I'm going to embrace this, damnit....

[Secretpilgrim]

Recently took the MBTI. Came up INTP.

Twenty years ago, came up INTJ.

Not really sure how to take, but the I, N, and P were all rather borderline, within 13 points or less. I haven't studied the MBTI so I'm not sure what that means. Logically, I assume that my preferences are pretty weak.

Now... The reason I took the MBTI was because of the "executive coaching" my boss insisted I take. Currently, I don't fit the corporate mold, yet I have accomplished a great deal. They want me on the executive team, but aren't sure how to motivate, control, or involve me. I don't fit the corporate mold. Bringing me up = Risk......

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the expense they are going to for my benefit. Apparently they want to keep me around. That's a good thing, right? I've had a few meetings with the coach, have started taking Welbutrin (to quit smoking - but everyone says I'm much more pleasant to be around). I

I've noticed that my need for perfection is diminishing. Procrastination due to waiting for "getting all my ducks in a row" is happening less.

I actually stopping to ask "how much detail do you want?" before answering questions that have complex answers (instead of launching into a waterfall of details).

On the lighter side, I enjoy rebuilding cars as a hobby. I'm currently in Eurotrash mode. I'm rebuilding an 80's model Saab 900 Turbo(fun car-highly underrated). It's good "me time". Myopic focus, no people, no distractions, problem solving, no drama. Good times.

I work in IT. Common industry for peeps in this forum?

Married to an ESFJ.
Two daughters.
Lot's of "feeling" in this house.....

Anyways.... You get the idea, another self-absorbed INTP lost in a world that ignores details and makes decisions based feelings and ego....

 

[EditorOne]

An extreme INTP like myself apparently has a great deal of difficulty with emotional blind spots, eg: Not realizing an employee or fellow worker hates my guts, simply because I can think of no logical reason why they should. Ditto people liking me for no good reason which, if unnoticed, can produce even worse results. It sounds like you are less extreme, so this may not be a problem for you.
I'm convinced my job as a journalist for many years reinforced the perception-over-judgment aspect. Not only did I prefer to simply observe and say "that's interesting," my job pretty much required it. :-) Chicken and egg isn't exactly the right issue, it's more like "is my chicken soup stronger because of my job?" I think "Yes."
Are you being groomed for management or leadership? There's a difference. Often those doing the grooming don't realize that, but still, worth asking.
Footnote: Management requires you to sacrifice vocational. The biggest failures I saw among those who came up through the ranks was a refusal to abandon or cut back their vocational work. Second on the list were managers who insisted the people doing the vocational work they supervised had to do it exactly their way.
Just dispassionate observations of perhaps some utility....

 

[Glordag]

Welcome! I work under the broad umbrella of IT myself, though it's more QA/software engineering/testing than design, programming, network admin, etc.

Online tests are pretty wonky when it comes to identifying a type. The best way to really understand the types and how they relate to you is to read up on the actual functions (introverted thinking (Ti), extraverted thinking (Te), Fe, Fi, Se, Si, Ne, Ni) and see if you can figure out which one you most relate to (dominant) and then determine your auxiliary after that. INTP would be Ti Ne and INTJ is Ni Te. Though the two types seem fairly similar on the surface, when you really start looking into the functions you might be surprised.

At any rate, glad to have you around! This is a fun place to be a part of. I do more lurking than posting now, but you'll find your share of fanatical posters here .

 

[Secretpilgrim]

An extreme INTP like myself apparently has a great deal of difficulty with emotional blind spots, eg: Not realizing an employee or fellow worker hates my guts, simply because I can think of no logical reason why they should. Ditto people liking me for no good reason which, if unnoticed, can produce even worse results. It sounds like you are less extreme, so this may not be a problem for you.
I'm convinced my job as a journalist for many years reinforced the perception-over-judgment aspect. Not only did I prefer to simply observe and say "that's interesting," my job pretty much required it. :-) Chicken and egg isn't exactly the right issue, it's more like "is my chicken soup stronger because of my job?" I think "Yes."
Are you being groomed for management or leadership? There's a difference. Often those doing the grooming don't realize that, but still, worth asking.
Footnote: Management requires you to sacrifice vocational. The biggest failures I saw among those who came up through the ranks was a refusal to abandon or cut back their vocational work. Second on the list were managers who insisted the people doing the vocational work they supervised had to do it exactly their way.
Just dispassionate observations of perhaps some utility....

As per the coach, leadership training and communication skills training.

I spend a lot of time moving pieces on the political chessboard. Studying people, predicting outcomes and moving accordingly. I am manipulative. I justify it with the fact that most of the people I work with either aren't capable of understanding the details required to make an informed decision or are not interested in those details.

I don't spend a great deal of time communicating for the sake of communicating. More often than not it is done for the sake of accomplishing something. That tends to put people off.

Small talk is doable, just not preferred.

Strategy, strategy, strategy..... That's what I love...

I can generally pick up on the like/dislike. I just tend not to focus on it outside of knowing who to consult with when I need to get things done.

I have been called out in a few "public" sessions at management review meetings, etc. Every time, without exception, the person doing the calling out has come to regret their decision. I have the patience required to let people hang themselves. The results are usually due to something in between subtly pushing buttons and creatively "falling on my sword". Each incident has resulted in someone profusely apologizing to me.

I recently went through a Leadership 360 review. It was interesting. The results were extreme. Statements came up like "His caustic sarcasm is intimidating and makes him difficult to work with." Yet the very next one was "HE is the most approachable and affable person I know." Damn near useless...... Meh....

I'm still working to figure all of this out. Honestly, I don't know where I fit into the company leadership but my wife and daughters are finding me more pleasant to be around so at least that's a plus....

