Workspaces part 4: INTJs

Workspaces part 4: INTJs
The professional association manager,
the analyser of processes in organisations,
the management analyst,
the website builder and content manager …
… and the academic
How do INTJs inhabit their workspaces?
Properly!
INTJs tend to enjoy complex refining and
resolving, fashioning and fixing. More than
other types, INTJs hinge their artistic and
scientific natures together beautifully.
In part 3 of this series (Australian Psychological Type Review, March 2004), I identified
peripatetic ENTPs in their workspaces as
mobile intra- and entrepreneurs. Sociable
and convivial, they seek variety, enjoy meeting off site, and create social events in order
to work best with their colleagues.
Meredith Fuller
Meredith Fuller (INFP) has spent 25
years as a psychologist in private
practice. Meredith is a recognised
specialist in career change and
vocational behaviour, a columnist,
psychological profiler, and media
spokesperson for the Australian
Psychological Society.
Reflecting the medieval and historical
themes in the life patterns of some
of the people profiled in this article,
Meredith is pictured above in the role
of Olivia in Twelfth Night.
mfandbw@teksupport.net.au
Australian Psychological Type Review
In contrast, INTJs usually eschew coffee
shop breaks and long lunches, preferring
to get their work finished first. They may
stay late in the office (‘often fixing other
people’s blunders’), or take work home
to meet deadlines and their high standards. As several INTJs have pointed out,
there are points in a task where ‘you just
can’t leave because it’s 5 pm’; ‘you’re not
finished until the job is completed, however long that takes.’
Typical of their type, my INTJ case studies
—Marilyn, Paul, Kay and David—are
quietly capable, clever, articulate and hardworking achievers. They have an uncanny
knack for immediately zeroing in to the
core of a problem. They tend to be competent scholars in a number of areas in
their professional and private lives. So,
too, does my fifth case study, Viân, who
identifies as ‘INTX’ rather than INTJ.
Vol 6 No. 3
November 2004
While ENTJs and ENTPs incorporate other
people and resources in order to get the
job done quickly, there is greater reliance
on the self from INTs, who are less likely
to come to hasty closure simply because
something else beckons, or because their
team’s attitude is ‘that’ll do.’
My earlier INTP case studies (Australian
Psychological Type Review, November 2003)
may become so engrossed in their Bermuda Triangle of theoretical complexity,
references, segues and tangents that they
may not produce a finished piece of work.
The INTJs in this article begin with the end
in mind, and finish what they start in an
efficient, effective and consistent manner.
Their long-term vision of outcome sustains
them throughout any arduous process that
may take decades to accomplish. More than
one has commented that they know where
they’re headed, in a far-seeing sense, even
if they are not clear in the immediate or
short term forecasting.
Marilyn, for example, plans her year meticulously so that she will stay on top of the
work: ‘I won’t allow diversions until, say,
the budget is completed. Certain mid-year
tasks take months of concentration. I don’t
surface socially until everything’s done.’
Judith Provost (1990) notes that Js are
‘often seen as decisive and organised,
liking structure and closure … Their
leisure time usually carefully planned and
left until work is completed.’
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Meredith Fuller:
Workspaces, part 4: INTJs
As Charles Martin (1995) points out, INTJs
‘prefer theoretical and technical positions
that require prolonged periods of solitary
concentration and tough-minded analysis.
Their task orientation, perseverance,
powers of abstraction, and willingness to
look at systems creatively often draw them
to careers where they can pursue the implementation of their inner vision.’
Provost notes that INTJs find satisfaction
in contemplative ideas or possibilities, using
their imagination in reflection. They can
become absorbed in their own inner world
and in the creative process as designers,
writers and researchers. It is often said
that INTJs are the most misunderstood
of the types, and also the most sceptical.
INTJs at work
As Susan Nash points out in the July 2004
Australian Psychological Type Review:
Their life’s orientation
tends to be to ‘see
everything in terms
of systems; look for
optimal solutions.’
INTJs are Rationals who need to be experts,
demonstrating competence in whatever
ventures they deem important. They value
autonomy and independence … and employ
intellectual rigour in their approach to facts
and data.
INTJs are more strategically future-focused
than other types. Their life’s orientation
tends to be to ‘see everything in terms of
systems; look for optimal solutions.’ Several mention game theory as the unifying
element of their social interactions with
other INTJs. Provost observes that INTJs,
with their original minds, most enjoy games
of strategy.
INTJs usually enjoy refining systems, and
work long and hard until the task is finished. They are careful, critically analytical
and exacting in their standards. There is a
tendency towards addiction to perfection
as they strive for justice, integrity and excellence. The glass is half-empty, rather than
half-full. They are quick to identify shortcomings, errors, omissions, snags and
difficulties that need to be rectified.
INTJs don’t necessarily work ‘with’, but
tend to work ‘alongside’, or as internal
consultant-organisers or executive managers to a project. Autonomy, independence and goal achievement are paramount.
12
Within a team there is something slightly
aloof about INTJs’ seating, task selection,
and method of execution. They can wait
resignedly until the others provide what
they need, and then do it alone. When
they do work with others, INTJs prefer a
collegial team where there is likely to be
similar skills, competence and application.
Musing on teamwork, David says, ‘I can
either be a cog in the machine, or a part
in an ensemble. Both have very different
roles, and understandings of the bigger
picture.’
Watching these INTJs operate within a
group, it is interesting to note that they
all tend to undertake solo tasks, and wait,
patiently or impatiently, to provide the
group with reasons why X or Y can only
be achieved if done in a particular way.
Invariably, they are the only ones who
can solve the problem or manipulate the
technology to deliver the outcomes.
We associate INTJs with construction and
evaluation of flowcharts and procedures,
as well as ethical work practices. Susan
Nash notes their insistence on ‘employing
precise language, often correcting word
choices to ensure that their understanding is correct.’
In their concern for precision, during the
drafting of this article several of my case
studies made a number of modifications
to their titles. Given their simultaneous, as
well as sequential, multi-roles, encapsulating them with correct job titles proved to
be somewhat tricky.
Writing, research, history, gardening, cooking and architectural design feature heavily.
Philosophical, technical, strategic and
creative thinking underscore all they do.
Creating order from chaos is a specialty.
Let’s now look at our INTJs: Marilyn, the
professional association manager; Paul,
the analyser of processes in organisations;
Kay, the management analyst; and David,
the website builder and content manager.
To round out the picture, we’ll also look
an INT who acts ‘J’ in the workplace and
‘P’ away from work, Viân.
I will then wrap up with a look at careers
counselling themes for INTJs that I have
observed in my counselling practice.
Australian Psychological Type Review
Vol 6 No. 3
November 2004
The professional
association manager ...
... and history and English teacher /
would-be documentary radio producer
Marilyn Lay, INTJ
Tall, thin and elegant, Marilyn initially
presents as a no-nonsense taskmaster,
but beneath her reserve is a dry wit and
fun-loving nature.
She exudes shrewd competence, and is
known for her loyalty, perceptivity, and
encouragement of growth and development of people. Her knowledge base is
broad and she shows a lively curiosity.
Keenly observant of what people need
and how they operate, she respectfully
supports and mentors.
Marilyn is a program manager of a national post-graduate qualification, as well
as overseeing operations of the office and
training centre. Prior to this hefty role, she
managed education and careers marketing
for the profession. Other roles include
working in print media, and consulting in
instructional design.
In her first career, as a humanities teacher,
Marilyn assumed head of history and senior school coordinator very quickly. She
was also a sports coordinator.
