Si types and "It's easy" attitude

[Delilah]

I wanted to start this in delta, because it is, mostly, about Si. I could have put it in alpha but i 'm not sure about the mood over there in those distant lands.

It's easy seems to be a refrain of the Si types.

ESE to me at work: in 2 months time you'll just have memorized it all and won't need to look up a single thing. Translation: it's easy.

It's a load of my mind when people have this attitude. Even if the question at hand is difficult it just helps me so much to just think of it in that way.

Please post other examples of having encountered this attitude. It's something i'd like to review every so often - it is quite uplifting to me. Thanks.

[Rebelondeck]

Most confident Si-types seem to have a positive outlook toward their own abilities to accomplish things. They seem to accumulate a wealth of precedents, examples and or approaches that can be applied to most situations; with routine matters, they're superb. However, they frequently underestimate or fail to see the scope, implications and consequences of new undertakings. They can be rather impetuous and frequently need the resources to do redo the same project because they will often try to take risky shortcuts to save resources or increase potential efficiencies. Their can-do attitudes is linked to an apparent inability to accurately predict unprecedented consequences; when they finally do see the precipices, they often crash and need to be rebooted.

a.k.a. I/O

[Delilah]

Most confident Si-types seem to have a positive outlook toward their own abilities to accomplish things. They seem to accumulate a wealth of precedents, examples and or approaches that can be applied to most situations; with routine matters, they're superb. However, they frequently underestimate or fail to see the scope, implications and consequences of new undertakings. They can be rather impetuous and frequently need the resources to do redo the same project because they will often try to take risky shortcuts to save resources or increase potential efficiencies. Their can-do attitudes is linked to an apparent inability to accurately predict unprecedented consequences; when they finally do see the precipices, they often crash and need to be rebooted.
a.k.a. I/O

I appreciate the "it's easy" attitude as a starter point to a problem. Even if it's something difficult. I just feel better about congratulating myself *after* i've accomplished something and saying "wow that was difficult", but starting out by thinking 'it's easy'.

Imo there is nothing to be gained by starting out thinking that it is really difficult, you might just be jinxing yourself.

I don't disagree with you, however.

[Starvish]

I actively seek that sort of reassurance for myself, that things will work out ok and that what I'm struggling with now, I can get over and feel comfortable with later. I really hate being without that external validation or support that things will be okay for me; I get paranoid otherwise. Is this related to a specific position of Si?

My girlfriend sounds Si-ego from this though, which I guess I already suspected as a possibility.

[Rebelondeck]

@Delilah When ESIs find themselves under pressure to do something (unpleasant?), they can become rash when their inner LIEs emerge and they go into conquest mode; they can get quite self-righteous and if they win, feel very smug about their accomplishments - as if it's surprising to themselves. However, when in this mode, they're usually confident of a win. Sure one can dive in without first checking for rocks and gain the edge but every tactic has inherent disadvantages - caution may save the day or cause lost opportunity. Si-types usually stay inside their comfort zones whereas ESIs often find themselves outside.....

a.k.a. I/O

[Delilah]

@Delilah When ESIs find themselves under pressure to do something (unpleasant?), they can become rash when their inner LIEs emerge and they go into conquest mode; they can get quite self-righteous and if they win, feel very smug about their accomplishments - as if it's surprising to themselves. However, when in this mode, they're usually confident of a win. Sure one can dive in without first checking for rocks and gain the edge but every tactic has inherent disadvantages - caution may save the day or cause lost opportunity. Si-types usually stay inside their comfort zones whereas ESIs often find themselves outside.....

a.k.a. I/O

That's great, thanks for the summary. Do you think this applies to other Fi types, say IEEs? What about EIIs?

[Rebelondeck]

That's great, thanks for the summary. Do you think this applies to other Fi types, say IEEs? What about EIIs?

In a sense, they have parallel aspirations and rationalization mechanisms but their perceptions and, hence, their motivating forces will usually be different. N-types don't seem to view the route to success in the same way as S-types although they all may end up at identically-looking end-points; they just got there using a different path and for different reasons.....

a.k.a. I/O

[justalitnerdxx]

I’ve recently started a new job too and have heard more or less a similar phrase along the lines of ‘you’ll pick this up/you have picked this up already/this will become second nature/you’re getting there’.:.and like you I feel comforted by this gently encouraging attitude. It gives me faith that I too can become confident and good at my new responsibilities. I And I think the approach from work ‘mentors’ really does make you feel welcomed and positive about the job and your new relationships with colleagues.

