Most of the time,
our daily lives go along on autopilot.
However, when things are not going well,
we may stop and try to apply a formal
problem-solving or decision-making process.
Our type code can
give us clues as to which processes we
are most likely to use in any given situation,
but we do have the possibility of using
any of them and most likely do use more
than two. The problem comes when we overuse
some and under use others and get stuck.
As we get more and more stressed, we are
likely to do just that.
A Personal Example
On the last day of a stressful five-and-a-half-day
workshop with a group of army officers,
I drove into the parking lot. I went up
to the door of the building and it was
locked. I went back to the car and waited
a long time and then finally went to investigate
around the corner. I then noticed that
everyone had parked on the other side
of the building. I realized that it was
Saturday, so the building probably was
not all opened up. Frustrated and angry,
I went up the stairs, stormed into the
meeting room, and complained, “It
would have been nice if someone had told
me the usual doors were locked!”
The poor participants were upset at my
being late and anxious about the exam
they had to take. My outburst didn’t
set a good tone for the end of the workshop.
Analyzing the problem
later, I realized I had “turned up
the volume” on my preferred cognitive
processes and ignored my less-preferred
processes, or engaged them only in desperation
and very poorly at that.
My type pattern reflects
how much and how well I used the cognitive
processes in approaching the problem:
As I drove up to
the building, extraverted Sensing information
was available to me, but I ignored it.
I was so involved in analyzing my week
using introverted Thinking and seeking
meaning and hypothesizing about it using
extraverted iNtuiting that I didn’t
notice all the cars in front of the building.
I went around the building to my usual
parking place, using introverted Sensing
in the background and rather unconsciously.
Then, instead of gathering new data via
extraverted Sensing, I went back to the
car and back to using my preferred processes!
When I finally got a sense of something
not being right, I switched to a very
inferior extraverted Feeling process and
projected blame onto my “victims.”
I had totally omitted any consideration
of what was appropriate or what that group
of usually-prompt people was like. But
the story does have a decent ending. It
was a workshop qualifying participants
to purchase the MBTI, and we were later
able to analyze the experience and understand
what had happened. Now when I get in situations
that aren’t going the way I want,
I am more likely to ask myself what process
I am stuck in or what process I am ignoring.
Problem Solving and the Cognitive Processes
Adapted
from Linda V. Berens, Dynamics
of Personality Type: Understanding and
Applying Jung's Cognitive Processes
(Telos Publications, 2000) *Used with
permission.
|
INFORMATION-ACCESSING
PROCESSES—Perception
|
| Se |
Extraverted
Sensing: Experiencing and
noticing the physical world, scanning
for visible reactions and relevant
data
What is really happening? What
are the facts of the situation?
What is changing in this situation?
What action can I take now?
|
| Si |
Introverted
Sensing: Recalling past
experiences, remembering detailed
data and what it is linked to
What do I already know that I can
build on? What usually happens in
this kind of situation? How does
what is happening here remind me
of some problem I have previously
solved?
|
| Ne |
Extraverted
iNtuiting: Inferring relationships,
noticing threads of meaning, and
scanning for what could be
What inferences do I need to make?
What meanings do I need to perceive?
What hypotheses can I generate?
|
| Ni |
Introverted
iNtuiting: Foreseeing implications,
conceptualizing, and having images
of the future or profound meaning
What are the implications for the
future? What do I need to conceptualize?
How will so-and-so respond if I
do such-and-such?
|
|
ORGANIZING-EVALUATING
PROCESSES—Judgment
|
| Te |
Extraverted
Thinking: Organizing, segmenting,
sorting, and applying logic and
criteria
How is this situation structured
and organized? What logic and criteria
apply? How can I break something
down into its component parts and
organize, arrange, and coordinate
it for more efficient results?
|
| Ti |
Introverted
Thinking: Analyzing, categorizing,
and figuring out how something works
What principles do I need to apply?
What models are operating here?
What techniques or approaches can
I apply?
|
| Fe |
Extraverted
Feeling: Considering others
and responding to them
Whose needs do I need to consider?
What is important to these people?
What is appropriate in this situation?
What is good for the group?
|
| Fi |
Introverted
Feeling: Evaluating importance
and maintaining congruence
What is really important here?
What is of value to me and to the
purpose? What values are at stake?
What values have been violated?
|
Some
Important Problem-Solving Principles:
- Develop
and trust your leading role and supporting
role processes. This is how you were
designed to operate.
- Chances are, you
will be naturally attracted to situations
where those processes are appropriate
and effective.
- When you get stuck,
find a way to engage your relief role
process. It should provide a way out
of being stuck.
- For important
decisions, consciously engage as many
processes as you can. Find friends,
family, or coworkers who can help you
fill in the gaps and suggest aspects
you might not have considered.
- When
you want to consciously engage an introverted
process, you may need to set aside time
to be alone.
- When
you want to consciously engage an extraverted
process, seek out the company of others.
- Be
open to input from all sources.
- Be
patient with yourself and know that
when you have to use a less-preferred
process, it will take more energy.
Adapted
from Linda V. Berens, Dynamics
of Personality Type: Understanding and
Applying Jung's Cognitive Processes
(Telos Publications, 2000) *Used with
permission.
|
