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Myers-Briggs

Myers-Briggs Under Pressure: Feeling

by Ron Potter July 24, 2017

“Let’s change the topic, I don’t want to deal with this at the moment.”

“Look, it’s your fault that we’re in this mess anyway. If you had made arrangements for this while you were on vacation it wouldn’t have happened in the first place.”

“I just don’t want to hear it any more, this is the way it’s going to happen!”

(If you didn’t start with the introduction to this “Myers-Briggs Under Pressure” series, I suggest you make a quick review because it will help you better understand these subsequent blogs.)

Brenda is stuck! Her dominant function is Feeling which helps her know what’s really important in most situations and appreciate input from just about anyone. And normally, she’ll balance these great skills with either a good conceptual view of the world or a great grasp of the data, depending on her complete type.

There are four types that have this particular combination, the Introverted ISFP, INFP and the Extraverted ESFJ, ENFJ. As noted above the dominant in all four cases is Feeling and the inferior in all four cases is Thinking. These are what’s known as our Deciding functions, how do we decide what to do after we have taken in the data through our Perceiving functions of Sensing and iNtuition.

In a healthy state, these Deciding functions would then work in tandem with the “perceiving” functions of Sensing or iNtuition depending type. But, under pressure or stress, Brenda begins to lose this natural balance, falling back to her dominant function which will expose her feelings, no matter how raw they may be. Brenda will either become hypercritical or hypersensitive or both under pressure.

Balance, Balance, Balance

This is where team members and colleagues come into play. It’s difficult for any one of us to break out of these pressure packed situations. As colleagues, we want to help Brenda back into a balanced state by asking and sometimes even forcing her to use his auxiliary function. Notice that Brenda’s auxiliary function could be either Sensing or iNtuition depending on type. Let’s start with the Sensing balance.

“Brenda, we can’t ignore the topic right now, we need to make a decision this week.”

“I’m sorry I just can’t deal with it right now, there are just too many things this could impact.”

“Can we take a look at the data and see where that might be leading us and then discuss how that might impact the values of the company, if at all?”

“Yes, if you guarantee that we’ll see how these figures will impact the way we’re going to work this out with the people.”

As we begin to force Brenda to try a little balancing act, she’ll begin to regain her footing. Note that we can’t tell Brenda that his data problem doesn’t impact our overall values. Brenda has to come to grips with that through balancing her own natural Feeling and Sensing functions.

If we’re dealing with either the INFP or ENFJ than iNtuition is the auxiliary function, not Sensing. The approach is similar, but focused more on the conceptual or future view (iNtuition) rather than the data (Sensing).

“Brenda, we really don’t think this new direction will impact our care and concern for the employees but let’s see if we can see a way through this.”

“I just don’t see how it’s going to happen. I’m concerned we’ll end up in a very bad place.”

“We’ll, let’s talk through that. Describe for me the outcome you see as most likely in this case.”

“It’s just not going to end well.”

“Well, let’s get a grip on the possible outcomes and then really talk through the good and bad of the situation and see how we could mitigate any negative outcomes.”

“OK, I guess we’re just talking anyway. We can make the decisions as we figure out the best path.”

As we begin to force Brenda to try a little balancing act, she’ll begin to regain her footing. Note that we can’t tell her where the scenarios will lead. Brenda has to come to grips with that through balancing her own natural Feeling and iNtuition functions.

Stay tuned. We’ll continue to explore other ways to conduct your own “balancing” act. The best leaders have learned to balance their natural temperament functions with those of the people and teams around them. It’s when the functions get out of balance or opposed to each other that we get stuck as individuals and teams.

When it comes to your temperament, balance, balance, balance is the key to success.

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Myers-Briggs Under Pressure: Thinking

by Ron Potter July 10, 2017

“I don’t care what you think and don’t confuse me with facts! This is our only way out! Besides, that’s just about the dumbest idea I’ve heard this century. Have you burned out all of your brain cells?

And don’t you dare challenge my intelligence or authority. I’ll make this decision and it will be the right decision.”

(If you didn’t start with the introduction to this “Myers-Briggs Under Pressure” series, I suggest you make a quick review because it will help you better understand these subsequent blogs.)

Bill is stuck! His dominant function is Thinking which helps him analyze situations and spot the pitfalls in advance. And normally, he’ll balance these great skills with either a good conceptual view of the world or a great grasp of the data, depending on his complete type.

There are four types that have this particular combination, the Introverted ISTP, INTP and the Extraverted ESTJ, ENTJ. As noted above the dominant in all four cases is Thinking and the inferior in all four cases is Feeling. These are what’s known as our Deciding functions, how do we decide what to do after we have taken in the data through our Perceiving functions of Sensing and iNtuition.

