I’ve been reading Rob Cheung’s book on personality which Moose kindly lent me, and it’s been an interesting experience. He has 7 dimensions of personality. Each questionnaire has just 10 questions and some of them seem a little bit random. You get 2 marks for some questions you agree with and 2 for some you disagree with, creating a 20 point scale for each question. 1 point is not an option, so why not 1 mark per question and a 10 point scale? I was slightly frustrated at not being able to give a half-way response to some of them.

Anyway on to the stuff.

Inquisitiveness 4/10

This seems to be about whether you’re the sort of person who likes to get into depth on things or whether you’re a flibbertygibbet who flits about from one thing to another. Quite what liking poetry (2 marks) has to do with any of this is anyone’s guess. However it’s fair to say I do prefer to get on with the practical stuff as opposed to sitting around wasting time talking about airy fairy ideas that will never happen.

Resilience 0/20

This is about how much you worry about things and get anxious. But one of the questions was “Occasionally I have trouble sleeping.” Who the fuck doesn’t occasionally have trouble sleeping? Nevertheless it’s true I’m a worrier and someone who tends to see the downside of everything rather than the upside. Cheung recommends getting outside one’s comfort zone to build confidence. Bring on that public speaking course! _{I am being sarcastic. I like my comfort zone.}

Affiliation 2/20

This dimension is about whether you’re the sort of person who strikes up conversation with strangers, or the sort of person who has a few close friends and needs time to themselves. No prizes for guessing which sort I am. Cheung suggests networking more. No. Don’t want to. I’m not very interested in superficial social transactions and I hate the way that networking seems to be about treating people as a means to an end. Also I object to the use of the word affiliation here – I think “gregariousness” would be a better word.

Conscientiousness 20/20

Well there’s a surprise! Apparently high-conscientiousness individuals rarely make mistakes but can be excessively risk averse. I’ll never forget the time my brother said “Nothing ventured, nothing lost”. He and I are very similar in most respects!

Sensitivity 16/20

This is about whether you don’t mind trampling over other people and being in a situation of conflict, or whether you try to take account of other people’s feelings. However the highly-sensitive person can end up being a doormat. Hmmm.

Knowledge-Questing 16/20

This is about whether you like doing courses and exams. In the past I was a right little exam monkey, but since I qualified as an accountant I decided the time had come to stop jumping through hoops to prove I was as clever as my brother so now I only take courses in non-work areas (writing, wine) and increasingly I find I prefer to read a book about something rather than gain a qualification because otherwise the competitive monster inside me is unleashed and it becomes all about the mark obtained, rather than about the learning for its own sake.

Drive 6/20

This questionnaire measures how ambitious and competitive you are, or whether you prefer the easy life. I was an academic kid and I got a good degree from a prestigious university so if I’d wanted, I probably could have had a city career and I could probably have made it to partner level by now, but that lifestyle and the 60 hour week doesn’t appeal. My work does matter to me and I try to do a good job (I’m 20/20 on conscientiousness after all!) but I don’t regard it as the be all and end all of life.

Overall Cheung thinks that we should aim for the higher end of the spectrum on everything, which I found annoying. He’s a business consultant, and I guess to be successful in business requires you to have some of these skills. But I’m a beancounter and I like sitting with a cup of tea and a spreadsheet, with the odd email interruption from an amusing friend. What’s wrong with that?

But some things did resonate, like the idea of doing new things and getting out of the routine occasionally. Looking back on this year I think I can say I have made progress on doing new things – the piano and the art are both things I wouldn’t have predicted happening 6 months ago, and both create that desirable state of flow, where an hour goes past without you noticing. And I do make myself go outside sometimes ;)

I have to admit the first couple of chapters brought to mind the Upsetting Person at work who is full of bright ideas about how to make things that she doesn’t understand that are working perfectly ok work better and simply loves the opportunity to network. So my resentment at this book is perhaps at its endorsement of the personality of someone I find intensely irritating.