The story.
Once upon a time, there was a business who ran a business conglomerate. He was getting old and wanted to pass on his business acumen to his son and introduce him to the business clientèle. He came up with a plan- to arrange a business party. He told his son about the party and that he can invite a person, exactly one person, of his wish.
The son chose to invite his friend. This friend was from an economically poor background. /On the day of the party, the son was looking forward to the party and his friend. Fifteen minutes before the party was set to begin, the friend walked in, poorly dressed. The son was startled and asked his friend why he was not in proper attire for the party. The poor friend told him that he had given his suit for laundry but that the laundryman had failed to deliver it on time.
And I break the question to the students- If you were the businessman's son, what will you do at that point?
Most of them (read as 'Almost all') had an almost similar answer. While one student tells me that he will give the friend a new set suit, another tells me that he will allow him be a part of the party and that his attire doesn't matter. It is at that point that I will introduce my friend, Keyser Soze, to the class and give his answer- if I were the son, I would have asked him to get out of the place. If I were a diplomatic person, I might have done the same in a polite manner. (Oh, diplomacy is just going around in circles and circles. You will still be at the same starting point.)
And then I give them what the 'psychometric test' concludes:
Those who gave the friend a new suit, those who let the friend be a part of the party without bothering about the attire are people who are 'emotionally driven'. The folks who drive the person away from the party are those who are 'goal-driven'- the goal is to obtain familiarity with the clientèle in the business.
One part of my work as a Verbal/Soft-skills trainer is over. Normally the class is filled with so much energy. The 'psychometric' test ensures that the individual energies are packed into one ensemble. The result is that I gain the attention of the class.
Over tea with the fellow soft-skills trainers, we discussed the same question and the topic funnels down to a Goal-driven person. Just then, you want to introduce a new variable- Selfishness.
The same story might have been used by one of the teachers in school to indicate a selfish person- one who is motivated by what he thinks will be beneficial for him. The kid who forgets that you should also jump into the not-so-fitting shoes of others and think about their side of the same story. We proceed to brand that kid as 'selfish'.
As we grow older (and forget what naivety of thought is), as we forget the art of questions, we are conveniently buying the idea of people being 'goal driven persons'. Suddenly, the imaginary appraisal forms in our minds give him the top rating.
Wasn't that kid who refused to offer you the extra pencil he had 'goal-driven' because his 'goal' was to ensure that he finished the exam without any hiccups on the stationery-front? Suddenly the most loathed kid of the school days has become the 'most focused and ambitious person' who will dream and achieve big. Why? The answer is blowin' in the wind.
Speaking about psychometric tests, take this and wonder what you did:
http://higherperspectives.com/relational-psychology-test/
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