Hub tag for articles in the Cognitive Functions hub.
Extraverted Sensing (Se) as a tertiary function presents a specific developmental challenge: it offers genuine capability but sits behind stronger, more dominant functions. For INTJs and INFJs, Se tertiary development means learning to engage the present moment and physical world with intention, without abandoning the depth and internal processing that defines how you naturally think….
The third position in your cognitive function stack creates a unique developmental challenge. When Introverted Feeling sits in this tertiary spot, it operates differently from Fi-dominant types who lead with their internal value system. You’ll find this pattern in types like ISTJ, ESTJ, INTP, and ENTP, where logic and systematic thinking take priority while personal…
My mind went somewhere strange during a client presentation I’ll never forget. We were pitching a major campaign rebrand to a Fortune 500 retail account, and something about the room felt off. I couldn’t name it yet. I just knew the logic wasn’t adding up, and instead of staying present, my brain quietly started dismantling…
ISTPs and ISFPs share the Explorer temperament that craves hands-on experience and practical application. Our ISTP Personality Type hub covers the full range of this fascinating type, but the ISTP function stack deserves particular attention because it creates one of the most analytically practical minds in the type system. Understanding Cognitive Functions: The Foundation Swiss…
Sitting across from a 22-year-old account manager in my agency office, I watched him struggle with the same challenge I’d faced at his age. He had the strategic thinking down but couldn’t quite connect with clients emotionally yet. Ten years later, he’d become one of our most effective leaders, naturally balancing analysis with empathy. The…
One pattern kept showing up in my agency work: the team members who remembered every client preference, every project detail, every past mistake we’d promised never to repeat. They weren’t the loudest voices in brainstorming sessions, but they were the ones who kept us from reinventing the wheel every quarter. These colleagues operated via what…
During a leadership training session years ago, one of my direct reports mentioned she’d recently discovered she wasn’t an ENFP after all. She’d been testing as one for nearly a decade. Once she learned about cognitive functions, she realized she was actually an ESFJ. The relief in her voice struck me. She’d been forcing herself…
Extraverted Sensing (Se) is a cognitive function that processes the physical world in real time, drawing energy and information directly from immediate sensory experience. People who lead with Se are wired to act on what they see, hear, and feel right now, responding to the present moment with speed, precision, and physical awareness that introverts…
During my years running an advertising agency, I noticed something peculiar about my own decision-making process. While other executives gathered in brainstorming sessions to hash out campaign strategies, I found myself doing my best thinking alone, often late at night, when patterns and connections seemed to emerge from nowhere. INTJ cognitive functions operate through a…