The Science Behind Packtypes
Packtypes did not emerge from a single theory or school of thought.
It emerged from practice watching people grow, stall, resist, then breakthrough in real situations with real consequences.
Over time, it became clear that no single psychology was sufficient on its own. The most effective growth comes from an intelligent blend, where each psychology contributes something distinct. Packtypes brings these strands together, not as an abstract framework, but as a practical tool people can return to every day.
​
-
Behavioural Psychology - The psychological foundation of growth
-
Jungian Type Theory - Recognising and valuing difference
-
Logotherapy - Ownership of response
-
Psychological Safety - Key to performance
-
Marginal Gains - The secret to continuous improvement
-
Growth Mindset - The attitude that sustains effort
-
Psychometric Feedback™ - The mechanism that delivers progress
​
Each adds something important.
Together, they shift growth from the training room to everyday life.
1: Behavioural Psychology
(John B. Watson, 1913)
Behaviour Comes First
When I first encountered Behaviourism, it landed with real power and clarity.
​
Personality and strengths are often treated as fixed. Behaviour is not.
​
Behavioural psychology starts from a practical premise: if you want improvement, focus on what people do, not who they are.
John B. Watson’s insight was simple and disruptive:
-
Behaviour can be observed
-
Behaviour can be discussed
-
Behaviour can be changed
​
You don’t grow by being analysed. You grow by practising different behaviours and seeing what happens.
In his Behaviourist Manifesto in 1913, Watson made a radical claim: if you want to change people, stop speculating about invisible traits and inner drives and focus instead on observable behaviour.
Watson stated that:
Behaviour can be seen. Behaviour can be measured. And most importantly, behaviour can be changed.
His idea was that people don’t grow by being analysed. They grow by doing things differently. Which they are perfectly capable of, but which requires effort and practice.
​
Behaviourism wasn’t the full answer for Packtypes, but it was the base layer, the foundation stone it is built on. It taught me that:
​
We behave differently in different situations.
So no context = No improvement.
We repeat what works. We drop what doesn’t.
So no reinforcement = No improvement.
​
Packtypes takes Watson’s ideas out of the laboratory and into everyday life.
​
What this adds:
Growth becomes visible, immediate, and actionable. Behaviour is no longer abstract, it is something you can improve today.
2: Jungian Type Theory
(Carl Jung, 1921)
Difference Matters
Carl Jung introduced the idea that people tend to operate in distinct psychological patterns, with different preferences for thinking, feeling, and acting.
We do not think, decide, feel, or act in the same way as each other, and considerable conflict arises when we expect others to think and behave the same way we do.
Carl Jung’s original intention was never to label people. It was to help them understand difference in themselves and others.
Over time, that intention has been hardened into typologies and psychometric tests. Curiosity has given way to boxes. Dialogue has given way to labels.
Packtypes returns Jung’s work to its original spirit.
Rather than telling people who they are, it helps them explore how they behave in different roles, relationships, and situations. The same person behaves differently as a leader, a colleague, a parent, or a partner and Packtypes makes those differences visible without judgement.
What this adds:
People learn to read the room, recognise difference, and adjust behaviour intelligently rather than expecting sameness. Communication improves without forcing conformity.
3: Logotherapy
(Viktor Frankl, 1940s–1950s)
Owning Your Response
As a Holocaust survivor and psychiatrist, Viktor Frankl reached a profound conclusion:
Between stimulus and response lies a space. In that space lies choice.
Happiness and success don’t come from what happens to us, but from how we choose to respond.
Frankl’s central insight was that while we cannot always control what happens to us, we can always choose how we respond.
Packtypes brings this idea to life.
By making behaviour visible and feedback safe, it helps people notice their reactions and take responsibility for them, converting them into mindful and conscious responses.
Packtypes turns attitude from something abstract into something observable and adjustable. We call this Owning Your Attitude (OYA).
The shift is subtle but powerful from “this is how I am” to “this is how I chose to respond, and I may choose to respond differently next time.”
