One of the best quick-and-easy quizzes I have come across to understand and keep my own working style in check as well as understand others has been Gretchen Rubin’s Four Tendencies Quiz.

Empathy is one of the most critical life skills, and resources that there is nearly never enough of. How can we begin to imagine what someone else is feeling, ‘walk’ in their shoes, and understand why they have made certain decisions or taken certain actions?

Knowing our tendency can help us set up situations in ways that make it more likely that we’ll achieve our aims. We can make better decisions, meet deadlines, meet our promises to ourselves, suffer less stress, and engage more deeply with others.

Depending on your Tendency type you will react differently to expectations, and:

Upholders want to know what should be done.
Questioners want justifications.
Obligers need accountability.
Rebels want freedom to do something their own way.

It’s also a fun game to imagine, what tendency is X? Ah yes, that explains it!