Steve Jobs Personality Type

Today marks part four of our 16 part series exploring the sixteen Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® test personality types and related notable Celebrity figures throughout time.  Previously we examined Celebrity John D Rockefeller and the MBTI® test ESTJ personality type.   This week we examine the ISTP (Introversion-Sensing-Thinking-Perceiving) and the late great mastermind behind the “Apple”, Steve Jobs.

Most people remember Steve Jobs as the co-founder and CEO of Apple Inc and Pixar Inc.  Steve Jobs was also an individual that mastered his MBTI type, the ISTP, allowing him to excel in a unique position in his industry that lead to technical advancements that we often take for granted in this day of age.

Like many Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Introverts who prefer thinking and sensing, Steve Jobs used his preferences primarily internally to analyze the data he gathered in an organized fashion much like the computers he helped develop.  He was able to detach and objectively criticize the projects he worked on.  This sometimes insensitive approach to problems was a double edged sword that lead to Jobs being fired from Apple in 1985 after losing a power struggle with Apple’s board of directors.  Fortunately, Steve Jobs didn’t give up, and utilized his Perceiving preference to remain flexible and spontaneous in his approach to work.  He acquired the computer graphics division from Lucasfilms and turned it into the critically and financially acclaimed Pixar Studios.  He also started up NeXT Inc. that was acquired by Apple Inc. in 1996, and over the next four years Steve Jobs ascended to CEO of Apple bringing him full circle with the company.

Steve Jobs also showcased how ISTP types focus on efficiently working on projects and was a firm believer in doing only what was needed with the least amount of fuss.  Efficiency and innovation were key focus points throughout his career.  You can see this today in the products that Apple releases.  From the iMac, to the iPod, to the iPhone, all three are innovations which are streamlined, clean, and efficient products that attract a full spectrum of customers.  Apple produces a set amount of products that are mass produced for cost efficiency and quality control.  This has allowed Apple to control the image of all the products they produce unlike open sourced platforms like the PC.  This did not come without risk as many manufacturers looked down on Apple for their lack of flexibility in the 80’s but it is that exact mentality of adaptable, action-orientated risk taking that is synonymous with ISTP personality types.

Not many people got to know the man behind the keynote speeches closely while he was alive.  This is something that is common with Introverts.  Most accounts were from people that worked for Steve Jobs.   At one point Fortune named Steve Jobs “one of Silicon Valley’s leading egomaniacs.”  He was also known as a demanding perfectionist, but that was a side effect of the extreme ISTP preference that is often seen as confident, independent, and self-determined.  Steve Jobs set the bar high and worked until the very end to meet those standards.

In the end Jobs did things his own way.  Through his successes and failures he changed the technical landscape forever and showed what a motivated ISTP can achieve.

If you would like more in depth information on the ISTP personality type or if you would like to find out what your Myers-Briggs® Type is then head over to the assessment page and take the MBTI Assessment assessment for an analysis of your type.  Don’t forget to check out part five of our sixteen part series of MBTI types and the Celebrity personalities that exhibited those types.

Explore Other Celebrity Personality Types

To find out more about the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test check out our informational section HERE.

References

Introduction to Type (Isabel Briggs Myers, 1998, CPP Inc.)

To view more celebrity personality types visit celebritytypes.com