​What this adds:
Agency. Emotional resilience. The ability to respond deliberately rather than react automatically, in real life situations and especially under pressure.
4: Psychological Safety
(Amy Edmondson, 1999)
Safety Is a Condition for Growth
People do not open up, experiment, or learn when they feel threatened.
Psychological safety is not about being nice or avoiding challenge. It is what allows challenge, growth and experimentation to exist without fear.
People won’t open up unless they feel safe. People won’t try new behaviours unless they feel supported. Yet when the going gets tough, many organisations pile on extra pressure, forcing people to retreat into their shell, so restricting the very responses and behaviours they are trying to encourage.
By contrast, Amy Edmondson’s research showed that the highest-performing teams were not the smartest or most experienced, they were the ones where people felt safe to speak honestly, takes risks and were happy to admit mistakes.
Packtypes creates feelings of safety through play.
Because it is a game, defences lower.
Because everyone plays by the same rules, hierarchy softens.
Because feedback is normalised, honesty becomes possible.
Because people are more open, trust develops and performance improves.
But Packtypes goes further. Not only does it encourage psychological safety, it equips teams to score their Psychological Safety vs: Fast Growth Balance, enabling teams to reset their priorities and focus, whenever their situation changes.
What this adds:
Learning accelerates. Risk-taking becomes productive. Growth becomes sustainable rather than episodic. Teams are able to calibrate and adjust their desired level of safety compared to their drive towards rapid growth.
5: Marginal Gains Theory
(Sir Dave Brailsford , 2000s)
Small Changes, Big Results
Sir Dave Brailsford developed Marginal Gains Theory to transform British Cycling, by encouraging multiple small 1% improvements. The result transformed the team’s performance, leading to significant cumulative success, including numerous Olympic golds and Tour de France wins.
He showed that by applying marginal gains theory to team performance, multiple 1% improvements, in behaviour, habits, and decision-making, can deliver extraordinary results over time.
Until now, this approach was largely reserved for elite performers with specialist coaches, but Packtypes changes that, applying this same principle to ordinary everyday behaviour.
Instead of dramatic breakthroughs, it encourages small, regular behavioural adjustments. A better question asked. A different response chosen. A habit nudged in a healthier direction.
The launch of “Packtypes the Game of Growth”, featuring the “1% Growth Challenge”, (increasingly referred to as “The Couch To 5K of Personal Growth”), has opened up access to Marginal Gains Theory to all.
​What this adds:
Momentum. Sustainability. Progress that builds rather than resets.
6: Growth Mindset
(Carol Dweck, 2006)
Growth as a Way of Life
Growth mindset reframes ability as expandable rather than fixed. Improvement comes from effort, feedback, and learning, not talent alone.
Carol stated that improvement comes from trying and that a willingness to try is fuelled by encouragement, which comes from positive feedback.
Carol Dweck’s work showed that the most successful people don’t believe talent is fixed. They believe ability grows through effort, feedback, and learning. In short, they demonstrate a “glass half full” attitude, where they always believe there is a solution, and focus on finding it.
Growth shouldn’t be a goal or target, so much as a constant way of thinking.
Packtypes doesn’t just explain growth mindset. It embodies and embeds it.
Curiosity is rewarded.
Experimentation is normalised.
Setbacks become feedback rather than failure.
What this adds:
Confidence and resilience. Growth stops being something you believe in and becomes something you practise.
7: Psychometric Feedback™
(Will Murray 2026)
Turning Insight into Action
After twenty years of experimentation, one truth became impossible to ignore:
Insight alone changes nothing.
Insight becomes growth only when it is regularly reflected back to you by other people who observe you in action, in a way that feels safe, human, and motivating.
Psychometric Feedback is the ultimate evolution of the Packtypes system. It integrates everything that came before it and completes the psychometric process by turning insight into growth.
It is where insight becomes behaviour.
Where behaviour becomes feedback.
Where feedback becomes growth.
​What this adds:
A self-sustaining feedback loop aligned with human motivation rather than fighting against it.
