From time to time I like to take one of those personality type tests. It can be amusing as well as informative to see the results. I did one of these a while back and had forgotten about it until I stumbled upon the results recently, part of which concerned the creator in me.
The test was run by 16Personalities and, although in some respects very much like the other similar tests I have completed, it varied in one important respect, which was the emphasis it placed on identifying me as being a creative person. Phew! Can you imagine it, if me, a writer, hadn’t come out as being the creative type?
So, I was happy enough, thus far. But there was an opportunity to dig deeper into the results, so out came my spade. What the detail showed were some of the traits they believe apply to me. I think they’re pretty accurate and what follows is part of what they said. Bear in mind that at the top level I was identified as being an Advocate.
“People tend to talk about how creative others are (i.e., quantity), rather than how they’re creative (i.e., style). In truth, the amount may not be the thing that most distinguishes creativity.
Creativity researcher Michael Kirten established a model that places creativity on a continuum, with “adapters” at one end, and “innovators” at the other. Adapters improve on existing things, while innovators are more disruptive and change things more profoundly. Anyone expressing creativity falls on this continuum.
By this reckoning, Advocates are firmly ensconced in the “innovator” column – closer to being revolutionary than adaptive. Like all things, there can be some positive and negative features with both approaches. Let’s explore some that you may want to consider.
Challenges
The following list provides some “tells” that show Advocates are more likely to be innovators than adaptive creators. While the research below may appeal to the innovative Advocates, there’s always a downside when an approach is unbalanced:
I think I exercise both my left and my right brain a lot, but it’s true enough that what I really like to be doing is creating and I don’t mind challenging the status quo when I’m doing this. I might miss out on some fun otherwise! Which left me feeling both pleased and fascinated by these results. In some respects they give me a little more self-confidence to go about my creative life.
But what about you, have you ever do one of these sorts of tests? If so, what did you think of the results?
If you’d like to give the 16Personalities test a go yourself then head over to their website at https://www.16personalities.com/
(By the way, for those of you to whom this means something, I come out as an INFJ overall).
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