INTP

In training, last August, amidst the flurry of activities we had to take a personality test. 70 questions and 15 minutes, then it shows you 4 letters and an accompanying paragraph for each letter. These four letters are you Myers-Briggs personality.

"INTP," it said.

Fine, so I've seen this before, myself summed up in one phase like when I was described as "crazy awesome."1 

Although, this was little different, I had to spend the next hour in an mega-conference room hearing a personality expert elaborate on those four letters and their permutations. I'm pretty adverse to training in these settings - a energized presenter, flanked on both sides by over sized screens that are illuminated by a powerpoint presentation, rhapsodizes to the audience and their reflective glasses about some dry topic.

Naturally, my arms were crossed and my mind wandered as I slouched in my chair. Slides and colors changed, and I sighed. Then we were moving. Feet shuffled, chairs growled, and audible rumble could be heard over the presenter shouting, "'I's on the left. 'E's on the right." In his black turtleneck his arms spun about directing traffic from the glaring stage.

Then that rumble moved. It moved along with the crowded to the right side. There they were chatting away. Asked a few questions to describe the other side of the room. Then, the exercise went on and we tried other letter combinations. As it went on, those four letters began to grow on me. Eventually, I gave up my perceptions and accepted the four letters, INTP, when I realized it's my preference not who I am. 

I can act like an Extrovert every once and a while, but prefer to be Introverted. Being an introverted consultant doesn't always quite fit, but understanding that I am helps me work around it when need be at happy hours or other events. 

Training pays off sometimes.

1 No citation needed. Common knowledge.