So I think a lot about thinking, and how people function. For me, MBTI was the first thing that helped other people make sense to me (even when they don’t make sense to me) in that I can understand the framework for other perspectives and paths of action that I myself would not normally take.

As my understanding of MBTI has grown, the model has not broke down. Moving from a simplistic idea that people could be somewhere on a spectrum between Extraversion and Introversion, for example, is helpful in its way. Learning about the cognitive functions, and how the letters merely describe the mechanism of interaction between those functions—this is where MBTI as a model starts to be very helpful.

Now we’re going to take somewhat of a leap. In my understanding, if something is true, it will dovetail with other things that are true.

I want to see if Elliott Jaques’ strata of mental processing will map onto the cognitive functions. (Please bear in mind that this is just me exploring, and I’m not well versed in Jaques’ theories.)

Stratum I: Declarative
You might hear things stated “Well, it’s either this possibility, or this possibility, or this possibility. I don’t know, pick one. If that one doesn’t work, pick another.”

I would declare (lol) that this sounds like Sensing. “This exists. Let’s try it.” The faith is in the doing.

Stratum II: Cumulative
It might sound like this, “Faced with this problem, I can see this as part of the solution, and this as part, and this as part. If I put them all together, I can solve the problem.”

From process of elimination, I’m putting Feeling in this category. Feeling-heavy people often make decisions based on the face of things and how it looks, so while this one doesn’t immediately jump into a category, I don’t have an immediate reason to disqualify it.

Stratum III: Serial
“If this is the case, then this must be the result.”

Thinking. Most thinking processes get really bogged down looking for a direct cause-effect linear relationship, which doesn’t always exist because the world is very complex.

Stratum IV: Parallel
Not simply multi-tasking, but truly understanding the interdependence of each serial process with another.

Intuition. A robust, accurate intuitive framework will facilitate this kind of multi-layered processing.

 

No surprises here. I’ve either confirmation-biased myself into mashing up two different frameworks for understanding human cognition, or these two actually do reflect each other.

I’m rolling some implications around in my head, especially in light of Dave Super Powers’ maxim “everybody can do everything”—meaning every person uses each one of the cognitive functions. No one type has a monopoly.

There are some knee-jerk conclusions that you could draw here, like “Intuitive people make the best managers!” But I’m not sure that’s true. Don’t forget that the most successful people are often people who have identified and developed their weaknesses, so the best managers have likely developed their thinking/intuiting abilities over time.