Knowing Yourself - Myers-Briggs Type Indicator's

Today on Twitter I got into a discussion with Sara Chipps about Myers-Briggs Type Indicators.  I am an INTJ, which means:

  • I – Introversion preferred to Extraversion: INTJs tend to be quiet and reserved. They generally prefer interacting with a few close friends rather than a wide circle of acquaintances, and they expend energy in social situations (whereas extraverts gain energy).
  • N – iNtuition preferred to Sensing: INTJs tend to be more abstract than concrete. They focus their attention on the big picture rather than the details, and on future possibilities rather than immediate realities.
  • T – Thinking preferred to Feeling: INTJs tend to rely on external, objective criteria rather than a personal sense of right and wrong. When making decisions, they generally give more weight to logic than to social considerations.
  • J – Judgment preferred to Perception: INTJs tend to plan their activities and make decisions early. They derive a sense of control through predictability, which to perceptive types may seem limiting.

These 4 letters are suppose to nail your personality type and show some insight in to how you attack problems and deal with other people.  So if you don't know your Myers-Briggs take the test:

And then see if the description matches your personality:

As a bonus in to my personality, here is a break down that a friend of mine sent me awhile back.  Retrospectively I agree with these points for the most part:

Dealing With An INTJ

  1. Be willing to back up your statements with facts - or at least some pretty sound reasoning.
  2. Don't expect them to respect you or your viewpoints just because you say so. INTJ respect must be earned.
  3. Be willing to concede when you are wrong. The average INTJ respects the truth over being "right". Withdraw your erroneous comment and admit your mistake and they will see you as a very reasonable person. Stick to erroneous comments and they will think you are an irrational idiot and treat everything you say as being questionable.
  4. Try not to be repetitive. It annoys them.
  5. Do not feed them a line of bull.
  6. Expect debate. INTJs like to tear ideas apart and prove their worthiness. They will even argue a point they don't actually support for the sake of argument.
  7. Do not mistake the strength of your conviction with the strength of your argument. INTJs do not need to believe in a position to argue it or argue it well. Therefore, it will take more than fervor to sway them.
  8. Do not be surprised at sarcasm.
  9. Remember that INTJs believe in workable solutions. They are extremely open-minded to possibilities, but they will quickly discard any idea that is unfeasible. INTJ open-mindedness means that they are willing to have a go at an idea by trying to pull it apart. This horrifies people who expect oohs and ahhs and reverence. The ultimate INTJ insult to an idea is to ignore it, because that means it's not even interesting enough to deconstruct.  This also means that they will not just accept any viewpoint that is presented to them. The bottom line is "Does it work?" - end discussion.
  10. Do not expect INTJs to actually care about how you view them. They already know that they are arrogant bastards with a morbid sense of humor. Telling them the obvious accomplishes nothing.

Update: There are also varients, that map Myers-Briggs to other personality measuring instruments, such as Keirsey Temperaments.  Where I can proudly proclaim that I am a Mastermind.

Nick Berardi

In charge of Cloud Drive Desktop at @Amazon, Entrepreneur, Microsoft MVP, ASPInsider, co-founder and CTO of @CaddioApp, Father, and @SeriouslyOpen host