Introductory workshops can incorporate type dynamics and polarity management, which help identify type preferences. A new type chart gives the presenter greater flexibility in pointing out and organizing meaningful patterns revealed spontaneously by participants, who thereby see type operating in their daily lives and discover useful applications.
Introductory workshops ranging from 45 minutes to 2 days can present the dynamics of psychological type and make clear that type is a useful hypothesis that needs to be checked against a person's own experience. The following presentation, which can be easily adapted to most high school-educated audiences, stimulates interest and a desire to apply type information even when there is insufficient time to administer an instrument. Few visual aids or handouts are required because the participants make most of the points, showing the reality of type instead of the presenter telling. The presenter provides the structure, asks questions to elicit experience, and points out patterns. Rather than being put off by the complexity of type dynamics, all types express appreciation for type's usefulness, know where the presenter is going, and see applications in their daily lives.
I have used this approach in many settings: 45-minute open forums, 1-2 hour ongoing group meetings, 2-hour presentations to professional associations, 4-hour workshops for coworkers, 1- and 2-day workshops with diverse participants.
It's easy to design a workshop when instrument results are obtained beforehand; activities and division into preference groupings can be planned and geared to the participants' preferences. Most opportunities, however, do not offer this luxury. What do you do when you have no idea how many, let alone what type preferences, will attend? How do you show the value of all preferences when all participants score SJ? How do you handle workshops when participants are required to attend or when their educational level ranges from high school dropout to Ph.D.?
I have turned these potential disasters into enjoyable learning with the help of a large, four-color poster of the type chart. The temperament letters are color-coded in accordance with widely used temperament typologies: SJ gold, SP red, NF blue, NT green. If color isn't feasible, temperaments are grouped together by moving the top row of the standard type chart to the bottom of the chart. Having two versions reinforces Myers' (1980) view that the table can be regarded as a cylinder capable of rolling both horizontally and vertically.
Before I began using the new type chart, participants sometimes objected to stereotyping and spent too much time on the four dichotomies. Since I started using it in 1992, only one person has expressed concern that the danger may outweigh the benefit to some people. My own concern was that people would see type as another form of determinism and attribute to fate what was in their power to manage. I devised the type chart as a way to acknowledge ambiguity and limitations while affirming type as a useful tool. I wanted type to give people more choices. l wanted them to use type generalizations to zero in on the right questions but not to assume they knew the answers. For example, rather than labeling people as introverts and assuming they prefer to learn a task by reading, I wanted participants to see the value of asking in a specific situation whether the person prefers learning the task at hand by reading or talking it through with someone.
The chart suggests there is more to consider than the four dichotomies. Sometimes the dominant is the key, sometimes a combination of preferences, and sometimes what is hidden. The chart is essential because it makes dynamics immediately visible and stimulates questions that lead into the manageable units outlined in this article. Depending on the time available, the presenter can choose the parts that best fit participants' interests and questions. However, it should always be noted that the occupational titles are merely suggestive of work that attracts each type and are not intended as a restriction or stereotype. I also acknowledge that most people dislike being labeled.
