The MBTI

The Joyless J's--How Judgers Suck the Life Out of Good People and in the process from themselves

Hold on a minute--please don't shoot the messenger. I am a J, talking to Js. But let's all try to laugh a little at ourselves, and if you are a J (like I am) you are going to walk away with a few grains of incredibly important truth.

If you're a Perceiver (P) you'll get a laugh out of this (assuming you get around to reading it before roaring off on your motorcycle somewhere).

J's invented all of the "time to market" concepts. It was they who showed us "just in time inventory." When it comes to "process improvement," who could have dreamed that up except a J?

This will seem shocking and scandalous to many Js, especially me, being a J. J's own the whole organization and are the ones who do "forward planning," "strategic planning," "five-year projections," and yes, the dreaded "mission statement."

Those elements are part of the backbone of every organization, but Js use them to take away from organizations the spontaneity, passion, and mojo by their mindless and uninspired application of plans.

So what could be wrong with anything J? Aren't they truly the saviors of industry--the whole globe? What would the modern world be like if it weren't for project management, a product of the J mind?

Plenty. Js get organizations on track, but Perceivers breathe in the life and the mojo. First of all, Js believe that if someone enjoys what they are doing it's because they have way too much time on their hands. To J's, joy is just a slippage in process, something you can gain time if you can just cut it out.

Yet creativity and innovation are very often Perceiver values.

Right now Apple with it's iPod, iPhone, and MAC have dreamed the kinds of projects that everyone wants in their pockets and satchels. It's not just because they're great business products, but because they're just so cool. Google is challenging Microsoft with engineers that zip around in the office on scooters and get snacks anytime they want them. Amazon. com is reinventing publishing because of the creativity of delivering books and now almost anything else.

Remember MBTI Judgers (Js) are the people who plan their work and work their plan. They make lists of everything. They want a plan and you better have one, and where's the update? The plan is 10 minutes old. What have you done so far? How close are you to completing it? What's gone wrong so far? What milestones have you completed? What have you crossed off the list?

There is nobody like a bunch of MBTI Js who can suck the life out of an organization like a hoard of army ants who systematically leave nothing but bones and carcasses in their paths.

Js Who Are Key Players in Team-Driven Organizations Judging Team Members You Can Trust Below is a chart of Judging (J) types that are prominent, important, and key in Team-Driven Organizations. Team-driven organizations are those that will most likely have a central goal and objective that many different types of people are working to achieve. Their objective has a start time and a completion date and will probably not be done again in the same way. Team members must learn how to work with one another in a short period of time. Team-driven organizations are distinct from function-driven organizations that have an ongoing function best achieved by a specific type. Remember that when you're working with someone, knowing their four letter type will tell you more about how to relate to that person than anything else. (click on any of the J types below to get a full description)
ISTJ	These folks are the kingpins in organizations, in the accounting department, purchasing, everywhere. They really are good at running processes, therefore they are the chief gatekeepers. They have more reasons to tell you "no" than there are words in Webster's Dictionary.
ESTJ	Now you're working with the people who run your organization's projects. They run so hard and fast you hope they're going in the right direction, because their main goal is to get there no matter what. They are so task-driven that any opportunity that might enhance the project may be seen as the ultimate threat--to doing the task fast.
ENTJ	(full disclosure, my type) These people are either in senior management, or we're cleaning the toilets. Some of us who are in senior management should be cleaning the toilets. These people have a strategy for the future and will shove you forward to get the job done or shove you out of the way--your choice.
INTJ	Often you find them in roles as scientists or in product development. Oh yes, they're apt to be brainy, but also in outer space. The are often as warm as a spring day in Antarctica. They know a lot, but finding out is up to you.
ENFJ	(full disclosure, Carol Kallendorf, Ph.D.'s type) These people naturally seem to have come right out of charm school. They wow people as teachers and facilitators. They are the ultimate Js who see every detail before it happens. They want to help you, and that means taking you just where they want you to go.
ESFJ	(full disclosure, Lana Newlander, MBTI Club membership director's type) You get to depend on these people because they are administrative gurus. They take care of details and make you look good. They are so nice and accommodating. But watch out if you mess up. They believe that people who are disorganized may also be terrorist sympathizers.
I NFJ	Folks like these end up in organizations to do what they can, because they are really good people, but their minds are out there somewhere else in a cause, a social issue, a personal vision. Don't ask them to invest their lives past what they think what they're doing is worth. They dance to their own drum, and don't forget it.
ISFJ	These folks don't want your job. They like to support the department, and they care about people. So be careful to ask them what they did over the weekend and did their children enjoy their oatmeal this morning for breakfast. If you do something they don't like, they can use passive aggression to make you see things their way.

Any intelligent leadership understands that a tight plan with milestones where people meet deadlines will be key in containing costs and generating the revenue of a completed project.

But there must be flexibility in the timeline that allows for the learning that we get during the project. The most important things we learn about projects are not those things we learn when we are planning it before the project is started. What we really learn about delivering a good service or project is what we learn in the midst of doing it.

That's why Js who absolutely demand that the project stays on track without variations or modification suck the life out of the project--and ultimately out of themselves. We must be intelligent J's who know how to use Perceiver values and techniques.