Well travelled, Marilyn is knowledgeable
about many cultures, and an awesome international cook. Her interest in film and
capacity for critical analysis of all genres is
impressive. She has a strong resonance with
both 1920s and 1930s design and stark,
modern design—happily living in either.
More recently, she has been drawn to
the simplicity of Japanese style, and has
started a bonsai collection. Her colours
are black and jewel—red, green, blue.
Marilyn was a country kid who wanted to
explore options beyond the country town
environment. As a child she had long-term
goals. With a studentship, teaching offered the means to higher education:
Australian Psychological Type Review
Vol 6 No. 3
I always knew that I wanted to get away to the
‘big city.’ I certainly didn’t want the usual path
of going into a retail shop or a bank, married
by 21, and with three kids before reaching 30.
I had a childhood fantasy about becoming a
pianist; so precocious little me banged the
keys on any piano I could lay my hands on.
This dream was exactly that—a dream.
My father had a stroke when I was 11 and
I witnessed my mother needing to take over
the full overseeing of the farm. Bedridden Dad
was not privy to the doctor advising my mother
that he would never walk again. My mother
never told him this doctor’s opinion.
It was a hard road for Dad, but his grit and
determination enabled him to fight back and
to learn to walk again. I saw the two sides of
different challenges as my mother assumed
responsibility for the farm, while Dad proved
that any doctor should not underestimate the
power of determination and a Leo personality.
From her parents Marilyn learnt the lesson,
‘Don’t give in—do your best, adapt, you
can’t afford to call it quits.’ In her formative years her parents were powerful role
models as Marilyn witnessed them reassess,
readjust and realign. Similar to the other
INTJs in this article, there is a drive to
complete what has been started, despite
obstacles.
This wasn’t an easy time in my young life, but
I was determined, focused, curious and open,
despite feeling apprehensive.
It was reassuring that both of her parents
wanted her to aim for tertiary education.
Like the other independent-minded INTJs,
Marilyn respected her parents’ support,
but calmly insisted on following her own
vision from the age of 15. Her determination was obvious from an early age.
I see where I’m headed. I want to be independent, no children, earn my own living in a
worthwhile and hopefully challenging job. If I
have to take two steps forward and one back
to get there, so be it.
Marilyn Lay, 1970
Since my early teens I kept a diary
to record my thoughts, and spent
a great deal of time reading.
I was a studious child who had to
do everything ‘properly’: prefect,
house captain, above-average
sporting ability. I wanted to achieve
scholastically, and in the sporting
arena as well.
While I didn’t push myself forward,
I loved being asked or chosen for
leadership roles.
I was disheartened with insufficient workspace
as a teacher. Lack of storage for books and
personal effects, crowded communal offices
with no privacy or aesthetics was not conducive to work productivity or private harmony.
November 2004
13
Meredith Fuller:
Workspaces, part 4: INTJs
My passion was always media, especially radio
and communication. Getting the listening audience to pause or consider things, reflect on
issues they had experience of, or no experience of. I was very observant. Did well.
I enrolled in a grad dip in media when in my
early 30s, studying part-time. My plan was to
escape the burnout I was feeling, caused in my
teaching job as I battled with a lot of ‘negative
clients’, mainly testosterone-charged 14 to 15
year old boys whose agenda was poles apart
from my passion, to educate and open their
perspectives.
Marilyn Lay
I taught humanities at all year levels
7 to 12. I made it come alive: history,
imagining we were there, and how
people lived.
For my 11 to 12 level students I was
adamant about linking studies to the
skills required to pass exams. Study
tips and extra practice essays were
my mission to get all the students up
to speed and pass as well as they
were capable of. I pushed them.
My Year 12 students’ results were
always higher than most. I gained
great satisfaction from contributing
to many students being able to reach
a score that gave them an entry into
university.
I was strongly drawn to radio documentary,
interviews, sound pieces and hypotheticals.
The teacher in me had not disappeared—
indeed, I was searching for a forum to influence people to think and hopefully reflect
on societal issues. My goal was to work with
ABC Radio. I walked on air when shortlisted
for an interview for an ABC traineeship, and
was utterly devastated when I was not selected.
This was a watershed for me. Not usually a
risk-taker, I threw caution to the wind, resigned
and went overseas for two months. I’d worry
about an income later. Once back, my search
for part-time work translated into a stint with
Business Review Weekly. It may sound impressive, but it was very basic routine work.
However, I did not care, as it enabled me to
keep bread and quaffing wine on the table
while I searched for my new and different job.
My entry back into ‘real’ work came through
a former teacher, bless his heart. He employed
me in my current workplace, a professional
association. I took on this opportunity as it fell
within my realm of being able to contribute
to expanding peoples’ educational horizons.
If you can’t exactly crack your holy grail, then
staying within an educational horizon was
still very important to me, and contributing to
others’ ability to expand their horizons.
Marilyn’s desk and workspace
I would love to have the luxury of input into
my own office space. I do not like ‘built-ins’
and find it is always a compromise adapting
to room configurations which other people
have designed.
14
My own touches are the Van Gogh print of
the irises and a few personal effects. The
rest is adapted to the predetermined space
and layout. Office configurations in a righthanded world do not necessarily suit those of
us who are ‘lefties.’ My computer, phone,
writing space and frequently used things are
positioned in a fashion that most other
people find peculiar and unworkable.
Returning from leave always throws me into
the Goldilocks syndrome as a lot of things
have migrated to the right. Whose been hotseating in my office?
There is one thing I really envy about some
of my workmates—those who have pristinely
tidy desks and manage to maintain the fashionable minimal look in their work area. Given
I operate by ‘to do lists’, time management
and super-avoidance of the ‘just in time’ philosophy, I see my chaotic looking office as a
real contradiction. It bothers me.
As does that myth of the paperless office. Although I detest the messy look, it is ordered
mess. Thus, although there are piles of folders,
emails and marketing collateral, the piles are
sequenced and systematic. I know what is
what, what project it relates to, and where it
is. It just looks like an unholy mess, and I’m
sure that is the consensus in the office.
I do file once a project is completed. However,
filing is akin to my worst nightmare, so often
a completed project may reside on the floor/
desk a tad longer than it should before going
into the big cupboard and out of sight.
I love movies, cooking, entertaining, reading,
and quiet times. My path in the near not-toodistant future will be using the other side of
my brain. I need to pursue another passion,
work with my hands and express myself
creatively and visually.
I like experimenting and getting my hands
dirty. In what medium I’m not quite sure. I
would prefer to recycle materials. Whether
this is newspaper, paper, wood, glass, or
something else, I have yet to decide. All I
know is that, whatever I do, I need to be
passionately involved with what I create.
I have been analytical and task-driven all my
life. I now want to use my other creative and
artistic parts to make things.
Australian Psychological Type Review
Vol 6 No. 3
November 2004
Paul is the author of the recently published
Clearings: Six Colonial Gardeners and Their
Landscapes (Melbourne University Press,
2004), a delightful book for everyone
fascinated by Australian garden history.
The analyser of
processes in
organisations …
... and writer / curator / architectural
historian
Paul Fox, INTJ
In addition to his business skills, Paul has
a background in history and landscape
architecture. He has written extensively
on colonial architecture and Melbourne’s
cultural institutions gardens. The colonial
frontier, photography and gardening form
the basis of most of his extensive publications.
He is an honorary fellow of the Australian
Centre at the University of Melbourne, a
member of the landscape advisory subcommittee of Heritage Council Victoria,
and a member of the editorial advisory
panel for Australian Garden History.
Highly regarded and consulted as an expert
public speaker, adviser and commentator
in those areas, Paul is also respected for
his strategic thinking as a research analyst
in business strategy. His theoretical grasp
of business, knowledge of e-commerce
trends, useful experience in project management, and ability to juggle diverse projects concurrently reveal his considerable
intellect.