I hope you are uplifted and getting ‘your groove’ at work @Delilah. It’ll come I’m sure

[Delilah]

I’ve recently started a new job too and have heard more or less a similar phrase along the lines of ‘you’ll pick this up/you have picked this up already/this will become second nature/you’re getting there’.:.and like you I feel comforted by this gently encouraging attitude. It gives me faith that I too can become confident and good at my new responsibilities. I And I think the approach from work ‘mentors’ really does make you feel welcomed and positive about the job and your new relationships with colleagues.

I hope you are uplifted and getting ‘your groove’ at work @Delilah. It’ll come I’m sure

Yes, exactly, it is the attitude that makes a world of difference. It is not that it makes me think that there are no problems to overcome, rather i find it calming and brings me to a place where i can calmly start breaking the process into steps and take one step at a time.

[justalitnerdxx]

Yes, exactly, it is the attitude that makes a world of difference. It is not that it makes me think that there are no problems to overcome, rather i find it calming and brings me to a place where i can calmly start breaking the process into steps and take one step at a time.

Yeah, often it’s just enough to know that there are steps out there that can solve your current problem/task! Very soothing. However. It’s the finding the right steps that can sometimes be a bit more tricky right? For myself it is anyways..you know, I’d be lost without the screenshot print outs of how to use the computer systems and the experience and patient manner that my manager and my colleagues have with me. God bless them!

[Delilah]

Yeah, often it’s just enough to know that there are steps out there that can solve your current problem/task! Very soothing. However. It’s the finding the right steps that can sometimes be a bit more tricky right? For myself it is anyways..you know, I’d be lost without the screenshot print outs of how to use the computer systems and the experience and patient manner that my manager and my colleagues have with me. God bless them!

Finding the right steps is the hardest part. I find (ime) that delta STs are good at that and can give good recommendations, in addition to the 'it's easy' attitude (esp. SLIs). The co-worker in my example is ESE so logistics are not the strongest part of her. However I suspect that, because they have already figured out the process they have at least some pointers. So far, i haven't got much logistics step-by-step, but the general encouragement helps too so i'll take whatever i can get in this case.

Feel free to share more

[ouronis]

I guess I tend to assume this. Most things nowadays are easy because of the work of pioneers in the fields we operate in. Things that are hard are just ambiguous, require a lot of exploration, or, outside of the normal/fun hard things, require some level of aptitude that cannot be reached by the individual or some physical characteristic the individual does not currently have. Or they are a test of resolve.

[Delilah]

I guess I tend to assume this. Most things nowadays are easy because of the work of pioneers in the fields we operate in. Things that are hard are just ambiguous, require a lot of exploration, or, outside of the normal/fun hard things, require some level of aptitude that cannot be reached by the individual or some physical characteristic the individual does not currently have. Or they are a test of resolve.

I like this perspective too - do you assume this perspective for most things you do? I just have a degree of anxiety when starting new things so tend to need to calm myself so another person saying this helps me.

[ouronis]

I like this perspective too - do you assume this perspective for most things you do? I just have a degree of anxiety when starting new things so tend to need to calm myself so another person saying this helps me.

From what you've written in the thread, it seems like the difference between our confidence levels in approach to tasks hinges on how confident we are in our ability to find a path forward. If I'm given a task I don't know how to do, I don't sweat it because I know I can piece something together, and I like doing it. If I can't do it, usually I'm able to say up front: I'll try, but you (task assigner) need to understand I might fail, because I understand what I know and don't know about what's ahead of me.

[Exodus]

It's more accurate to say that Si ego types pay attention to whether things are easy, and put effort into making them easy. If someone is likely to say something is easy irrespective of whether it actually is, that would be more like an Fe "pep talk".

[UDP]

I guess.

I feel it's a lot more alpha related than delta, although it is a delta thing to an extent. Alphas seem a lot more about emphasizing fun and that things don't have to be a burden. Some of the more alpha-leaning deltas also seem to espouse that idea. I get kind of put off when there's too much focus on fun or feeling good when it comes to accomplishing goals. I think there are other theories that address the topic better though.

[Delilah]

It's more accurate to say that Si ego types pay attention to whether things are easy, and put effort into making them easy. If someone is likely to say something is easy irrespective of whether it actually is, that would be more like an Fe "pep talk".

I think that in the case of ESE i brought as example you could be right - there is a medley of pep talk and Si easy-doing.

[Delilah]

I guess.

I feel it's a lot more alpha related than delta, although it is a delta thing to an extent. Alphas seem a lot more about emphasizing fun and that things don't have to be a burden. Some of the more alpha-leaning deltas also seem to espouse that idea. I get kind of put off when there's too much focus on fun or feeling good when it comes to accomplishing goals. I think there are other theories that address the topic better though.

You do make a good point, maybe coz as negativist the LSEs are least likely to espouse this attitude, yet plenty of SLI will display this attitude in their behaviour if not in exact same words. All in all i'd say it's split between delta and alpha.

