No one’s got ideas like an ENTP. Here’s how to use them.

This course includes four days of video sessions and email-based course materials. You can purchase this course for anytime, on-demand access. The cost is $195.  Sign up now!

Whenever I feel like I am a social aberrant because of how many corners I cut, I think about my ENTP friend Cassie. What do you call it if you are cutting more than the corners? Slicing and dicing? That’s what Cassie does.

Cassie is the only person I’ve ever met who has more ideas than I do. Cassie’s attention span is like, fifteen seconds, so her ideas flow faster than mine. Basically, Cassie stays with an idea long enough for everyone to tell her it’s brilliant, and then she moves on.

Cassie and I take little vacations, with Melissa. We do weekends away.

Qustion: What do an INTJ (Melissa) an ENTJ (me) and an ENTP (Cassie) do in a swanky hotel room far away from home?

Answer: We work. But it’s so fun to work in the same hotel room because we all like doing each others’ work. Here’s how it goes.

Cassie never stops spewing ideas. About anything. She’ll do ideas about anything. But sometimes we need a break. This is a picture of Cassie panicking when we tell her she has to stop telling us her ideas.

We say, hold on. We have to sort through all your ideas to figure out what we can use. Cassie says okay fine, and she gets on the phone to tell someone else her ideas.

Once I mentioned, in passing, that Melissa, Cassie and I have been fired from every job we’ve had.

Cassie said, “That is so not true! I have never been fired!”

I said, “What do you mean? I fired you.”

“It doesn’t count,” Cassie said, “because you hired me again as a contractor.”

So then you could say Cassie has never been fired. Because no one can resist her.

Because, for example, Cassie can do anything in under an hour. But you’d never know it, because, as Cassie says, she does value-add billing. Which means she bills for more time than she works. All the time.

Whatever. Melissa and I hire Cassie so much because she’s so fast and so smart.

I tell you all this to tell you that Cassie is a totally standard issue ENTP. This is what they’re all like. Smart. Savvy. Unemotional, except if they are getting excited about their ideas.

I am so happy to do a course for ENTPs because I think they will all be like Cassie… well, or like the only coaching client I’ve ever had a crush on. He was an ENTP. He was so funny. And he was applying for a job to take over the world, and I thought he would be my perfect match. Except that ENTJs and ENTPs are the only serious rule breakers of all sixteen personality types. So it’s for sure that if I were married to an ENTP we’d both find ourselves in prison.

Actually maybe you could think of this course as a public service because it’s going to be a million ways for ENTPs to make money without breaking the law.

Day one: Understand how everyone sees you. 
You are great at seeing what other people need, what they want, what they are saying vs. what they are doing. But it’s harder to tell how people see you. You are complicated, so different people can see different parts of you clearly. And some people don’t understand you at all. This session will help you know what people are thinking about you before you even talk. (As if there even is a moment before you talk!)

Day two: How to rise to the top into corporate life. 
You need to re-create the company to accommodate you. You are not easily managed, you do not play well with others. But you do manage up very well, so we’ll talk about how to make sure everyone above you loves you — that’ll get you the power you need to get your ideas implemented. We’ll also talk about what to do in the meantime, if you are surrounded by office drones.

Day three: How to work for yourself. 
Outsource. Really. You need a lot of people to help you because your ability to do the grunt work is very low. Like, non-existent. But you are so good at connecting with people about ideas that you should be able to generate business with your creative intellect and you can delegate the work to people who will like doing it a lot more than you. This session will show you the myriad of ways to work for yourself, no matter what else is going on in your life at the time. For an ENTP there is always the possibility of more income.

Day four: Ask me anything!
Every question you have about your ideas, your dreams, your co-workers. Even your in-laws. This is the night to ask.

Remember, the cost is $195. 
Sign up now!

25 replies
  1. a
    a says:

    I wanted to take this course since last time I took the quiz I got ENTP and I was able to relate to the stuff in day 2 and 3, but then I took that quiz again and now I’m back to ENTJ instead. Figures.

  2. EMD
    EMD says:

    On every test I’m ENTP, except quistic which gives me ENTJ.

    I was so sure about P. I am extremely open to novelty, comfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity, prefer to improvise rather than plan. I’m the parent that sets no bedtime, and is always willing to hear out the counter-argument.

    I’ve *learnt* to tone it down when working with others because a P manager or colleague is terrifying for most people (ie Js). I’ve *learnt* to talk about steps and processes and create the appearance of orderliness. Privately I’ll still wing it, just push the boat out from the shore and see where I end up.

    So I thought maybe the quistic version of MBTI was really aimed at young people who haven’t learnt to manage any of their traits, so a P who’s learnt to work with other people becomes a J.

    But the post promoting the ENTJ course spoke to me. Yes, I love power, because power is the most/only interesting thing. I love conflict – not arguments, not fights, but the clash of incompatible interests. Yes, I live in the future with my ridiculous (but perfectly sensible) goals. Yes, being home with young children killllllls me. Yes, the number one thing people say to me is “I don’t know how you get that all done.”

    But no, no, I don’t want to run my family life in an organized manner (who cares?)

