What Are Your PITA Tendencies?

To get you started in your own PITA self-discovery we offer this assesment from Robert Orndorff's and Dulin Clark's book The PITA Principle They write, "Just as some PITA types are tougher to work with than others, you'll have greater potential or tendencies to behave like certain PITA types more so than others.

To take this quiz you will need to print this page from this post's permalink page or simply write your answers on a separate piece of paper. Use the following scale to enter the number that most closely reflects your feelings. After answering all of the questions, score the total sum for each PITA type according to the instructions given below.

1 Strongly Disagree

2 Disagree

3 Slightly Agree

4 Agree

5 Strongly Agree

Quiz Questions

1.	_____	Being organized is not one of my greatest strengths.
2.	_____	I primarily respect people of power and status.
3.	_____	I like to plan everything out in advance and I’m frustrated by changes to the plans.
4.	_____	People would describe me more as a cynic than a Pollyanna.
5.	_____	I expect to get what I want when I go after it.
6.	_____	I’d rather work with people who are accommodating and friendly versus tough and competitive.
7.	_____	I get defensive when a co-worker disagrees with me.
8.	_____	It’s important to me that my co-workers acknowledge my accomplishments.
9.	_____	I tend to see the glass as half empty.
10.	_____	It’s a challenge for me to be on time.
11.	_____	I believe that the needs of the worker are as important as the needs of the company.
12.	_____	It’s difficult to work on a committee and try to accommodate everybody’s ideas.
13.	_____	It’s important for me to have a boss who compliments me when I’m doing my job well.
14.	_____	I have difficulty owning up to my mistakes.
15.	_____	I have difficulty saying what I mean in a concise manner.
16.	_____	I enjoy being the talker rather than the listener.
17.	_____	I don’t like to tap-dance around people’s feelings; I tell it like it is.
18.	_____	I believe in the saying, “If you want it done right, do it yourself.”
19.	_____	I prefer to put myself first.
20.	_____	I am very guarded against negative feedback.
21.	_____	I am most comfortable working in a supportive and nurturing environment.
22.	_____	I get annoyed when other people achieve more than me or acquire more than me.
23.	_____	I have to force myself to attend to details.
24.	_____	I get annoyed with co-workers who can’t see my point of view.
25.	_____	I am impatient when it comes to my career; I want more challenges, creativity, and responsibility.
26.	_____	I believe that social gatherings and “feel-good” activities are a waste of time.
27.	_____	I have trouble identifying my weaknesses when completing performance evaluations.
28.	_____	It’s important for me to get regular feedback from my co-workers.
29.	_____	I prefer projects in which I get to make the final decision.
30.	_____	I deserve a job that is challenging, but also allows me plenty of personal time.
31.	_____	I prefer a highly flexible work environment over a highly structured one.
32.	_____	I believe that I have more skills and abilities than the great majority of my co-workers.
33.	_____	It’s much more important to be respected than liked.
34.	_____	I have a tendency to take minor criticisms and blow them out of proportion.
35.	_____	I value co-workers who address issues and concernts with me in a sensitive and caring way.

PITA Quiz Score Sheet

Scoring Your Responses

For each PITA type below, add the scores from the survey for the question numbers listed next to each PITA type. Place the total on the line in front of each type. High scores indicate that you might have potential for behaving like that type of PITA in various work situations.

Total Your Scores	Learn More About Your PITA Type
Add #'s 7, 14, 20, 27, and 34 ____ TOTAL The Sealed PITA	A Sealed PITA is someone who is closed off and defensive about receiving feedback. He or she is generally on guard when it comes to receiving constructive criticism.
Add #'s 4, 9, 17, 26, aand 33 ____ TOTAL The Crusty PITA	A Crusty PITA is someone who is negative, cynical mean-spirited, grouchy, and pessimistic. These types of people see the glass as half-empty.
Add #'s 2, 8, 16, 22, and 32 ____TOTAL The Overstuffed PITA	An Overstuffed PITA is someone who is self-absorbed, attention hungry, and aggressively self-promoting.
Add #'s 6, 13, 21, 28, and 35 ____TOTAL The Soggy PITA	A Soggy PITA is someone who tends to be whiny, high-maintenance, needy, and afraid of addressing issues head on.
Add #'s 1, 10, 15, 23, and 31 ____TOTAL The Sloppy PITA	A Sloppy PITA is someone who tends to be disorganized, inattentive to detail, imprecise in tasks, and generally "all over the place."
Add #'s 3, 12, 18, 24, and 29 ____TOTAL The Rigid PITA	A Rigid PITA is someone who tends to be picky, particular, stubborn, inflexible, and incompromising.
Add #'s 5, 11, 19, 25, and 30 ____TOTAL The Royal PITA	A Royal PITA is someone who tends to be self-centered and spoiled and who has a sense of entitlement, expecting to get everything that he or she wants and being somewhat oblivious to how others receive him or her.

After determining your PITA tendencies, you will want to refer to the corresponding chapter in the book that describes your PITA type in more detail. The authors maintain a PITA blog.

Categories: Leadership Development