In a healthy state, these Deciding functions would then work in tandem with the “perceiving” functions of Sensing or iNtuition depending type. But, under pressure or stress, Bill begins to lose this natural balance, falling back to his dominant function which has a need for logic at all expense. Bill will either lash out in an unexpected (even out of character) emotional outburst or even if he keeps a calm exterior, be begins to take any comments or feedback as personal slights and criticism.

Balance, Balance, Balance

This is where team members and colleagues come into play. It’s difficult for any one of us to break out of these pressure packed situations. As colleagues, we want to help Bill back into a balanced state by asking and sometimes even forcing him to use his auxiliary function. Notice that Bill’s auxiliary function could be either Sensing or iNtuition depending on type. Let’s start with the Sensing balance.

“Bill, what information are you missing to make this decision?”

“I’m not missing any information, it’s just that the information we have doesn’t make sense!”

“Which piece of information doesn’t seem to make sense to you?”

“This one data set just doesn’t align with what we thought we knew. If it’s correct it will have a three week impact on the coding section.”

“OK, let’s think through that. What are the consequences of the three week impact on that portion of the schedule when we put it in context of the overall project?”

“Well, when I think about it that way it probably doesn’t make too much difference.”

As we begin to force Bill to try a little balancing act, he’ll begin to regain his footing. Note that we can’t tell Bill that his data problem doesn’t have much impact to the overall project. Bill has to come to grips with that through balancing his own natural Thinking and Sensing functions.

If we’re dealing with either the INTP or ENTJ than iNtuition is the auxiliary function, not Sensing. The approach is similar, but focused more on the conceptual or future view (iNtuition) rather than the data (Sensing).

“Bill, we’re not questioning your ability in this matter, but what information are you missing to make this decision?”

“I’m not missing any information, it’s just that the information we have doesn’t make sense!”

“Well, where do you think this information will lead?”

“I just don’t know. That’s the problem.”

“Let’s go back to your gut instincts. What is your experience telling you?”

“I’m pretty sure it has to lead us in this direction, I just can’t see it yet.”

As we begin to force Bill to try a little balancing act, he’ll begin to regain his footing. Note that we can’t tell Bill where the data should lead him. Bill has to come to grips with that through balancing his own natural Thinking and iNtuition functions.

Stay tuned. Next in our series titled “Myers-Briggs Under Pressure” we’ll shift our focus from the dominant Thinking style to the dominant Feeling style. This one may have the most difficulty working in the corporate environment.

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Myers-Briggs Under Pressure: Intuition

by Ron Potter June 26, 2017

I can’t possibly sort through all of these options. I’m already overwhelmed. We could work on this all weekend and we’d never get through everything we need to figure out. Stop! Don’t ask me again, I don’t know how were going to proceed through this morass! I need to get out of here, I’m starving and I need a drink.”

(If you didn’t start with the introduction to this “Meyers-Briggs Under Pressure” series, I suggest you make a quick review because it will help you better understand these subsequent blog posts.)

Teresa is stuck! She can’t seem to find her way out and she wants a clear path forward that cuts through all the information, data and options. Teresa’s dominant function is iNtuition (need for concepts, visions and future goals) and her inferior function is Sensing (need for detail and information).

There are four types that have this particular combination, the Introverted INTJ, INFJ and the Extraverted ENTP, ENFP. As noted above, the dominant function in all four cases is iNtuition and the inferior in all four cases is Sensing. These are what’s known as our Perceiving functions, how do we perceive the world around us? These are the functions that we use to take in the information that we’ll need to eventually make a decision.

In a healthy state, these Perceiving functions would then work in tandem with the “deciding” functions of Thinking or Feeling depending type. But, under pressure or stress, Teresa begins to lose this natural balance, falling back to her dominant function which has a need to know where all of this is going and becomes unable to combine it with her deciding function to keep things moving along. Teresa will retreat into her sensory pursuits of binge eating, drinking, TV watching, physical activities or whatever allows her to escape the fact that she’s stuck.

Balance, Balance, Balance

This is where team members and colleagues come into play. It’s difficult for any one of us to break out of these pressure packed situations. As colleagues, we want to help Teresa back into a balanced state by asking and sometimes even forcing her to use her auxiliary function. Notice that Teresa’s auxiliary function could be either Thinking or Feeling depending on type. Let’s start with the Thinking balance.

“Teresa, where do you think this will all lead?”

“I don’t know. None of it makes any sense to me yet.”

“I know, but tell me what you think will be the best answer in the end.”

“Well, it needs to provide us options once we get the product into the market place.”

“Great. Looking beyond the data for a moment, what step do we need to figure out next to give us options in the future?”

As we begin to force Teresa to try a little balancing act, she’ll begin to regain her footing. Note that we can’t tell Teresa what the final state should be. It has to be the act of balancing her own functions of iNtuition and Thinking that begins to restore her sense of balance and allows him to begin functioning on a more normal basis based on her own type.

