gavinmcfall/config/skills/core/human-profile

Human Profile Builder

Build a comprehensive personality profile that gives AI working context about how a person thinks, acts, and responds — so it can help them with work and life.

The Core Idea

Personality assessments are expensive, fragmented, and locked in PDFs. This skill replaces that with either:

1. A structured conversational interview that extracts comparable qualitative insights
2. Ingestion of existing assessment documents from any provider
3. A hybrid of both

What this is: A deep qualitative assessment that goes further than any single instrument by synthesizing across frameworks and surfacing paradoxes that numeric tests miss. The cross-framework synthesis and AI Working Context are things no paid assessment provides.

What this is not: A replacement for validated psychometric instruments when precise numerical scores are required. Interview-derived scores are approximate ranges. The value is in qualitative depth, cross-framework pattern recognition, and actionable AI context — not in replicating the statistical precision of forced-choice instruments.

The output is not just a profile — it's a working context document that any AI can reference to adapt its behavior to the person.

What Gets Measured

Eight framework families, cross-referenced for convergence and paradox:

| Framework | What It Reveals | Interview Phases | |-----------|----------------|-----------------| | MBTI / Cognitive Functions | How they process information and make decisions | 1, 2, 3 | | Big Five (OCEAN) | Broad personality dimensions | 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 | | DISC | Behavioral work style | 3, 4 | | Enneagram | Core fears, desires, and motivations | 5, 6, 7 | | Schwartz Values | What matters most to them | 5 | | VARK Learning Styles | How they learn best | 2 | | Emotional Intelligence (EQ) | Emotional awareness and regulation | 4, 6 | | Strengths | What they do well and poorly | 3, 8 |

How to Use This Skill

Mode 1: Full Interview

Run the interview across 2-4 sessions (2-3 hours total). Follow the phase sequence — it builds trust progressively.

→ See references/interview-questions.md for the complete question set → See references/type-differentiation.md for diagnostic typing guidance

Mode 2: Document Ingestion

User provides existing assessment results. Parse, normalize, cross-reference, then fill gaps with targeted questions.

→ See references/document-ingestion.md for the extraction process

Mode 3: Hybrid

Some documents + partial interview for uncovered frameworks. Identify gaps using the coverage checklist in references/document-ingestion.md.

Interview Flow

Opening the Interview

Before asking Phase 1 questions, set context:

1. Explain the purpose: "I'm going to ask you questions across several areas — how you think, work, relate to others, what drives you. The goal is to build a working profile that helps AI tools understand and adapt to you."
2. Set expectations: "There are no right or wrong answers. I'm interested in how you actually are, not how you think you should be. Specific examples from your life are more valuable than general self-descriptions."
3. Discuss format: "This works best across 2-4 sessions of 30-60 minutes each. We'll start with easier topics and go deeper as we go. You can skip anything you're not comfortable with."
4. Get consent: "Some questions touch on emotions, values, and vulnerability. I'll build up to those gradually. Let me know if anything feels too personal."

Session Management

Splitting across sessions:

• Session 1: Phases 1-3 (low vulnerability, ~45-60 min)
• Session 2: Phases 4-5 (~30-45 min)
• Session 3: Phases 6-7 (high vulnerability, ~30-45 min, requires trust)
• Session 4: Phase 8 + synthesis review (~30 min)

Adjust based on the person's pace and engagement. Some people cover Phases 1-5 in one session; others need Phase 7 split across two.

Between sessions:

• Summarize what you've learned so far and your current hypotheses
• Identify which frameworks have sufficient data and which need more
• Note contradictions or interesting threads to revisit
• Open the next session with: "Last time we talked about [topic]. I noticed [pattern]. Let me pick up from there."

If someone wants to stop early:

• Respect it immediately. Note what you have and what's missing.
• A partial profile is better than no profile. Synthesize what you have.
• Offer to resume later or switch to document ingestion mode for missing areas.

The Eight Phases

Phases are sequential by design. Earlier phases build trust and establish baseline patterns that inform later, deeper probing.

