Developers Have Personalities

The first 12 years of my career I worked for a large defense contractor. One of the perks of a big company is opportunities for training, and in 2009 I had the privilege of taking a year-long “front-line” management class. Some of it was corporate drivel, but a surprising majority I found useful. One area of focus was on personality testing and analysis.

Why would that be of importance to managing a software team? Well, as I’ve said before, software is written by humans, and understanding how to get the best work out of said humans is a critical part of management. One way to do that is to learn the personalities of each member of the team.

During the training we used the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, but the new hotness is the Enneagram. I’ve listened to a podcast and have also started a book on the topic, both of which were particularly focused on the spiritual aspects of self-understanding. But I think there’s plenty of cross-applicability to the world of management, and I look forward to exploring that in the coming days.

P.S. I walk the line between INTJ and INTP, and am either a Five or Nine (still figuring that one out).