ENTP: The Inventor

ENTPs are inspired innovators, motivated to find new solutions to intellectually challenging problems. They are curious and clever, and seek to understand the people, systems, and principles that surround them. Open-minded and easygoing, ENTPs want to understand other people—their motivations, behavior, and ideas—without applying judgment. ENTPs enjoy engaging others in debate, and can be perceived as argumentative due to their love of critical analysis. They like to maintain the upper hand, and often do, thanks to their ability to quickly respond to another’s ideas and behavior.

ENTPs are masters of re-inventing the wheel and often refuse to do a task the same way twice. They question norms and often ignore them altogether; they would much rather try a new method (or two) than go along with the standard. ENTPs respond well to challenge and will be most inspired by a problem that others perceive as impossible to solve. In problem-solving, they rely on their ingenuity in the moment, and have little patience for preparation or planning.

Popular hobbies for the ENTP include continuing education, writing, art appreciation, playing sports, computers and video games, travel, and cultural events.

At work, the ENTP is concerned with applying innovative solutions to challenging problems to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of systems.  ENTPs often take an entrepreneurial approach to their work; they prefer to approach tasks in a casual and unstructured way, with few limitations on their ingenuity. ENTPs prize competency and often want to be the expert. They enjoy work that demands continual improvement in their knowledge and skills. They value power, and want a career that allows them contact with powerful people and the opportunity to increase their own influence. ENTPs are fundamentally idea people, and chafe at routine. They get bored very quickly when required to repeat a task or attend to details. The ideal work environment for an ENTP is intellectually challenging without being rigid, with creative and intelligent coworkers. The ideal job for an ENTP allows them to put their creativity to work developing innovative ideas, while allowing them to delegate responsiblity for the tedious details of implementation to others.

In leadership positions, ENTPs are imaginative and enterprising. ENTP leaders tend to be intellectually competitive, and want a team that can keep up. They are likely to encourage independence and creative thinking among their reports, but will subject any new ideas, including their own, to a thorough and critical analysis. ENTPs look for trends, and want to have plenty of information and data available in their search for patterns and principles. They tend to be focused on systems more than people, and may neglect their teams’ emotional needs in the pursuit of knowledge, understanding, and innovation. When they do focus on personal concerns, their strength lies in strategy, rather than diplomacy and they often use their understanding of human behavior to engineer and influence social systems.

Popular careers for the ENTP include:

In relationships, the ENTP is inventive and enthusiastic. ENTPs prize their ability to understand others and communicate effectively, and have an interest in improving themselves and their relationships. They are often competitive and may be argumentative; they enjoy a good debate for its own sake. ENTPs are typically supportive of their mates, particularly when it comes to encouraging career achievement. However, they can be unreliable as they follow their inspiration, wherever it may lead. They are often more interested in making money than managing it, and may unintentionally create financial instability with their high tolerance for risk. ENTPs have little interest in order or routine, and often leave mundane household chores to their partners as they pursue more exciting activities. The ideal mate for an ENTP appreciates their ingenuity, competence, and perceptiveness, and supports them in their ever-changing interests, schemes, and social pursuits.

Good matches for an ENTP include Intuitive Feeling types (ENFP, INFP, ENFJ, INFJ). These types share the ENTP’s big-picture view of the world, but balance the ENTP’s tendency toward critical analysis with attention to emotions, relationships, and values.

As parents, ENTPs are concerned with developing their children as independent thinkers. They are fun-loving parents who want to give their children many experiences to help their young minds expand and grow. More interested in challenging their children intellectually than caring for their physical needs, the ENTP is inclined to leave the day-to-day details of childrearing up to another parent if possible. Although ENTP parents may be distracted from their families when other interests capture their attention, they derive great joy from offering their children many and varied opportunities to develop.

Famous ENTPs include Walt Disney, Thomas Edison, Lewis Carroll, Alfred Hitchcock, John Malkovich, Nikola Tesla, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Benjamin Franklin, and Richard Feynman.

Interesting facts about the ENTP:

• On personality trait scales, scored as Enterprising, Friendly, Resourceful, Headstrong, Self-Centered, and Independent
• Least likely of all types to suffer heart disease and hypertension
• Least likely of all types to report stress associated with family and health
• Scored among highest of all types in available resources for coping with stress
• Overrepresented among those with Type A behavior
• Among highest of all types on measures of creativity
• One of two types most frequent among violators of college alcohol policy
• Among types most dissatisfied with their work, despite being among the types with highest income
• Commonly found in careers in science, management, technology, and the arts

Recommended resources:
Famous ENTP People

Are you an ENTP? Take the official Myers Briggs Type Indicator® online now and find out!