I use lots of different assessments with teams. Four that I use frequently are MBTI, DiSC, StrengthsFinder and Firo-B. If you’re wondering, out of those, the MBTI is my favorite, StrengthsFinder my second favorite. Why? That’s the story for another day. What I’m most interested here is what they give people. These assessments give people a glimpse at what hides in plain sight, their second intelligence. The Persian poet Rumi says, “This second knowing is a fountainhead from within you, moving out… one already completed and preserved inside you. A spring overflowing its springbox.” This second intelligence is in our DNA, as unique to us as our fingerprints are. But there is little to no reinforcement in external life to access this intelligence. When you feel empty, missing something, not-enough, not-good-enough that’s a sign your second intelligence is being ignored. We’re often unused to putting our second intelligence in charge, or even knowing what that intelligence is for us. Personality assessments are a gateway into that world. Each person on a team begins to realize, “I am unique. I am different than these other people, and that’s a wonderful thing.” The Medicine Wheel teachings say that each of us entered the world in a unique spot on the wheel. Your second intelligence has much in common with mine, but it is unique to you. Your MBTI result may have a lot in common with mine, or not, but it’s unique to you. And even if we have the same result, how we live in that neighborhood is uniquely different. What unique way through your day will your second intelligence guide you through? Explore this idea more fully in Quixote Consulting’s team building and team development activities: MBTI Team Quest – Discover and leverage the various ways your people make decisions, strategize and access information, using this organizational standard. Team members begin to recognize the strengths that other types bring to the team, and the power that comes from multiple types working together. Firo-B – Unlock the mysteries of human interaction. Improve working relationships within a team and individual effectiveness. DiSC – Help team members assess how they can best use each dimension of four behaviors – dominance, influence, steadiness, conscientiousness – to better communicate and work together. StrengthsFinder – Gallup’s online assessment of unique top five strengths. Learn your team’s strengths and learn how to put them into action.