Joined
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299 Posts
Hello ISFPs.
I need help on how to deal with a fellow member of your type. He is my ISFP manager. I am an ENFP female.
We both work in an analytics+people relationship industry. We develop products that real people eventually use, but the products have to function in a technically challenging (limited) environment.
The issue that I need your help on: My manager and I have different working styles and I need to know how to resolve/mitigate them in an amicable manner.
The people in the picture
His focus:
* Visual appeal of the product
* Whatever is 'good enough for now' (get it done with quickly and move on to newer things)
* What people have asked for in the past ("people may ask for anything in the future; how do we plan for such a vague thing?")
* Keeping bosses pleased
* Reactive, quick decisions
* Severely averse to schedules (but good with being available for spontaneous requests)
* Manages customer communication very diplomatically (knows to weave words that make a bad thing sound alright)
* Gut-feeling based product design
* Very visual in understanding and communication
* Manages team based on past record - those who have done well in the past will be continued to give the work. Finds it baffling that new people can contribute pretty quickly in a new system too! Unwilling to delegate much or empower much because of this hesitation
* A very good listener when there are emotional issues. Reluctant to proactively taking steps (especially those that require standing up to bosses) to help the team. Tries to be diplomatic and buy time endlessly.
* A great support when it comes to granting flexibility from the rigours of the system; but not so good at maintaining records, schedules and processes.
My focus:
* Systematic robustness of the product (good architecture, long-term maintainability and extensibility)
* What we will need in the long run (if they are going to possibly want in the future, let us prepare for it now)
* What people have asked or in the past + what they are likely to ask for in the near future + what the competition already has
* Keeping the systems intact and robust
* Proactive, considered decisions (takes longer to get to decisions)
* Don't really like schedules much either, but will plough down and do it anyway for the sake of the job.
* Manages customer communication with directness and transparency (inform them early of risks, keep expectations manageable)
* Brainstorming- and ideation-based product design
* Systemic and numerically oriented in understanding and communication - visuals are unimportant to me and I am happy to let someone else decide on what 'looks' right.
* Directly manage my team by empowering people from an early stage and willing to let them make mistakes. Hate to micro-manage, but will manage tasks because that is how the individuals in the team will develop themselves. Very people-focused, almost to a fault.
* Reasonably OK with dealing with the team's emotional issues. Average in proactively taking steps (especially those that require standing up to bosses) to help the team. Will stand up to a boss, but cannot stand up to an aggressive boss for very long. Not much of an influencer when it comes to dealing with strong opposition.
* Keep schedules religiously because I know that if I don't get my act together with processes, I will fail and I work hard to overcome this natural weakness. However, I too provide my team a lot of flexibility so long as they are accountable and sincere with their work.
Issue:
* He sees me as an upstart threatening his position, so he is increasingly getting edgy and political. I hate politics and don't know how to play that game at all. I would sooner quit than get political.
* He is very cagey about sharing information because he believes that only the people who need it should get it; even when the other team members need it for speaking to customers, he won't share it upfront, choosing to reveal it by himself to the customer directly during the meeting.
* My insistence on a sane technological approach to products has endeared me to the technology folks who were struggling earlier to communicate with him. This has alienated me further from him.
* His lack of organization and early risk mitigation causes a lot of last-minute fires, which are all avoidable in everyone else's eyes. He, I feel, enjoys being the hero under the circumstance, staying back with the team all through the night, buying them donuts etc.. I, on the other hand, would want everyone to go home at 6!
If we plan better, we can all avoid a lot of last-minute stress - that's my attitude, but he probably sees that as slacking.
* All my deliveries have happened on time and with minimal fuss and I got noticed for it within a year of joining. I always credited him for the support he gave me, but I don't know if this is causing a problem.
My intention:
* I want to work harmoniously with him, because he is basically a good human being who is very helpful to many. He just doesn't focus much and gets distracted easily. I can help him, but he has to cooperate. But he never admits his mistakes... If he could let go a bit, we would run the team well and he can even take all the credit! But I don't know how to make this smooth harmony happen. His boss won't intervene because he is an old-timer and cannot be questioned (various deeper considerations, apparently, exist, I am told).
