Sunday, October 19, 2008

A snapshot of an ISTJ

This conversation actually took place between me and my ISTJ husband:

ME: What time do you need to leave for the airport?

HUSBAND: At noon. That way, I'll be there two hours before the flight.

ME: Okay. I know how you usually get with the time, so how about planning on leaving at 11:00 am, so you don't rush me?

HUSBAND: Good idea.

AT ABOUT 10:40 A.M., WHILE HAVING A CONVERSATION OVER COFFEE, HE STARTS GETTING ANTSY, HIS EYES DARTING BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN THE CLOCK AND ME.

ME: Hey, I agreed on a time that was one hour earlier so you wouldn't rush me!

HUSBAND: I know, but I can't help it. The new time is now the time that I'm working with, and I still want to leave 15 minutes early.

ME: *sigh*

Posted by Linda at 10/19/2008 08:28:00 AM
Labels: , ,

6 comments:

  1. That is a great illustration Linda.

    I think ENTPs are great at telling themselves to "act as if" they need to be somewhere an hour earlier than necessary. Our type is often punctually challenged so many of us play these little games (my watch is 6 minutes fast but since I know it, I show up at 7 after)

    My observation is just that you are trying to get an ISTJ to play your head game and that is doomed to failure (as you have proven).
    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, David!

    I didn't even realize that I was actually illustrating my type as well. :-)

    Punctually challenged... haha, I like that! How about referring to it as an attempt to squeeze more out of each minute than what it can give? ;-)
    ReplyDelete
  3. Linda,

    I have thought a lot about why ENTP people often have trouble with time.

    First, more than any other type, we pride ourselves on our ability to improvise. All things being equal, I think an ENTP is the best in an emergent situation (which - I believe - is why so many "action heros" in movies lean towards ENTP)

    In addition to improvisation which is valued by ENTP, NTs highly value competence.

    I believe these traits combine to make us frequently over assess our ability to improvise our way to a solution in a timely manner.

    How many times have you been running late and said "I will drie a little faster and park close" or felt that - I am behind on this project, but I know I can focus and pull something great out - even at the last minute.

    Also, I think our tendency toward hedonism (more than the other NTs) makes us enjoy the tense uncertainty of a photo finish.
    ReplyDelete
  4. Fascinating!

    So, I'm not the only one? There actually are other people out there who likes to jump off cliffs and hope that the rocks aren't too jagged? (metaphorically speaking, of course...) ;-)

    I still am a little confused as to if the action heros tend to be ENTPs or ESTPs. I think superman, and perhaps Batman are ISTPs. I don't know if they are E at all.

    Now, Ironman... he seems to be an ENTP (and possibly ESTP). Needless to say, he's my favorite.

    I'm gonna have to work on a post about the action heroes... David, would you be interested in writing a guest post guessing the MBTI types of the various action heroes? Something simple? (If not, I'll work on it - although I'm not an expert on super heroes.)
    ReplyDelete
  5. That does sound fun.

    As to the ESTP/ENTP, there are a lot of similarities and I do think that the action hero archetype is often ESTP as well.

    Work is madness this week and next, but let me see what I can put together.
    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you, David!

    That would be great! No rush. Please email it to me. :-)
    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)