Understanding Personality continued...
The following is adapted from Linda V. Berens and Dario Nardi, The 16 Personality Types: Descriptions for Self-Discovery (Telos Publications, 1999) *Used with permission.
Knowing the "Self"
Personalities cannot be measured, they can only be mapped. You cannot describe a person in any definite and specific way since the person is constantly changing, adapting, and evolving. Any one perspective or shadow shape will give only one data point. When mapping a personality, we can make only approximate measurements, so we "triangulate," or see where several indicators from multiple models meet. Then we have a good idea of what the personality is like. 
If we can see both shadows instead of just one, we can more accurately infer which shape is making the shadows. So to really understand someone's personality, we need multiple perspectives.
Humans are very complex and cannot be understood in terms of a few simple formulas, yet there are some simple, easy-to-comprehend principles or dynamics that help us understand ourselves and others. Fritjof Capra* has said that to understand any "living system" you have to look at the pattern, the processes, and the structure of the system. To Capra's principles we add purpose.
Personality can be seen as a living system.
Pattern-The interrelationships within a system. Every system, including personality, is defined by essential characteristics. These are the qualities that must exist, such as the trunk, roots, or branches of a tree. The characteristics are interrelated, and the configuration of relationships is the pattern, like the way the trunk, roots, and branches of a tree are related.
Processes-The activities the system engages in as it functions in day-to-day life and as it grows.
Structure-How the pattern is physically expressed.
Purpose -The holistic theme of the pattern.
When all of these perspectives intersect in the same "place," we can be more sure we have accurately described the true self.
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