Erudite Paul is a thoughtful and ethical
gentleman. As a child his favourite book
was Gulliver’s Travels, and he amused himself making cities from mud, feathers and
bricks. Like his grandfather, he has always
admired historic houses and gardens.
Paul studied economics and politics at university, simply because he had topped his
school in those subjects. After his Dip Ed
and a stint teaching, he followed his passion and gained his Masters in landscape
architecture. As a recipient of Museum
Victoria’s Thomas Ramsay Scholarship,
Paul studied the history of the culture of
collecting and cultural institutions.
Australian Psychological Type Review
Vol 6 No. 3
I have written numerous articles for academic
and general publications, so here was my opportunity to take my work to the next logical
step and write my first book. I remember
standing on steps of a Francis Johnston house
in Ireland and deciding to write a book about
the transformations that occur in the colonial
world.
Working full-time in a business role, Paul
had to devise a strategy to enable him to
write the book after work.
I researched and wrote the book for three
nights a week over four years. Meticulous
organisation of research was required. The
book has taken a long time because it is
about layering—information, the history of
design, photography, and so on.
I thought if I had six characters and they told
their stories I could keep each chapter in my
head as I wrote it, and they were the six I
came up with, and they are in the order I
came up with. I wanted to set out to see
what happens when you make a clearing in
a colonial space; the changes, translations,
discussions and conversations that arise as
you start to clear the land.
In his book Clearings, Paul Fox
writes about six intriguing heroes.
He summarises their personalities:
• Sir William Macarthur: wily and
confident of his social position
• Lang: a self-improver par excell-
ence and man of civic virtue
• Bunce: unusual in having sym-
pathy with Aboriginal people,
perhaps due to much of his life
being at the edge of respectable
society
• Guilfoyle: imaginative, aware of
the senses, integrator of his personal experiences
• Mitchell: pugnacious, articulate,
analytical, ability to create new
ways of seeing and visionary
• Ferguson: limited to what he
already knew and understood
I have a fascination for rural Australia that
comes from childhood. On holidays we were
given tasks: a sister read the maps, I went to
the local library so that I could report on the
local history. We were taken on drives, and
you’d have this wonderful sense of conversation. You’d judge good farms and bad farms
by tussocks and fences, and you’d do a head
count of sheep in paddocks …
There has always been empathy for land and
story and the people who inhabit the land.
The book has not come just from ferreting in
archives, it’s come from a sense of place.
Curious about everything, Paul’s interests
are wide-ranging. He is fascinated by the
way people behave and where the country
is heading. ‘I am interested in thinking. I’m
interested in understanding how what you
see in other people reflects who you are.’
November 2004
The art of being creative
is knowing the detail,
then winnowing it so
there is hardly any left
15
Meredith Fuller:
Workspaces, part 4: INTJs
I work best when I have someone to fire off
and give the ideas to, and they go and do the
detail. However, in writing you have to do the
TJs>
Paul is bothered by the lack of strategic
thinking and long-term forecasting in
others:
I can be like quicksilver—see things in a flash.
I like the big picture. I’m intrigued by how
people work with others co-operatively, the
conversation is important; I’m a bit tentative
.... See the whole problem. ‘Bureaucracy’ best
describes my current workplace; I’m analytic.
From a paper presented
recently by Paul Fox
And what are the long-term implications on the State Library of the British
Library’s first mover advantage? The
strength of the British Library’s brand
and the immediacy of access to its
collections suggest that its long-term
strategic intent is be to become a global on-line library to an ever increasing
number of businesses and researchers.
* * *
If we don’t debate the appropriateness
of these models, the State Library may
not have a future as we come to realise
Victoria in the Kennett and Bracks years
built the last of the old libraries rather
than imagined and engineered the first
of the new.
Why in 2004 should Victorians be
faced with the prospect of not having
the access that readers of the British
Library have to online information
because of a lack of willingness to
address, and fund, the future?
‘Remembering the Past; Forgetting the
Future: Turning 150 in Melbourne:
Who do we commemorate and why?’
Melbourne Conversation series,
14 September 2004
Read
Paul’s
paper
in
its
entirety
at
<www.aapt.org.au/thereview/IN
16
lot. From the fiddle of footnotes to the details
of the images—-there is a fair bit of steeling
oneself in that fiddle. The art of being creative
is knowing the detail then winnowing it so there
is hardly any left. Most people don’t understand that and want to clag one’s mind up.
Initially spontaneous, Paul is then planned
and strategic. (‘In other words, how the
hell do I do this in the given time?’)
Interests?
Best if I work on big picture, then can put together detail. People say I am idiosyncratic,
but I never think about this.
I adore bike riding, a passion I took up a few
years ago. On weekends I go for long bike
rides along the river, enjoying the scenery.
Paul is interested in history, ideas, landscape, meetings, driving the new, the
future. He describes himself as analytical,
blunt, perceptive, a lateral thinker, intuitive,
‘interested in what Todorov calls acts of
kindness and the moral good (where
goodness is a coalition / coalescence of
opportunity for good between people
and reading the situation politically).’
Handling anger?
Paul is usually interested in seeking longterm goals. He envisions easily and hates
always being given the concrete and mundane. Not suffering fools gladly, he avoids
dreary people and anyone in his professional life who wants to fence him in (‘as
much as is possible!’)
Dishonesty and disloyalty bother him. His
capacity for reflection and analysis means
that he is usually aware of the truth, resenting those who habitually try to pull
the wool over colleagues’ eyes. A patient
man, he thinks long and hard about the
most effective ways to achieve his goals.
Earnest, hardworking and stoic, Paul is
excited by continuous improvement and
visionary thinking. His capacity to see
patterns and differences, and to play with
metaphor, is astounding.
What I do is have idea and then think about
long-term and short-term implications. The
short term is the day-to-day nuts and bolts,
which tells you how to build long-term vision.
The difficulty is that people tend to want to
get bogged down in all the detail, which can
slow you to snail’s pace.
Better as you get older; when you accept the
mystery of difference in other people, then
anger dissolves. If there’s an ethical issue,
then anger will propel me to take the issue
up publicly until it is addressed and resolved.
Paul’s desk and workspace?
‘Messy.’
Favourite colours?
Green.
What is your life about?
Endless work. In my family we were instilled
with a sense of leaving the world a better
place than we had entered.
How would you describe yourself?
Friends would describe me as a Fox Terrier,
challenging, intellectually daunting; funny,
quirky, don’t fit expectations, brave/fearless,
unique, see things nobody else can see, practical as well as visionary, caring, diplomatic,
honest, and sometimes fragile.
This is a fine man with an enthusiasm for
living with integrity and a generosity of
spirit in sharing knowledge and ideas. His
sharp humour enables this unique and
modest man to navigate his drives along
many roads, recognising that his visionary
ideas can be threatening to some of the
sheep in the paddocks he passes.
Paul’s next book, Travelling: Europe in the
Australian imagination, explores how the
notion of travel has played itself out in the
Australian landscape from 1860 to 1972.
Australian Psychological Type Review
Vol 6 No. 3
November 2004
The management
analyst …
... and chamber musician / examiner /
academic / overseas organisation / evaluation consultant / higher education
consultant and quality improvement
manager / corporate education strategic
online learning manager / director of
policy and external affairs in professional
associations
Dr Kay Stevens, INTJ
A stylish sharpshooter with a wicked laugh
and twinkle in the eye as she delivers witty
retorts, Kay consults in policy, planning,
operations, facilitation and evaluation. In
addition to her career in music, she has
worked as a director, manager, academic
and consultant. After working for organisations for many years, Kay now works
independently and collaborates with some
executive consulting firms. She is mainly
interested in operational initiatives and
integrated policy development.