If we’re dealing with either the INFJ or ENFP than Feeling is the auxiliary function, not Thinking. The approach is similar, just using Feeling questions rather than Thinking questions,

“Teresa, what are you worried about?”

“I don’t feel like I can figure out where this is all headed.”

“What values are you concerned that we’ll miss?”

“It could be any of them if we can’t figure out how this will end up.”

“Well, let’s talk through some scenarios and see how our values set with each of them?”

As Teresa begins to answer these very basic Feeling questions, she begins exercising her own balancing mechanisms and it begins to help him out of the rut. Teresa is regaining balance.

It doesn’t help to point out the values that we believe need to be protected. Our job is to help Teresa regain her own, natural balance.

Stay tuned. Next in our series titled “Myers-Briggs Under Pressure” we’ll shift our focus from the dominant styles centered on our perceiving function (sensing and intuition) to dominant styles based on our deciding functions of Thinking or Feeling. It’s an interesting shift.

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Myers-Briggs Under Pressure: Sensing

by Ron Potter June 19, 2017

I’m telling you it won’t work!! We’ve tried this a hundred times and it just never gets us anywhere. No, this is not a new approach and it won’t get us any closer than the last effort. We’re missing something. We just don’t have enough information to make the final decision. Now leave me alone so I can get the information we need from marketing, demographics, customer surveys, the last time we tried this, the data base, the internet, etc, etc, etc.”

(If you didn’t start with the introduction to this “Myers-Briggs Under Pressure” series, I suggest you make a quick review because it will help you better understand these subsequent blogs.)

Norm is stuck! He can’t seem to find his way out and he wants the security of more information and data. Often that information and data doesn’t exist, especially when we’re trying to make decisions about new directions or innovative approaches. Norm’s dominant function is Sensing (need for detail and information) and his inferior function is iNtuitive (conceptual and future focused).

There are four types that have this particular combination, the Introverted ISTJ, ISFJ and the Extraverted ESTP, ESFP. As noted above the dominant in all four cases is Sensing and the inferior in all four cases is iNtuitive. These are what’s known as our Perceiving functions, how do we perceive the world around us? These are the functions that we use to take in the information that we’ll need to eventually make a decision.

In a healthy state, these Perceiving functions would work in tandem with the “deciding” functions of Thinking or Feeling depending on type. But, under pressure or stress, Norm begins to lose this natural balance, falling back to his dominant function which has a need for more and more data and becomes unable to combine it with his deciding function to keep things moving along. Norm becomes very pessimistic about the future.

Balance, Balance, Balance

This is where team members and colleagues come into play. It’s difficult for any one of us to break out of these pressure packed situations. As colleagues, we want to help Norm back into a balanced state by asking and sometimes even forcing him to use his auxiliary function. Notice that Norm’s auxiliary function could be either Thinking or Feeling depending on type. Let’s start with the Thinking balance.

“Norm, what do you think the answer will turn out to be?”

“I told you I haven’t gathered enough information.”

“I know, but tell me what you’ve figured out so far.”

“Not much”

“That’s OK, just share the pieces that you’ve thought about. Even if they’re still open questions in your mind.”

As we begin to force Norm to try a little balancing act, he’ll begin to regain his footing. Note that we can’t tell Norm what we’re thinking. It has to be the act of balancing his own functions of Sensing and Thinking that begins to restore his sense of balance and allows him to begin functioning on a more normal basis for his own type.

If we’re dealing with either the ISFJ or ESFP than Feeling is the auxiliary function, not Thinking. The approach is similar, just using Feeling questions rather than Thinking questions,

“Norm, what’s bothering you about this decision?”

“I don’t know yet I just know something’s not right.”

“Let’s talk through the source of your concern.”

“I don’t even know what that is yet, I haven’t gathered enough data to even express what’s bothering me.

“Well, give me some clues. Is it a concern about values? Are you concerned about how people will react or be affected? Is it more anger or fear?”

As Norm begins to answer these very basic Feeling questions, he begins exercising his own balancing mechanisms and it begins to help him out of the rut. Norm is regaining balance.

It doesn’t help to point things out or share what we think or feel about the situation. Our job is to help Norm regain his own, natural balance.

Stay tuned, this was just the first of four installments about working under stress titled “Myers-Briggs Under Pressure”. Come back and join us for future installments.

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Myers-Briggs Under Pressure: How MBTI Works

by Ron Potter June 12, 2017

How did we get to this point where one’s behavior looks like being a jerk to another person when we’re all trying to do our best?

(If you didn’t start with the introduction to the “Myers-Briggs Under Pressure” series, I suggest you make a quick review because it will help you better understand these subsequent blog posts.)

