Effects of Personality Type Tools and Problem-Solving Methods on Engineering Company Project Success

Personality type tools have been utilized to explain human behavior by organizing, classifying, and categorizing individuals into distinct personality types. Alternatively, problem-solving methods have been employed throughout project life cycles to enhance problem solving across all levels of the organizational workforce. This study evaluated the influence of personality tools and methods for problem solving on project success. The population comprised 29 active project managers employed in the engineering section of a large manufacturing firm, focusing on sustainable development projects. Quantitative study, through correlational analysis, demonstrates that personality tools facilitate the formation of effective project teams (p < 0.05) and that problem-solving methods significantly improve the likelihood of successful project completion (p < 0.05). This research presents a novel approach and a decision framework for projects that identify the preferred methods for solving problems associated with various MBTI profiles, and demonstrate that where MBTI is utilized as a guiding tool for effective project team formation, ESTJ, ENTJ, ISTJ, and INTJ are prioritized profiles. The research concludes that selecting methods for solving problems according to the nature of the problem impacts overall project success, with the Five Whys methodology contributing when used for root cause analysis. Therefore, it is essential to enhance project managers’ awareness that specific tools and methodologies can aid in the formation of teams that successfully complete projects.