A collection of thoughts, reports
and articles from the Facet5 team
Why Measuring Personality on a Continuum Matters
When organisations choose a personality tool, one of the first questions is often, “Is it easy to understand?” That makes sense. If people cannot grasp the model quickly, it won’t travel far inside a business. But there is a more important question sitting underneath that one: Does it measure personality the way personality actually exists? Because how we measure something shapes how we interpret it. And how we interpret it shapes how we develop it.
Reliability: When the Big Number isn’t the Whole Story
Most people see a big number and think: Great. That must mean it’s good. But here’s the question few people ask: Good at what? Because a high reliability score does not automatically mean a model is useful, predictive, or even particularly insightful. It simply means the items hang together consistently. And consistency, on its own, is not the same as value.
Beyond Labels: Personality as Behavioural Preference
One of the unintended consequences of personality work is that what begins as insight can quietly become identity. At first, this can feel empowering. Personality language gives people words to describe themselves. It creates recognition. It reduces confusion. It can build self-efficacy around ‘knowing self’.
Why Psychological Safety Depends on Leadership and Systems, Not Just Good Intentions
By now, one thing should be clear - psychological safety is not created by a workshop, a policy or a set of values on a wall. It is created through lived experience. And while everyone contributes to that experience, leadership and systems play a disproportionate role in whether psychological safety is sustained or slowly eroded. Most organisations don’t lack intent. They lack alignment.
The Small Behaviours that Make Psychological Safety Visible Every Day
Psychological safety is rarely built through grand gestures. It’s built through small, repeatable behaviours that signal how people can expect to be treated. Most teams don’t struggle because they don’t care about safety. They struggle because safety is assumed rather than practiced.
Why Psychological Safety Breaks Under Pressure (and what Protects it)
Psychological safety is easiest to see when things are calm. Work is predictable. People know what is expected of them. Time feels sufficient. Decisions are clear and responsibilities articulated. In these conditions, most teams appear collaborative, open and respectful. But psychological safety isn’t really revealed in calm moments.
