You Might Be Surprised

Is Rob the talker an Extravert or Introvert?

Spoiler alert!!!  To fully appreciate this blog take just a minute and read our last blog that sets the stage for understanding Rob.

As we closed our last look at Rob, he was preparing to share a presentation with colleagues by

• Pulling concepts together
• Reordering ideas
• Thinking through the time allocated and what concepts will provide the greatest value
• Noting a great deal of backup and background material and research but
• Summarizing and putting the best idea into a framework that’s quick to understand and easy to remember

But, the part that we missed were those quick conversations that Rob often had with his colleagues along the way or in specific preparation for his presentation.  After Rob would do a great deal of reading, recording, thinking and noting ideas he often felt nearly there.  He was comfortable with all of the data he had gathered but he just needed one more piece.  He needed to talk.  You see Rob was an Extraverted thinker.  And even though Extraverted thinkers may gather a great deal of their data through means that appear to be very Introverted in nature, in the end they need to talk it through with someone.  Rob would seek out several individuals and small groups of people to “bounce his ideas” off them.  As Rob would begin to explain the gest of what he wanted to present, other people would begin to chime in on their reactions, thoughts, questions and ideas about his work.  Rob would find this incredibly stimulating and right during the conversation would finally “see” the close, the hook, the hammer, the main point that needed to be clarified or driven home.

Rob was an Extraverted Thinker.  He needed that final conversation to help him conclude and solidify his final beliefs about all of that data he had gathered.  Don’t conclude that just because Rob spends a great deal of time reading or isolated thinking or seems to spend a great deal of time preparing for presentations that his is an Introvert.  He still needs that final conversation to help reach conclusions on his own thinking.

Extraversion and Introversion are functions related to energy, not behavior.  While you may see some of the classical talkative extraversion or quiet introversion don’t assume you know how they rank on their Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.  I’ve worked with quiet extraverts and talkative introverts but if you know when they reach their final conclusions, finally solve that tough problem, come up with that great new idea you’ll begin to get some insight of their Extraversion Introversion preference.

Rob was a quiet Extravert.  It might surprise you.

Rob is a reader.  You’ll almost always catch him getting in a few more pages while waiting for an airplane or waiting for the oil change on his car.  He will often (sometimes too often) respond to an idea or a question with “I was just reading about that…”.  Reading helps him think.  Often after reading in the evening Rob goes to bed with ideas about how to apply what he has just learned to his work and personal life.  Many times it will result in him rising back out of bed after 30 minutes or an hour to write down a few of the thoughts that clarified in his head.  Usually to be followed by further thoughts as soon as he hits the shower in the morning.

Rob not only reads, he takes notes.  While reading he will often highlight key points and afterward collect all of those notes into a Word document that becomes his personal “cliff notes” on what he reads.  Many of the people he works with have discovered this little treasure of book summaries and often ask Rob for a copy.  Rob averages fifty plus books a year.  Rob is a reader.

Rob is also called upon to present ideas, concepts and mental models before his colleagues on many occasions.  Teams that are exploring how to be more innovative or become more agile or face great change in their structure or market place will often use Rob’s insights to help them navigate an uncertain future.  One such team even gave Rob the title of “Explorer/guide”.

When Rob is preparing for these opportunities to share with colleagues, he’ll spend a great deal of time

• Pulling concepts together
• Reordering ideas
• Thinking through the time allocated and what concepts will provide the greatest value
• Noting a great deal of backup and background material and research but
• Summarizing and putting the best idea into a framework that’s quick to understand and easy to remember

What do you think?  Is Rob the reader an Extravert or Introvert?

Myers-Briggs would offer these quick sketches for each type:

• Extravert
• Communicate energy and enthusiasm
• Respond quickly without long pauses to think
• Focus of talk is on people and things in the external environment
• Introvert
• Keep energy and enthusiasm inside
• Like to think before responding
• Focus is on internal ideas and thoughts

So, what do you think?  Extravert or Introvert?

In our next Myers-Briggs based blog we’ll continue the story of Rob the reader.  Please join us.  You might be surprised.

Is Tom the talker an Extravert or Introvert?

Spoiler alert!!!  To fully appreciate this blog take just a minute and read our last post that sets the stage for understanding Tom.

As we closed our last look at Tom we had just spent the day walking around one of Tom’s plants listening to him tell stories and respond quickly to problems presented to him.  After all, Tom was the president, who else to better solve the problems that had been presented?  But then we were headed to the next plant visit.

So we buckled in and I remained quiet for a good half hour of our drive.  At about that point in time Tom would get on his phone, give the plant manager a call and reverse about 70% of the decisions he had made on the spot while we had walked around the plant that day.  Satisfied that the plant manager and he were now on the same page Tom would hang up.

I had to ask Tom what had just transpired.  Tom’s response, “Well now that I’ve had a chance to think about it, I believe the latest decisions are the best in the end.”  When I asked him what was now going on back at the plant, his response was “Ron, I trust that team.  I know that after they had time to think about it they probably came to the same conclusion that I did and I was just confirming with them that we were on the same page.”  No Tom, they’ve been telling me how disruptive your visits are because they’ve been carrying out the decisions that were “made” during the walk around and now they’re trying to figure out how to reverse all those actions.

Tom was an Introvert.  Tom needed some quiet time to think about and process decisions.  Tom was also a talker.  Don’t assume that talkers are Extraverts.  It may surprise you.

We changed Tom’s whole routine.  We still did the plant walkabout but when people tossed him an issue to solve he would say, “Give me some details and then let’s talk about it at the staff meeting later this afternoon.”  Tom now had the time to think about the issues and speak more intelligently with his team about it “now that he’s had a chance to think about it.”  Tom was an Introvert.  It might surprise you.