Do You Trust Your Ni?

[Jaguar]

Who needs facts, evidence, and "reality" when you have Ni?

You crack me up.

 

[garbage]

1. Do you trust this unjustifiable idea?
Yes.

2. Which one would you hire?
The "so-so" one.

3. How certain are you of your decision?
Probably 80-90%. I do doubt myself at times, and I account for the fact that I could be wrong. But even if it turned out to be the wrong decision, I'd trust in my ability to just deal with it accordingly and adapt to the change in circumstance.

I've dealt with situations eerily similar to the scenario posed in the OP, in exactly the same way that the OP dealt with them.


blah blabh ablah something about me not using Ni because blahbal such and such a theory, tertiary temptation or something, devil function, yadda yadda

 

[Z Buck McFate]

If I had a really bad feeling about the first guy I'd go searching for proof to back that feeling up.

There's got to be a reason for that feeling.

I'd trust my gut feeling, I'd hire the less qualified guy and be about 90% sure of myself.

But I'd also obsess about 'why' I had that gut feeling until I was able to put something reasonably applicable into words.

 

[Jaguar]

1. Not in this lifetime. I need evidence to support my claims.
2. None, until I do a thorough background search on the applicants.

No, never. I would have to get some kind of tangible proof that he would be a good employee.
The one with the better credentials.

Very similar posts.

 

[poppy]

"You've been interviewing candidates for a job.
One of them has all the credentials, and scored the highest on all the company-defined criteria for the job.
Another one of them was pretty good but not in the same league.
You have a sense about the high-scorer, though, that he's bad news, and that the "so-so" one will work out well.
You can't point to anything that's led you to this conclusion, you can't justify your belief, but you have this sense just the same."

1. Do you trust this unjustifiable idea?
2. Which one would you hire?
3. How certain are you of your decision?

1. I am the most likely to doubt my Ni when dealing with people and assume that my gut instinct is simply Fi prejudice. However if I am able to at least identify traits in him such as inconsistencies, tone of voice, eye contact, (anything that would satisfy my own need for justification but not the company's) I will trust my instinct.

2. To be honest, it depends on whether or not I would be directly affected by him. If I'm going to be working in close proximity to him, I will likely choose the candidate I have a good feeling about, especially as I'm not as interested in company policy as I am in employee integrity.

3. I would probably be uncertain at first, but by the time the action is put in place I am usually sure of myself. It's not the end of the world if I get stuck with an employee who is only satisfactory.

 

[Lethe]

Very similar posts.

In some ending respects, yes. Process-wise? Not sure.

When I have a lifetime to make decisions solely based on Ni, is this the best moment to act upon 'one' instinct, and to disregard the rest? Would it be wiser to use my Ni in an area where it counts -- such as planning or strategy? How much of a difference is the "so-so" scoring to highest scoring? And in terms of the company results? What skills does my company currently seek? Do we have the resources to train anyone less than the top workers? If I reject these applicants, will there be any new ones? Etc. These are the type of questions I should know before interviewing for the company.

Under the following conditions: 1.) Limited training resources; 2.) Limited interviewing time; 3.) Desperate need for skilled workers & 4.) Limited applicants, I will create my own trick interview questions (which I probably would regardless) tackling the common problem areas in my company. This should both give enough "evidence" and sedate any paranoia I may have. In the face of unfavorable conditions, I'd strive to accommodate myself by using all the creativity, knowledge and other tools I have.

Finally, after this incident, I'd set up a system that balances both the interviewer's instincts and what can be directly observed. Who wouldn't get 'bad vibes' every now and then? If I still get negative feedback, then my decision will be based on my quick analysis of the occurrences. This cannot be decided prior to an experience.

 

[Athenian200]

"You've been interviewing candidates for a job.
One of them has all the credentials, and scored the highest on all the company-defined criteria for the job.
Another one of them was pretty good but not in the same league.
You have a sense about the high-scorer, though, that he's bad news, and that the "so-so" one will work out well.
You can't point to anything that's led you to this conclusion, you can't justify your belief, but you have this sense just the same."

1. Do you trust this unjustifiable idea?

Yes, with some reservations.

2. Which one would you hire?

I definitely WOULDN'T hire the high-scorer I got the bad feeling about. He'd be off the table. I'd probably call the "so-so" one back in for another interview in order to feel the vibes again, call up his references for their opinion (if he had any), and ask other people what kind of "feel" they get from him. I mean specifically, I'd say, "aside from the credentials, what was your impression of X as a person?" If other people had a good impression of him too, I'd probably hire him. After all, they're going to have to work with him, and getting an idea of how well they're going to get along with him is important.

3. How certain are you of your decision?

If I can call him back in for another interview along with some other applicants, 95%. If I can't, about 75%.

I have to admit, though, it's a no-brainer for me because I don't value credentials as much as character and overall sense of competence. Credentials can be gotten without competence, and many competent people don't have any credentials and are constantly overlooked. I'm more likely to trust a competent person with a good character to be able to figure out what's required, than a person who has "experience" and "education" and might very well constantly misapply what they've learned. This is the sort of thing you can tell just by interacting with a person. I trust my own impression of a person's intelligence and character more than some silly external measuring stick.

 

[Lethe]

1. I am the most likely to doubt my Ni when dealing with people and assume that my gut instinct is simply Fi prejudice. However if I am able to at least identify traits in him such as inconsistencies, tone of voice, eye contact, (anything that would satisfy my own need for justification but not the company's) I will trust my instinct.

Nice answers. Our experiences will inevitably color our instincts. If someone has several terrible encounters with a cultural group, they will become hesitant in approaching someone from that group. As an interviewer, I should be fully aware of the biases I have, and question my perception of someone at all times. We won't know how great the applicants will turn out to be until we test our options. Keep in mind that first impressions are liable to inaccuracy.

