Full Circle Associates

This is sort of related to the "Things that Bother Us About Online Interaction" series of posts I have been writing. Another perspective in, perhaps.

I indirectly found this article this morning while reading about an online facilitation challenge in a private community. Tony was mentioned so I googled! It seems to be another way in to the archetype issue without using the sort of labels like Gahran did in her piece.

Digging down, it is about finding ways to understand each other enough to have successful communications or do things together. We generalize as a way of making sense, but in the labels we use generate end up creating more misunderstanding. Quite the opposite of the intent, I suppose. Finding ways to "hear" the other person without being triggered by their style or language choice is a key goal in an online facilitation practice. Di Petta points out one really key part of the practice: knowing your own style/self first.

The article on this site is an abridged version of a paper published in Cranton, P. (ed.) (1998). Psychological Type in Action. Sneedville, TN: Psychological Type Press.
Tony Di Petta -- Psychological Type as a Tool for On-Line Groups:

"This paper examines the use of psychological type as a group process 'tool' for moderators of on-line discussion groups. In February of 1997, The Personal Effectiveness through Type (PET) Inventory �, was provided as an on-line tool to ten computer conference moderators working for the Education Network of Ontario (ENO). The ENO is a Canadian telecommunications service that provides internet access and computer conferencing services to the kindergarten through secondary school education community, in the province of Ontario."

Towards the end of the article, Di Petta suggests four benefits of using type inventories for online moderation:

1. Type Awareness can have a positive effect on an on-line group's ability to deal with change. Computer conferences often focus on issues of change within an organization or profession. The general reactions to unanticipated change are anger and fear. Type awareness can help you and your on-line group recognize the impact of type preferences in dealing with change so you can identify your own concerns and coping strategies.

2. Knowledge of type can help create and maintain a positive on-line environment. Knowledge and awareness of type as it applies to the make-up of your online group can help build mutual understanding and tolerance. Understanding the concerns and implications of each type preference can help you as moderator tailor your approach to the needs of each type. This helps build a cooperative and collaborative online environment and group.

3. Type can be used as a meta-analysis, communication and leadership tool. Type awareness provides a language for talking about group process and what individuals need in order to work within an on-line group environment. For example, role-playing various perspectives using type provides a means for getting to questions and concerns that often do not get expressed in an on-line group. Good moderators will address these questions and concerns even if they don't get asked, but type provides a vehicle for involving the group in asking and addressing such questions.

Introverts in on-line groups might especially benefit from such questions because they tend not to ask questions even when they need to have them answered to do their work. Extroverts, on the other hand, need to know what is going on and have frequent opportunities to talk about it. (snip)

4. Type can be used as a process and group checking or evaluation tool. Type awareness helps you pay attention to changes in group composition and needs. By paying attention to types that differ from yours, you can find new ways to deal with on-line issues and incorporate the whole group in planning strategies for collaboration and work.

Technorati Tags: online, facilitation, moderation, archetypes, psychological_types

2 Comments:

Bill Anderson said...: Nancy, I used to be a big fan of personality typing (specifically the Eneagram), but I've become worried about (1) their scientific basis and (2) their increasing use in selecting team members and organizing group interactions.

Last year, Annie Murphy Paul wrote The Cult of Personality: How Personality Tests Are Leading Us to Miseducate Our Children, Mismanage Our Companies, and Misunderstand Ourselves, a book that shows how unscientific the Myers-Briggs personality typing is, and how pernicious it can be to use types and substitutes for doing the real work of understanding each other and learning to get along _and_ get work done.

These personality typing schemes have a lot of value in helping me see, and subsequently modify some aspects of my own interaction patterns and habits. Hopefully my interactions with others improve as a result.

But I'm still convinced that improvements in group behavior are best served by examining our patterns of group dynamics and actions. Of course, a group is nothing but a collection of individuals, and as individuals we are responsible for our own actions. But we do fall into group, system-level behaviors and feelings that are shared by everyone, and can be recognized by everyone. One of the best books on these psychodynamic patterns is Wilfred Bion's Experiences in Groups, first published in 1961.

In 2003 Clay Shirky gave a talk entitled The Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy that explored many of Bion's ideas and those that have followed. Not much was made of this talk, but for me it stimulates important questions, such as
What are the patterns of group behavior and thinking that support and diminish our effectiveness in on-line groups?; 7:25 AM
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