How Does the SDI Compare to the MBTI? | Crucial Learning (2024)

With the addition of the SDI and Core Strengths to Crucial Learning, we’ve had a number of questions about how the SDI (Strength Deployment Inventory) compares or contrasts to the MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator). In this post, I’ll address some practical, theoretical, and empirical differences, along with how the two can complement each other.

The two assessments measure different aspects of personality, and therefore have different outcomes.

The MBTI (and other assessments based on Carl Jung’s theory of psychological types) identifies a respondent’s personality type as one of 16 possible. Those 16 types result from the various combinations of four preferences:

1. Where we prefer to get our energy (introversion vs extraversion) which is represented by either an I or E.
2. How we prefer to collect information (sensing vs intuition) which is represented by either an S or N.
3. How we prefer to make decisions (thinking vs feeling) which is represented by either a T or F.
4. How we prefer to orient to the outer world (judging or perceiving) which is represented by either a J or P.

MBTI types, such as ENFP or ISTJ, show the preferred combination of each person’s mental processes. They describe what goes on inside of an individual.

The SDI (based on Elias Porter’s theory of relationship awareness) provides four independent but connected views of a person, two of which are about personality, and two about behavior at work.

Two Views of Personality:

1. The Motivational Value System shows how three primary motives blend or integrate in a person when things are going well and they feel best about themselves and their relationships. There are seven MVS types.
2. The Conflict Sequence shows how primary motives change when things are going wrong and people are in conflict with others. There are 13 Conflict Sequence types.

Two Views of Behavior:

1. The Strengths Portrait shows how a set of 28 strengths are prioritized in working relationships, from most likely to deploy to least likely to deploy.
2. The Overdone Strengths Portrait shows how those 28 strengths appear when they are overdone in terms of frequency, duration, intensity, or context.

One important theoretical distinction between the MBTI and the SDI is that the MBTI shows dichotomies or opposites, while the SDI shows how motives integrate. MBTI uses binary questions in the assessment; for example, a person must select between thinking-related words and feeling-related words. But the SDI assessment offers multiple statements and the person must weigh the relative balance or priority among those statements, i.e., their responses show how frequently the various motives drive their behavior.

It is not uncommon to find that some people resist the idea of choosing between two supposed opposites, such as Thinking or Feeling, and instead insist that they use both equally, or that they do not identify with one of the preferences. By contrast, the SDI shows how three motives blend, and the various types reflect all the possible combinations of those motives. In my own experience, I have found that people who resist choosing between the opposites based on their MBTI results often have Hub (Flexible-Cohering) MVS results from the SDI, which is the type that shows how all three motives integrate about equally. There is no type in the MBTI that shows equal preferences on any scale.

SDI and MBTI are both valid assessments that measure different things. And because of that, they can complement each other nicely in any development effort. If you have both the SDI and MBTI results for people on a team, you can facilitate some useful conversations and draw out distinctions that neither assessment can do on its own.

For example, a group of people with the Red (Assertive-Directing) MVS can be subdivided into those who prefer to make decisions based on Thinking vs Feeling. While you will find that the Red motive for task accomplishment and moving quickly is similar, you will also find that people with the combination of Red and Feeling tend to trust their gut instincts with decisions, while the Reds with a Thinking preference want a little more data in their diet.

Also, if you start with the MBTI’s preference of Perceiving (which is remaining open to change vs preferring closure), you can look at the different MVS types who share this preference and find an array of underlying motives that connect to it. For example, Blues (Altruistic-Nurturing MVS types) prefer staying open so they can be responsive and supportive to others, while Reds like staying open so they can be alert to new opportunities as they arise, and Greens (Analytic-Autonomizing MVS types) see benefit in staying open to new information or better ways of doing things.

As trainers or facilitators we often find ourselves needing to choose one assessment over another in the context of a program or development effort. But if time and budget allow, the assessments can be complementary. And if a team is already familiar with their MBTI results, adding the perspective of the SDI can reveal the underlying motives that add some “color” to the preferences.

MBTI and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator are registered trademarks of the Myers-Briggs Company.