80:20 Performance Solutions Ltd

The 80:20 Philosophy on Profiling

The number of profiling tools has proliferated over the last decade or so. Most have a theoretical basis in Jungian Typology and categorise individuals in terms of a personality type. The different profiles apply their own 'type' to an individual.

One aspect in common is that they make gross generalisations about people and their behaviour. By assigning labels to people and suggesting that because they have 'Traits A & B' they are the 'type' of person to exhibit 'behaviours X & Y' is suggesting a cause effect relationship between personality traits and behaviour. There is no cause effect relationship, excluding unfortunate mental illnesses, people will always have choice.

How a profile works

One of the underlying factors governing complex human behaviour is where we place the focus of our attention. One theory (George A. Miller) suggests that at any given moment there is a limited range upon which we can consciously focus. We need to select where to place our attention, through experience we learn to make these selections so quickly that the choice often lies out of conscious awareness.

We develop natural points of fixation in which our attention will come to rest. This habituation is the basis of our behavioural strategies and our ability to gain unconscious competence and mastery in certain skills. It results in our good habits and the bad and is neither right nor wrong it is simply how we are as human beings. These resulting habits and comfort zones render us prone to a default set of behaviours sometimes referred to as 'personality traits'.

A good motivational and behavioural profile maps out the highlights of this set of traits, providing a picture of how we are most likely to behave and respond in given contexts. The more we respect the context specificity of the profile the more accurately we can use it to predict behaviours.

Context Specificity

It is recognised that behaviour will change from one context to another. For example, needs and desires whilst on holiday with family are likely to be very different to needs and desires whilst working on an important project with colleagues at work. Different behaviours are required to satisfy different needs and desires. There are also behavioural changes in response to much more subtle shifts in context too.

The major flaw in many profiles is that in application they do not address specific contexts. Profiles lacking in context specificity provide little more than a homogenised mix of preferences. Such profiles do not accurately portray the individual in any one context - rendering the profile useless.

Precision and Accuracy

Many profiling tools are marketed on the basis that they offer very very precise information. With web based profiles the precision of a profile can be enhanced by including more questions from which to derive the 'personality type'. Precision is one important factor but it's more important to recognise that precision is not the same as accuracy. It's possible to be very precisely inaccurate.

Application of a Profile

We have used our profiling tools in a range of different contexts. The choice of profile and the method of application is always driven by client preferences and needs. The first step is always, therefore, a consultation to establish what you want to know and which profile is most suitable. The consultation is generally a valuable process as clients are often surprised at the level of information a good profile provides and the diverse ways in which it can be used. This often opens up possibilities and benefits not yet considered, those possibilities and benefits that may give you the greatest value.