Some users of the MBTI® instrument use ropes or tape to draw out a “living type table” in a training room and then ask people to stand in their 'box'.  One problem with the type table is that people can end up standing next to someone who is quite different (in Myers Briggs terms) and far away from someone who is similar.

In the exercise I am about to describe, you can use ropes or tape, but the layout is different and much more meaningful.  It is much easier to draw out similarities, differences and explore the impact of 'oppositeness' in a team.

Resources

You'll need to allow between 15 minutes and an hour on your training workshop (it only takes an hour if you ask lots of questions and let the discussion run).  You'll also need space in the room for a circle of approximately 12 feet in diameter.  Finally, you'll need 6 ropes each approximately 12 feet in length.

Incidentally, you'll also need facilitation skills.

This exercise works best with between about 8 and 30 people.  

Goals

The aim of the exercise is to provide a safe but powerful way of identifying conflicts, differences and oppositeness in a team. By facilitating a discussion of the impact oppositeness has on team relationships and functioning you can guide the team to identify more productive ways of working together.
 
Process

You are going to lay out the ropes on the floor in the following layout.  The type codes are shown here for your information.  If you wish to lay the ropes out beforehand you may optionally want to make cards with the type codes on and place them in the appropriate segment, so that the workshop members can step straight to where their type code is.

1: Lay down rope 1 (the SN rope).  Ask people with S preferences to stand above the rope, N preferences to stand below.

2: Lay down rope 2 (the TF rope).  Ask people to stay the same side of the SN rope, but then move to the left if they prefer Thinking, and to the right if they prefer Feeling

3: Ask people to stay away from the centre of the ropes for a moment.  Lay down two ropes to form the inner circle - joining to make a single rope (rope 3).  Then ask people to move inside if they have I preferences and stay outside if they have E preferences.

Unless you are very familiar with this exercise, you may want to stop here for the time being.  You can extract a lot of learning from the rope wheel as it is currently laid out.  Steps 4 and 5 are more complicated for minimal additional benefit.

4: Lay down rope 4, which is the first of two ropes that differentiates dominant functions.  As before they should not cross the ropes previously laid down.  Those with Feeling or Intuition as a dominant function go one side of this new rope (the south-east side of the rope), and if Sensing or Thinking is dominant they go on the other side (the north-west side of the rope).

5: Lay down rope 5, those with Sensing or Feeling dominant going on the north-east side, those with Intuition or Thinking dominant going on the south-west side.

Exercises and Facilitation

Ask everyone on the inside to face inwards and on the outside to face outwards. This represents introversion being oriented towards the inner world and extraversion being oriented towards the outer world.

Stand in the middle of the circle and ask everyone to look at you. Point out some features of the wheel, such as:

Opposite sides represent opposite personalities

Opposite personalities can be complementary in a team

When they look to the other side of the wheel, you are in the way. This is symbolic of the difficulties that can sometimes arise in communication between opposite sides (personality difference gets in the way)

Standing inside the wheel all the time can feel a bit cramped.  You may want to step back out of the centre to a space to continue the discussion, as in this example (I'm in the right/foreground, with the white trousers):

(With thanks to Vicky Jo and Robin for taking this photo at the 16types.com Boston Exchange where - surprise, surprise, for a Type event - there was a high representation of those with iNtuition preferences)

Ask questions that are relevant to issues in the team, such as:

What do you appreciate about the contributions from the other side of the wheel?

What do you find difficult about the other side?

What impact does the balance of the team have on the way work is done?

Do you wish you were somewhere else on the wheel and if so, why?

Other Notes

Standing in a position that represents personality differences can be very powerful.  You can ask a variety of other questions depending on the issues in the group, to stimulate discussion on the team dynamics.

Ask open questions, inviting them to see meaning in the positions on the wheel.

If the group have completed the MTR-i team role questionnaire, you can ask them to move to their team role and back again to their preferences.  This represents the degree of stretch they are experiencing in this team.

If you think the exercise will be too complicated for the group, then consider:

(a) stopping at rope 3

(b) laying the ropes out beforehand with cards on the floor to show them where to stand

(c) drawing the wheel on a flipchart to mirror the position on the floor, so they can use the flipchart as a guide where to stand