To answer the title question: I don't completely trust my Ni in this situation, but I would at other times.

 

[kyuuei]

One of two results usually happen when I have a feeling about someone.
1. I stay quiet and bide my time but the feeling never leaves my mind, mayhap confessing something to my sister so I have an outside source keeping track.. and then EVENTUALLY down the road something happens that makes the light bulb go off as to why I felt the way I did, and with my evidence there, it's effectively too little too late... something I merely note.
Or.
2. I have an initial feeling of wrongness about someone, and I effectively ignore it because I lack evidence and trust the person and what they say until they give me reason otherwise.. usually I end up kicking myself in the rear with this one.

Neither of these results proves very successful. I'd go with my instinct with jobs. Credentials are aids.. but they do not make a good employee by themselves. I'd rather a person that has enthusiasm, a great attitude, and a willingness to learn over someone with experience that's nonchalant.

 

[nonsequitur]

1. Do you trust this unjustifiable idea?
2. Which one would you hire?
3. How certain are you of your decision?

1) Yes, absolutely. My Ni has bailed me out so many times that I have to trust it. The times when problems have cropped up are when I ignore it in favour of the "justifiable".

2) Neither at that point. I'd wait for more applications for the job to come in, and pick the best out of the lot. If so-so is still the best option at that point, I'd pick so-so, just because qualifications are not everything. In a team environment, someone highly qualified but with no sense of the team goal or ability to get along with others can be counter-productive.

3) Very certain.

 

[Fluffywolf]

I'd hire the one with the biggest credentials, keep an eye on him and set him straight and in his place if he turns out to be bad news.

Granted, I have fairly small companies and have a very direct influence on my employers. Had I worked in a large company, I probably would have gone for the one I sensed would probably work out, because I wouldn't have any influence on things if my Ni turns out to be right.

So, all in all depends on the situation. Ni goes through a Ti check with me.

 

[fripping]

i assume that's the voice that's telling me i'm going to go splat on the windshield of life in about 5 seconds. no, no i don't listen to that one.

 

[Fluffywolf]

People that trust Ni are afraid of the dark.

 

[tibby]

There's always a reason. Ni isn't some magical, mystical function. It's just very closely in touch with the unconscious and puts things together and brings them up to a conscious level, ready and processed as they are.
But sometimes it can get mixed up with punch of other stuff and that's what I try to stay wary of.

Then again it seems like the times I didn't trust my Ni are when I should have.

I think I'd be a lot more effective if I actually trusted my Ni even more. It just seems like an alien language in this world.

To answer your question, yes.

 

[Lux]

1. Do you trust this unjustifiable idea?
2. Which one would you hire?
3. How certain are you of your decision?

Yes
The one I sensed would work out
90%

This has happened to me although on a lesser scale, my Ni was accurate.

 

[Usehername]

On one hand, my Ni is good at what it does, and thus I am likely to reach the right conclusion subconsciously before I consciously know the answer (whether this be interpersonally, academically, or otherwise). I've lived for enough years to know that it's not a "gamble" to trust my Ni, it's just what I do and it most often works out.

On the other hand, I am not some goddess, I am human, and I know this. Therefore, when I throw everything I have down on the table and risk, I am conscious that I could be making a big mistake, and occasionally, it has happened. I don't expect perfection out of a common human quality of mine.

 

[Athenian200]

On one hand, my Ni is good at what it does, and thus I am likely to reach the right conclusion subconsciously before I consciously know the answer (whether this be interpersonally, academically, or otherwise). I've lived for enough years to know that it's not a "gamble" to trust my Ni, it's just what I do and it most often works out.

On the other hand, I am not some goddess, I am human, and I know this. Therefore, when I throw everything I have down on the table and risk, I am conscious that I could be making a big mistake, and occasionally, it has happened. I don't expect perfection out of a common human quality of mine.

That's a nice description of how you understand the situation, but you didn't answer the questions.

 

[Shimpei]

I took the cognitive processes test so many times, and my Ni and Ne scored basically 0% almost every time.

 

[Jaguar]

My Ni has bailed me out so many times that I have to trust it. The times when problems have cropped up are when I ignore it in favour of the "justifiable".

My life, exactly.

 

[Kalach]

1. Do you trust this unjustifiable idea?

Well, that's tricky. If it's my first time out being the hirer, I'll probably make mistakes identifying intuitions and start looking like a vacillating twit. The unjustifiable idea would keep on sitting there influencing my ability to make a final decision but I might not know how to bring it into play and name it--that is, I possibly wouldn't know how to trust it, but it wouldn't go away either.

But if I've been hiring people for a while and I love the project I'm hiring people for today, then I'll trust the intuition and go looking for its origin.

2. Which one would you hire?

If I had to make a decision without further information and I was boss of the project needing the hire, I guess I'd err on the side of draconian overlordship and hire the guy I liked.

3. How certain are you of your decision?

If I were just the Human Resources dude, I'd worry about my choice. If I were hiring for MY project, I'd stick by my choice. Which is to say, I wouldn't be certain necessarily, but I'd accept that I'd made a choice. Can always fire the guy later, after all.


But... how much of that is Ni and how much is Te?

Generally speaking, if I get an intuition, I make it come true. For somewhere in there it is true. People talk about INTJs and the sneaky way we make perspective shifts, switching words or expressions till we're right. From the outside it looks like we missed something and are wrong, and switched something but still missed something and are wrong again, and then switched something again and still wrong, and then suddenly we have a formulation totally unlike the earlier attempts and we're walking around crowing about how we were right all along. Well, from the inside, we were right all along. The idea wasn't unjustifiable, it just wasn't justified yet.

And it's shameful when that process doesn't end up working.