How to assess Product Management Skills — Here are the Top 4 MBTI Types
My research for MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) and the relation to the Product Manager role
Product Management is an organizational process that is responsible to guide the product's lifecycle for its overall success. The intersection between UX (user experience), Technology, and Business including the following steps: Vision, Strategy and Product development, Planning, Organization, User Experience, Research, Production, Marketing, Sales, and Distribution of a product.
It may sound like an easy feat, but it requires strategy — a line of attack. The role always involves developing a product from concept to scheme to deliver to the consumer base. These people responsible for customers' needs through market research, such as conducting customer interviews, user testing, strategy, roadmap, marketing, provide cross-functional leadership between the organizational teams, communicate, and keep everyone informed of updates. A bit complicated, I know.
Establishing the vision for a certain product demands organizational and leadership skills. Product Managers are ones who communicate the product strategy to a network of different departments. Because of this, it is critical that he/she is articulate and fluent in different protocols and individuals. Moreover, with the role of managing products, means managing its necessary constituents, such as product design, market research, production, testing, and more.
A little knowledge of personality types can help you as an employee, employer, or Human Resource Specialist assess yourself or current and future employees.
However, it shouldn’t be used as the sole basis for evaluation and recruitment. This understanding can also guide those who are looking to shift to this career, or any careers for that matter — as an assessment tool.
Studying personality types, or what is called Personality Typology, aids in distinguishing people by their behavioral traits and viewing them as defined types. If you’ve heard of the terms Introverted and Extraverted, those are what this is, but there’s more to it.
There are a number of tests that can be done, but one of the few that stand out is the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator or MBTI. It is a test that identifies basic preferences and describes the distinctive personality types that result from the interactions.
From the answers to questions based on preference pairs (E/I, S/N, T/F, J/P), people are identified as having one of the 16 personality types. Some questions could go like: the outdoors or indoors? (E/I), focus on the basic information, or prefer to add meaning? (S/N), first, look at logic or at the people and special circumstances? (T/F), prefer to get things decided or to stay open to options? (J/P). The goal of this test is to allow them to further explore and understand their own personalities, including their strengths, weaknesses, career preferences, and compatibility.
But what does this have to do with Product Management? You see, out of the 16 personality types that come from this test, there are a few that are common for these roles. With leadership, constant communication, and the right technical skills as main objectives, the most relevant personality types are ENTP, ENTJ, INTJ, and ISTJ.
What are the basic factors that form these four types?
1. I/E (Introversion/Extraversion)
A balance between the two is common because Product Managers need to be well versed in both communication and presentation.
2. S/N (Sensing/Intuition)
Making difficult decisions and risks are part of being a good Product Manager. Therefore, this leans more towards intuition.
3. T/F (Thinking/Feeling)
Not to confuse thinking with intelligence, people of the T type are able to gather logical explanations and even notice inconsistencies personally or at work.
4. J/P (Judging/Perceiving)
There is a J preference among most Product Managers because they tend to put their customers’ satisfaction at the very top. As a result, they do everything to get work done in an orderly fashion.
The Top 4 MBTI Types: ENTJ, ENTP, INTJ, ISPJ
The first and closest type of a great Product Manager is ENTJ, or ones who are Extraverted, Intuitive, Thinking, and Judging. ENTJ is the Commander.
ENTJs strive for a structure in their daily work. They expect a work environment to be evaluated based on a set of clear guidelines. ENTJs are strong in logical thinking and values competence, and they enjoy being surrounded by coworkers who are intelligent and ambitious. They are not afraid of challenges that address them to solve complex problems and involve strategic planning with clear goal-setting.
These are people who are:
- Natural-born leaders.
- Rational, they use their drive, determination, and sharp minds to achieve goals.
- True powerhouses.
- Brilliant entrepreneurs.
Famous ENTJs include Margaret Thatcher, Napoleon Bonaparte, Carl Sagan, General Norman Schwarzkopf, David Letterman, Douglas MacArthur, Harrison Ford, and Quentin Tarantino.
“ENTJs are seldom content in a job that makes no demand on intuition. They need problems to solve and are likely to be experts at finding new solutions.”
— Isabel Briggs Myers, Gifts Differing
While ENTJs are deemed suitable for Product Manager, there is always some flexibility. There are other personality types that fit too.
