“Psychogeometrics is a communication system, featuring five shapes used to identify traits and behaviors, specifically in terms of how one is described, acts, and relates to others.” 

So, after an assessment you find out that you are 33% triangle, 41% squiggly line and 26% square! And, all of a sudden everything starts making sense! All your life choices gain perspective! If only you knew earlier, you could have been so much more effective in communication with circles and squares!

Most readers have by now put on their critical thinking hats, and say: “Come on! You can’t be serious about this….”. But, what if we said it was based on Hitler’s favorite philosopher: Carl Jung! We hope you are still critical, because that actually doesn’t mean anything. 

So, why are people critical of the above, but they are literally eating up other supposed personality styles methodologies, like MBTI, Enneagram, DISC and many many others? It’s one of the biggest industries in the HR world (after HR tech), and the science behind it is very very thin. Most of the tests you do, have a lower than 50% test-retest ratio. That means if the same person does the same test again, the chance that it will give the same outcome is lower than a coin toss. 

And still people put their MBTI outcomes in their LinkedIn profile name!!!! 

“But, I recognize myself so much in the report!”. Yes, of course! You put in the answers to about 100 questions about yourself, so it would be weird if you didn’t recognize yourself in the report! 

And if you are a square but you also feel like a triangle sometimes, the models immediately add more granularity, until the conclusion is that everyone has their own unique profile. Let’s be honest, people, we don’t need a $100 test for that conclusion! 

The need for people to understand themselves makes them come to these psychometrics and eat it like freshly baked cookies. And the industry is only happy to oblige. “You want to get an accreditation: how does $2500 sound to you?” 

The only good thing these tests do, is for people to realize that not everyone is similar to them. But, do we really need all these expensive tests for that? We could just use people’s horoscopes… The same scientific validity, but much cheaper. 

The value is more in the dialogue, than in the psychometrics. How do people see you? How do you see your colleagues? And how does the lens through which you look at your colleagues affect your perception? Interesting questions that can create a stronger bond between team members, without the almost mandatory self-tests! 

Discuss potential group coaching with us at no-nonsense.coach 

We will gladly introduce zoo-psychometrics to you, where people fill in a 200-question test, to identify which animal they are…….