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Unit 3: Personality

If we learn by applying this tool that we are primarily Extraverted, that does not mean that we Notes
don’t also perform Introverted activities. We all function in all of these realms on a daily basis.
As we grow and learn, most of us develop the ability to function well in realms which are not
native to our basic personalities. In the trials and tribulations of life, we develop some areas of
ourselves more thoroughly than other areas. With this in mind, it becomes clear that we cannot
box individuals into prescribed formulas for behavior. However, we can identify our natural
preferences, and learn about our natural strengths and weaknesses within that context.
The theory of Personality Types contends that each of us has a natural preference which falls into
one category or the other in each of these four areas, and that our native Personality Type
indicates how we are likely to deal with different situations that life presents, and in which
environments we are most comfortable.

Learning about our Personality Type helps us to understand why certain areas in life come
easily to us, and others are more of a struggle. Learning about other people’s Personality Types
help us to understand the most effective way to communicate with them, and how they function
best.

3.4.1 Practical Application for Personality Types

Career Guidance: What types of tasks are we most suited to perform? Where are we naturally
most happy?
Managing Employees: How can we best understand an employee’s natural capabilities, and
where they will find the most satisfaction?
Inter-personal Relationships: How can we improve our awareness of another individual’s
Personality Type, and therefore increase our understanding of their reactions to situations, and
know how to best communicate with them on a level which they will understand?
Education: How can we develop different teaching methods to effectively educate different
types of people?

Counselling: How we can help individuals understand themselves better, and become better
able to deal with their strengths and weaknesses?



Case Study Informal Conflict Resolution

Introduction
Conflict resolution practice has largely focused on conflict taking place in public, as if it
was set on a theater stage with an audience watching the interactions unfold. In reality,
conflict plays out behind the scenes, unobserved by the conflict analysts and system
designers. Kolb and Bartunek, editors of Hidden Conflict in Organizations, bring to light
the dynamics of informal conflict resolution. In this context, informal conflict resolution
is defined as resolution facilitated by organizational members through other means than
the formal processes of grievances, investigations and litigation (Kolb and Bartunek,
1992. p. 19). These informal conflict resolvers make a significant impact upon organizations
either by resolving the conflict or channeling it to a formal mechanism.
Informal conflict resolution often takes a non-rational approach (Kolb and Bartunek, 1992,
p. 20). Kolb and Bartunek describe this approach as accenting "the unconscious or
Contd...

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