Last in the Series:

Two Groups — Two Vacations

Armed with our individual Myers-Briggs Type Indicator results, the seminar leader divided the 25 of us into two groups, one group on each side of the room. We didn’t know how the groups were decided. We only knew that we were assigned a task.

“Plan a vacation together,” she said. Then she allowed us a block of time to do so.

The two groups jumped on the task with enthusiasm. This was much more fun than a day at the office. At the office, we worked together as a department, so a group vacation was easy to imagine. I remember looking around at my group that day, thinking This is the group I would want to vacation with. How did she know that?

When the time was up, two vacations had been planned. They sounded something like this.

• Group 1 had decided to go to Europe. They knew exactly which countries they would visit. They named who would be in charge of airline and hotel reservations. They knew the city in which they would meet to officially begin the trip. They planned how many days they would spend in each location in Europe and exactly what sights they would see. They knew how much free time they would have for shopping and by what transportation they would travel from every point A to every point B.
• Group 2 had decided to go to Taos, New Mexico and from there to the Bahamas for a total of three weeks. However, if anyone got to Taos and wanted to stay, no one was under obligation to go further. The schedule and entertainment in each location was a pile of enticing possibilities.

Both groups were delighted with our plans.

Vacation and Work with your PJs (and other letters)

All of my work life, I’ve run into people who believed that everyone thinks the same way, should do things the same way — the industrial revolution was run on that exact premise.

I use the vacation planning story above to bring home the point that we don’t think alike. Want more proof?

Think about when your vacation starts. Does it start when you leave work on the last day before? . . . or when you leave for the airport or when you get in the car? . . . or does it not start until you’ve arrived and settled in? If your answer is different from that of your vacation companion, there could be conflict without understanding.

If my companions’ vacation starts before mine does, it’s irritating. He’s playing. I’m still trying to get to where my vacation begins.

If we care about how others think when we plan, we can get the best effect with the least stress and conflict. Hey, who doesn’t prefer a smile to getting yelled at? Though everyone is able to work in all eight modes, we have more fuel when we can go with our natural preferences.

Here are some ways to manage a team to their strengths and preferences.

• E/I — Let the Extroverts network and investigate at the conference. Ask the Introverts to gather what’s happening and report back. Extroverts remember that folks who say nothing don’t necessarily agree. Introverts keep in mind that not sharing thoughts can be confused with withholding information.
• N/S — The Intuitives are great at innovation. The Sensors can make sure the execution is flawless. Intuitives who know themselves value the grounding that Sensors can offer. Sensors of the same maturity know that intuitive detail often fills in what’s missing from the empirical data.
• T/F — Have a Thinker evaluate a competitor’s product. Then have a Feeler tell whether customers will buy it. Feelers with experience realize that when a Thinker says “You’re not going to do THAT, are you?” the Thinker is being generous with information. Thinkers with experience understand that Feelers hear with the filter of emotion and nuance. Both groups do well when they connect head and heart as they speak and listen.
• P/J — Ask Perceivers to brainstorm a list of ideas and steps in a process. Then let the Judgers build the schedule and detail the action plan. Perceivers can use Judgers to know when too many options are pinning them down or stopping progress. Judgers can use Perceivers to gain fluency and flexibility with ideas and processes.

We work counter to our preferences every day, and we do well. But it wears us out. It makes us tired and cranky, and strains relationships. When we do what we’re good at, work is fun; we’re enthusiastic; and we’re exponentially more passionate and productive. Which do you think is better for us, for the customers, and for the work?

On that Myers-Briggs day, the Ps “went to Taos.” The Js “went to Europe.” We all had fun planning in our homogenous groups.

How would you get a team of both Ps and Js to plan a vacation that worked?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
If you think I can help with your business, your brand or your blog, check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

Related articles
Using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator as a Personal Productivity Tool
Who’s Talking about the Myers Briggs Tonight?

Other resources
Keirsey.com They carried on the research.
Google Directory for Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Type Logic Resources and software