Order of Use

The two middle functions of Myers-Briggs (Sensing, iNtuition, Thinking and Feeling) are considered the decision making functions and each temperament type uses them in a different order.

Dominant Function

For instance, my temperament type of ENTJ (Extraverted, iNtuitive, Thinking, Judging) starts with the Thinking function being dominant. This means that I’m at my most natural using my Thinking function and will turn to it the most often when making a decision. Because it is my dominant function, I must have it satisfied if I’m to make a decision or support a decision.

Auxiliary or Supporting Function

Once my dominant function is satisfied (is it logical?) I will than turn to my auxiliary function to add balance and support to my dominant function. For my ENTJ preference, iNtuition will be my balancing function. So, once the decision seems to be logical or can be defended from a logical stand-point, my next question will be “Does it support or align with my conceptual view of the world of how things should be. This is my iNtuitive side.

Balance

First, notice that I have used my middle two functions of my Myers-Briggs type ENTJ. These are my dominant and auxiliary functions and must be satisfied for me to make and be comfortable with a decision. When I’m in balance and doing my best to solve problems and be in alignment with team decisions, I’m relying on these top two functions to be working in harmony.

Tertiary and Inferior Functions

The order of my last two functions, Sensing and Feeling happen with the Tertiary function (Sensing for the ENTJ) being 3^rd and Feeling being the last function in my decision making process. These two functions (notice they are not visible in my Type Indicator of ENTJ) will be used positively for getting outside the box of my normal thinking but will also show up when I finally “break” under the pressure and do or say something that I will likely regret later.

The role of Pressure and Stress

Under normal or healthy conditions, we all tend to function well in our dominant and auxiliary space. Our dominant function takes the lead but is open to and listens to our auxiliary functions for balance. We will likely pay attention to our 3^rd and 4^th function (Sensing and Feeling for the ENTJ) just to make sure we’re covering all the bases but they’ll tend to confirm decisions already made buy our first two functions. It’s important to note that I’ve always observed that the best of leaders seem to cycle through all four functions with equal emphasis so that the outside observer would have a difficult time determining which of the four functions is actually their dominant function. Balance, balance, balance.

But, under pressure or stress interesting things begin to happen. We immediately lose our ability to deal with our 3^rd and 4^th functions in a healthy, balanced way and in fact, we begin to lose our ability to balance our dominant function with our auxiliary function. We become stuck in our dominant function!

In fact, this is what begins to make us look like a jerk under pressure. Our normal balance begins to recede and we find ourselves working from our single dominant function which can get harsh and unyielding in many ways. In fact, if the pressure finally gets to the breaking point, we actually revert back to our inferior function. And unless we’ve worked at improving our behavior under pressure, we’re just not very good at expressing or dealing with our inferior function. That’s when we look and behave like a jerk!

We’ll begin to explore some of these issues in coming posts as we look at various types and how they might look like a jerk.

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Myers-Briggs Under Pressure: Introduction

by Ron Potter June 5, 2017

We all develop our lenses through years of experiences, learning and observing. The lenses that I’ve developed through the years tend to be focused on leadership style, team building, decision making and other dynamics of leadership teams. (I like to think of the glasses Nicholas Cage uses to read the Declaration of Independence in the movie National Treasure.)

When I see what appears to be strange, unexplainable or dysfunctional behavior I’ll often flip the “blue” lens in place or maybe I need to add the “red” lens to the mix so that I can see a deeper image. The point is that with the right lens we can see and understand behavior and dynamics in most situations.

But what happens when you don’t have the right lens or haven’t developed the lens you need to understand a particular situation?

Reacting Under Pressure

There are too many times during a team meeting, especially a team under the stress of making a right decision during difficult conditions. when in a whisper or a side conversation I’ll hear someone say “What a jerk.” Nobody intends to be a Jerk. No one is sitting there trying to think about how royally could they screw up this decision making process. There not being a jerk, they’re just looking like a jerk through your lens. Try flipping down your “blue” lens to see how a particular temperament might react or behave in this situation. Maybe it begins to look more normal and understandable and not look like being a jerk. Still doesn’t explain all the behavior? Try flipping down your “red” lens to see how that temperament might behave under extreme pressure or maybe add the “green” lens to see what happens when that particular temperament finally hits the breaking point. Now that may not excuse the behavior but it sure explains it and helps us figure out how to support our colleague through these pressure moments.

Myers-Briggs Series

I’m going to start a series titled “Myers-Briggs Under Pressure” to talk about those moments when it seems like someone is being a jerk but in reality they’re simply performing in a manner that any person of their temperament type might behave under similar circumstances.

My goals are to:

Help you develop new lenses to see behavior in a new way and not write it off simply as someone being a jerk.
Give you new tools to help team dynamics improve overall.
Help you and others perform better under pressure
Prevent the breaking points when someone reacts in a way that makes it difficult to recover even with the best of efforts.

