Progress on the Journey to Total Quality Management: Using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the Adjective Check List in Management Development

The objective of this paper is to describe and assess a management development process utilized in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), a public sector agency that has implemented Total Quality Management (TQM). The program described in this paper is unique to the Richmond District where the facilitator was qualified to enhance the process used in other offices by adding the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator1 and The Adjective Check List.2 This paper is based on three premises. It is feasible for agencies, i. e., public bureaucracies, to implement the principles of Total Quality Management (TQM) and a growing number of them are trying to do so. Management commitment is a prerequisite for TQM so the need to develop effective, committed managers is increasingly critical. Programs designed to develop new managers can be enhanced when the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and The Adjective Check List are included as part of a self-assessment.