>> *IMHO it's about same level as voodoo.
I'm a fan of MB. INFP myself. That doesn't mean I have to act that way, just that it gives a very strong clue to my most natural or comfortable behaviour. Understanding even just that leads you to be interested in how other people work, and spending a bit of time working that out can make them much easier to deal with and keep you much less stressed.
I can do most styles when I have to, with the great glaring exception of the strong leadership role - I am generally thought to be good at what I do, and as a result I am sometimes offered jobs that involve setting up a business unit or function, selecting and installing a team - I just decline them. I'd be second rate at it. I don't like being strongly directed, and I think that makes that makes me uncomfortable doing it to others.
On the other hand, if somebody else wants to be the charismatic leader, I can be part of that team and tell them what I think they should be doing, and take chunks away so they don't have to worry about it. In fact they can't stop me and on a couple of occasions when I have worked for one of those people who always has to be right, and wants everybody else to do things their way, it hasn't lasted very long.
In a work situation there's immense value for me in trying to understand people's motivations and preferred behaviours. I have spent a lot of time negotiating and drafting contracts over the last 25 years. I always take things steadily at first so that I can get to know the other parties (on both sides) - then I can start to work out what they really need (rarely is that the initial demands), and how I can give them enough of it to get to an agreement. I won't say it never fails, sometimes there just isn't a deal to be done, but if there is I'm pretty confident of finding it. Sometimes the people I am working for have the view that empathy and understanding have no applicability in negotiations, which should only be about demands and concessions, logically argued. They are idiots.
You can't fit everything into a formula; rules and regulations are never enough. Hence the value in the often misunderstood quotation "rules are for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools".
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