>2) Does personality type play a role? Do NTJ's naturally pick up on system
>dynamics faster, and integrate the new way of thinking better, than do
>other personality types? (I know there was some discussion on this a while
>back, and I believe it was Robert who basically dismissed the Meyers-Brigg
>as nothing more than a sophisticated way of labeling people. . .I still
>wonder.)
I realized you posed two questions. I am only going to answer one. The
first question asks about intelligence, the measurement of which I cannot
claim any expertise. I do know intelligent people when I meet them and I
particulary enjoy divergent and provocative viewpoints. I don't know if
those offering these viewpoints are necessarily highly intelligent, but I
think usually.--Besides Forest Gump seemed pretty happy to me.
On to your second question about Myers-Briggs. I don't think Myers-Briggs
is a sophisticated way of labeling people, but I do think that it has been
abused that way. I have been involved with the instrument in a variety of
ways since 1984. I was initially typed by one of the leading centers in
Gainesville, Florida. At the time, I was volunteering at the local crisis
center. Becaause the typical volunteer was a psychology graduate student
(I was not the typical volunteer as I was already working and had
completed my MPA) there was considerable interest in Myers-Briggs and a
fairly strident philosphy that the best volunteers were "F" types ("F" for
feeling and specifically INFP or ENFP). What the results of the testing
showed was that the major characteristic of all volunteers was the
tendancy towards a strong "N" (for intuitive). In fact, several strong
"T's," myself included, were considered excellent volunteers and yet were
clearly not the "feeling" type. What was most rewarding was being paired
in teams to handle suicide and crisis intervention calls with someone of a
completely different type. Since you both had the same mission and did not
have to argue about that, each team-member got to use their strengths to
create a really beautiful experience helping other people (keep in mind I
am a strong "T").
In my work where we have used Myers-Briggs I have found the same to be
true--the diversity brings about a better product. Being an ENTP, I too
am attracted by the world of ideas and grasp concepts quickly. However, I
strongly disagree that I am more intelligent than my ISTJ counterparts
based simply on Myers-Briggs. While I may perceive that they are plodding
along, an ISTJ's very focus on details usually points out something very
important that I am flying over. I really think the beauty of
Myers-Briggs is to throughly understand the types and to take advantage of
the strengh embodied in each. The most intelligent teams are those that
are diverse and make use of the diversity to a mutually agreed upon end.
I think the problem is not intelligence, but perhaps the distinction that
your team and those at microsoft know where they are going. Do you ever
worry missing something due to the lack of diversity in a team of all
NTJs? I would. Particularly the impact on people. Could that have
anything to do with why software manuals are so hard to understand for a
lot of people?>
--Debbie Broome <debbieb@linux.plano.gov>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>