For the longest time I had an uncanny knack for pissing people off and not realizing it. That seems to be diminishing. I generally see it now. Often times I just don't care...

I have never been good at reading women in a social situation. I's crazy. You would think 20 years of marriage and two teenage daughters would have given me some sort of a clue. A couple of days ago, I was on a flight home from a business trip. It was a fairly empty flight. A young woman sitting behind me struck up a conversation with me. About 15 minutes into the conversation, she leaned up ad whispered in my ear, "You are sooo hot." That is the kind of hint I require to know if a woman is hitting on me. By the way, I'm not hot. I have no idea what emotional/mental issues she was dealing with, but a more untrue statement I haven't heard in a long while...

As far as work goes, I have done a little bit of everything in IT.
Systems Administration
Network Administration
Database Administration
Data Warehousing
.NET Programming
Web Development
Phone system setup/management
All sorts of design/build projects. I have been managing highly functional teams for a while now.

Anyways.... I'm glad to have found this site. I look forward to doing some more digging.

 

[EditorOne]

'About 15 minutes into the conversation, she leaned up ad whispered in my ear, "You are sooo hot." That is the kind of hint I require to know if a woman is hitting on me.'

Yeah, I'm that obtuse myself. That wasn't a hint, that was a two-by-four across the side of your head, and if everyone were that obvious life would be simpler for people like us. Alas.

Sounds like you'll do all right in either management or leadership. Just watch your back and remember that the enthusiastically, blindly ambitious people in your organization can, when coupled with amorality, be a real problem for anyone who just wants to be in charge so the damn job gets done properly.

 

[EyeSeeCold]

I'd put my money on INTJ, but welcome to the forums nonetheless.

 

[Secretpilgrim]

I'd put my money on INTJ, but welcome to the forums nonetheless.

You might be right...
Honestly, at any given moment, I think I could fall into multiple types. Given the ridiculously low preference numbers for all but Thinking, I am probably something of chameleon.

Hmmm... Maybe I should join all type forums except those that include an F.... :-)
Cuz that just AIN'T happening....(Please note, misspellings and poor grammar used in previous sentence for effect only. Thank you, have a nice day.)

 

[Chimera]

Cuz that just AIN'T happening....

Get out.


Nah you sound pretty cool, welcome to the forum. ^^
​

 

[Vrecknidj]

The issue about whether you're an INTJ or INTP can probably be cleared up rather quickly.

How important is efficiency to you? (Not to your boss, or to your career, but, to you.)

If it's a big deal to you, I'm betting you're an INTJ.

If it's not a big deal to you, but you understand why it's a big deal to others, and so are willing to let it be a focus, then you're an adapting INTP.

Oh, and, welcome.

Dave

 

[Secretpilgrim]

The issue about whether you're an INTJ or INTP can probably be cleared up rather quickly.

How important is efficiency to you? (Not to your boss, or to your career, but, to you.)

If it's a big deal to you, I'm betting you're an INTJ.

If it's not a big deal to you, but you understand why it's a big deal to others, and so are willing to let it be a focus, then you're an adapting INTP.

Oh, and, welcome.

Dave

Efficiency for efficiency's sake doesn't really do it for me. It needs a purpose..

Like doing something twice that I could have done a single time if I or someone else had only planned better. Sitting in my office at 10 at night redoing some piece of a project because the CFO didn't get it the first time around, still doesn't get it, and no matter how many times I explain it, his over-simplifying mind will never get it but I have to put something in front of him because I know my boss hates drama as much as I do and hates the CFO even more and I have this particular project coming up that will be hard to sell but if this gets knocked out quickly I can put the last bit of credit I need in the bank and the number crunching dufus won't get in my way........ Well, you get the picture. Moving pieces around on the chessboard - simple version....

Is that an adapting INTP?

 

[Dapper Dan]

How important is efficiency to you? (Not to your boss, or to your career, but, to you.)

IMO, that question fails pretty hard. There are a million different ways to interpret efficiency in day-to-day life.

If you want to figure out if you're INTP or INTJ, you need to look at the individual functions. Really, it shouldn't be very hard since they don't have a single function in common. INTJs are Ni, Te, Fi, Se. INTPs are Ti, Ne, Si, Fe.

Keep in mind that you want to figure out your natural functions, as opposed to the ones you've undoubtedly developed over the years.

We could go into a whole wall of text about this, but honestly I'd rather let someone else do the talking. (This guy is an INTJ, by the way.)

INTP & INTJ Functions - YouTube

 

[Solitaire U.]

Recently took the MBTI. Came up INTP.

Twenty years ago, came up INTJ.

Not really sure how to take, but the I, N, and P were all rather borderline, within 13 points or less. I haven't studied the MBTI so I'm not sure what that means. Logically, I assume that my preferences are pretty weak.

*John Wayne accent* Well Pilgrim, the way I see it you ought not to get so hung up on letters, 'specially capitalized ones, as they usually stand for something seemingly logical and achievable but in reality illogical and overblown, like a wind-swept prairie...

Welcome.

 

[billcoach]

As part of my executive coaching qualificiation, I recently went through my third MBTI and changed from INTJ to INTP.

This change was a significant change (i.e. it wasn't just a couple of points move on thescale) but virtually a mirror image change.

Whilst MBTI suggests that their "types" are lifelong and that these preferences are ones that we are born with, I can't quite see how this can be the case, given my significant change. There were big life changing events for me between the previous tests, including becoming self employed which challenged a number of my previously held thoughts, so perhaps MBTI is more of a contemporary indicator than something we are pre-disposed to...

Has anyone else moved from one MBTI to another?

Thanks

Bill