1. The LIFO® Method vs. the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator
Less Typecasting and More Behavioral Change
Styles-based instruments are popular training tools because they reduce the complexities of human
behavior down to a manageable number of "types" or "styles." They give people a feeling of quick insight
into themselves and others. They provide a common language for talking about similarities and
differences.
Yet some of the best learning possibilities inherent in these instruments are often overlooked. And
sometimes these instruments actually reinforce stereotypes that limit our understanding of people.
Personality Types versus Strategies for Change
Most styles-based instruments are based on the assumption that differences in behavior arise from
different personality types. This belief can be a barrier to behavioral change because a personality "type"
is fixed—it is not subject to choice or change. People say to themselves, "If that is the way that I am, if
that's me, why should I change?" They may even wonder, "How can I change?" Typing people provides
them with information about who they are, but it does not offer them guidelines about how to improve
their performance.
LIFO® Training takes a fundamentally different approach from typing or labeling. Though it begins with
a styles-based instrument, it does not typecast people. The LIFO® Survey describes differences in
behavior, rather than perception and judgment as does the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator
(MBTI). People are willing and able to change what they do. Perception and judgment are much less
amenable to change.
To support the emphasis on behavioral change, the LIFO® style labels end with the suffix, i-n-g. This
suggests a process, not a fixed "product." For example, people are described as "preferring the Supporting
Giving Style," or "acting in a Supporting Giving way."
Preference not Competence
The LIFO® Styles also describe behavioral preferences, not competencies. Participants are not labeled,
judged, or limited by their survey results. Labeling someone with a personality type can become an
excuse for sub-standard performance. ("I'm no good at that—I'm just not that type of person.")
Freedom from Categorical Judgments
In LIFO® Training, differences in behavior are described quantitatively, not qualitatively. There is no
reference to good or bad, right or wrong, strong or weak. Qualitative or categorical judgments often lead
to oppositional thinking—"my way" vs. "your way"—which can promote conflict and impede teamwork.
The LIFO® Survey identifies a person's relative preference for four basic behavioral styles or patterns.
Everyone uses all four basic behavioral patterns. They just use them to varying degrees. Of the people
taking the LIFO® survey, 55% prefer using two styles regularly, while 31% use three styles and 5% use
all four styles with about the same frequency. That leaves only 9% preferring to use just one style most of
the time. We are not one style or another, we are one style and another.
The MBTI yields a single, four-word "personality type" label, which is a constructed by selecting one
word from each of four word pairings—for example, "Extraverted Sensing Thinking Judging." With
enough training, labels such as these may help people understand themselves better. However, these
labels still encourage people to think, "That's just how I am—"reinforcing attitudes that can block real
behavioral change. Furthermore, the complexity of the categories makes it difficult for people to learn
how to recognize other people's "types" and therefore determine the most effective communication
strategies for influencing them.
Copyright © 2002 by Business Consultants Network

2. The MBTI labels are also selected by a process of "semantic differential," in which one rates oneself on a
scale with one word at one end of the scale and another word at the other end. MBTI results are
represented in terms of the words at the extreme end of the scales, which form either/or categories (such
as "introvert vs. extrovert"). The resulting "personality types" do not adequately express the wide range of
behaviors in between the two extremes. This approach transforms quantitative differences into
categorical differences. Instead of bridging gaps between people, it can actually increase them.
LIFO® Style Preferences are Contextual and Dynamic
The word pairs that form the MBTI semantic differentials are not presented in any context. You simply
rate yourself in the abstract. The LIFO® Survey on the other hand is highly contextual. When taking the
survey, you are asked to think of yourself in a particular setting: at work, with your family, or as part of a
specific group. The survey itself consists of a series of statements that describe different situations. After
reading each statement, you rank four possible reactions according to how likely you are to act that way
in that particular situation. The choices that you make are therefore much more concrete, much more
connected to how you see yourself responding to people, problems, and situations.
In contrast to the fixed labels of the MBTI approach, LIFO® style preferences are not set in stone. They
are dynamic. People use different styles in different contexts and in different relationships. For example,
research shows that approximately 50% of the population changes their profile of preferred behavior
under stressful vs. favorable conditions. People may also use different styles at home and at work, or with
their supervisors and with their coworkers.
Strategies for Improving Performance
LIFO® workbooks, training materials, and performance support tools enable participants to link their
LIFO® Survey results to a series of performance improvement strategies to attain clearly defined
development goals. These materials focus on applying information to improve performance, rather than
on information for information's sake or, even worse, labeling people so that their behavior can be
predicted. Predictions tend to be self-fulfilling, and once a person has been labeled, his or her options for
behavioral change may actually be reduced instead of expanded.
Non-defensive Learning Climate
LIFO® Training also eliminates the concept of personal "weakness," which creates a defensive learning
climate. What other people call weaknesses are seen simply as excesses, or strengths carried too far.
These excessive behaviors may be unproductive, but they are not "bad"—they are just "too much of a
good thing."
For example, a person may overuse the strength of acting quickly and become impulsive. Another person
may overdo the search for excellence and become perfectionistic. The LIFO® approach to describing
behavior in strength-based terms allows people to accept developmental goals and receive feedback with
a minimum of defensiveness.
Everyday Language and Practical Focus
LIFO® Training uses everyday language, free of psychological terms and jargon, making the concepts
easy to understand and to discuss. Contrast the LIFO® style label "Supporting Giving" with the MBTI
label "Introverted Sensing Feeling Judging."
In LIFO® workshops participants practice new skills that enhance productivity, communication, and
teamwork, and they work together to develop practical action plans to use these skills to attack
immediate, real-world problems.
Because of its systematic structure and practical focus, LIFO® Training is easily grasped and
immediately useful. It provides a cognitive map for getting through, getting agreement, and getting action
from others. Participants learn to give strength-based feedback about behavioral choices and their impact.
They learn a language for discussing individual, interpersonal, and team performance issues while
Copyright © 2002 by Business Consultants Network

3. respecting diverse values, goals, strengths, and styles.
Proven Results with Worldwide Acceptance
LIFO® Training has benefited over 8.5 million people in more than 20,000 organizations worldwide. It
has proved itself to be a valuable part of management and supervisory development with target
populations varying widely in educational background, work experience, and organizational position.
Multiple Applications
LIFO® Training is used in numerous applications, including team building, management and supervisory
development, leadership training, interpersonal communication, diversity training, and conflict resolution.
Copyright © 2002 by Business Consultants Network