Withstanding Pressure

Hopefully we’ll change those opportunities from “Under Pressure” to “Withstanding Pressure” and here’s a healthier way to work that adds value to both the individuals and the whole team.

Stay tuned to “Myers-Briggs Under Pressure”

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Decision Making with Myers-Briggs – Part III

by Ron Potter May 1, 2017

This is the third in a Myer-Briggs series on Decision Making. Over the first two blog posts we looked at the Perceiving Function (how people take in information), and the Judging Function (how people make sense of what they perceive). This blog post will be focused on how we put it all together in the Decision-Making Process.

Background

Carl Jung was the famous psychiatrist who broke with Sigmund Freud. While Freud seemed to study what was wrong with us as human beings, Jung thought it better to study what was right and natural about us humans and what we could learn about ourselves with the proper framework. His work on Psychological Types led Myers and Briggs to put together their framework for understanding how we work.

Of the four functions pairs (making up the 16 possible archetypes) Jung and Myers-Briggs believed that the middle two were used in our decision-making process. It’s important to understand how these two functions work and in which order to under our and others decision-making process.

The simple concept is that we spend our days cycling between perceiving (observing what’s going on around us) and making judgments (decisions) based on that observation. A simple example is that when we’re leaving the house in the morning we look out the window and notice (perceive) that it’s raining. We then judge the situation to require (decide) to take an umbrella.

Depending on your personal type, one of the four function, Sensing, iNtuition, Thinking or Feeling is your primary function. If you’re going to make a decision you will need your primary function satisfied. My primary function is Thinking. If the answer does not look logical to me, I would (can’t) make the decision. Even more important to corporate teams or leadership, if my primary function is not satisfied, I will not commit to a decision. I may comply with it, but I will not make a full commitment to the decision. One of the most destructive events with teams is when people give compliance to a decision during a team meeting but it becomes obvious they are not committed to the decision in the long run.

Reaching Decisions and Commitments

Every person must have their primary function fully satisfied in order to make a decision or commit to a decision. Further, if their secondary function can also be satisfied, that’s all they need. They will now be onboard.

The problem is the facilitator, leader, decision maker always knows which two functions they need satisfied in order to commit to a decision, either consciously or subconsciously. Therefore, they direct the conversation to cover their two needed functions. Maybe it’s Sensing, getting all of the facts on the table, followed by Thinking, putting them into a logical order. That works great for that person and other ST’s on the team but for those who rely on N and/or F, all of the conversation sounded like the adults speaking in the Peanuts cartoons: Wha, wha wha. It’s like an English speaker sitting on a team of Chinese speakers listening to a language that is not understood at all until the question is put forth in English; “Are you ready to decide now?”

The Key

The key to reaching a decision or commitment on a team of diverse types is to take the time to speak in everyone’s language.

Sensing

Ask and answer the Sensing questions: What do we know about the situation? What are the facts? Do we have all the facts? What have we done so far and what were the results? What do we need to accomplish next?

iNtuition

Ask and answer iNtuitive questions: Where are we trying to go? What should the end results be? What other possibilities could we consider? What does the data seem to imply?

Thinking

Ask and answer Thinking questions: Is there a logical conclusion? Can we list the pros and cons of each option? Do we know what the costs of each option are? Can we put priorities to each possible outcome?

Feeling

Ask and answer Feeling questions: Do these answers support or violate our values? How will people (ours, customers, vendors, etc) react to the outcome? Who will commit to putting in the sacrifice needed to accomplish these goals?

Balance, balance, balance

It’s only when each of the four function is given equal time, honor and trust that we can count on getting to a committed answer and a team that acts in an aligned and committed manner.

Learn to cycle through these four functions and keep cycling until everyone is onboard and committed to the decision. You’ll be amazed at the power of an aligned and committed team.

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Blog Decision Making with Myers-Briggs Myers-Briggs

Decision Making with Myers-Briggs – Part II

by Ron Potter April 13, 2017

This post is the second in a Myer-Briggs series on Decision Making. Over three blogs we’ll look at the Perceiving Function (how people take in information), the Judging Function (how people make sense of what they perceive) and finally the Decision-Making Process.

Background

Judging

In this post, we’ll look at the Judging function. We looked at the Perceiving function earlier. We’ll finish the series with a Decision Process post.

How do you Judge what you have perceived about the world around you? Don’t think of this word as the negative form of “Judgement”. You’re not being a judgmental person. Myers-Briggs calls this your Deciding function. Once you’ve taken in information with your Perceiving function (previous blog), how do you then finally decide?

Thinking

The thinking function is driven mostly by logic. Add it up, pros and cons, bottom line; there’s your answer.

Feeling

The Feeling function is driven mostly by values. “I see your logic and may even concede that it’s correct, but who cares?” How will this logical answer affect our people, our customers, our vendors? Does it reflect our values?

