The interruption may be unwelcome or a welcome distraction when they are starting to feel bored, but the Type A will soon be tapping their foot, keen to get on. But when the interrupter has a non-critical issue, Type Bs can lose valuable time on the work they were doing. This is great for the interrupter and can lead to positive outcomes. Type Bs may not welcome an interruption – especially when they are engrossed in something – but when they accept it has happened, they will turn their whole attention to you. They will then get angry when they can’t find what they need or get what they want. Type As – unless they really value it – will rush through it, wanting to move quickly onto ‘proper work’. Type Bs will take on the organising and admin tasks as another thing to do carefully and well. Type Bs find Type As’ hurry annoying they would rather the A would slow down and do things properly and are concerned about quality standards. They want the B to hurry up and despair that the B has no sense of urgency about things. Type As readily get impatient with Type Bs. We find them easy to understand and their habits agreeable. Inevitably, we deal best with people who are like us. However, both Type A and Type B personalities each have their own challenges in operating in an organisation.

Many of their patients did have a cluster of personality traits that they characterised as Type A, but only a few of them were truly predictive of illness – and not the ones relating to rushing about. One thing at a time 0 … 10 Lots of things at onceĮnjoy relaxing 0 … 10 Feel guilty when relaxingįriedman and Rosenman predicted that strong Type A personalities would be prone to heart disease and die young. Slow and deliberate 0 … 10 Always rushingĭislike deadlines 0 … 10 Love working to deadlinesĮxpress your feelings 0 … 10 Suppress your feelings Exerciseįor each of these nine statements, score yourself 0 to 10 according to how close you lie to the first statement (a low score) or to the second statement (a high score).Ĭasual and relaxed 0 … 10 Often feel on edge When I tell you they were cardiac specialists, you might start to worry. Doctors Mike Friedman and Ray Rosenman identified these two styles as, respectively, Type A and Type B personalities.

This is part of an extended course in management skills.Īre you a ‘rush-rush-got-to-get-things-done’ sort of a manager, or are you a ‘take my time want to get things right’ type? Or are you nicely balanced.

Type b personality