Myers Briggs Types and TT38
You know your letters. Here's what the type doesn't tell you.
Many are familiar with MBTI and know their type. However, sooner or later, questions arise that the type cannot answer: why two individuals with the same profile thrive differently. That's where TT38 can help provide a more complete picture.
MBTI
MBTI describes who a person is based on four preferences, providing individuals with a type they can recognise themselves in and share with colleagues. For self-insight, initiating team conversations, and taking the edge off conflicts stemming from our inherent differences, MBTI is powerful.
TT38
TT38, on the other hand, reveals what lies beneath or behind those four letters. Whether one has a talent for what they prefer, or if they are slowly draining themselves in a role too far removed from what energises them. Why two people of the same type are motivated by vastly different things.
Below, you can see where MBTI excels and where TT38 adds value. Green indicates that the test provides a solid answer. Yellow means it doesn't quite suffice, and the other test covers it.
MBTI
TT38
Self-insight – do they know themselves?
MBTI gives people a language for who they are and an image they can recognise themselves in. TT38 adds what drives them – not just how they see themselves.
Team Language – do they understand each other's differences?
MBTI creates a common language for understanding that we think and decide differently. TT38 shows whether the team’s collective talents cover what the task requires.
Communication – how do they connect?
MBTI points out how people prefer to communicate and make decisions. TT38 supplements this by revealing what underlies that preference.
Onboarding & Match – are they suited to the role?
MBTI’s publisher advises against its use for selection. TT38 is designed to show whether a candidate’s talents match what the job requires long-term.
Well-being – are they happy with what they do?
A personality type might suit the job, but the person may not thrive. TT38 shows whether the role provides energy – or slowly depletes the individual.
Development – what can they become?
MBTI describes who you are, not where you should go. TT38 shows what a person has natural potential to grow into.
Talents – what energises and de-energises them?
MBTI measures preferences, not talents. TT38 maps 34 talent patterns and shows what naturally motivates people and makes them perform.
Leadership Capacity – can they sustain the role long-term?
MBTI says something about decision-making and communication style. TT38 shows whether the person possesses the talent patterns a leadership role relies on over time.
If you need to know more, let's delve deeper
Perhaps you have two employees who, on paper, are similar, but one thrives while the other yearns for something different. Perhaps you sense that a skilled colleague is about to disengage, without being able to pinpoint why. Such things are hard to spot when you only have the type to go by – and this is precisely where the overview can help you.
Do not read it as a list of differences. Instead, see it as a map of where the two tools point in the same direction, and when only one addresses what you are currently facing.
In short: if you find MBTI sufficient for understanding people and articulating what distinguishes them, it does that well. If, however, you need to get closer to what keeps people engaged or drains their energy, that is a question TT38 was created to answer.
The challenge isn't acquiring more knowledge. The challenge is distinguishing what truly makes a difference for you from everything else. We hope this comparison has made that sorting easier.
For most, it doesn't end with a choice between one or the other. Those who know MBTI well usually continue to use it – and integrate TT38 in areas where personality types don't quite hit the mark.
So, try to consider where your own challenge lies. If it's about understanding each other better and speaking the same language, MBTI stands perfectly well alone. If it's more about whether people are in the right place and if they are happy with it over time, that's what TT38 is built for.
And if you don't need MBTI, TT38 stands just as well on its own. Many use us as their primary HR tool – from recruitment, development, and performance – entirely without an accompanying personality test.
So, what should you choose?
Do you have a talent for what drives you?
Knowing your personality type is interesting. But knowing where you excel gives you more.
When our talent advisor reviews your free TT38 with you, you'll know where you can develop – and where you can effectively focus your efforts with your team.