The Fluidity of the Modern Professional Mind
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For decades, the business world has operated on a relatively simple psychological map. On one end of the range, there were the extroverts. These were the high-energy “people persons” destined for sales floors and podiums. In their purest form, these were the folks everyone knew. They were dynamic, vibrant and took up all the oxygen in the room. On the other end of the range were the introverts. They were the deep thinkers and meticulous planners who thrived in the quiet of a back office. And, somewhere in the middle, psychologists eventually acknowledged there were the ambiverts, those rare, versatile individuals who could pivot between social engagement and solitary focus. The ambiverts could toggle from one end of the range to the other.
However, in the last year or two, the latest organizational psychology research is dismantling the idea that personality is a “fixed point” on a linear spectrum. It was believed that if you were 70% extroverted, you remained 70% extroverted regardless of the weather or the workload. And if you were 70% introverted, that’s who you were and there was no way to change that. But, modern data is suggesting a much more dynamic reality. Personality is not a locked room; it is a fluid state that shifts based on two critical, fluctuating factors: the person’s energy source and their level of adaptability. Welcome to a whole new way of looking at personality and personality types.
The New Archetypes: Omniverts and Centroverts
While the ‘Big Three’ (extrovert, introvert, ambivert) continue to describe where a person’s personality sits on average, new research has identified two emerging types that explain the outliers in our workforce: the omniverts and the centroverts.
Omnivert is the first newcomer in the lexicon. Often confused with an ambivert, the omnivert is far less ‘middle-of-the-road.’ While an ambivert balances both traits simultaneously, an omnivert swings between extremes. One day, they are the loudest, most charismatic person in the boardroom. The next, they are completely withdrawn and silent. For the omnivert, personality is a fast-moving pendulum that swings wildly, not a stationary point.
Then there’s the centrovert. This type represents the ‘true neutral’. Unlike the ambivert, who actively uses both sets of traits, the centrovert is characterized by a high degree of ‘mental stasis’. They don’t necessarily gain or lose energy from people; they are remarkably steady, making them the “ballast” of a high-pressure team.
The Two Engines of Personality: Energy and Adaptability
So why does any of this matter to a business owner, leader or manager? Because businesses are fueled by people and it’s best if a person’s personality is suited to the work they do. So someone who is an introvert and loses energy when interacting with people would not be an ideal candidate for a Sales position or a job in Customer Service. It helps to know and understand the personality types and determine where they fit best. The same is also true for understanding clients.
To truly understand staff and/or clients, it is important to look past the labels and focus on the two underlying mechanisms that current research highlights as the “True North” of personality:
- Energy Source (The Recharge Rate) – The classic definition asks: Does a person gain energy from social interaction or from solitude? However, it is now known that this is a battery capacity issue. An extrovert has a social battery that charges while in use, whereas an introvert’s battery drains.
- Adaptability (The Recovery Rate) – This is the “new” factor in personality science. It measures how quickly a person can recover from a situation that doesn’t play to their strengths. A ‘highly-adaptable Introvert’ might give a brilliant three-hour presentation, but their recovery time—the period of “shutdown” required afterward—is the variable that determines their effectiveness in a fast-paced business environment.
Both of those must be considered when deciding on what kinds of situations a person will be able to do their best and be their best.
Case in Point: Unilever and the Data of Fit
Global giant Unilever recently revolutionized its hiring process by moving away from traditional resumes and toward AI-driven personality and cognitive assessments. Often cited as a benchmark for AI-driven recruitment, their new system fundamentally changed how the company identifies talent by prioritizing personality, cognitive traits, and behavioral data over traditional resumes.
Their new hiring process was designed to find candidates who matched the specific “DNA” of successful Unilever employees, focusing on how people react to digital situations rather than just what is written on their resume.
For the initial stages, the process was almost entirely digital and consisted of four main steps:
Step 1 – Online Application. Candidates linked their LinkedIn profiles (no manual resume upload required).
Step 2 – Gamified Assessments. Candidates then played a series of neuroscience-based games developed by Pymetrics. These 20-minute sessions measured traits like risk-taking, memory, mental agility, and focus. The AI evaluated how a candidate played the game, not just whether they ‘won’.
Step 3 – Digital Video Interview. Successful gamers moved to a video interview platform, often HireVue. Candidates recorded responses to preset questions. The AI analyzed their word choices, body language, and tone of voice to assess communication skills and ‘cultural fit’.
Step 4 – Discovery Center. Only at the final stage did humans take over. Top candidates were invited to a physical (or virtual) Unilever office for a day of teamwork, problem-solving, and final interviews with senior leaders.
The results were astounding. Implementation began in 2016 with a pilot in the US. By 2017–2018, it was rolled out globally across 60+ countries for entry-level roles. They decided to try this because Unilever receives over 1.8 million applications annually. Traditional screening took four months per person and was prone to human bias. Unilever’s leadership knew they needed a better way to find ‘potential’ instead of looking for ‘experience.’ As a result of this new hiring process, Unilever’s time-to-hire dropped from four months to just four weeks, a 75-90% reduction of time. It also resulted in a 16% increase in the diversity of hires, as the AI focused on traits rather than ‘prestigious’ universities or nepotism. In the first year, Unilever estimated an annual cost savings of £1 Million and 50,000 hours of recruiter time.
By analyzing how candidates actually behave in digital simulations, they stopped hiring based on “who sounds like an extrovert” and started hiring based on adaptability profiles. Unilever also discovered that by matching the specific “recovery rate” of a person to the demands of the job (e.g., placing high-recovery individuals in high-stress roles), they could virtually eliminate the burnout that leads to turnover.
Needless to say, Unilever continues to use this process to screen all entry-level hires. It is now the standard for entry-level hiring process in over 60 countries.
They continue to utilize this AI-driven process for screening entry-level candidates, including interns and graduates. The process has evolved into a global blueprint that Unilever continues to refine and expand. Currently, for Internship and ‘Future Leaders’ (graduate) programs, the process remains largely the same except that now every applicant now receives a personalized feedback report based on their game performance, regardless of whether they move forward. This was implemented to address the “Black Box” criticism and improve the candidate experience.
Real-World Example: Zappos and the “Culture Fit” Sales Model
Zappos has long been the gold standard for using personality to drive the bottom line. They don’t just look for “friendly” people; they look for a specific type of highly adaptable ambiverts. Because their sales model is B2C (Business to Consumer) which relies on deep emotional connection, they use personality testing to ensure every hire has the ‘Social Energy’ to sustain 10-hour shifts of constant interaction. Their 11% voluntary turnover rate—massively below the industry average—proves that personality isn’t “mumbo jumbo”; it’s a financial strategy.
Why Business Should Care About Personality Type
Understanding these nuances isn’t just an HR exercise; it is a competitive necessity. Personality types dictate how a manager should deliver feedback, how a salesperson should pitch a skeptical vendor, and how a team should be structured to avoid friction. If a manager treats an omnivert like a steady ambivert, he will mismanage their ‘quiet days’ and lose a top performer. If a Sales Manager ignores the Adaptability factor in the sales team, he’ll face burnout and erratic revenue.
Next week, we will dive deeper into the mechanics of how to manage these specific types as direct reports, which ‘new’ personality types are actually the secret weapons of the sales world, and how to use this data to turn a ‘good’ team into a high-revenue engine. Stay tuned.
Quote of the Week
“Strength lies in differences, not in similarities.” Stephen R. Covey
© 2026, Keren Peters-Atkinson. All rights reserved.
