interesting business trip where I ran into a bunch of Gammas

[stevENTj]

So a couple of weeks ago I had to make a run up to one of my company's suppliers to show them how exactly to build a widget we needed. The company was right next to my Alma Mater, so they didn't exactly have to twist my arm too hard to go. :wink: Was 'wheels up' from my place at 430am (driving) and got there a little after 8am. Time was critical on this so I didn't have much time for small talk at first, so I immediately sat down with the VP who was a part owner and more or less in charge of day to day operations at this company, one of their engineers, and the technician that was going to be building our widgets for us.

By lunch things were going pretty well and the tech definitely needed a breather because she had been working straight through the morning without a break, so I mentioned that I had a craving for a particular type of sandwich from a particular restaurant in town where the university was. That's when I noticed the office manager for the first time, a younger and fairly attractive young lady who literally stopped dead in her tracks. "ooh! I'll go!", she said. She happened to like the type of sandwich I had mentioned and hadn't had one in awhile, and despite their business being right next to a major university she hadn't actually gone to school there so didn't know any of the "spots" or where to go. So the VP, the office manager gal, and the technician all hopped into my car and into town we went.

From the moment we hopped into the car, all through lunch, and all the way back to the office later there was never a dull moment or lull in the conversation. It was lively and entertaining throughout, and also far beyond the usual business small talk. It was genuinely good fun, and I was really digging the office manager too. If it wasn't for the fact that we were both married, I'd definitely have asked her out later that night. That's when I took pause and wondered what the hell was going on here, because I almost never have lively and entertaining discussions like this with anybody, so I fired up Socionics from the back corner of my brain to see if I could figure it out.

The VP, a middle aged woman in her late-40's or early-50's was clearly an LIE. The way she talked and acted, and had some of the classical PoLR signs as well. Mirror seemed to fit, and and talking to her felt exactly like the dozens of other LIEs I've known. The office manager who I was really digging I figured had to be an ESI, making us Acitivty. Would explain a whole lot. Later after lunch she was bitching about various things and exhibiting a lot of and and getting all huffy and puffy. Totally hot! LOL. I didn't get the nervous or shy away from reaction that I get from SEEs, so I figured ESI/Activity had to be it.

Later I was chatting with the VP/LIE asking about business and all of the different things they do while getting a tour of their facility, and she mentioned that the office manager was actually her daughter. Wow, mother-daughter duality! So of course I had to get the scoop on that. You can always get a mom to dish about her kids. She mentioned that her daughter had been by her side basically her whole life. After high school she never left home and actually lived with her parents for 10 years after that even though she had a steady boyfriend, that she knew from high school. Went to a smaller local college closer to home, and was now working as the office manager at the business her mom was VP and part-owner of. The mom joked that she and her husband didn't really know what to do with her living at home for the longest time and were torn about whether they should ask or force her to move out or not! Gee so maybe parent-offspring duality relationships might not be ideal either - you'll never be able to get rid of your kids, LMAO!

I haven't mentioned the technician that I was working with much because she obviously wasn't a Gamma and I could tell she did sort of feel awkward when we were at lunch. I'm guessing she was an IJ of some sort, probably an LSI. She was incredibly skilled at what she was doing for us, and also had OCD like tendencies that I've noticed in a lot of xSI types, my wife included. No problem with that here, because we needed these particular widgets which are all hand made to be built incredibly consistently, otherwise they wouldn't work properly in the bigger widget that they were going into. She was getting pessimistic and afraid she wasn't doing it quite right even though she was doing an incredible job, so I was sure to throw a little and her way as reassurance, and she did respond quite well to it.

Some of the other workers I was chatting with though had a different take on the mom and daughter 'being joined at the hip', mentioning that if one of them got on your case for something that you'd have the other one on you too. The LIE letting you know something isn't right, and then the ESI enforcer, or something like that. So perhaps there's some truth to the suggestion that a duality can work well within itself, but also be a bit dysfunctional to outsiders?

So anyways, had a ball of a time with the mom/VP/LIE, and the daughter/office manager/ESI, and all of the widgets the probably LSI technician has been building for us have been working great. So a very successful business trip that got my company out of a big jam, and I also got a free company sponsored trip up to my alma mater on their dime including mileage, hehe. Also quite fascinating as to how all of this Socionics stuff works and can come together in real-world use. Lets you understand different people, and how best to work with them and what sort of input and feedback they're looking for. Good stuff.

[Creepy-bg]

you're one of the few wall of text posters on here who I actually enjoy reading. I hope you stay around for awhile this time.

[Bardia]

you're one of the few wall of text posters on here who I actually enjoy reading. I hope you stay around for awhile this time.

