Myers Briggs Type and Life

Over the years I have taken then MBTI several times - at the dawn of my career, several years in and now again.

Over time I have changed...

First I was an ENTJ.

Frank, decisive, assume leadership readily. Quickly see illogical and inefficient procedures and policies, develop and implement comprehensive systems to solve organizational problems. Enjoy long-term planning and goal setting. Usually well informed, well read, enjoy expanding their knowledge and passing it on to others. Forceful in presenting their ideas.

Then I was an ENTP:

Quick, ingenious, stimulating, alert, and outspoken. Resourceful in solving new and challenging problems. Adept at generating conceptual possibilities and then analyzing them strategically. Good at reading other people. Bored by routine, will seldom do the same thing the same way, apt to turn to one new interest after another.

And now I am an INTP:

Seek to develop logical explanations for everything that interests them. Theoretical and abstract, interested more in ideas than in social interaction. Quiet, contained, flexible, and adaptable. Have unusual ability to focus in depth to solve problems in their area of interest. Skeptical, sometimes critical, always analytical.

Of these descriptions it is the current one that I identify with least. This got me to thinking... cause you know it's something that I like to do. I think that my current life situation had a huge influence in how I answered the questions. My work life is busy. I spend all day talking or listening. I am more often than not in back to back meetings to the point where lunch and washroom breaks have become distant memories. At home we're dealing with crap. So I re energize by withdrawing. I value peace and quiet like I have never before. I am so busy that making small talk is just a luxury that I don't have time for. It is reflective of the "I". I have never been a strong "E" but the E is more like me than not I believe. If you ask others, I would be seen as an E.

Next week I will be working with my Boston and Chelmsford teams on a team building exercise using the MBTI as a basis. I'm really looking forward to it as it's a great way to better understand how we can optimally work together.