dmorin's Journal: INTP

Just found out today that I'm INTP (that's Myers Briggs, aka MBTI talk). Interesting in that my career councilor(sp??) would have thought I was an E rather than I, and I thought I was a J, not a P.

The answer to the first question was obvious, to me. "The only conversations you and I have ever had are about me," I said. "I'm perfectly happy and confident to talk about myself all day. But put me in a room of strangers and I won't even have the courage to introduce myself."

The second was more interesting. The way he described the difference between J and P went a little something like this: "J's primarily like to get all the info they can, make a decision, and then once that decision is made, that's that. They'll stay in a career all their life, even if they don't like it, rather than change. P's, on the other hand, are more go with the flow type of people who have no problem constantly changing, because they're always bringing in new information and re-evaluating their decision. Most P's I see have had a number of career changes."

That didn't mean much to me because apparently I'm a P but have only had one real career -- nay, passion -- in life. Namely, hacking code. I think that having primarily been in management for the past fews years I could see where the P begins to shine through. It's perfectly common to have a wonderful plan that will take 3 months, then be told to change it on the fly. I got good at that. I guess if I was more J I would have more difficulty at it. Of course, on the flip side, I also love to dream about having an idea and turning it into a startup, but never will -- because since I'm constantly re-evaluating my position, I never have the confidence in a single idea to say "Yup, this is the one I will bank it all on."

Always interesting to learn about oneself.