Agreed.

[stevENTj]

Thanks!

[07490]

Read every word of it, good story.

[Suz]

So a couple of weeks ago I had to make a run up to one of my company's suppliers to show them how exactly to build a widget we needed. The company was right next to my Alma Mater, so they didn't exactly have to twist my arm too hard to go. :wink: Was 'wheels up' from my place at 430am (driving) and got there a little after 8am. Time was critical on this so I didn't have much time for small talk at first, so I immediately sat down with the VP who was a part owner and more or less in charge of day to day operations at this company, one of their engineers, and the technician that was going to be building our widgets for us.

By lunch things were going pretty well and the tech definitely needed a breather because she had been working straight through the morning without a break, so I mentioned that I had a craving for a particular type of sandwich from a particular restaurant in town where the university was. That's when I noticed the office manager for the first time, a younger and fairly attractive young lady who literally stopped dead in her tracks. "ooh! I'll go!", she said. She happened to like the type of sandwich I had mentioned and hadn't had one in awhile, and despite their business being right next to a major university she hadn't actually gone to school there so didn't know any of the "spots" or where to go. So the VP, the office manager gal, and the technician all hopped into my car and into town we went.

From the moment we hopped into the car, all through lunch, and all the way back to the office later there was never a dull moment or lull in the conversation. It was lively and entertaining throughout, and also far beyond the usual business small talk. It was genuinely good fun, and I was really digging the office manager too. If it wasn't for the fact that we were both married, I'd definitely have asked her out later that night. That's when I took pause and wondered what the hell was going on here, because I almost never have lively and entertaining discussions like this with anybody, so I fired up Socionics from the back corner of my brain to see if I could figure it out.

The VP, a middle aged woman in her late-40's or early-50's was clearly an LIE. The way she talked and acted, and had some of the classical PoLR signs as well. Mirror seemed to fit, and and talking to her felt exactly like the dozens of other LIEs I've known. The office manager who I was really digging I figured had to be an ESI, making us Acitivty. Would explain a whole lot. Later after lunch she was bitching about various things and exhibiting a lot of and and getting all huffy and puffy. Totally hot! LOL. I didn't get the nervous or shy away from reaction that I get from SEEs, so I figured ESI/Activity had to be it.

Later I was chatting with the VP/LIE asking about business and all of the different things they do while getting a tour of their facility, and she mentioned that the office manager was actually her daughter. Wow, mother-daughter duality! So of course I had to get the scoop on that. You can always get a mom to dish about her kids. She mentioned that her daughter had been by her side basically her whole life. After high school she never left home and actually lived with her parents for 10 years after that even though she had a steady boyfriend, that she knew from high school. Went to a smaller local college closer to home, and was now working as the office manager at the business her mom was VP and part-owner of. The mom joked that she and her husband didn't really know what to do with her living at home for the longest time and were torn about whether they should ask or force her to move out or not! Gee so maybe parent-offspring duality relationships might not be ideal either - you'll never be able to get rid of your kids, LMAO!

I haven't mentioned the technician that I was working with much because she obviously wasn't a Gamma and I could tell she did sort of feel awkward when we were at lunch. I'm guessing she was an IJ of some sort, probably an LSI. She was incredibly skilled at what she was doing for us, and also had OCD like tendencies that I've noticed in a lot of xSI types, my wife included. No problem with that here, because we needed these particular widgets which are all hand made to be built incredibly consistently, otherwise they wouldn't work properly in the bigger widget that they were going into. She was getting pessimistic and afraid she wasn't doing it quite right even though she was doing an incredible job, so I was sure to throw a little and her way as reassurance, and she did respond quite well to it.

Some of the other workers I was chatting with though had a different take on the mom and daughter 'being joined at the hip', mentioning that if one of them got on your case for something that you'd have the other one on you too. The LIE letting you know something isn't right, and then the ESI enforcer, or something like that. So perhaps there's some truth to the suggestion that a duality can work well within itself, but also be a bit dysfunctional to outsiders?

So anyways, had a ball of a time with the mom/VP/LIE, and the daughter/office manager/ESI, and all of the widgets the probably LSI technician has been building for us have been working great. So a very successful business trip that got my company out of a big jam, and I also got a free company sponsored trip up to my alma mater on their dime including mileage, hehe. Also quite fascinating as to how all of this Socionics stuff works and can come together in real-world use. Lets you understand different people, and how best to work with them and what sort of input and feedback they're looking for. Good stuff.

Great story! I also enjoyed reading it! I when people actually apply socionics to real life to improve relationships!

btw, how did you send a little Fe and Ni to the LSI technician to reassure her? Like, what did you do?

