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Case Incident
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Using the Predictive Index
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Should a personality test be the impetus for overthrow-
ing a company? Laura McCann thought so.
Laura McCann was CEO of a New York City-
based, private-label clothing manufacturer. She and
her partner had owned the company for seven years.
The firm made money, but it also was a source of ag-
gravation for her as well as many of her managers. Mc-
Cann had been concerned that a number of her staff
members were unhappy with their jobs, including
some of her highest-ranking managers. Moreover, she
and her partner were constantly at each other's
throats.
In late 1997, McCann stumbled upon a personal-
ity test, the Predictive Index, which changed the way
she looked at her business and led to her decision to
reinvent the company.
McCann had met a consultant in psychometric
testing. He was a strong advocate of the Predictive
Index-a simple checklist of 86 adjectives. The test
takes about five minutes to complete. Respondents go
through the 86 adjectives twice, once checking those
terms that they feel describe "the way you are ex-
pected to act by others"; and the second time check-
ing those that "you yourself believe really describe
you." Examples of adjectives Fussy, selfish, fearful,
conscientious, tolerant, loyal. Once scored, the Predic-
tive Index identifies four scales that purport to charac-
terize any personality: dominance, extroversion, pa-
tience, and precision.
McCann had her partner and all the managers in
her company take the Predictive Index test. The re-
sults, according to the test consultant, indicated that
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the cause of all the trouble was that nearly half of
those on the company's management team had per-
sonalities that didn't fit their job descriptions. What's
more, McCann and her partner couldn't have been
more poorly matched.
Within a month of seeing these results, McCann
took action. "The test helped me realize that all this
difficulty we were having wasn't a personal thing. It
just wasn't meant to be." McCann bought out her part-
ner; restructured her management team, keeping just a
well-chosen few; and started a totally new business
with new partners and a largely different staff.
Questions
- Contrast the Predictive Index to the Big 5 frame-
work. How is it similar? Different?
- "Anyone with half-a-brain can fake a personality
test. I can be anything an employer wants me to
be." Do you agree or disagree with this statement?
Support your position.
- Could a test of emotional intelligence have been
more effective than the Predictive Index in help-
ing Laura McCann make her decision? Explain
your position.
- Do you think Laura McCann's actions were justi-
fied based on the results of a five-minute personal-
ity test? Explain.
Source: Based on C. Caggiano, "Psycho Path," INC., July 1998,
pp. 77-85.
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- K. Morris, "The Rise of Jill Barad," Business Week, May 25,
1998, pp. 112-19; and "Trouble in Toyland," Business
Week, March 15, 1999, p. 40.
- G. W. Allport, Personality: A Psychological Interpretation
(New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1937), p. 48.
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- Reported in R. L. Hotz, "Genetics, Not Parenting, Key to
Temperament, Studies Say," Los Angeles Times, February
20, 1994, p. A1.
- See D. T. Lykken, T. J. Bouchard Jr., M. McGue, and A.
Tellegen, "Heritability of Interests: A Twin Study," Journal
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