Kay’s qualifications include a PhD (a sociopolitical analysis of higher education distance education markets, technology and
pedagogy) MA, Dip Ed and Bachelor of
Music. She is modest and self-deprecating
about the depth and breadth of her talent.
Yet this dynamic, self-directed wordsmith
is well known for her immediate grasp of
complexity and strategy, and her delivery
of value-added recommendations.
Kay has studied and worked overseas on
many occasions. As a troubleshooter and
project manager, she enjoys building onto
learning to the next level. While she does
not suffer fools gladly, Kay struggles with
bullies and has difficulty rejecting their
demands of impossible tasks with unreasonable deadlines. She dislikes saying no,
and may take on too much work.
Kay’s active mind enjoys the challenge of
being engaged with problems that stretch
her. She tends to be a pioneer, often the
first, the fastest, or the most functional.
These qualities don’t necessarily endear
her to others who may feel threatened
by the sheer force of her thinking.
Australian Psychological Type Review
Vol 6 No. 3
I loved physics and maths, but was labelled as
‘musician’, so I pursued those studies. I come
from a musical family. Like my mother, I have
also taught piano. I became the youngest
appointed examiner for Australian Music
Examinations Board, at 26.
Kay’s core skills are:
Analysis, judgements, planning, strategy, clarity
of processes, a good solution (must have a
solution), working through complexity, providing reality checks, seeing pragmatics, but mixed
with metaphors and imagery. Creative solutions.
Also noting how others have mixed it up—
skills analysis of others.
I’m also analytical, blunt, perceptive. Too intense. Emotional. Hard and soft. Intolerant
of phoneys. Tolerant of the weak. Big on
social justice and also big on the game—
entrepreneurial. Too focussed at times.
Amazed others can’t see ‘it.’
I seek solutions. Having some really great /
strong engagement with whatever ‘it’ is. The
engagement must involve the fun of a chase.
Moving on to the next problem. Moving back
to the last problem or the ones before that if
it will help resolve a complexity, i.e. solutions
that address complexity, but which are not
complex in themselves—must be practical.
From Kay Stevens’ paper
‘Policy bridges the gap’
A successful organisation is easy to
achieve: have sound planning and
effective implementation. If you achieve
these, sound governance and quality
assurance happen almost naturally. …
Kay works best in independent roles where
she can pursue intriguing assignments. In
the past she was more concerned with the
truth than politics, and became frustrated
when she suspected hidden agendas or
barriers. She needed to respect her direct
report, and worked best with non-defensive leaders. When not self-employed, Kay
has always worked best in collegial teams
where she is able to hand-pick her staff,
rather than a traditional managerial role.
However, in many instances there remains a gap—one which we all know
about—the gap between planning and
implementation.
I’m usually described as resistant when I am
controlled, cornered, manoeuvred, given boring
tasks. I avoid the sports captain, and particularly the school captain. Avoid the being who
wants to play games or be superior, although
love to engage with really good leaders with
capability and vision. Peripheral tasks. Engagement until the ideas are starting to burst out.
The advantages of quality policy development are enormous. Policies can
then demonstrate the strategic action
of organisations and confirm organisational alignment—the actions we need
to implement and the limitations to
abide by.
I’m most likely to be bothered by palaver, those
that won’t call it as it is. Threatened by highly
glib people. Won’t give ‘smart’ answers quickly
or easily. Want to come up with the whole
solution—later.
November 2004
* * *
Quality policy development is a threeway task: as a strategic check, as pragmatic confirmation, and as a contract
of communication. By engaging in these
three tasks, we can bridge the gap
between planning and implementation.
Finally, with quality policies we guarantee our engagement in democratic
communication that is not just a communication of activity, but of values and
of cultural ethos.
Read
Kay’s
paper
in
its
entirety
at
<www.aapt.org.au/thereview/IN
TJs>
17
Meredith Fuller:
Workspaces, part 4: INTJs
Describe your desk and workspace.
There is a mess, but not always. The most
important thing is to be sure of getting to the
ideas. If the physical space is messy and
doesn’t distract from that goal of attending
to concepts, then the mess is OK. When it is
about to interfere, then it is time to clean up
and start again.
My preferred environment is to be left alone
on one hand, but to have instant access to
others when required.
How do you go about doing a task?
Most important thing is finding the logic, or
lack of it, in a situation: the rationale, what
has caused the mess, the key to the conundrum. Next is to find a solution that shows or
will present a very logical working-through of
it all. This takes the greatest time … Then
putting it all together is easy and wonderful.
Kay Stevens
How could people get
the best out of you?
Not get affronted at being given
definite decisions.
Give me time to think and prepare
mentally.
Be responsive to queries, without
assuming conclusions are ready to
be formed. No games.
Interests?
Planning—what needs to happen to get the
garden right, to embark on the next trip, how
to swim the next set of laps better. Interests
are therefore solo affairs. But social company
is sought to vent / expunge emotional sides.
(Seems rather selfish.)
I find the Cold War period with spies and intrigue interesting. Not interested in righteous
Christian battles or war as battles of might,
or ancient legends.
Little idiosyncrasies?
Provide feedback that allows me
time / opportunity to improve.
Need for stability in boring things so that these
fade totally into the background and so leave
room for the challenging stuff. For example,
I would be upset if my keys are not readily
available, as it is a waste of time to rethink
the situation. I’m not obsessive about having
tidy key locations: just whatever it is, establish
the rules / pattern, and leave it be.
Give recognition of efforts / output.
Handling anger?
Have confidence that the work will be
done and of a good quality. Very little
need to monitor: provide deadlines
and scope, and just leave me to it.
Never suggest there is some competition or others are doing better;
just provide constructive feedback.
Recognise the benefits of a multiskilled person.
Should not feel threatened.
18
Not well. When practising being more in control the benefits are obviously less emotional
strain, but the negatives are to feel grey. Best
solution becomes to avoid the people or situations that cause it.
Favourite colours?
Red is wonderful, but black is safe and ambiguous.
People would say I’m demanding, hard, soft,
easy, over-analytical, not caring on the face of
it, but would walk over hot coals to support
and resolve the key issue for another person.
Life demands some engagement that makes
you feel valued. Hard to live for the moment,
but gets easier as you get older—that’s the
sunshine bit. The black cloud bit is that you
have to be less ingenuous, even though you
have always felt you have been astute.
Your taste in architecture and houses?
Houses: clean-sweep design; bold / forthright
openings / foyers—no difficulty / ambiguity in
entering. Still colourings—generally autumn
tonings. Some drama, but not everywhere.
Describe your life.
I feel great joy in being able to have a ‘go’ at
lots of things, and able to enjoy a variety of
people, situations and concepts.
I feel the pressure of being too multi-skilled and
at risk of being overlooked for specialists at
every turn. This is even in social situations, and
I lack the confidence to project confidence in my
own multi-skilling and ability to cross-connect.
Kay realises the irony, as many find her a
formidable, competent professional. She
takes responsibility for feeling unrealistic
pressure that the world expects one to
be a specialist in every area. She certainly
suffers from the INTJ self-expectation to
do whatever she undertakes masterfully.
I would love to be identified as a professional
group: multi-skillers; analysts. I feel the pressure
of being slower than the ‘fast thinkers’—‘slick
on their feet’ ones—but I’m faster to resolve
the bigger picture. The timing as to how to
‘get into the play ’often gets awkward, and it
can make me reserved in interactions. I often
wish for some easy, smooth sailing (but don’t
know that I would take it if it appeared).
