Personality Zone

Types I know, Part II: Rationals

Thank you for all of you kind comments from my article on Artisans last week. This week I am going to explore some of the Rationals I know.

Rational Fieldmarshal (ENTJ):

Akemi: Akemi, mid-thirties, tall, slender, intense but affable, was my manager while I was working in Japan. She was incredibly driven about her job; the first to arrive, last to leave. She always worked at least one day on the weekends. In her life she seemed to have only one goal: beat all the other branches in monthly performance reviews. Occasionally, this required a few tricks with numbers. But this singular goal was very beneficial to our working relationship. Rather than keeping an eye on me every minute of my work day, she gave me the freedom to work on my own. As long as I was keeping clients happy, she was happy.

One day, I was having a drink with her after work. She told me that she wanted to leave the company and have a baby. But she said it was just to hard to give up her work. Before I returned to the U.S., I gave her a little going away present: a book for working mothers.

Rational Mastermind (INTJ):

My Older Brother: My older brother is a few months away from finishing his Ph. D. in food science. He has published extensively primarily in the area of grain and wheat. Upon graduation, he has accepted a post-doc. position with the U.S.D.A. He is obsessive about food, and quite a skilled cook. He also runs marathons. He has a raging intolerance for anything else.

The last time I visited my brother, I brought him some "natto," a traditional Japanese food. Natto is fermented soybeans, known for its pungent smell and sticky texture. When you mix it up, it looks like rice crispy treats, but the taste is what one might refer to as "acquired." When we were eating it, his wife remarked, "This is an interesting taste..." When my brother tasted it, he exclaimed, "I wonder what the bacteria is in this that makes it so stringy!" The response of a Rational, I suppose.

Rational Inventor (ENTP):

Named Partner at my firm: I think the lead named partner at the firm I am working at this summer is a Rational Inventor. He is an ace trial attorney. He brings the big ideas to the cases we are working on and leaves the detail work to the associates or summer associates (like me!). But it is a wonder to see him in the courtroom. He's clever, witty, and good humored, although his weakness, I'd say, as an attorney, is that it is fairly easy to read his emotions. I'm fairly certain I could take him down in poker.

Rational Architect (INTP):

Neighbor: In the apartment directly below me lives a fellow law student who is a Rational Architect. He is a year ahead of me; his wife, who graduated last year, is currently an attorney in New York City. So these days, he lives alone. Over my law school career, we have become good friends. I sometimes envy him for his ability to concentrate on his studies. During finals I have seen him go an entire week without ever leaving his apartment, utterly absorbed in the law.

I often become fast friends with Rational Architects. However, rarely do these relationships mature into full fledged friendships. After discovering Keirsey, I think I now understand the Crafter-Architect dilemma. Borrowing the language of Myers Briggs, both are introverted thinker, perceivers. I think this commonality causes the two types, when they interact on a superficial level to view the other as a kindred spirt. However, though I can follow an obscure theory, if I spend too much time with Architects, I have to work hard to avoid feeling intimidated by their powers of abstract reasoning.

Join me next week, in part III of this series, where I will illustrate Guardians that I know.