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Poll: Do ENTJs have a tendency to micromanage the work of others?

Do ENTJs have a tendencies to micromanage the work of others?

  • Yes. I see this happening often enough to consider it common ENTJ behavior.

    Votes: 17 44.7%
  • No. It happens rarely enough that I would not consider it characteristic of ENTJs.

    Votes: 21 55.3%

  • Total voters
    38

DiscoBiscuit

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Do ENTJ's have a tendency to micromanage the work of others?

This thread should be titled, "Do others have a tendency to do work that isn't up to par (aka the standards of the ENTJ)"?

:yes: :D
 

simulatedworld

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This thread should be titled, "Do others have a tendency to do work that isn't up to par (aka the standards of the ENTJ)"?

:yes: :D

Hahah. I'm glad some of you guys have enough of a sense of humor to recognize this tendency in yourselves.

Really, one of the best things about ENTJs is their drive to get things done accurately and punctually. That's great, but mention some of the potentially negative results of this attitude and you're bound to piss somebody off.
 

teslashock

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IME:

I've noticed that the micromanaging with NTJs is not as blatant as it is in STJ types, but it does occur. NTJs just seem to think the rest of the world is completely incompetent (or at least not as competent as the NTJ in question), so they have this overwhelming urge to oversee the task at hand to ensure optimal quality, as they vest minimal hopes in others' abilities.

Micromanaging on the STJ's end seems to occur more because STJs have a desire to control their environment for comfort's sake. They feel more at ease knowing the details of a situation, and they ensure that they know the details by infiltrating as many aspects as possible. Thus their desire to micromanage is a manifestation of placing value in predictability, and (unlike with NTJs) doesn't seem to occur so much because they are arrogant, dense pricks who view most people as wholly incapable.
 

Magic Poriferan

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Does anyone feel like operationalizing "micro-management" here?
 

Magic Poriferan

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Whew. I felt pretty cursed until I read the white text.
 

ThatsWhatHeSaid

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Again I'll ask you: Why do you think this ENTJ overbearing stereotype exists? Is it just a conspiracy or does it happen frequently enough to create this impression?

Because the ENTJ is basically defined as a micromanager:

N (sees concepts)
+ T (organizes concepts together) = Sees the big picture
+ J (more organized and driven than everyone else) = Knows how to improve upon and organize the big picture in a practical way
+ E (won't STFU about it) = MICROMANAGER IN UR FACE
 

simulatedworld

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Ahh, classic.

"Someone who agrees with me. Finally, some honesty!"

It's more significant than that because it's someone who's a member of the group in question. It's natural and instinctual to dismiss criticisms of groups that we belong to because it's difficult to avoid feeling personally involved.

I applauded him for being able to admit one of the negative tendencies of his own type, not for agreeing with me. I don't think the ENTJs disagreeing with me are lying--I just think their self-perceptions on this particular topic are inaccurate.

Nevertheless this kind of tendency is often observed as characteristic of ENTJs:

Personality Type said:
These types [ENTJs] are far more impatient than ESTJs, however, because they're driven by the concomitant need to set things right. They can have a hard time recognizing that others are motivated differently than they are and may need signs of praise, approval, and personal interest. They may even see these motives as a sentimental weakness that ought to be overcome.

Personality Type said:
ENTJs are oriented by the objective, rational, Judging viewpoint of Extraverted Thinking. They're alert to aspects of an organized system that have no functional purpose, and they're driven to rid the system of their influence...

They can't tolerate wasted efforts, repeated problems or the need to say something more than once.

It may be useful in this regard to note that the word decision comes from the same French root as the words scissors and excise....
The intelligence of these types is incisively critical.

Personality Type said:
Such types [Te dominants] can seem egocentric or insensitive, but their focus is squarely on their logical self-image. [When] the problems they're noticing can't be solved with Extraverted Thinking, and as long as they're resisting other approaches, their only option is to defend the one they've got. They do this by eliminating, ignoring, or complaining about the things that can't be explained by or fit into their Thinking framework...

Without some access to their Introverted world, these types confuse being logical with being objective. They lose sight of the fact that an objective view would encompass both rational and irrational aspects of life. Indeed, Introverted Feeling gets so far out of their control that their logic is gradually compromised. They aren't weighing pros and cons and drawing reasonable conclusion. They know the right way and the wrong way to do almost everything.

