The Gilligan's Island Personality Test

So here's an idea for your next group meeting.  An ice breaker of sorts.  This idea works to not only break the ice but also to give you a sense of the personality types you'll be dealing with all day.

I created this back in 2000 for an off-site brainstorming meeting with my new cross-functional team.  It worked well because, while everyone knew the names of their co-workers, they knew absolutely nothing about them.

It is called the Gilligan's Island Personality Test.

I see now that there are other tests like this one out there.  Or at least others are talking about it. Like all good personality tests, its intent is to separate you from others in a way that makes you easier to understand. The tests also help you anticipate how your team members will react in different situations and how they like to be approached.

To include this test in your next meeting, you need two things:

1. Castaway profiles.  Go to www.gilligansisle.com.  This is a great fan site for the TV show.  Near the bottom of this main page you will see pictures of each of the castaways.  Click on each to view the castaway profile.  Print each profile. 
2. The downloadable workbook below.  You will hand out the participant page to everyone in the room.  This is where each participant (1) picks a castaway type for each one of their team members and (2) identifies the castaway they believe they are most like.  You will print out a copy of the facilitator page for yourself (or keep a copy on a laptop nearby).

Download GI Personality Test 

  

This is an Excel file with two worksheets (see tabs at the bottom of the page).  The first worksheet (Participant) is for the participant to fill out and it looks like this:

The second worksheet is called "Facilitator" and it looks like this:

The exercise does not take more than 15-30 minutes depending on your group size.  Note: focus most of your time allowing people to guess which castaway each team member chose for themselves (and how differently others may or may not see them).  May be revealing!

Let me know your feedback on this one and - as always - share this post with a friend!