EXTROVERTED: INTUITIVE: THINKING: PERCEPTIVE

ENTP's are found in about 2% of the population and are likely to be people who could choose any number of career options. People of this type are likely to be stimulated by anything that captures their imagination.

The facility exists for dealing imaginatively and successfully with social relationships, as well as physical and mechanical relationships.

ENTPs are very perceptive of others, and seek and can see meanings, relationships, patterns and possibilities. These traits indicate the potential to be an inspiring leader.

People of this type tend to enjoy any position of responsibility carrying opportunities to exercise their talents for creative solutions, and are likely to demonstrate strengths in systems design and improvements to systems.

Employers should find them to be versatile, enthusiastic, mentally bright, and strong in initiative and creative impulse. They tend to perform best when given considerable freedom to operate and make decisions, and in positions that do not involve too much routine.

The potential is also there to be very good at analysis, and they usually demonstrate a tolerance for and enjoyment of the complex.

People of this type are likely to be independent and impersonal, and should demonstrate a good sense of the possibilities in any situation. There is the facility to be stimulated by difficulties, and they are likely to be most ingenious in solving them.

Major characteristics are the pursuit of the novel, a strong sense of the possible and well-developed intuitive powers. These all heighten their intellectual interest in the things they do.

In a strategic sense they should quickly see how things fit into a larger picture, and are able to articulate their ideas. As leaders they are often seen as "visionary", an "architect of change".

People of this type possess an innate skill and drive to see that human inspiration is not wasted, and should be inspirational in seeking or inventing new ways of doing things.

They pay attention to the ideas of others, seeing quickly their value, or otherwise and how they can be applied.

Employers and colleagues usually find ENTPs to be excellent planners and implementers of change, drawing on their strengths to build conceptual frameworks, and their ability to focus on the mission and systems of the organisation. They have the potential to deliver great energy to projects that stimulate them.

The theme of the ENTP is invention, not just of concrete objects, but also new ways of doing things as a means to an end. ENTP's are interested in the patterns of nearly everything and frequently go from one thing to the next, inventing prototypes and having faith in their ability to improvise rather than extensively prepare. They can keep several issues in their mind at the same time and, amazingly, also seem to be able to talk about them simultaneously.

They are very enthusiastic individuals, who can be highly energised by an intuitive vision of some possibility in the external world, which they feel to be peculiarly their own because they saw it first in a very original and personal way. Aside from any practical consideration, they feel charged with a mission to realise that possibility. Their interest, enthusiasm, and energy can pour suddenly into unforeseeable channels like a flash flood, sweeping everything along, overwhelming all obstacles, carving out a path which others will follow long after the force that made it has flowed on into other things.

The management style of the ENTP is likely to be one of a visionary who communicates the general outline of the vision, yet lets everyone do their own thing. Preferring to be allowed to operate autonomously they assume that others do, too. As managers, their focus is on principles of the project or those on which the organisation is built. They are keenly aware of the inner workings of the whole organisation.

ENTP's prefer to be in charge of innovative projects in which they may ignore the standard and traditional approaches. They are especially productive in an environment that allows them to adapt and make do with whatever is at hand rather than one which insists on carefully drawn up blueprints in advance. Their ideal corporate structure is one in which the ENTP have opportunities to invent and improvise solutions to complex problems.

They thrive on challenges and the non-routine. They tend not to have an attitude of, "If not invented here, it would not work." Rather they are great copycats and adapters and they enjoy improving on everything.

Their good humour and optimistic outlook tend to be contagious, and people seek out their company. Combined with compelling enthusiasm for their goals, their understanding of people may render the ENTP a very effective leader, able to persuade others of the worth of their own vision and to rally their support and co-operation. ENTP's can be executives whose genius lies in their selection and use of subordinates.

They are typically very project-oriented, and the ENTP can be expected to be highly energised and sometimes totally consumed by a project or situation, which is intellectually challenging. They are also adept at improvising an expedient solution to a problem as the situation develops. Behind this skill is a constant awareness of the structure of the situation, relationship, or culture.

ENTP's are skilled at analysis, seeing differences and creating categories. They adapt and improvise means to an end, the building of models (usually theoretical models) and solve complex problems and enigmas. They have a high need for achievement, generally measured by their own standards, which is often reflected in a constant drive for competency.

They give superior performance when turned loose to design a solution to a complex problem. They are not at their best when required to implement every little detail. They need to be consulted about the accurate implementation of their design, and then turned loose to design some more.

Famous ENTPs include: Lewis Carroll, Nicola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Wernher von Braun, Walt Disney, Arthur C. Clarke, Bill Cosby, Carl Sagan and Steve Jobs.

Famous fictional ENTPs include: Bugs Bunny, Garfield and Indiana Jones.

For more information on personality, character and temperament typing visit: The Website  for the Keirsey Temperament Sorter and Keirsey Temperament Theory.