ENTPs, or The Debaters, are the Extraverted, Intuitive, Thinking, and Prospecting kind. They are bold, creative, and use their mental agility. They are flexible and can figure out things as they go. ENTPs prefer an intellectually challenging environment, with intelligent, creative, and fun coworkers. As Product Managers, they need an organization that allows them to put their creativity to work on innovative ideas and solve problems creatively without having to handle the small details that are not part of the project and distract them from the product vision & strategy.
These are people who are:
- Intellectually independent
- Excellent brainstormers
- Confident and charismatic
- Open-minded and flexible managers
Famous ENTPs include Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, Thomas Edison, Benjamin Franklin, Richard Feynman, Leonardo da Vinci, Niccolo Machiavelli, John Stuart Mill, Jon Stewart, “Weird Al” Yankovic, and Conan O’Brien.
“ENTPs tend to be independent, analytical, and impersonal in their relations with people, and they are more apt to consider how others may affect their projects than how their projects may affect others.”
— Isabel Briggs Myers, Gifts Differing
According to the MBTI test, my type is an ENTP. In relation to the Product Management roles, ENTP’s are extraverted. Meaning, we are great communicators, as our work needs collaboration with different departments.
We are intuitive, which means that we are decision-makers and think forward. We take risks based on data. The T for Thinking means that Product Managers like me are rational and critical thinkers — this is not our personal work but for a client, for whom we act for in the organization.
Product Managers’ role demands to be communicative, planned, and critical-thinking individuals. ENTP types are flexible and can deal with unexpected challenges. They know how to seize opportunities. The combination of these traits makes the ENTP’s ideal for entrepreneurial thinking & innovation.
INTJs or The Architects, however, are introverted. But that doesn’t mean that they can’t communicate. Their introversion is in the sense that they prefer to listen and adapt more than to present. But like ENTJ and ENTP, they are Intuitive, Thinking, and Judging. INTJs are strong in analytical skills that help them to problem solve in a challenging environment. They take responsibility for implementing their ideas to create innovative and efficient systems.
INTJ Product Managers are:
- Analytical problem-solvers with logical reasoning.
- Quick and imaginative.
- Independent, decisive
- Open-minded
Famous INTJs include Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Bill Gates, Dwight Eisenhower, Alan Greenspan, Ulysses S. Grant, Stephen Hawking, John Maynard Keynes, Ayn Rand, Isaac Asimov, Lewis Carroll, Cormac McCarthy, and Sir Isaac Newton.
“INTJs are the most independent of all the sixteen types and take more or less conscious pride in that independence.”
— Isabel Briggs Myers, Gifts Differing
Lastly, the ISTJs or The Logisticians, are Introverted, Observant, Thinking, and Judging. They tend to be reserved but are willful and dedicated to producing quality results. In other words, they are mindful but are still targeted to their vision. ISTJs are great logical problem solvers in an orderly way.
They prefer a working environment that is quiet, organized, and structured, with rules and regulations. Therefore, the companies that are in the early stages, like startups, can cause them to feel uncomfortable.
Product Managers who fit in this type:
- Have sharp, and fact-based minds.
- Adhere to established protocols and guidelines.
- Are calm and practical.
- Are strong-willed and dutiful.
Famous ISTJs include Queen Elizabeth II, Harry Truman, Warren Buffett, Queen Victoria, George H.W. Bush, and J.D. Rockefeller.
“ISTJ is a no-frills, work-hard, play-hard type. They are seen as compulsive, hard-charging, capable, and true to their word.”
— Otto Kroeger, Type Talk at Work
The most common preference pairs in all of the types mentioned are the N and T, whereas I/E and J/P are balanced pairs. Product Managers have to be great listeners and presenters. Furthermore, they should be mindful but strong-willed at the same time.
The importance of learning not just the listed, but all personality types, is for self-awareness, and self-assessment purposes. Not one is best or better than any other type. It definitely isn’t a tool designed to look for abnormalities. It’s created simply to help you learn more about yourself or your fellow friend. Having a better understanding of a personality is helpful not just to personal relationships, but to the workforce as well.
The reason employers and staff are looking into these tests is to carefully deliberate whether or not one has what it takes to become a great Product Manager, looking not just at the skills, but to the ability to handle work well, too.
It is quite interesting to know that personality types can be linked to career assessments. While there are still many open scientific questions about these mentioned types, keeping an open mind is necessary.
