There are a lot of tests out there that summarize someone’s personality, habits, and things of that nature. The Myers-Briggs type indicator is probably the most famous. I first took an iteration of Myers-Briggs in 1995, when I was 25 years old. It was part of a team-building day in my office. That was my first corporate job, and we had fun sessions working with the group’s various types.

I recently applied for work at a firm that specializes in content creation. As part of their application process, you are directed to a website called 16 Personalities that walks you through about a 10-minute questionnaire that produces your type. My results are the same today as they were in 1995. Hey, give me points for consistency!

My type is ISTJ, known as the Logistician in the resulting summary. For the next several posts, I’m going to provide the different applications of the personality. I’ll use the summary from the 16 Personalities site. Some of my observations on how well they apply to my life will be added.

Introduction

“My observation is that whenever one person is found adequate to the discharge of a duty… it is worse executed by two persons, and scarcely done at all if three or more are employed therein.” – GEORGE WASHINGTON

The Logistician personality type is thought to be the most abundant, making up around 13% of the population. Their defining characteristics of integrity, practical logic and tireless dedication to duty make Logisticians a vital core to many families. They are also key for organizations that uphold traditions, rules, and standards. These organizations include law offices, regulatory bodies, and the military. People with the Logistician personality type enjoy taking responsibility for their actions. They take pride in the work they do when working towards a goal. Logisticians hold back none of their time and energy completing each relevant task with accuracy and patience.

Logistician (ISTJ) personality

Logisticians don’t make many assumptions. They prefer to analyze their surroundings, check their facts and arrive at practical courses of action. Logistician personalities are no-nonsense. When they’ve made a decision, they will relay the facts necessary to achieve their goal. They expect others to grasp the situation immediately and take action. Logisticians have little tolerance for indecisiveness. They lose patience even more quickly if their chosen course is challenged with impractical theories. If the challenge ignores key details or becomes time-consuming debates, Logisticians become angry.

Associate With Those of Good Quality if You Esteem Your Reputation…

When Logisticians say they are going to get something done, they do it, meeting their obligations no matter the personal cost, and they are baffled by people who don’t hold their own word in the same respect. Combining laziness and dishonesty is the quickest way to get on Logisticians’ bad side. Consequently, people with the Logistician personality type often prefer to work alone, or at least have their authority clearly established by hierarchy, where they can set and achieve their goals without debate or worry over other’s reliability.

Logisticians have sharp, fact-based minds, and prefer autonomy and self-sufficiency to reliance on someone or something. Dependency on others is often seen by Logisticians as a weakness, and their passion for duty, dependability and impeccable personal integrity forbid falling into such a trap.

This sense of personal integrity is core to Logisticians, and goes beyond their own minds – Logistician personalities adhere to established rules and guidelines regardless of cost, reporting their own mistakes and telling the truth even when the consequences for doing so could be disastrous. To Logisticians, honesty is far more important than emotional considerations, and their blunt approach leaves others with the false impression that Logisticians are cold or even robotic. People with this type may struggle to express emotion or affection outwardly, but the suggestion that they don’t feel, or worse have no personality at all, is deeply hurtful.

…For It Is Better to Be Alone Than in Bad Company

Logisticians’ dedication is an excellent quality, allowing them to accomplish much, but it is also a core weakness that less scrupulous individuals take advantage of. They seek stability and security, considering it their duty to maintain a smooth operation, and they may find that their coworkers and significant others shift their responsibilities onto them, knowing that they will always take up the slack. Also, Logisticians tend to keep their opinions to themselves and let the facts do the talking, but it can be a long time before observable evidence tells the whole story.

Logisticians need to remember to take care of themselves. Their stubborn dedication to stability and efficiency can compromise those goals in the long term. As others lean ever-harder on them, it creates an emotional strain that can go unexpressed for years, only finally coming out after it’s too late to fix. If they can find coworkers and spouses who genuinely appreciate and complement their qualities, who enjoy the brightness, clarity, and dependability that they offer, Logisticians will find that their stabilizing role is a tremendously satisfying one, knowing that they are part of a system that works.

My Results

Logistician

ISTJ-T

8% Extraverted                     92% Introverted

45% Intuitive                         55% Observant

51% Thinking                       49% Feeling

83% Judging                       17% Prospecting

24% Assertive                      76% Turbulent

Insight of the Day

Logisticians are the least likely personality type to believe in lucky numbers.

Logisticians You May Know

Denzel Washington, Angela Merkel, Natalie Portman, George Washington

My Observations

• I love finding out how much I have in common with George Washington. We not only share a birthday, but we also share the ISTJ personality.
• I find most of this summary to be accurate. The discussion of being no-nonsense and impatience might make you think an ISTJ has no sense of humor. If so, that doesn’t apply to me.
• Yes, the ISTJ will strictly adhere to rules and traditions. But that may not always be the case. I have always despised “that’s the way it’s always been done” as a reason for things, especially if it isn’t working.
• You might think that if the ISTJ craves security and stability, they would struggle at times as entrepreneurs. You would be right. Very right.

Next up, the strengths and weaknesses of the ISTJ.

Have you taken the test? What is your personality? Feel free to share in the comments.