[stevENTj]

uhh... well of the three people I'm least confident on what her type actually was, but LSI seemed to fit pretty well.

LSI PoLR is , which in this case would have manifested itself in the form of fear that you're not building something correctly or not knowing how exactly to do it, or there still being too much uncertainty. This person had previously built probably 12 of these parts for us none of which worked, and it takes a few hours to build each one so you can understand the frustration.

The hidden agenda of an LSI type is , "to believe". To believe that you've finally got it this time and that everything is going to work. Problem was that there was no actual way to test these widgets prior to leaving their facility. The only real way we have of testing them is to throw them into our larger widget which contains these parts and run the system level test. The only testing that can be done on the small widget prior to leaving their facility were basic checks but wouldn't guarantee performance. The PolR of "not knowing" something along with the desire to "believe" that you've got it can and will drive these folks nuts.

Her work was excellent. I built a few of these widgets myself prior to making this trip just so that we were absolutely sure that a certain method was correct, and she was building them better and even more consistently than I was. So a lot of reassurance - "oh you're doing great, they're going to work just fine, you've got it, you'll see!" type of stuff. Ni isn't a problem for me since that's what I am.

I still suck at , but I've learned to use it and can force it a little here and there. Just some light-hearted jokes while we were all out at lunch about how the whole company was counting on her and that we all had faith and she'd be our savior. I said it in a sarcastic manner so that it was obvious I was joking around, but it was still pretty serious business. Whatever you think you can do to ease the tension and give the people that are working for you some confidence, ya know? Based on her craftsmanship and precision, I knew all of the parts would work and they have.


BTW, I don't do stuff like this in real life, consciously trying to figure out someone's type so that I can alter the feedback or communication I might give to best match up with what they're probably looking to receive. I consider that to be manipulative and not genuine. In real life or for personal matters, I'm strictly myself and you'll either get along with me or you won't. One of my best friends, I honestly don't know his type. Don't care too much either. I just know that we get along great. He's probably ILI but I really don't know. The furthest I'll go is typing someone just if I'm curious or to understand them a bit better, but I still always remain myself.

With business it's different. You don't necessarily have a choice as to who you're working with, and for all you know it might be people you'd have an exceedingly hard time getting along with naturally. When stakes are high you have to put those differences aside so that you can get things done and get the output that you need, or learn how to understand each other so that you can get along. There's nothing management and HR hates more than having to deal with personalities clashing, and it's always best of two employees can work it out between themselves. Not that that was happening at all in this particular case, but it has helped me in the past with other business related issues. So whatever can help or maybe give you an edge, and yes I think Socionics is highly useful here. MBTI is way too superficial and doesn't have nearly the depth to deal with things like this that Socionics does.

[Suz]

BTW, I don't do stuff like this in real life, consciously trying to figure out someone's type so that I can alter the feedback or communication I might give to best match up with what they're probably looking to receive. I consider that to be manipulative and not genuine. In real life or for personal matters, I'm strictly myself and you'll either get along with me or you won't. One of my best friends, I honestly don't know his type. Don't care too much either. I just know that we get along great. He's probably ILI but I really don't know. The furthest I'll go is typing someone just if I'm curious or to understand them a bit better, but I still always remain myself.

With business it's different. You don't necessarily have a choice as to who you're working with, and for all you know it might be people you'd have an exceedingly hard time getting along with naturally. When stakes are high you have to put those differences aside so that you can get things done and get the output that you need, or learn how to understand each other so that you can get along. There's nothing management and HR hates more than having to deal with personalities clashing, and it's always best of two employees can work it out between themselves. Not that that was happening at all in this particular case, but it has helped me in the past with other business related issues. So whatever can help or maybe give you an edge, and yes I think Socionics is highly useful here. MBTI is way too superficial and doesn't have nearly the depth to deal with things like this that Socionics does.

Thanks! that explanation was really helpful! I still dont have a great handle on what Ni is, and this helps a lot actually.

and as far as using socionics to improve relationships, that's what i meant--if you're stuck having to work with someone from a quadra with different values from your own, you either have to make it work or life is going to be very unpleasant and your team will not be able to accomplish its goal as well. Besides, the way I see it is, everyone has their own talents. Socionics just helps us estimate where their talents are likely to be, and to appreciate each person for their own talents (sort of like you did). Obviously I'm not going to want to be friends voluntarily with people who wouldn't like me just being myself.

[Saoshyant]

Hey I've noticed the same thing when around the one SEE that I know of. I do not understand why they 'shy away'. Appreciate your story and insights!