The Problem with Personality Tests in the Workplace

Let me set the scene. It’s a team-building retreat—the kind with stale coffee, trust falls, and PowerPoints no one asked for. Someone pulls out a stack of personality tests, promising to unlock your team’s “hidden potential.” You sit there, begrudgingly ticking boxes, while a facilitator insists the results will “revolutionize how you work together.”

Fast forward a week. Your manager now calls you “The Mediator” or “The Commander,” like you’ve joined some weird corporate Dungeons & Dragons campaign. But instead of rolling dice, you’re rolling your eyes as they use your Myers-Briggs score to explain why you “naturally struggle with deadlines.”

Here’s the thing: personality tests aren’t just harmless fun. In the wrong hands, they’re a recipe for workplace gaslighting—turning complex, capable humans into over-simplified archetypes. Let’s dig into why these tests are less about building better teams and more about making excuses for bad management.

The Junk Science

Let’s get one thing straight: most personality tests aren’t science. They’re astrology for people who shop at Office Depot. Myers-Briggs, for example, was created by two amateur psychologists (Katharine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers) with no formal training. It’s about as scientifically rigorous as determining your health by reading your daily horoscope.

But corporate America loves a good shortcut. Why bother getting to know your team when you can slap an ENFP sticker on Karen from Accounting and call it a day? Suddenly, Karen isn’t Karen—she’s a “dreamer,” and that’s why she’s struggling with spreadsheets. The test doesn’t just label people; it limits them.

The problem is, humans don’t fit into neat little boxes. We’re messy, inconsistent, and beautifully complicated. Trying to sum someone up with four letters or a color wheel is like judging a book by its ISBN.

When Personality Tests Become Excuses

Here’s where the gaslighting comes in. Once your test results are out in the wild, managers start treating them like gospel.

• Struggling with a project? “Well, you’re an introvert. This probably isn’t in your wheelhouse.”
• Feeling undervalued? “You’re just a Perceiver. You’ll adapt.”
• Burnt out from overwork? “Your Type A tendencies mean you thrive under pressure.”

Instead of addressing systemic problems or acknowledging real human struggles, personality tests give bad managers an easy out. It’s not the toxic culture or unrealistic deadlines—it’s just your personality, sweetie.

These tests turn workplace challenges into personal failings. They shift the blame from the organization to the individual, subtly telling employees: The problem isn’t us—it’s you.

The Dangers of Over-Simplifying People

People aren’t static. They evolve, grow, and adapt—sometimes in ways that defy their “personality type.” By pigeonholing employees based on a test, companies ignore their potential and stunt their growth.

Imagine telling Picasso he couldn’t experiment with Cubism because his test labeled him a “realist.” That’s the level of absurdity we’re dealing with.

When leaders rely on personality tests to make decisions, they stop seeing their employees as individuals. Instead, they see a collection of traits to be managed, like someone arranging their spice rack. But people aren’t spices—they’re the whole damn recipe, with all the unexpected flavors and improvisations that make a dish great.

The Alternative—Actual Leadership

Here’s a wild idea: instead of outsourcing your understanding of your team to a test, why not actually get to know them?

Talk to your employees. Learn their strengths, weaknesses, and what makes them tick. Trust me, you’ll learn more from a 10-minute conversation than you ever will from a color-coded chart.

Leadership isn’t about categorizing people—it’s about cultivating them. It’s about creating an environment where everyone feels seen, valued, and empowered to bring their best.

And yeah, that takes effort. But if you’re not willing to put in the work, maybe leadership isn’t your thing.

Burn the Personality Tests

Here’s the bottom line: personality tests are fun at parties but dangerous in the workplace. They’re not tools for growth—they’re weapons of gaslighting, subtly undermining your team’s confidence while letting managers off the hook.

Your employees aren’t letters, colors, or archetypes. They’re human beings, full of contradictions, potential, and complexity. Treat them like it.

So, the next time someone suggests a Myers-Briggs workshop or hands you a “DISC profile” worksheet, do yourself a favor: say no. Or better yet, ask them why they’re afraid to do the hard work of real leadership.

Because trust me, the best teams aren’t built on personality tests—they’re built on trust, respect, and the understanding that people are more than the sum of their labels.