And so on and so forth.

btw, Jaguar, all of the above quotes are Lenore Thomson's ideas, not mine. I just think they're applicable to this discussion so I provided them.


Because the ENTJ is basically defined as a micromanager:

N (sees concepts)
+ T (organizes concepts together) = Sees the big picture
+ J (more organized and driven than everyone else) = Knows how to improve upon and organize the big picture in a practical way
+ E (won't STFU about it) = MICROMANAGER IN UR FACE

Bingo. I know many ENTJs don't intend to come off this way, but if others take it that way it's worth some consideration.
 

tcda

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I haven't found them to be micromanagers.

I clash with micromanagers (my ITSJ mom for example who I love v much but can't work with), but in fact the ENTJ's I have known who have annoyed me as managers, has been for the following reasons:

for being often too vague and unclear in instructions while inflexible in their assessment,
unpredictable/eratic
often stand-offish (though overbearing in the realm of opinions)

The typical "bad" ENTJ manager to me, is like a hurtling truck towards a cliff, tunnel visioned, oblivious to others perception of them, paranoid and aggressive towards anyone outside of their "loyal" clique...more like a politician in decline than a "micromanager".
 

simulatedworld

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Cool story bro. Now how does micromanaging fit in?

Orangey's explanation is better than mine so I'll let her do the talking this time:

Well because to manage something is to exert control over the elements of that particular something. And to exert control over the elements of something is simply to impose an order onto them; to arrange and re-arrange; regulate; rule. That's definitional Te.

Originally I thought that you were thrown by the "micro" stem, because that implies an over-attention to details in the process of management, which could point more towards Si (and ENTJs don't have Si in their top four functions.) But my point was that even granting that TeSi micromanages more than TeNi, the Te still places micromanagement well within the ENTJs domain.
 

Magic Poriferan

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I find INTJs and ISTJs pretty micro-managey.

But I see what you're saying here. However, aren't we looking at a bit of a contextual problem? I believe all of this emerged out of the assertion that ENTJs micro-manage their romantic partners, no? Can we assume this is true?
 

Magic Poriferan

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If the micro part corelates to Si (let's just say it does), then in theory, an INTJ should be about as much of a micro-manager as an ENTJ. Maybe this doesn't seem obvious because we associate INTJs with not wanting to manage at all?

I find that if I actually get pushed into the situation, as much as I avoid it, I am very micro-managing, and I'm not a J of any kind. I can't figure out why Te alone would be any more condusive to micro-management than Ti alone.
 

simulatedworld

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This whole disastrous thread could have been averted by simply googling the definition of micromanaging.



Proving once again that Simulated World just likes to hear himself speak.

(or read himself type?)

And your whole post here could have been avoided by recognizing that Ni is not the only function ENTJs use, nor is it even the primary one.

Yeah, we get it, Ni doesn't focus on details. But Te and Se, the functions others actually see when interacting with you, frequently DO focus on details.
 

BlueFlame

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Haven't read the read and don't intend to, but my first instinct is that *micromanage* is not the correct word.
The ENTJs I've had close contact with seem to be broad mangers, as in taking responsibility for the alleged incompetence of others in areas that would normally be considered to be noneoftheirbusiness. I've never noticed an odd attention to detail, but more of a bigger picture, *I know what's missing here and I know what principle I hold that will fix it* kind of attitude. But half the time their instructions are too broad and cryptic for me to apply in any micro-fashion, even if I wanted to.

Micromanaging seems to be more of an SJ/Fe thing, if we're going to be making gross generalizations.
 

Magic Poriferan

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And your whole post here could have been avoided by recognizing that Ni is not the only function ENTJs use, nor is it even the primary one.

But I don't think we've done a very good job of showing how Te is exceptionally micro-management inclined itself.
 

JustHer

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It isnt.

If Te is management, then TeSi is micromanagement and TeNi is macromanagement. I don't think anybody can/will dispute these correlations.

I don't see how a TeNi user can regularly fall victim to using a function that shows up like 7th on their functional order.
 
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