A common conversation I have with people who are “anti-typology” is that they don’t want to be put in a box. My suspicion is that there is often a secondary conversation that isn’t overt that says “No one is going to tell me what I can or cannot do.”
I agree with not wanting to be put in a box however I disagree that that is what type knowledge does. It isn’t “knowing” type that puts you in a box. What type does is bring awareness to what type of box you might already be in so that you have more flexibility available to you.
As for trying to control another person’s behaviour. I don’t think it works well – ever. God invented two year olds to teach us this. Knowing your MBTI preferences isn’t a prescriptive as in “All people with these preferences must do this.” However the MBTI does give you a guide for what are ways of working and being that are aligned and therefore are less demanding on your energy resources.
Call me crazy but I like my struggle to be optional.
What’s hard and a struggle in your work? Other than volume of work demanded, I suspect that if your work is draining your energy, you may be working against your type in some aspect of what you are doing.
The quote in this doodle came from the lips of an INTP in response to the question “What’s the best way to get along with you?”
My experience is that an INTP may indeed like collaborative efforts when they can do their piece. That usually involves the big picture. Did I hear the word strategy?
The thing is not to weigh them down with “how to” questions or the kind of details that aren’t on their radar screen
That “Thinking is superior to Feeling” is a myth. First let me give some textbook information and then I will get to some opinion.
MBTI Theory
Thinking and Feeling are both rational functions used for judgment. Both follow the laws of reason and function to evaluate the constant flow of perceptions – the sensations and intuitions of the Perceiving functions.
Both Thinking and Feeling are functions used in decision-making.
The Thinking function makes logical connections between ideas and is oriented towards cause and effect, objectivity and the impersonal application of reason. Impartiality and neutrality are applied equally to both the people who may be affected by the decision and on a personal level.
The Feeling function looks at the values and relative merit of the issues. In order to make this kind of comparative analysis Feeling relies on having an understanding of the values of all involved. Whereas Thinking is more objective, Feeling is more subjective. The MBTI Manual (Myers, McCauley, Quenk and Hammer) quotes Jung “Feeling, like Thinking, is a rational function, since values in general are assigned according to the laws of reason.”
Thinking people have feelings and those with a preference for Feeling can follow a logical argument. However, since Feeling is subjective, it is not as easy to see as the logical, linear process of the Thinking process. To me this may be the crux of this myth – for a person with a preference for Feeling may not have immediate access to explain their decisions from a perspective of logic alone and this is precisely what the person with a preference for Thinking is seeking to hear.
Statistically there is a preponderance of individuals with Thinking/Judging in executive positions. Both Thinking and Feeling functions play a role as much in business as in other realms and those with a preference for Feeling can be equally as effective in leadership positions. In general, decisions that benefit from the input of both functions are more well-rounded decisions.
Personal Musings and Wonderings
I admit to some “Thinking envy”. I was interviewing a woman (ENTJ) for an Insight Portrait that I was going to paint for her. She was so clear and decisive – I described it as if she was the prow of an icebreaker – she cut through everything – no mess – no confusion – no internal debate. She saw, she analyzed, she decided, she moved forward. In contrast my decision making is often more time consuming and convoluted as I compare and contrast the value of each option.
Thinking can be looked at through the five facets of logical, reasoning, questioning, critical and tough contrasted with the five on the Feeling side of the pairs – empathetic, compassionate, accommodating, accepting, tender. At times when I am in conversation with someone with clear preferences for either the questioning or critical facets, I can feel my confidence fade. Being in a position of needing to justify my decisions is not comfortable in the moment. I typically think of my witty, clever comments in the car on the way home.
I can understand the power of the Thinking preference when difficult decisions have to made on a timeline and defended to stakeholders.
However, I don’t agree that Feeling is a lesser function. If the decision is the right decision for the circumstances both Thinking and Feeling preferences will hopefully lead to the same place. Thinking may get there faster and don’t we worship “faster” in our society? In terms of execution Feeling may have the upper hand for they will have already explored how the decision engages the people involved.
This ENFP has a big heart and it shows. In this video Jen talks about the importance of people and community in her life and work. Jen is active in the community and supporting issues important to her. I am sure that any work that engages Jen will be in alignment with her values.
The sub-text here is also typical of ENFP – clearing the bookshelf in her old room at home 13 years after leaving home.
I test as an ESFJ. However, I can also be an ISFJ depending up on the situation. Anyone else feel like this?
Because a comment similar to this comes up so often I wanted to address it. This one was as a response to a video I had posted earlier.
So here goes the short answer and the “more than you asked for” response.
The Short Answer
The Myers Briggs Type Indicator assessment inventory sorts your responses so that the end result is one preference or the other. Think ON or OFF – like a light switch you are either this/ or you are that. This means that for each of the four preferences you are either Extraverted or Intraverted, Sensing or Intuitive, Thinking or Feeling, Judging or Perceiving. (BTW the official MBTI tool has been tested for reliability and validity whereas the quizzes you can find free online may not be reliable.)
Of course we all use all of aspects in these pairs. We simply have a preference for one of each pair. Your environment, interests or life experience may call on you to develop the other side of the preference pair but that doesn’t mean that you switch from being one type to another. That is you don’t go from being ESFJ one day to ISFJ another, You are still ESFJ – only one with more versatility.
If you are still with me and want to know why this matters read on…
More Answer Than You Asked For
In the 4 letter code that describes your type eg ESFJ the 4 preferences work together like the ingredients in a recipe.
Just as flour, sugar, eggs and butter mix together to produce cookies, cupcakes, or tarts. Once these are mixed and baked you can’t go back and switch from one raw ingredient to another.
What the 4 letter code does is identify the order of the use of the functions. For instance the dominant function for the ESFJ is Extraverted Feeling. Feeling indicates that people with this preference make decisions based on values and the effect on the people. When Sensing is Extraverted as it is with ESFJ the focus is on the outer world – deciding if something is acceptable or will work for others.
Contrast that with ISFJ who has a dominant function of Introverted Sensing. Those with a preference for Sensing prefer to take in information using tangible experiences and data. When Sensing is Introverted as it is with ISFJ the person will first review past experiences and what detailed information will allow them to accumulate all the known data.
You can see that there is a different kind of energy between and ESFJ and ISFJ . They will focus their time, energy resources in different ways that go well beyond sometimes being a little more Introverted than Extroverted.