1. Energy & Social Orientation — Introversion/Extraversion, social energy, recharge patterns
2. How You Think & Process — Information processing, learning style, abstract vs concrete
3. How You Work — Work environment, planning, organization, pace, follow-through; also probe executive function (is disorganization preference or capacity constraint?)
4. How You Relate to Others — Empathy, conflict, boundaries, team role, communication; also probe attachment patterns
5. What Drives You — Values, purpose, achievement, autonomy, meaning
6. Your Emotional Landscape — Emotional awareness, regulation, resilience, vulnerability
7. Power, Control & Vulnerability — Deep motivational patterns, Enneagram core type and instinctual variants, childhood origin
8. Growth Edges & Self-Perception — Strengths, weaknesses, patterns, self-awareness

Adaptive Follow-Up

The interview is NOT a rigid script. It's a structured framework for adaptive conversation.

During each phase:

• Ask core questions to establish dimension
• Track emerging patterns and form hypotheses
• Use probing follow-ups to test hypotheses
• If answers contradict earlier data, explore the contradiction — it may be a paradox worth documenting

Between phases:

• Review what you know so far
• Identify which frameworks have sufficient data
• Adjust upcoming phases to fill gaps

The Synthesis

After gathering data (from interview, documents, or both), synthesize across all frameworks.

Cross-Framework Analysis

Look for these four pattern types:

| Pattern | What It Means | Example | |---------|--------------|---------| | Convergence | Multiple frameworks point to the same trait | Low E (Big Five) + I preference (MBTI) + Receptive (DISC) | | Paradox | Frameworks contradict — this defines the person | High Agreeableness + Enneagram 8 = caring protector | | Gap | Strong in one dimension, weak in a related one | High empathy absorption + low emotional regulation | | Amplification | Multiple weaknesses compound each other | Low resilience + low optimism + high perfectionism |

Paradoxes are the most revealing. Everyone has convergent traits. The paradoxes make someone unique.

The Five Synthesis Questions

Answer these to crystallize the profile:

1. Who is this person at their core? (1-2 sentences)
2. What are they afraid of? (Core fears across frameworks)
3. What do they want most? (Core desires across frameworks)
4. What's holding them back? (Growth edges and blind spots)
5. What's the single most important thing for them to understand about themselves?

The Output Profile

Structure the final document with these sections:

1. One-Sentence Summary
2. Personality Architecture — Cognitive style, behavioral style, emotional architecture
3. Motivational Core — Enneagram type (with instinctual stacking), values, core fears and desires
4. Strengths & Weaknesses — With scores/ranges where available
5. Learning Style — VARK profile and implications
6. Interpersonal Patterns — Communication, relationships, conflict, leadership, attachment style
7. Executive Function Profile — Task initiation, prioritization, focus patterns, organizational capacity vs preference
8. Growth Edges — Specific, actionable, compassionate
9. The Paradoxes — Cross-framework contradictions that define them
10. AI Working Context — Actionable guidance for how AI should interact with this person

→ See references/ai-context-template.md for the AI Working Context section template

Section 10 is the key deliverable. Everything else builds toward it.

Constraints

Diagnostic, Not Confirmatory

Questions must differentiate between all possible types, not confirm a suspected one. If you think someone is an INFJ, ask questions that could equally reveal INFP, INTJ, ISFJ, or other commonly confused types.

Aspirational Answer Detection

People answer who they want to be, not who they are. Watch for:

• "I should..." instead of "I do..."
• Textbook-perfect definitions instead of personal examples
• Contradictions between stated preferences and described behavior
• Ask for specific examples when answers feel rehearsed

Trust-Paced Vulnerability

Phases 1-3 are low vulnerability. Phases 6-7 require significant trust. Never rush to deep questions — if someone deflects, note the deflection (it's data) and circle back later.

Scores Are Ranges

Interview-derived scores are approximate ranges, not precise numbers. Present them honestly: "You appear to be in the 60-75% range for Conscientiousness" not "Your Conscientiousness is 67%."

The Profile Evolves

A profile is a snapshot. People grow. Note which elements are stable traits vs active growth edges, and recommend re-assessment of growth areas periodically.

Reference Files

| File | Contains | |------|----------| | references/interview-questions.md | Complete interview across 8 phases with diagnostic questions | | references/type-differentiation.md | Diagnostic guidance for all 16 MBTI types, 15 confused pairs, rapid differentiator matrices | | references/document-ingestion.md | How to parse and cross-reference existing assessments | | references/ai-context-template.md | Template for the AI Working Context section | | references/worked-example.md | Complete fictional profile showing interview → synthesis → AI context |