    And this ENTP course, yes no one knows what to make of me, but it’s not me at all.

    What gives? Are you using a different J/P definition to everyone else?

    • Cassie Boorn
      Cassie Boorn says:

      ENTPs usually test as different types because every question is subjective to is.

      Penelope thought I was an ENTJ when she met me, but quickly realized there was something off.

      ENTPs enjoy power too. We aren’t so great at ruthlessly carrying our plans out, because we have too many ideas about how things should be.

      You sound like an ENTP to me. Welcome to the club!

    • Penelope Trunk
      Penelope Trunk says:

      The best way to learn how to date the right person for you is to take the course about that type. By the end of the course you’ll know so much about that type of person that there’s no way you could a) miss them when they are in the same room as you or b) fail to connect with them when you learn their major areas of connection.

      Penelope

      • Aneta
        Aneta says:

        Not even close. Most IT people are ISTJs, unless they’re managers. Who would hire an engineer who never shuts up, is not detail oriented, and can’t get anything done?

        • IT
          IT says:

          Damn! You’re right, Aneta! This time I read the descriptions more thoroughly and took the test. I’m an INTJ, though I have traits of other personality types.

          Julie, my apologies…

  3. Amy
    Amy says:

    What about this course for a relatively social INTP (or maybe that’s coming up?) A lot of this description resonates, except a lot of my ideas probably get filtered between my head and what gets verbalized.

  4. Amelia
    Amelia says:

    I also consistently test ENTJ with Quistic, but I believe I’m an ENTP. I see both P and J in my personality, but while I hate indecision, what I hate more is making decisions too far ahead of a deadline when I don’t know all the variables yet.

    Do ENTPs also have a strong fear of making decisions that would be hard to change? This manifests the most in my dating life. It either feels like a trap or I’m bored. Both are terrifying.

    And seriously, every question IS subjective. I always feel like I need situational details in order to answer each question.

  5. David
    David says:

    Dear Penelope,
    I went to the Quistic website in search of one of your courses for INFPs, but I didn’t find one. Is this because we are truly unfit for the working world (half LOL half This is how I actually feel).

    Thank you,

    David

  6. Kat
    Kat says:

    My ENTP boss/client does the exact same recommendations this blog posts suggests. He outsources constantly. He does not work well in a corporation but can earn 5 figures per day consulting independently for the past 20 years.

    I work for him. He’s just so horrible with remembering details so I plan to jack up the price for bookkeeping and screening all his ideas. How else can I benefit from having a ENTP boss?

    • Cassie Boorn
      Cassie Boorn says:

      It is so smart to charge your boss extra for book keeping! I would never mind paying extra for someone who would put up with my incompetence.

      Help your boss see how you can help him execute all of his ideas. We feel constant pressure to put our ideas out into the world, but figuring out how to do so is incredibly stressful. You can make a lot of money if you can prove that you can take his ideas and make them happen.

      You should also take this course so you can learn more about how his mind works. ENTPs are mast manipulators, so its hard to get anything past us. :)

  7. Theresa
    Theresa says:

    My husband is an ENTP, and this course definitely describes him. For any other ENTPs out there who struggle with remembering details, consider using Cortana or Siri. I swear, he sometimes sets Cortana reminders (always speaking out loud to the phone like the people do to the computer on Star Trek) to do the equivalent of tying his shoes. It works though.

    Also, I understand more now why he never wanted to be an engineer type (he’s great at math and had a full comp sci scholarship). He loves having a room full of people laughing at his jokes. He’s doing great as a copywriter. Never runs out of ideas, loves presenting, etc. So, long story short, some ENTPs out there may want to consider copywriting if they have the writing chops.

  8. Stephanie
    Stephanie says:

    It’s interesting that you’re not offering a discount on this course. You know we ENTPs won’t care. Haha.

  9. Ella
    Ella says:

    I am exactly as you described. As a woman, I find it really, REALLY hard to be an ENTP. I can’t stay in one job too long, which stresses out my family and friends. I get bored out of my skull very, very quickly. I was a PA to a J-boss for over a year and finally I couldn’t stand it anymore, so I left. I have some J-qualities as both my parents are J’s, but they don’t understand me. They say I’m wasting my life, and the truth is, I feel like it, too. Nowadays I just have to grit it out at a tedious job so I can turn my idea for a business into a reality. I am also trying to decide what to study – some kind of scarce skill occupation in my country. But I hate math, and don’t do well with details at all. It is very true that the execution of ideas are extremely stressful for our type. I could have this wonderful vision, and then I think of all the things that will have to be done and the possible pitfalls, and I give up mentally. I have no-one around me that can do the actual grunt work for me, so I have to do it myself. Sometimes I feel like I’m going crazy.

  10. Kristi
    Kristi says:

    I want to take this course… sooooooooo bad. Seriously. When will this be available again?

    Penelope, you are the reason I know I’m an ENTP and you’re the reason I know my husband is an INTJ…. I discovered your blog almost 10 years ago. You saved our relationship! lol. We didn’t know who we were, let alone how to communicate. ugh. It was horrible, but now…. I’m in need of advice for my career. I keep getting stuck. :/

    Thanks!
    Kristi

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