It’s important to note that this is not feelings of emotion, though it’s often mistaken for that. It’s more a question of values and how people will be affected.

Both Thinking and Feeling functions are valid. I’m always emphasizing balance when I conduct Myers-Briggs sessions. Balance, balance, balance. It’s best when we can depend on and blend both functions. We’ll get into trouble relying too much on one or the other. Therefore, I like to use Myers-Briggs with teams. It’ easier for a team to balance functions when we have a mixture of both types on the team.

I often run a little experiment with my leadership teams. At one point I’ll ask the team what they “think” about moving forward. If I ask a thinking-preferenced person, I’ll often get a fairly robust answer. Something like; “I think we should take steps one, two and three which will lead us to a decision point about which way we should proceed after that.” As I work my way around the room and ask the same “thinking” question of a feeling-preferenced person, I’ll get a less robust answer. Something like “The logic in the previous answer looks correct. I could probably support that answer.”

But, a little later, I’ll ask the same question but I’ll speak of it in Feeling terms; “What do you “feel” we do about moving forward. The thinking-preferenced person doesn’t understand the difference in the question. Their response will be something like “I just told you what I “thought” a minute ago. But if I ask the feeling question of a feeling-preferenced person, I often get a more robust answer. “I think the logic is correct and we could defend it. But do any of you understand how upset our customers are going to be with that decision? I fear we’ll lose a percentage of our customer base that we’ll never get back!” Was it a logic answer? No. Was it a powerful answer? Indeed. In fact, it will likely change the team answer.

Like our Sensing and iNtuitive types, Thinking types are no less feeling than Feeling types. And Feeling types are no less logical than Thinking types. But, decisions will be driven by the preferred type. We need to address both to reach balanced conclusions.

The best answer is a balanced one. Weigh and compare the thinking attention to logic with the feeling attention to values and impact. It often takes a partnership or team to do this well.

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Blog Decision Making with Myers-Briggs Myers-Briggs

Decision Making with Myers-Briggs – Part I

by Ron Potter April 3, 2017

This will begin a Myer-Briggs series on Decision Making. Over three blog posts we’ll look at the Perceiving Function (how people take in information), the Judging Function (how people make sense of what they perceive) and finally the Decision-Making Process.

Background

Perceiving

In this post, we’ll look at the Perceiving function followed by a Judging blog and finally a Decision Process blog.

How do we perceive the world around us? For many years, Myers-Briggs called this your Attending function, what do you pay attention to? The two descriptors associated with our Perceiving function are Sensing and iNtuition. S vs N. That’s not a type in the word intuition. Myers-Briggs had already used the capital I to indicate Introversion (other blogs) so they used the capital N to signify intuition.

Sensing

The sensing function is focused on things we can notice with our five senses. Because of this, “Sensors” are focused on facts, details, the present and the practical. Things that we can see and know now.

iNtuition

Those who are intuition based seem to think and notice things like concepts, patterns, future, imaginative. Things that we can deduct or speculate about the future.

Balance

Both perceiving functions are valid, useful and necessary. I’m always emphasizing balance when I conduct Myers-Briggs sessions. Balance, balance, balance. It’s best when we can depend on and blend both functions. We’ll get into trouble relying too much on one or the other. Therefore I like to use Myers-Briggs with teams. It’ easier for a team to balance functions when we have a mixture of both types on the team.

I first experienced this function even before I knew of the Myers-Briggs framework. I have a preference for iNtuition and years ago I was working for a boss who had a clear preference for Sensing. He asked me a question that had great consequences for our business and I quickly answered him from my conceptual view of the world. He said to me, “You shouldn’t make important decisions like that so flippantly!” I didn’t feel it was flippant but he insisted that I spend time creating a business plan to support my flippant answer. Three weeks later I was back with my completed spreadsheet business plan and the answer was still the same. At that point I was curious. Didn’t he know the answer three weeks ago? Didn’t he at least have a hunch? He said, Yes, he figured the answer was likely to go that way but he was not willing to make the decision until he could see the numbers. This was an important revelation to me (later confirmed by Myers-Briggs). Sensing types are no less intuitive than iNtuitive types. He figured the answer would likely go that way. But, they won’t make decisions without the details and facts. iNtuitive types pay no less attention to the details (I’m very good at spreadsheet development and analysis) but they’re willing to make decisions based on that intuition without confirming the details.

The best answer is a balanced one. Weigh and compare the sensing attention to detail with the intuitive attention to the concept. It often takes a partnership or team to do this well.

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Blog Myers-Briggs

Myers-Briggs is a Crock

by Ron Potter September 15, 2016

This is the title of a Wall Street Journal article written by Steven Poole doing a book review of Dean Burnett’s new book Idiot Brain. Actually Idiot Brain needs to become the title of a future blog as well. I can’t wait to read his book.