Kay is quite a private person, who enjoys
playing in the mind with business, theoretical and societal issues, and creating
policy that contributes to the good of all.
Keen on social justice, she is on the board
of a welfare organisation. More impressively, at this time in her life she courageously confronts her shadow material and
integration of her least preferred functions
in her quest for life balance.
Australian Psychological Type Review
Vol 6 No. 3
November 2004
The website builder
and content manager
... and desktop publisher / ‘cutter & paster’
/ journeyman
David is ‘picking the eyes out of’ a professional writing and editing diploma.
David G, INTJ
I don’t know what you call me ... hell, I don’t
know what I call me.
The title on my business card says I am a
‘content manager’, but I have no idea what
that actually means ... I was initially employed
as a website builder. These days it is mostly
‘Chief Cutter & Paster’, ‘he says flippantly’ ...
Perhaps ‘Journeyman’? It works for me. Of
course, I have never been an apprentice, so
technically it’s not possible—but there is a
definite angle in it. Reading between the
lines, perhaps I flounder around going across
careers until I find the right one.
Perhaps I am still floundering ...
David currently works in web development for a corporate company to build,
monitor and manage website content,
and innovate, customise and document
in-house analytical and content management systems.
I work with content. At one point I generated
content for websites, for reports, for all sorts
of purposes. Lately I’m feeling generally
dissatisfied, as my role has devolved into one
where I simply cut content from one source
and paste it into another.
Actually, I was originally employed as a report
writer / analyst. It was only later that I took
over the website development / site maintenance / content management aspects. Primarily
because the company shrank when the bubble
burst and clients weren’t willing to pay for
the analytical aspects of what the company
offered.
For the INTJ, the curtailment of learning
advancement and increasingly complex
challenges to solve invariably leads to job
Australian Psychological Type Review
change. Organisational hot-buttons for
INTJs, as identified by Pearman, include
loss of autonomy through structure, and
frustration stemming from undervaluing
of intellectual development. If thwarted
from intellectual development, INTJs may
become indifferent or wary.
Vol 6 No. 3
I’m taking those units which I think I will get
the most out of, or am most interested in.
The exception might be small press printing,
where the lecturer looked at me with big
Bambi eyes and said she needed a desktop
publisher for her class. We are publishing a
guide to TAFE training restaurants.
I started the course taking scientific and technical writing, because it looked like I would
be doing a fair bit of documentation at work,
and I hoped it would give me a decent
grounding. I suspect that, had I the time, I
might very well do some of the more creative
writing units. I know, I know ... I don’t see
myself as being particularly creative, but
I enjoy being around creative types. To an
extent I feed off of their creative vitality.
David G
This young, modest man has packed a lot
into his peripatetic life. He has worked as
a project officer for a university’s student
equity branch, a lab demonstrator and a
lecturer at American and Australian universities (environmental history, physical
geography); a disabilities services officer;
and an Asian language specialist (selecting,
ordering, acquisition and cataloguing) at a
university library. He has been a research
assistant and tutor in archaeology and in
environmental history.
David has won many awards and scholarships and has been published extensively.
An example of one of his quainter titles:
‘Was medieval Sawankhalok just like
Bangkok: flooded every few years but an
economic powerhouse nonetheless’
(Asian Perspectives (35) 2, pp 119-154).
I come from a family of INTJs. My father is
an academic and my mother a social worker.
My father is a South East Asian politicaleconomic historian, who spent five years as
a house-husband caring for me so that my
mother could complete her Masters.
November 2004
I enjoy being around creative
types. To an extent I feed off
their creative vitality.
19
Meredith Fuller:
Workspaces, part 4: INTJs
An extract from a typical email
from David to fellow students
of small-press printing
David possesses a subtle humour that
endears him to the other students in
his publishing group. We can almost
hear his mellifluous and sardonic tone
as we read.
For all of you who have nothing better
to do late on a Friday night ...
Attached is a preliminary proof of the
first 64 pages of the TTR book—
covering just the Interviews, BOB, and
Reviews.
<cue Mission Impossible music>
Your mission, should you accept it, is
to look over any restaurant that you
did ANY editing for.
1. Look for obvious errors. It is really
really easy to accidentally place a
review where an interview should
go. It is equally easy to misplace
copy. If you have edited something
you should have, at the back of
your mind, some memory of what
you saw previously ... so if you go..
‘hey wait a second ...’, this is the
time to act. …
* * *
Finally ... print out your comments and
bring them to class on Tuesday or email
them to me if you think that I will understand your comments after the haze of
a bottle of wine at 3 am.
Worst comes to worst, have them ready
for me to take away on Tuesday evening
... because if I don’t have it on paper at
5.00pm on Tuesday it WILL STAY AS
IT IS.
20
By the age of 12, David had moved 13
times. Having lived in eight cities and
three countries, always a foreigner, he
considers himself to be something of an
outsider.
I seek answers to interesting questions. I’ll do
anything as long as the question is interesting!
My life consists of having new experiences or
finding new ways of approaching things. I see
myself as a Jack of all trades, master of none.
I am good at turning chaotic systems and
processes into assembly lines. But once it is
an assembly-line process, it no longer is of
interest.
David is also adaptable, either focused or
distracted but not in between, and tends
to vacillate where the issue is qualitative
rather than quantitative. He hates being
bored, repetition, not being challenged.
Happy to ‘play devil’s advocate and sit on
his hands’ while the others react, he also
appreciates that when there’s a deadline,
you’ll need triage.
I expect that a lot of this is about facilitating
a better understanding of the question. Playing
devil’s advocate allows you to turn a problem
on its head and approach it from another
angle. Long, abstract, or at times circular,
discussion can play a similar role. My frustration levels are higher when there is no
forward movement in the understanding of
the task / problem / issue at hand or other
related issues.
David’s desk and work space
Home office:
A tabula-rasa-to-disaster-area cycle. It starts
clear or at least very organised and, over time,
degrades into structured chaos. (It may look
like a volcano hit it, but I can tell you where
everything is.) Then, at some point, everything gets put it its proper place, returning it
to a clean slate.
Office at work:
I am usually working on three or four projects
at a time. There are generally three or four
piles of papers, one per project, filling parts
of the desk. The nature of my work requires
me to move between them at irregular inter-
vals, so the ‘active’ files tend to be within
close reach, the older ones pushed back.
Hmm ... on thinking about it, it’s quite similar
to the home, except that each project gets
cleaned up when it is complete, rather than
the whole of the desk—because at home no
project is ever complete. I was thinking about
this again today ...
I am not sure how much of this is a feature
of my work environment. People just leave
stuff on my desk while I am away, creating
the ‘seeds’ of piles. I don’t actually have enough
storage space, and so the desk acts as temporary storage. I hazard to guess that had I
enough storage space, it would still revert to
what I described, but perhaps less so.
I have witnessed David’s dogged efforts in
completing major tasks within a few days,
while most people would need weeks or
months. He works best when he takes
the task home to attack. David explains
that he does take breaks, but
there is a rhythm to the way I work. I take
breaks either to keep that rhythm going, or
to break it. Of course the other side of it is
that I am just as likely to leave early. If there
is a logical break in the work at 5.00 and
the next part of a task is a large one, I am
more likely to leave it till the next day—or fill
the remaining time with a small aspect of
another task.
David’s interests include flying planes,
fencing, bushwalking, mountain climbing,
and furniture restoration. He likes handson projects, ‘but I’m not creative in the
typical creative way. Give me the idea and
then I can run with it and make it work.’
