Thursday, February 14, 2013

A Portrait of an INTJ


As an INTJ, I feel fairly qualified to provide a deep dive into the characteristics of this personality type.  While estimates of the introverted population generally hover around 25%, INTJs are a very rare breed at roughly 2% of the population (1% of women and 3% of men).  Many of you may have never even met an INTJ before as this is one of the rarest personality types in existence so let me provide some descriptions and personal input.

What is an INTJ (often described as "The Scientist", "The Strategist" or "Mastermind")?  The Myers-Briggs personality type (based on Carl Jung) expands this into:
I - Introversion
N - iNtuition
T - Thinking
J - Judgment

Keep in mind that the descriptions below indicate the most common mode of operation (not the only mode).  Humans are very complex and change modes depending on circumstances.

Introversion
The introvert:
  • ...is generally thought oriented first before engaging in action
  • ...seeks depth of knowledge and influence (as opposed to breadth which extraverts seek)
  • ...prefers substantial, meaningful and high content interaction (extraverts prefer frequent interaction)
  • ...recharges energy by spending time alone (and spends energy to be social) as opposed to extraverts who gain energy in social environments
I am usually rated between 90% to 100% on the introverted scale.

Intuition
This describes the mode of perceiving information (sensing is the counterpart to intuition).  Intuitive people tend to trust theoretical data, associations of data to build a consensus, data patterns, coherent context and underlying theories over the more sensing oriented population who primarily believe in what the five senses tell them.  I am almost borderline N and S.  I value real data but that data must be consistent with theories and patterns.  Ns tend to think/plan about the future (strategic) and Ss tend to think about the present (tactical).

Thinking
This describes the decision making process and the counterpart is feeling.  People with a thinking oriented personality tend to value detachment, logic, consistency, reason and rules that make sense.  Feeling people tend to value empathy, harmony and balance.  I've been developing some more F type behavior in the last few years which I think helps balance me out some socially.

Judgment
This category describes how people relate to the world: Judging or Perceiving.  **TJ types like to view the world as logical and like to have matters settled.  Perceptive people like to keep options and decisions open (being a high J, I must admit that I have a hard time dealing with perceptive people who won't settle on a decision/direction.)


There is so much to be said of INTJs (or any personality type).  I will provide some high level descriptions in this article and dive down into specific categories in other articles.  I will copy some quotes from many different sources (too many to give attribution unfortunately and in many cases no author is listed) but I think these are exemplary of the true INTJ:
  • "INTJs live in the world of ideas and strategic planning. They value intelligence, knowledge, and competence, and typically have high standards in these regards, which they continuously strive to fulfill. To a somewhat lesser extent, they have similar expectations of others."
  • "Anyone who does not have enough talent or simply does not see the point, including the higher ranks of management, will immediately and likely permanently lose their respect."
  • "They are natural leaders and excellent strategists, but willingly give way to others vying for a leadership position, usually people with Extroverted personalities... An INTJ will retreat into the shadows, maintaining their grip on the most important decisions – but as soon as the leader fails and there is a need to take the steering wheel, the INTJ will not hesitate to act, maybe even while staying in the background."
  • "INTJs dislike ... artificial limitations – everything should be questionable and open to re-evaluation."
  • "Masterminds do not feel bound by established rules and procedures, and traditional authority does not impress them, nor do slogans or catchwords. Only ideas that make sense to them are adopted; those that don't, aren't, no matter who thought of them. "
  • "INTJs are comfortable with abstraction and theory but gain the most satisfaction from turning their ideas into reality. They often enjoy working independently or with a small team, taking measured, strategic steps to implement change."
  • "INTJ personalities do not seek nor enjoy the spotlight and may often decide to keep their opinions to themselves if the topic of discussion does not interest them that much."
  • "INTJs are ambitious, self-confident, deliberate, long-range thinkers. Many INTJs end up in engineering or scientific pursuits... They dislike messiness and inefficiency, and anything that is muddled or unclear. They value clarity and efficiency, and will put enormous amounts of energy and time into consolidating their insights into structured patterns."
  • "They expect perfection from themselves as well as others and are comfortable with the leadership of another so long as they are competent."
  • "INTJ personalities rarely seek managerial positions – if they do, this is probably because they need more power and freedom of action, not because they enjoy managing people."
  • "... they find it very difficult to understand the complex social rituals that are considered part of the dating game, especially in Western societies. Things like flirting or small talk are unnatural to them; furthermore, INTJs (especially females) tend to see typical attraction tactics (such as feigning disinterest) as incredibly stupid and irrational."
  • "When under a great deal of stress, the INTJ may become obsessed with mindless repetitive, Sensate activities, such as over-drinking"
  • "The internal form of the INTJ's thoughts and concepts is highly individualized, and is not readily translatable into a form that others will understand. However, the INTJ is driven to translate their ideas into a plan or system that is usually readily explainable, rather than to do a direct translation of their thoughts."
  • "INTJs are natural leaders, although they usually choose to remain in the background until they see a real need to take over the lead. ... They are the supreme strategists - always scanning available ideas and concepts and weighing them against their current strategy, to plan for every conceivable contingency."
  • "The INTJ's interest in dealing with the world is to make decisions, express judgments, and put everything that they encounter into an understandable and rational system."
  • "Other people may have a difficult time understanding an INTJ. They may see them as aloof and reserved. Indeed, the INTJ is not overly demonstrative of their affections, and is likely to not give as much praise or positive support as others may need or desire. That doesn't mean that he or she doesn't truly have affection or regard for others, they simply do not typically feel the need to express it. Others may falsely perceive the INTJ as being rigid and set in their ways. Nothing could be further from the truth, because the INTJ is committed to always finding the objective best strategy to implement their ideas. The INTJ is usually quite open to hearing an alternative way of doing something."
  • "At work, the INTJ excels at creating and implementing innovative solutions to analytical problems. They naturally see possibilities for improvement within complex systems and are organized and determined in implementing their ideas for change."
  • "The ideal work environment for an INTJ is logical, efficient, structured, and analytical, with colleagues that are competent, intelligent, and productive."
  • "INTJs are introspective, analytical, determined persons with natural leadership ability. Being reserved, they prefer to stay in the background while leading."
  • "...approach reality as they would a giant chess board, always seeking strategies that have a high payoff, and always devising contingency plans in case of error or adversity."
  • "...observer, values solitude, perfectionist, detached, private... does not talk about feelings, hard to impress, analytical, likes esoteric things..."
  • "Unsurprisingly, this personality type can be labeled as the most independent of all types. INTJs are very decisive, original and insightful"
  • "Trying to anticipate every contingency, Masterminds never set off on their current project without a Plan A firmly in mind, but they are always prepared to switch to Plan B or C or D if need be."

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