[justalitnerdxx]

I find more comfort in the phrase ‘you’ll find it easy’ since it shows that the colleague/mentor has faith in my abilities and I trust in myself being able to perform the new task well, eventually...after a lot of practice and learning!

‘This is easy!’ Is maybe more Alpha? The phrase seems to dismiss the efforts needed and the speaker is attempting to infect the learner with a blase yet positive mood...just my thoughts

[nyessss]

mesars pl1x

[Delilah]

I find more comfort in the phrase ‘you’ll find it easy’ since it shows that the colleague/mentor has faith in my abilities and I trust in myself being able to perform the new task well, eventually...after a lot of practice and learning!

‘This is easy!’ Is maybe more Alpha? The phrase seems to dismiss the efforts needed and the speaker is attempting to infect the learner with a blase yet positive mood...just my thoughts

To me saying that it will be easy later seems like you are focusing on the result. Personally, I have certainty in the result because i know that after i have put in the time and effort i have gained the experience that will aid me be good at w/e i'm doing.

Saying 'it's easy' now it is more focused on the process, so on the doing itself. So, i care much more about the process of getting there, about the journey - i want it to be a good journey.

[wasp]

personally i'd rather not preemptively assign the labels "easy" or "hard" to something unless i have strong confidence in the assessment of the person who's making that call for me, but it still won't take precedence over my own assessment, so "it's easy" will just register as well-intentioned but ultimately unhelpful positivity. i do like positivity and i'm much more likely to perform well in a positive atmosphere, but it would depend heavily on the delivery.

at my first job, i was consistently told that i'd memorize the menu, but my memory has always been relatively poor, mostly because i don't care what's in the vegetable soup, so i knew i'd probably struggle regardless, but they kept reassuring me that "it's easy" as if what's "easy" in general will automatically be "easy" for me, and yet the tasks they considered "hard" were "easy" for me. in contrast with my ILI friend in high school who told me that instead of reading the driver's manual, he just did a free test online. the way he framed it made it seem simple on its own without needing to reinforce its simplicity.

[Bertrand]

yeah I dont make a habit of calling stuff easy because if they end up struggling with it its just laying the groundwork for them to feel bad about it, which tends to make things worse. rather I try to say stuff "don't worry, we'll figure it out" or "there's no rush" or even "ill make sure its good" that way they can hopefully relax a little. if something is hard I just say its hard, but I want to say working with some quadra make even simple tasks sound like a march to war like its always high stakes and we need to get mobilized. thats what I think this is really about. there's a kind of veiled threat of future failure or disaster lurking behind instructions some types give or certain management style. its like feeding people vague apprehensions in order to mobilize them is super annoying to me. I think of "its easy" as the opposite of that. all this, everything is a big deal go big or go home, always put in high intensity along with warnings about what could happen if it goes wrong I take to be SLE trying to mobilize IEI by Fe and +Se and trying to cover for Te. its like not really about the objective work. also the apprehension thing is more about their suggestive Ni being played back at IEI and doesn't bother IEI because theyre relentlessly positive and in the cloud and probably need some of that... that's the idea anyway. I find these types hard to work with because they dont calibrate their effort and are one step away from turning anything into some kind of drama. on the other hand theyre unlikely to call stuff easy unless theyre trying to show off (this would be more about AMOGing and is not a sincere attempt to help). when they do instruct, Ti creatives tend to be tactful and patient, which is nice

I guess what I'm saying is the words don't count for much its whether someone is trying to reassure someone and thus de-escalate a situation or AMOG them. I think sometimes people feel like they're being subordinated (within the hierarchy of ability and thus merit) when someone says something is easy and it turns out not to be easy for them, and this makes them feel bad. I think this is classic looking for Fe and getting Te and treating it as if it were Fe/Ti and thus receiving it wrong, thinking the other person is being a dick. If they're intentional then its Fe/Ti on purpose and its AMOG type thing. If its unintentional its best to phrase things in such a way so as not to hurt people's feelings if they end up being bad at it, but really their "point" was to deescalate the intensity of the situation, which is sort of an example of people being like "they didn't mean it that way" when people turn around and get offended. rather they just wanted to point out this wont be a trial, by making an objective statement on the work. the thing is sometimes people aren't afraid of or even seek out trials, and instead don't want objective evaluations of work, they want it to be "difficult" so when they celebrate later its a big deal etc and they're the smartest for overcoming it etc. they also don't want objective evaluations of work because it robs their future bragging rights, but also sets them up to look bad if they end up being unable to perform, at the same time it undercuts their motivation because it makes it sound like not a big deal.. this sort of thing would be annoying for beta types who want to wring every possible positive emotion from a situation