependent on my co-workers” -> well, most jobs are teamwork. So, to a degree yes. On the other hand, it is part of ‘my responsibility’ (in real life for me: working on a research (paper) with a group of people, or a presentation for instance) to get everyone on the same line and motivate everyone to do what must be done. The emphasis is – obviously – on the latter.
So my attitude is more: it is my responsibility to motivate people, but in the end, if a particular person does not want to be motivated, he or she can’t be: call it my ‘limit’ of ‘internalism’.
7 Responses to “O Goody! Another Test!”
Your final score:
21 out of 30
And the same explaination as yours, MvdG.
Your final score:
27 out of 30
ANALYSIS:
You are an internal, that is, you believe your successes and failures at work are due to your own effort and ingenuity. You’re a reliable self-starter, and you go for the things you want. (In your spare time, you tend to prefer games of skill, not chance.) In business, internals often make great leaders. The downside: When things go wrong, your first impulse is to take all the blame, even for circumstances outside of your control. “If your score is 27 to 30, try to lighten up,” says Andrew N. Williams, author of How Do You Compare? 12 Simple Tests to Discover Hidden Truths About Your Personality — and Fascinating Facts About Everyone Else, from which this quiz is adapted. “You are not responsible for hurricanes and earthquakes. Sometimes things happen in life without your intervention.” Intensely internal people, he adds, are better off working alone — “but if you must work with others, try to ease up on them.”
C.Prez: good, then we understand each other;)
Austin: that is an interesting outcome. Actually one I would have expected myself, but I notice one main difference: in theology they would call my limit the limit of ‘free will’ -> you can’t change other people, you can only help other people change themselves. That is how I see it at least: that is what I was trying to explain with what I consider to be the limit: no so much in one area very internal, in anohter very external but internal in all areas, while limited by this kind of externalism.
How do you feel about that principle?
I wouldn’t read too much into the test – too few questions, simplistic ranking of both individual answers and the consolidated score.
That said, I agreed with the beginning of the analysis more than the second half. I do believe my success is in my control, and do tend to shoulder the balme when things go wrong. However, I am about the least ‘uptight’ executive you will ever meet.
It is my responsibility, though, to get the most out of the team, to ensure they are working well with each other and myself, get them the tools and access to knowledge they require, and protect them from office politics so they can focus on their jobs (I do work with engineers, most of whom do not want to advance to management or have to worry about the associated politics.)
So, if I am doing my job right, it is the team that succeeds, and I have always made sure the team gets the credit for success, but that I take the responsibility (blame) for failure.
As to your point and question, each person is responsible for themselves, and I am there to help them achieve and succeed. Beyond that, I frankly couldn’t follow where you were trying to go, so i don’t know how else to respond.
19 out of 30 and your same explanation. There’s an issue because it asks what you DO with your staff, and being that I don’t have staff, I had to give the answer I saw as most plausable.
ps: that “terrorist attack” even figures in such an explanation is amazing. I left the US before 9/11 and I’ve always wondered how present is the terrorist threat in peoples day-to-day, the way they talk, what they see on TV (besides news) etc.
23 out of 30 and the same explanation that you got, Michael.
Jim S. -> than we understand each other
Austin: no that is a good explanation. There is just this: some people who are extremely internal, also seem to have this life vision that they can change others. I was wondering what your view on that was.