But, is Myers-Briggs a crock? Poole says that Burnett “eloquently dismantles some pop-psychology canards such as Myers-Briggs personality test, still a favored corporate tool. “The tool is based on untested decades-old assumptions put together by enthusiastic amateurs, working from a single source.”

TRUE!

HOWEVER….

Why does it remain a favored corporate tool? I don’t see many corporations these days spending money that they don’t believe provides any value. No Myers-Briggs practitioner worth their salt ever claims the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to be anything other than a great tool for understanding people. We never claim it to be (or shouldn’t be making such claims) anything other than a model put together by two enthusiastic amateurs.

I had one experience when my client, a senior VP of a large pharmaceutical company, asked me to do some team building with her team. One of her direct reports was a psychiatrist and ran the psychiatric department for the company. When she heard that I was going to conduct a Myers-Briggs session she sent me a scathing email proclaiming many of the same issues as Burnett:

Invalidated testing
Decades old
Based on assumptions
Created by amateurs

My only answer to her was, “Humor me. Your boss asked me to conduct the session.” Well, after the session where the team seemed to learn a great deal about working better together, this same psychiatrist approached me very quietly, put her hand on my arm and spoke very softly into me ear saying, “Would you come run a session like this for my team, we could really use it.”

It’s a tool, a mental model. One of my favorite bloggers is Shane Parish at Farnam Street. In his Farnam Street Brain Food he often speaks of Mental Models. This is how Shane puts it:

“Mental models are a framework for understanding how the world really works. They help you grasp new ideas quickly, identify patterns before anyone else and shift your perspective with ease.”

In my mind Myers-Briggs is simply one of these mental model tools. I just conducted a session last week with about 20 participants. As I walk through each process described in the model people always start laughing and enjoying themselves because they immediately see the examples in themselves and each other. As Shane says, it’s a quick way of identifying patterns and shifting our perspective. I’ve never finished a session without people telling me how much they learned and how they believe it can immediately help them negotiate their corporate, community and family relationships better. Now that’s a useful tool, even if it was put together by a couple of enthusiastic amateurs.

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Ancient Tales of Modern Day Woes

by Ron Potter July 25, 2016

Long, long ago in a land far, far away I was summoned to the Court of the Farthing Orderer, better known as the office of the CFO.

Upon responding to the summons, the CFO looked at me long and hard for several minutes. Finally speaking he said, “You dress funny. All of us wear court garments of green and white but you are dressed in a strange combination of maize and blue.” But that’s another story to be revisited after the fall jousting season.

Now this CFO was a bit portly and slightly balding, not a particularly striking figure. However, he seemed to be very wise, was very good at ciphering and the other people of his court enjoyed working under his guidance.

“For what need have you summoned me?” I asked.

“One of my Knights,” the CFO responded. “I’m having a great difficulty understanding his speech.”

“Is he from a foreign land?” I asked.

“No,” responded the CFO. “He grew up in a court much like ours but in a smaller kingdom.”

“Is he performing poorly or not exhibiting the integrity of a Knight?” I probed.

“Quite the opposite,” said the CFO. “He has performed extremely well over the few years he’s been here and the King is very pleased with his work.”

Humbly bowing to the CFO I said, “I’m sorry for my ignorance, sir, but I really don’t understand the problem.”

“The problem is,” responded the CFO. “I never know where he is or what dragon he is slaying or how that slaying is going to further protect the Kingdom. I need better information to tell the King when he asks about the Knights exploits.”

“Alright, I need to talk with this Knight, where shall I find him?”

The CFO looked at me blankly and said, “Have you been listening to anything I’ve said?”

“Never mind,” I said. “I’ll find him.”

When I found our knight, I decided to take the direct route and said, “The CFO never knows where you are or what you’re doing, you need to communicate more.”

The Knight looked at me dumbfounded and said, “You’ve got to be jesting me! I talk to the CFO all the time.”

In the morning before the court is even open I tell him about my long-range plans while we’re practicing our sword play.
When I pass him in the great corridor of the King, I give him a quick update on all fronts.
I’ll often whisper in his ear during the Great noon-time Feast.
Even while having an evening ale I’ll give him a quick update.

I talk with him all the time. How could he need any more communication?”

And in that moment I saw the problem. Long ago I learned from a certain seer from the land of MBTI that two particular types of people often have a difficult time communicating. It seems that the CFO was an IS and the Knight was an EN. Hmmm…. I thought, how can I get this IS and EN to better understand each other?

I suggested to our EN (Extraverted iNtuitive) Knight that he nail a one-page outline of his weeks slayings to the CFO’s door every Monday morning.

“But that’s so restrictive,” said the knight. “How could I possibly convey all that’s going on in a one-page outline?”