David enjoys gardening and wine appreciation. Indeed, he did play with the idea of
designing a database to record what he
held, and to manage his off-site cellar
but in the end I found a commercial product
that was far better that I could have done,
and besides, there was no point re-inventing
the wheel. I’m interested in questions like
how a particular wine evolves over ten or
twelve years.
Favourite colours?
Cooler hues of primary colours—not vibrant.
Blues, reds, greens.
Australian Psychological Type Review
Vol 6 No. 3
November 2004
David solves problems, using technology
to resolve fascinating riddles. His curiosity
about a broad range of areas results in
hands-on mastery. He has taught, mowed,
consulted, designed and restored. David’s
talents range from making cordial to making
jackets. His restoration of wooden furniture is impeccable and shows great patience.
David likes the arts and crafts, and the Art
Deco period. He enjoys autumn interiors
of rich brown leather, and has taught himself clothing design and sewing. He mainly
photographs landscapes.
I actually used to do a fair bit of photography.
On my various travels I have taken a camera
with me—which, given the extent, of means
a fair few shots over the year. Most of it tends
to be environmental, a bit of it urban, but my
best photos tend to be on the fringes between
urban landscapes and their environments.
My personal favourites tend to juxtapose the
urban and the natural: the roots of a gnarled
tree growing on top of the pillar of an old ruin,
a water lily growing in the pond of a temple,
an orchid growing in the middle of a lava field,
Old and New Boston viewed through the weeping willows of the Boston Commons.
David enjoys the creative aspects of the
Society of Creative Anachronism (SCA):
singing, cooking, dancing, costuming and
socialising with like-minded friends. The
society has branches around the globe.
Members are interested in the Middle
Ages and the Renaissance, re-enacting
pre-16th Century scenes.
Initially left-handed like his mother, David
began using his right at school. ‘I don’t recall being forced; I think I picked up on
which hand everyone else was using and
decided I could do that too.’ David admits
that he isn’t comfortable volunteering information about himself unless prompted,
but he does consider theoretical physics
and philosophy to be closely related. Regarding future career moves, he hopes to
find something he enjoys that provides
enough newness with some stability:
The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle is operating here: when dealing with small particles,
we can know their location or velocity, but
we can’t know both simultaneously.
Australian Psychological Type Review
Vol 6 No. 3
David and Viân
Tasting and Feasting
Excellence
David’s partner, Viân, shares his interest in the
Society of Creative Anachronism.
A Guide to the Training
Restaurants of Victoria
Viân identifies as ‘INTX’ rather than INTJ. ‘I can
see how to accomplish something pretty quickly’,
she says, ‘but I underestimate the time I’ll need
to put everything in place. David’s timelines are
more accurate for him.’
with recipes from Master Chefs
‘We both like pastimes which challenge the
mind, says Viân.
If we have a problem to solve, we both spend
a lot of time thinking, worrying, debating. David
has a tendency to prophesy absolute doom
when something goes wrong. I think he does
this so I can be the voice of reason and calm
him down by taking a reasonable line (usually
based on what has happened in the past, or
what remedies we have to the doom at hand).
‘We sit quietly observing and thinking’, Viân
notes.
Some people interpret that as a lack of interest
or involvement, but we are actually thinking long
and hard. We think carefully before we speak,
but it can be perplexing for some if they can’t
keep up with where our thoughts have jumped
—either backwards or forwards.
Order Form
Name: ..................................................
Address: ...............................................
................................................................
Phone: ..................................................
Supporting the argument of the NT need for
competence, David and Viân were persuaded
to join my small-press publishing class because
they already knew what to do.
Email: ....................................................
They adroitly guide the lecturer and students,
preventing disasters, anticipating timeframes,
troubleshooting, quietly rolling out the printing
and drafting process—despite the class’s predominantly P preference.
(Discount for orders of 10 or more)
The results of the class’s efforts is the book
Tasting and Feasting Excellence: A guide to
the training restaurants of Victoria. To see their
handiwork—and to get yourself a handy guide
to fine dining at affordable prices—there’s an
order form opposite. 
November 2004
Cost: $20.00 per copy
plus $4.00 postage & handling
Please make cheques payable to
Holmesglen Institute of TAFE
Please send your order to:
Esmé Trewenack
Professional Writing and Editing
Holmesglen Institute of TAFE
cnr Batesford & Warrigal Roads
Chadstone VIC 3148
Phone 03 9564 1602
Esmet@holmesglen.vic.edu.au
21
Meredith Fuller:
Workspaces, part 4: INTJs
The academic
... who specialises in technical communication, languages and Renaissance history
Viân Lawson, INTX
Viân Lawson is an academic specialising
in technical communication, languages,
Renaissance history, teaching, research,
analysis and report writing.
Over 15 years of exposure to the MBTI,
Viân has always come out as clear on I, N
and T, but borderline on J-P. Accordingly,
she identifies as ‘INTX.’
Viân Lawson (right)
In her professional work mode, Viân
exercises her J behaviours. With a group
of Ps like our small-press printing class,
she does J so well:
In class, I'm more J-ish than P-ish, what with
having concerned myself with the technical
and mechanical aspects of the book. There
seemed to be a fair few people who are much
more suited to the other bits (publicity, design
and so on). Is editing P or J?
On the other hand, with a hardcore group
of Js, Viân tends to indulge her P side.
Do you feel more at home with INTJ or
INTP people?
Depends. A lot of my social circle is INTJ, but
I suspect that's the product of having a friendship group that was formed at uni.
The thing is, most people I know who aren't
INTJ don't care, or at least don't identify
themselves, as a particular Myers-Briggs type.
My friends are kind, slightly socially awkward,
stimulating to be around and funny, but it
seems to me that only the INTJs who put this
down to being a particular type.
I’m constantly being told
to stop analysing things
and just enjoy them. But
analysing things is a large
part of how I enjoy them.
22
It seems to me that INTJs are the group most
interested in whether their friends are INTJs
too. A lot of them seem to be dismissive of
ESF* types, as though there’s something
inferior about the way they do things. INT*
types meta-analyse things: that is, they contextualise everything pretty much automatically.
For example, when looking for mentors, teachers and advisers, I need to find people who are
not easy to read, because you really don’t get
anywhere when you can see the purpose or
theory behind a question, and structure your
answer accordingly. It’s occasionally fun to mess
with their heads, of course, but not helpful (no,
I’m not messing with your head ... or am I?).
Also, we are no fun as, say, film critics, because
we tend to try and work out what the filmmaker was trying to say, as opposed to what
s/he actually ended up saying. I’m constantly
being told to stop analysing things and just
enjoy them. But analysing things is a large
part of how I enjoy them. De gustibus, and
all that.
Loquacious Viân describes herself as slightly absent-minded, insightful, and (‘believe
it or not’), shy. A recognised pedant, Viân
makes the aside that, ‘Actually, on a bad
day, if you get too many INTJs in a room,
they will eventually start a discussion about
whether “anal retentive” has a hyphen in it.’
Questions of ‘why?’ most interest Viân. As
a child she daydreamed and read voraciously. Termed the ‘weird’ one in her family,
they suggested that she had better go to
university ‘as it’s the only place for you’.
At school her teachers quickly picked up
on her academic mindset when Viân preferred to read three books and research
primary sources on subjects, rather than
the class norm of skipping through one
easily-located text.
Viân considered law, as she loves debate,
but chose arts: philosophy, history and an
English minor. She ensured that university
did not interfere with her social life, joining
the choir, the Fellowship of Middle Earth,
the SCA and other interesting activities.
In the future Viân would like to write fulltime, but she does enjoy her present job
teaching web design and technical writing.
