Ne Doms and Professional careers
Hey guys! Today i will address the issue of Ne doms and professional careers. There are a lot of stereotypes circulating about Ne doms being lazy slackers with no drive, causing many ENTPs and ENFPs to mistype themselves as they do not want to associate themselves with such a negative stereotype. In fact, I have been told that I act like an ENTJ. One of my ENTP friends got ENFJ on a MBTI test.
Personally, I have encountered many successful ENTP and ENFP professionals and would like to address a few points:
1. Ne is about exploration and experimentation.
(Healthy) Ne is NOT about starting projects and leaving them half-done. Ne is a function which helps ENTPs and ENFPs take in information from the outside world by exploring everything around them.
Something an Ne user might think:
“What if...”
Eg. “What if I mixed this chemical with another chemical?”
“What if I contacted HR in the morning instead of the afternoon? Would my response rate be higher?”
“What if I tweaked this variable in my model?”
“What if I do x instead of y?”
There is an element of exploring, experimenting and then TESTING and iterating things. They can apply this to any field - medicine, law, investments, technology, entrepreneurship, academia, etc.
2. ENTPs and ENFPs who are goal oriented and convicted have developed their secondary function (Ti and Fi respectively).
Ti is about attaining an ACCURATE understanding of the world.
Fi is about attaining an accurate understanding of one’s identity.
If you want to understand the mindset of an ENTP at the top of the game, I recommend you check out the book Principles by Ray Dalio and the system he uses to achieve his goals. He talks about radical honesty and how to diagnose and NOT tolerate problems.
I’ve seen many ENTPs in investment management, medicine, law and tech, and they are similar in the way they clean slice data and demand for accuracy. Of course, they are very charismatic, which helps them persuade others of their viewpoints.
An ENTP divorce lawyer, for example, can synthesize arguments that destroy the opposition due to their accuracy. Mature and healthy ENTPs like to find out in depth knowledge about their chosen field - be it theoretical knowledge or practical knowledge - and develop expertise rapidly.
As I’m an ENFP, it is easier for me to explain how Fi works. Fi is the accurate understanding of one’s identity. Fi asks, “what are my values? what is an accurate expression of who I am?” As Fi matures, the user begins to champion the right for individual expression and the value of every individual’s life, which is why many ENFPs despise bullying and exploitation and are involved in humanitarian causes and volunteer work.
Note that “what’s true to oneself” can differ drastically between ENFPs:
- One ENFP can be very passionate about animal rights and investments, volunteers at animal shelters, and is a vegetarian.
- Another ENFP can be very passionate about music, art, marketing and advertising. His Fi values the right for creative self-expression and despises rote learning, so he often makes light of traditional education.
- A third ENFP can be passionate about science and medicine, even excelling in traditional education. Her Fi may value knowledge and finds herself drawn to healing others as that is her calling.
Not all ENFPs love art. Some love science. Some love animals. Some love the business world.
Fi users often advertise their values, so just pay attention. Passion lies within Fi. When an ENFP finds what he/she is convicted about, he/she will move mountains to accomplish it.
3. Ne and diversity.
It is very common for Ne users to have very diverse friends. Ne is the championing of diversity, which makes them egalitarian.
ENTP’s egalitarian nature manifests in a Ti way, where they believe in an idea meritocracy. No matter the credentials of a person, they will listen to a person if he/she can argue a point strongly and it has intellectual merit. Nassim Taleb (an ENTP) illustrated that in his book “Antifragile”.
ENFP’s egalitarian nature manifests in an Fi way, where they believe in the potential of damn near everyone, regardless of whatever their background is or whatever their current position of life is.
Ne users and Fi users believe in treating the janitor and the CEO the same way.
I will leave this here for now and write a part 2 when i have time!!! bye!!!