Who developed Jigsaw@work?

Jigsaw@work® was developed by Michelle McArthur and Keith Nicholson, principal learning consultants and co-owners of Jigsaw@work®.

The Jigsaw@work® discovery tool was originally created as a result of the frustration Michelle experienced working in industry with teams of people who were subjected to psychometric tests, but were disillusioned by the experience; while they enjoyed discovering some of their strengths and traits, it wasn't clear how they could apply the information to their work.

Michelle wanted to take the pioneering personality profiling work of Carl Jung and combine it with more recent neuro-physiological work into the operational connectivity of the brain, and develop a discovery tool that provides an opportunity for practical learning in a fun and interactive style.

After studying the research, Keith decided that the interconnecting structure of a jigsaw was not dissimilar to that of the brain and, as jigsaws are a traditional fun activity, they would provide the perfect medium for learning.

Discovery tools and personality tests rely upon a self-produced report of behaviours that may, or may not, correspond with what others observe and perceive. The Jigsaw@work® profiling tool encourages genuine responses, which are more valuable than when forced into making a questionnaire-based choice.

This kind of blind profiling activity highlights the differences in perception between the self and how others perceive an individual.

The Psychological and Physiological Connection

Jung's theory of Psychological Type is based on:

Four Functions

• Thinking — logical, analytical
• Feeling — emotional value
• Sensing — concrete processing of information received through senses
• Intuition — abstract method of processing and solving problems

Two Directions

Introversion — has a tendency to withdraw from the external world, derives energy from within the self and conserves expenditure of energy in the external world.

Extraversion — constantly puts oneself out into the world in every possible way. Derives energy from the external world.

Jung believed that everyone has one function, the dominant lead function, while other functions take a secondary role in influencing behaviour.

The recent advancements in neuro-physiology have provided evidence to support Jung's theory of personality and his belief that there are four specialised functions.

The human brain is divided into two lobes, the frontal and the posterior, and is also split into left and right brain. The areas of the brain are linked with bundles of axons (connectors), which allow the movement of electrical impulses (messages).

Professor Richard Haier at the University of California carried out research into the electrical connectivity of the brain. He found that everyone is born with one clearly preferred area of the brain, which is up to 100 times more energy efficient when we use it to think. This is a result of a much lower electrical resistance within and between neurons in that area of the brain. When using the naturally preferred area, thinking is easy and effortless, compared with when the other areas of the brain are used, which is more difficult and tiring.

Physiological dominance is frequently ignored or not understood, which results in many people finding themselves irritable, tired, frustrated and overwhelmed.

The recent neuro-physiological evidence concerning the structure and operations of the brain provide evidence to support Carl Jung's findings on psychological types.

Trial Jigsaw@work

Follow this link for details of Jigsaw@work taster sessions and discover what an impact it could have on your team or organisation.