Also enrolled as a student in the smallpress printing class, Viân is the designated
document/ production manager.
Viân likes finding solutions, mainly to theoretical problems, and interesting new facts
and ideas (the more esoteric and quirky,
the better). She enjoys like-minded company, in small, quiet groups.
Australian Psychological Type Review
Vol 6 No. 3
November 2004
I observe that INTJs think for themselves and
dislike being given orders, or being told what
to believe or do. I tend more to ignore people
who give me orders, unless I agree with them.
I tend to (over)analyse things and dislike being
told this has no value and/or one should follow
their instincts.
Viân avoids crowds, sport, stupid people,
and open displays of emotion. She is likely to be bothered by emotional and/or
illogical arguments and those who make
them; loud noise (unless it’s music); and
lapses in logic, by self or others.
Describe your workspace and desk.
Anyone looking at the study would see chaos.
But actually, the piles of paper and books and
whatall are in order, and I can locate anything
I need very quickly.
The desk is an old dining table, because regular desks aren’t big enough, and it’s pretty
tidy, and tends only to have on it whatever
I’m working on at the time. It’s an old, rectangular dining table with an unfortunate white
laminex top. Happily, when I’m working, you
don’t actually see the top. Gets the job done.
Most of my office space exists in the computer.
David and I run it like a filing cabinet—we
each have our own system under the ‘My
Documents’ tab and we subdivide our sections
as we see fit. Again, it might not make sense
to anyone who looked at it, but it is actually
organised.
I like a living space that has enough clutter
to give clues to the personality of the person
living in a place, but not too much. At one
end of the scale, a friend has parents who
live in a Toorak mansion, but honestly, it’s
like walking into a dentist’s surgery. At the
other end is my nana’s, where every available space has at least one knicknack and
you have nowhere safe to put your coffee.
So, the middle ground for me.
Art Nouveau is my absolute favourite style—
far enough from the Victorian ea to lose the
froufrou stuff, far enough away from Art
Deco that the lines are curvy and natural
looking. We chose the couch in the lounge
specifically because the armrests are high
enough to lean back on and lay along the
couch if you want to read.
Australian Psychological Type Review
Vol 6 No. 3
Architecturally, despite my lack of religion, I
like old churches (Gothic or Neo-Gothic): they
are quiet and usually beautiful, and, for want
of a better word, ordered. I am not fond of
Rococo or Baroque buildings—too fussy. Sacred
space and all that, I suppose.
My ideal house in Melbourne would be an
Edwardian with enough space in the back
yard for a dog—something with discreet
ceiling mouldings, cool colours on walls, which
would take a lot of art and polished boards.
Modern houses seem soulless.
I also like a lot of candles about, for the quality
of light they give—still working that out in
our present digs.
I like taking holidays where there are lots of
new things, or different things. As the Emirates Air ads ask, ‘When was the last time you
did something for the first time?’ Like that.
Although I do seem to return to my dear friends
in California rather a lot. I blame the redwoods.
Besides, America has so many oddities it’s
always entertaining.
Viân’s interests include ‘cooking, renaissance dancing, writing, role-playing, computer
games, extensive (nay, compulsive) reading,
wine, travel—anything that engages the
mind.’ Her idea of absolute downtime is
‘curling up with a book or computer game.’
Working with others?
Depends both on the task at hand and the
others.
I’m better on my own, or leading, and I prefer to be completely responsible for a defined
area. I don’t work well with micromanagers
or the types who look over your shoulder
I occasionally bite off more than I can chew.
I suspect this is because I can see how to
accomplish something pretty quickly, but
I underestimate the time I’ll need to put
everything in place.
How do you go about doing a task?
I work alone, preferably somewhere quiet, with
music in the background if I can. When writing
I use paper and fountain pen for my first draft,
otherwise I’ll fiddle around too much with the
grammar and whatall in the computer.
November 2004
Viân is completing a PhD on ‘The uses
of epistolary: The correspondence of
Barbara of Brandenburg, second
Marquess of Mantua.’ Viân is the first
researcher to study the correspondence of this enigma, ‘a mistreated and
amazing woman who deserves better’:
I have become her keeper, exploring
her correspondence with her peers
and crowned heads.
Ludovico’s prize hunting dog, Rubino,
has the grave with headstone. We aren’t
sure where Barbara was buried. Pretty
sure which church it’s in, though.
On my less academic days I speculate
that this means either that Barbara was
less valued than Rubino (sitting under
her master’s chair in the picture above),
or it’s because Barbara organised
Rubino’s grave, but her family wasn’t
up to the task without her.
Perhaps this is why the Medici started
designing tombs when they were still
alive?
23
Meredith Fuller:
Workspaces, part 4: INTJs
TJs>
Perhaps all my great deeds are before me?
As members of the Society of Creative
Anachronism, Viân and her partner
David found themselves unexpectedly
cooking for 600 at a medieval festival
banquet during an electricity blackout.
Abandoning their plans for feasting
and dancing, they quickly took charge,
running the kitchen, organising candlelight and campers’ gas rings, and inventing methods to ensure that all
were fed.
I tend to not just jump in, unless it’s something
I’m familiar with. I prefer to think about the
best way of doing something. This can look
like (and can occasionally be) procrastination.
I draft things—I get something into rough
shape, and then refine it in later drafts.
Vian shares an excerpt from her delightful tale of INT* cooking prowess.
One problem with this approach is that all
the big conceptual problems tend to be solved
at the rough draft stage, and there’s occasionally not much to hold my interest as I try to
polish a task up, and my attention wanders.
Misrule
MISS-rool. The Medieval festival between Christmas and Epiphany, during
which authority and order gave way to
anarchy and chaos.
* * *
Cooking for two hundred people is only
scary for about fifteen minutes, after
which it becomes frantic, then tiring,
then done. Reminiscing about it afterwards is fun.
There’s no doubt among those who tell
this tale that in a past life I had stood on
top of a hill in a lightning storm, wearing
full-plate armour, brandishing a longsword and yelling, ‘All the gods are
bastards!’ It would explain a few things.
Since that day, though, Jamys and I
have thrived under the personal protection of the god of Misrule who loves
and protects fools, and who makes
their adversaries look ridiculous.
The exception to this is copy-editing, oddly
enough. I get a kick out of making a text uniform, and arranging or rearranging things so
the ideas are properly and clearly expressed.
Little idiosyncrasies?
You mean like constantly forgetting where
I’ve put things?
Or my tendency to irony and sarcasm?
Handling anger?
Depends on who I’m angry with and what I’m
angry about. I don’t often go ballistic, but I
have been known to adopt a quiet, polite
voice that can blister paint off the walls.
That said, I avoid confrontations, because
they’re embarrassing and don’t solve anything.
Favourite colours?
Purple. Blue. Green. Black for clothes, red for
shoes. Not pastels—nice saturated colours.
Kind SCAdians can usually be counted
on to help with the grunt work. Being a
feastocrat, I had discovered early, is also
a good way to test recipes and hone
translation skills.
Both Viân and Marilyn have an elegant
fashion sense, always stylish with unusual
pieces of jewellery.
Despite some true disasters which can
only come of mistranslation and substitution of ingredients not obtainable
outside fifteenth century Mantua, people
generally liked my cooking, and trusted
me enough to at least taste my dishes
—as long as they were not sweet-andsour liver.
Read
Viân’s
paper
in
its
entirety
at
<www.aapt.org.au/thereview/IN
Handy at trivia nights, a good listener, a
lousy adviser, a little odd, and loyal.