Please help me with tactical steps and suggestions.
I need help on how to deal with a fellow member of your type. He is my ISFP manager. I am an ENFP female.
We both work in an analytics+people relationship industry. We develop products that real people eventually use, but the products have to function in a technically challenging (limited) environment.
The issue that I need your help on: My manager and I have different working styles and I need to know how to resolve/mitigate them in an amicable manner.
The people in the picture
His focus:
* Visual appeal of the product
* Whatever is 'good enough for now' (get it done with quickly and move on to newer things)
* What people have asked for in the past ("people may ask for anything in the future; how do we plan for such a vague thing?")
* Keeping bosses pleased
* Reactive, quick decisions
* Severely averse to schedules (but good with being available for spontaneous requests)
* Manages customer communication very diplomatically (knows to weave words that make a bad thing sound alright)
* Gut-feeling based product design
* Very visual in understanding and communication
* Manages team based on past record - those who have done well in the past will be continued to give the work. Finds it baffling that new people can contribute pretty quickly in a new system too! Unwilling to delegate much or empower much because of this hesitation
* A very good listener when there are emotional issues. Reluctant to proactively taking steps (especially those that require standing up to bosses) to help the team. Tries to be diplomatic and buy time endlessly.
* A great support when it comes to granting flexibility from the rigours of the system; but not so good at maintaining records, schedules and processes.
My focus:
* Systematic robustness of the product (good architecture, long-term maintainability and extensibility)
* What we will need in the long run (if they are going to possibly want in the future, let us prepare for it now)
* What people have asked or in the past + what they are likely to ask for in the near future + what the competition already has
* Keeping the systems intact and robust
* Proactive, considered decisions (takes longer to get to decisions)
* Don't really like schedules much either, but will plough down and do it anyway for the sake of the job.
* Manages customer communication with directness and transparency (inform them early of risks, keep expectations manageable)
* Brainstorming- and ideation-based product design
* Systemic and numerically oriented in understanding and communication - visuals are unimportant to me and I am happy to let someone else decide on what 'looks' right.
* Directly manage my team by empowering people from an early stage and willing to let them make mistakes. Hate to micro-manage, but will manage tasks because that is how the individuals in the team will develop themselves. Very people-focused, almost to a fault.
* Reasonably OK with dealing with the team's emotional issues. Average in proactively taking steps (especially those that require standing up to bosses) to help the team. Will stand up to a boss, but cannot stand up to an aggressive boss for very long. Not much of an influencer when it comes to dealing with strong opposition.
* Keep schedules religiously because I know that if I don't get my act together with processes, I will fail and I work hard to overcome this natural weakness. However, I too provide my team a lot of flexibility so long as they are accountable and sincere with their work.
Issue:
* He sees me as an upstart threatening his position, so he is increasingly getting edgy and political. I hate politics and don't know how to play that game at all. I would sooner quit than get political.
* He is very cagey about sharing information because he believes that only the people who need it should get it; even when the other team members need it for speaking to customers, he won't share it upfront, choosing to reveal it by himself to the customer directly during the meeting.
* My insistence on a sane technological approach to products has endeared me to the technology folks who were struggling earlier to communicate with him. This has alienated me further from him.
* His lack of organization and early risk mitigation causes a lot of last-minute fires, which are all avoidable in everyone else's eyes. He, I feel, enjoys being the hero under the circumstance, staying back with the team all through the night, buying them donuts etc.. I, on the other hand, would want everyone to go home at 6!
* All my deliveries have happened on time and with minimal fuss and I got noticed for it within a year of joining. I always credited him for the support he gave me, but I don't know if this is causing a problem.
My intention:
* I want to work harmoniously with him, because he is basically a good human being who is very helpful to many. He just doesn't focus much and gets distracted easily. I can help him, but he has to cooperate. But he never admits his mistakes... If he could let go a bit, we would run the team well and he can even take all the credit! But I don't know how to make this smooth harmony happen. His boss won't intervene because he is an old-timer and cannot be questioned (various deeper considerations, apparently, exist, I am told).
Please help me with tactical steps and suggestions.