I recently asked an INTJ friend if he had experience with a specific cognitive model, and he said, “yes, and I don’t like it.”

Then he clarified.

“Well, I haven’t really dug into it the way you might, so you might find it useful. I get stuck in these little ruts…”

I was glad he said that. I knew exactly what he meant by “little ruts.” Probably other INTJs know what he meant too, but just in case, I’ll explain it.

As INTJs, we’re not extraverts. But we are generally really perceptive people. As a result, we often hold new things (opportunities for extraversion) in suspicion, and find it easier to begin enumerating their probable faults rather than just opening ourselves to them and experiencing what they have to offer.

What my friend was saying, in effect, was: “I’m an introvert. And I am a bit too suspicious of things sometimes; I hold back when there might actually be some value to be found. So you should check it out yourself if you’re interested, and see how it goes.”

By the way, extraverts can experience the opposite problem: Getting too excited about new things without really grasping how some of the deeper, less obvious aspects might impact the overall experience.

I do find it useful to tone down my introversion and consciously extravert myself toward new things, try them out, and then judge. This falls under my mental category called “making inquiries” and is one of the highest-leverage problem-solving tools available to INTJs.

I still get stuck in those little ruts pretty often though. Introversion will always be home for me, and all things considered, we have to work from the position that’s most comfortable to us.

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