24
Careers counselling
themes for INTJs
In my counselling practice I see fewer INTJs
than other intuitives. Given their preference for being seen as competent and in
control, they tend to find it hard to ask for
help, and prefer to use their willpower to
solve their own problems. Once the practitioner’s expertise has been established,
they are less likely to feel resistant, and
more likely to participate wholeheartedly.
INTJs seeking careers counselling usually
present with issues of professional loneliness and under-utilisation. They may have
been surprised by feedback that their staff
feel disliked, or colleagues feel threatened.
They may have been misunderstood by
colleagues and staff who have interpreted
their demeanour as ‘arrogant and superior’,
‘lacking any consultation or feedback’, and
displaying an ‘interpersonal distance or
withholding that makes the team uncomfortable or scared.’ INTJs’ benign requests
for ‘why?’, and their inscrutable faces while
merely thinking, can form an ideal canvass
for projection by other types.
Some may be bewildered by the turnover
in their support staff, or wonder why their
CEO rates them poorly on staff relations.
The simple step of scheduling a conversation with staff about how to get the best
from each other, explaining their behaviour,
and negotiating ways of accommodating
needs or wants, usually transforms poor
work relationships. Misunderstandings
can be cleared, and some behavioural
modifications installed. For example:
•
The reason why I never smile and greet
you as I rush to my office is because I am
preoccupied with thinking about my intray, not because I am angry with you.
•
The reason why I do not say what a good
job you’re doing is because I assume you
know I think that. If you weren’t, then you
wouldn’t still be working for me.
•
That isn’t a scowl of disgust on my face
while you speak: that is my look of interested concentration. I am thinking about
the long-term implications of what you
have pointed out.
People close to you would find you … ?
Viân continues to discover what she’s on
about, but she is adamant that people are
not defined by the work they do or the
monetary value attached.
I envy people who have faith and know why
they’re here on the planet. I can’t conjure
that up.
I don’t think I have a significant achievement.
Australian Psychological Type Review
Vol 6 No. 3
November 2004
•
•
Now that I understand how my behaviour
impacts on you, I will commit to regular
feedback and saying hello.
If you feel worried that I may be angry
with you, I want you to ask me directly,
so I can remember to articulate my internal thinking, so that you can accurately follow what I am processing, and how
that affects my decisions.
Usually preoccupied with getting the job
done properly (a higher task focus than
people focus), INTJs are likely to overlook
politics (unless they are playing politics in
order to get the task done) and find themselves at the mercy of passive-aggressive
staff, illogical recalcitrants and aggrieved
retaliators.
The finest interpersonal aspects of INTJs,
can, therefore, remain unacknowledged.
They are immensely diligent and loyal,
humorous and entertaining, just and fair,
honourable righters of wrongs, infinitely
capable of suffering ‘fools’, as long as the
‘fools’ want to learn or are willing to try.
As managers, INTJs are usually committed
to facilitating career development and progression for staff. They tend not to waste
time mentioning to others what to them
is ‘obvious.’ Usually loyal and dedicated
workers, they may also be tired from sheer
volume of work or, conversely, a lack of
significant work to engage them. Keen to
perpetually move forward, it may be a
challenge for INTJs to sit still in percolation, in order to determine where their
passions really wish to take them.
Although the INTJs’ need for autonomy,
problem identification, problem solving
and elegant completion is clear, an added
burden may be job over-choice. Underand over-choice are both likely to render
career planning overwhelmingly stressful
for dissatisfied workers. As Pearman and
Albritton (1997) note, under stress INTJs
may be more aware of their retiring and
withdrawn tendencies, but less aware of
their tendency towards arrogance, condescension, recklessness and aggression.
Given the INTJs’ rapid mastery, curiosity,
competence, broad interests, multi-skills
and sense of responsibility, there are many
possibilities.

Vocational avoidance
themes for INTJs
• Their questions focus on what
should be done, leaving little
mental space for their feelings
or desires to emerge
• Preoccupied with what they
should do, they rarely ask
themselves what they want
• Dismissive of their unique abilities, they rarely market themselves well in the job search
Vol 6 No. 3
To recap (with tongue firmly in cheek):
ENTJ ‘Tyrant’
Others see you as having a ‘big head’ syndrome,
bossing people around. That is why they avoid you.
You mistake your tirades of vindictive spleen as
decisive statements of authority. Your egocentric
bluster is underpinned by a streak of cruelty.
You walk so quickly that no one can keep up as you
bark orders.
• Most patient and constructive
when mending a mistake, they
are irritated when forced to do
nothing and discover their truth
But really ... you are a hearty, frank decisive leader,
usually good at anything that requires reasoning
and intelligent talk.
• They tend not to acknowledge
or express their resentment or
anger until they know they are
absolutely right—and this may
take years
INTJ ‘Crackpot Theorist’
References
Paul Fox 2004, ‘Remembering the past;
forgetting the future: Turning 150 in
Melbourne’, Melbourne Conversation
series, 14 September 2004.*
Meredith Fuller, ‘The artist, the headhunter
and the playwright’, Workspaces part 1:
ENTJs, Australian Psychological Type
Review 5:2 (July 2003), 3-8.
Meredith Fuller, ‘The academic, the doctor
and the voluntary welfare worker’, Workspaces, part 2: INTPs, Australian Psychological Type Review 5:3 (November
2003), 29-37.
Meredith Fuller, ‘The HR executive and
the business consultant’, Workspaces,
part 3: ENTPs, Australian Psychological
Type Review 6:1 (March 2004), 21-27.
Viân Lawson, ‘Misrule’ (unpublished).*
Charles R Martin 1995, Looking at type
and careers, Gainesville, FL: Center
for Applications of Psychological Type.
Susan M Nash, ‘Let’s split the difference
… between ISTJ and INTJ’, Australian
Psychological Type Review 6:2 (July
2004), 23-24.
Roger R Pearman & Sarah C Albritton
1997, I'm not crazy, I'm just not you,
Palo Alto, CA: Davies-Black.
Judith Provost 1990, Work, play and type:
Achieving balance in your life, Palo Alto,
CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
Kay Stevens, ‘Policy bridges the gap’,
(unpublished).*
Kay Stevens, ‘Leaders, do we really, truly
“mean what we say” and “say what we
mean”?’, (unpublished).*
*Paul’s,
Viân’s
and
Kay’s
papers
are
available
at
<www.aapt.org.au/thereview/I
NTJs>
Australian Psychological Type Review
This completes Meredith Fuller’s series
of profiles of NTs’ workspaces.
November 2004
Others feel that you expect recognition for every
half-baked and hare-brained thought you have. If
this isn’t forthcoming, you sulk and take it out on
subordinates.
Colleagues describe you as unrealistic, and dislike
the way you act like you’re too good for them. Your
face has a permanent sneer that people take for
arrogance, no matter how often you innocently
explain that you are ‘just thinking.’
But really ... you have an original mind and great
drive for your own ideas and purposes.
ENTP ‘Frankenstein’
Others may label you as self-seeking and an outrageous self-promoter, stealing subordinates’ ideas
and work and passing them off as your own. You
are easily distracted, and can not judge style from
substance.
You avoid conflict and haven’t produced anything of
value for years. You’re always pretending to work,
dashing off for too many coffee meetings.
But really ... you are quick, ingenious, good at many
things, stimulating company, alert and outspoken.
INTP ‘Boffin’
Others think you have based your career on saying
nothing (or nothing anyone else could understand),
and hoping the world will assume you are wise. Bereft of any one- or two-syllable words, you also lack
basic social skills. You babble on about scientific or
technical theory not because you understand it, but
because you know nobody else does.
Your contours have moulded to your computer chair.
But really ... you are quiet and reserved. You
especially enjoy theoretical or scientific pursuits.
25