So I’ve got this enormous set of questionnaires on management styles, and it’s one of those things, “Rank from highest to lowest the following.” And I’m left wondering a few things:

• Do many people try to ‘psychoanalyze’ the test? I almost always know what each question is trying to judge. (And if I don’t, I skip it and go over the others, look at the end, and figure out what it’s asking.)
• Do many people get hung up on technicalities? On a question that was judging me on six different ‘qualities,’ including practical, economic, religious, and artistic, I ranked Mother Teresa highly as one of the most interesting people to meet. This raised my score in the “spiritual” category. I just think it’d be neat to meet her, religious or not.
• Does anyone else almost always have their answers, on large numerical scales, gravitate towards the middle?
  • Does anyone ever think that, on a scale of 1-4, they’re really a 2.5? A 2 is too extreme one way, and a 3 is too extreme the other way.
• Are people really so oblivious that they don’t realize that all 20 questions on these types of things are getting at the same thing, just paraphrased?
  • What I find most interesting is that the test just goes for the total… It should really look at the anomalies. I scored very low on the ‘spiritual’ category, except for the Mother Teresa question. Someone who actually cared about the results might wonder about this and wonder about it. But nope, it just means that I’m three points more spiritual.
• Who writes these things? The questions are always so vague. For example:
  • Faced with a problem to solve, rank, highest to lowest, the following ‘methods’ of solving the problem:
    • Accomplish goals
    • Develop thoughts
    • Weigh evidence
    • Follow instincts
  • Shouldn’t you do all of them? The, err, goal, is to accomplish the goal. In doing that, you must weigh the evidence and develop thoughts, and let your instincts weigh in too. How is this any different from asking:
    • You’re driving along and a car runs a stop sign and pulls out right in front of you. Which of the following do you do?
      • Hit the brakes.
      • Swerve away from them.
      • Beep your horn.
      • Try to avoid crashing.

      The question makes no sense! You’d probably do all four. And the last one is a summary of them all.

• The questions make no sense!
  • What ranking do I assign to “Developing thoughts.” I’m always developing thoughts, whether I try to or not. Cogito ergo sum.
  • In solving a problem, how important is “performing deeds?” What is that even supposed to mean?
  • “Being aware”–again, cogito ergo sum.

I want to write these things. I could have a field day.

Rank, from highest to lowest, which skills you used while reading this blog post:

• Reading
• Converting written words into mental images and ideas
• Digesting lunch
• Being aware
• Performing deeds
• Breathing
• Blinking
• Developing thoughts
• Reading this post