“Humor me,” I said.

Three weeks later I asked the IS (Introverted Sensing) CFO, how are things going?

“Splendid!” were his words. “I know exactly where our Knight is and what dragon he’s slaying. The King and I are both very pleased.”

The moral of the story? Even if you grew up and work in the same court together, don’t assume your communication is being understood. Know enough about all of the “languages” being spoken and heard to assure good understanding and communication.

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Blog Myers-Briggs

Lights! Camera! Action! An Introvert Living in an Extraverted World

by Ron Potter June 16, 2016

My friend Mark Storrs sent me a note saying how much he identified with the post about an Introvert living in an Extraverted world. Mark has years of experience in learning & development and communications and is currently a Human Resources Business Partner for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan so I was very interested in his thoughts. I asked him to send me a story and the following is what he shared with me. He said “I witnessed a technical lead providing a project update to the executive team, and I watched how nervous he was, how his leader was coaching and supporting him.” I think it’s a great story.

“You’re doing a great job working on the project. I’d like you to present a strategy and status update to the executive team.”

We’ve all been there. Writing code for a new application your company is working on. Supporting a major project behind the scenes. Perhaps even informally leading a small team on that project. Then the unthinkable happens… you get recognized for your work, and your boss wants you to take what is often seen as the next logical step – visibility with leadership. But you’re an introvert and you don’t see visibility as the next step. That’s somebody else’s job. You’re perfectly happy in your behind-the-scenes individual contributor role.

[Oh no, I can’t do that. I don’t want to do that! You can’t make me!!]

“No, that’s not necessary. But I’ll be glad to write something up for you, and you can present.”

“No really. I want you to give the update to the project sponsors.”

[OH NO!!!!]

And there you are. You’re stuck. You can’t get out of it. You have to present. Now comes the stress…

[How detailed do I have to be?]
[What should I wear? I don’t want to be too casual, but I don’t want it to look like I’m trying too hard.]
[Can I use notes and talk from them? Or do I have to memorize it all?]
[But if I memorize it, I’ll sound like a robot!]
[It’s 3am and my presentation is in 6 hours! I’m not ready!]
[I haven’t had any sleep. Surely they’ll see bags under my eyes.]
[Must get to sleep… wait! What if I oversleep???!!!]

“Good morning. I want to give you a status update on Project X…”

[They hate me already.]
[And they deserve to hate me. I’m a fraud. I shouldn’t be up here.]
[I wonder if I sound too rehearsed? Be natural…be natural.]
[I can feel the sweat. I wonder if they can see me sweating?]
[The VP is checking her phone – she’s bored! I’m such a fraud!]

“And that concludes my update. Any questions?”

[Please, dear Lord, don’t let there be any questions!!]
[This awkward silence is deafening! It must be 30 minutes now!]
[Whew, I’m glad that was over. I bombed! Well the good thing is I won’t have to do that again.]

And that’s how it is for an introvert who’s taking those first steps in an extroverted world. A terrifying experience! But with these type of presentations being part of the next step up the corporate ladder, just what is an introvert to do?

So many times, we think we have to change our personalities to do something new like this. But that’s just not realistic. An extreme introvert is simply not going to just change and be bubbly and outgoing simply because there’s a change in job responsibilities. It’s just not going to happen. The trick is to not focus on changing yourself, but to think of yourself as an actor. That’s right – you’re an actor playing a role! You’re an introvert playing the role of an extrovert!

Think about it. Actors embrace different characters, put on different personalities. And that’s just what you’re doing here. You’re embracing the role of a presenter, giving an update about the project that you’re an expert on.

And just like actors, you have to practice at it to get good. An actor doesn’t just start out on Broadway or in a blockbuster film. They have to hone their craft. They go to acting classes, participate in different workshops focusing on various aspects of acting, learn from other actors, etc. They have to get comfortable with acting.

It’s the same for an introvert who finds him/herself in the strange new world of extroverts. You go to class… Study up on personality styles, read up on meeting facilitation techniques, learn how to use your introverted nature as a strength in developing your own presentation style. Watch other presenters, see how they make eye contact, work the room, engage all participants. Ask others to be your practice audience, give the presentation to them and then absorb their feedback like an actor does with his acting coach.

Your acting career starts out slow, with small presentations. You’ll be nervous, you may even fumble a little. And that’s OK. Because like an actor, you learn from those early experiences, you develop your own “acting” style, and you get better. One presentation at a time.

Over time you find yourself getting more and more comfortable in this new world of extroverts. You may even get to a point where you fool some into thinking you’re one of them. But deep down you know you’re not.

You’re just an actor.

Mark may not know it but a large portion of stand-up comedian performers identify with the Introverted side of the scale. And they’re really good! Introverts can be very entertaining, even in an extraverted world.

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