Judgers and Perceivers in the Office—Who Holds the Power?

Fifty years ago, the answer to this question would have been obvious—the boss held the power, and the boss was almost certainly a Judger. Judgers are the planners and organizers of the Myers and Briggs system. Their power stems from their ability to manage resources effectively, making them influential in structured environments.

These traits were in vogue for years in corporate America. There's plenty of evidence, including our own research, to show that Judgers out-earn Perceivers, are more likely to manage teams and, quite possibly a result of this, are happier in their jobs. They're also less likely to be unemployed. Of the eight Myers and Briggs preferences, the only one that consistently correlates with unemployment is Perceiving.

But times are changing. In the last five years, in quick succession, the workplace has experienced a series of very un-”J”-like trends: the gig economy, remote work, quiet quitting, lazy girl jobs, bare minimum Mondays, Act Your Wage. There's been a clear directional shift in people's attitudes to work, especially among Generation Z.

Which makes me wonder: are we seeing a shift in the power balance between Judgers and Perceivers in the office, or the rise of a new breed of J?

The 9-5 is Dead, Long Live the 9-5

The traditional 9-5 workday, a staple of corporate America, was perhaps the biggest victim of the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtually overnight, anyone who could work from home was doing so, commuting — once a natural barrier between home life and work life — was eliminated, and technology made us accessible to anyone, at any time, from anywhere.

Suddenly, the routines of the office no longer held the same importance. Everyone had an opportunity to structure their days in a way that suited them best, within reason of course. Judgers could stick to the routines they were comfortable with. Perceivers could spread out their work throughout the day, juggle multiple projects at once, work in a non-linear fashion, take a project right up to the wire of a deadline and still meet it, walk away from a task and come back later, and be “on the clock” for longer periods if necessary to match their energy levels.

That's a tough working style to have when there's a boss breathing down your neck or a time sheet to fill out in 6-minute increments. But at home, when no one is watching, it can be a beautiful way to work. Perceivers get judged on their results, not on their process, and that's a game changer.

The World Needs More Creatives, Not Administrators

Okay, before you shout at me, I'm not saying Judgers cannot be creative or suggesting there's a single "creativity" letter in the Myers and Briggs soup. What I'm saying is, the traditional office structure values order and organization above creativity. That's just how it was built. And it's totally necessary to have those systems — every successful "creation" needs a multi-faceted process behind it to execute the idea.

But the creative brilliance has to come from somewhere. Occasionally, a single person solves a problem in an original way. More often, it's a group effort. One person has one idea, someone else chimes in with another, and so forth. Creativity happens through a process of brainstorming, trying, testing, making mistakes, tweaking, re-testing, and eventually landing on something that's good enough to put in front of the public. You need a particular type of team culture to make that collaborative creative process happen — and it's not hard to see how Perceivers would thrive in such an environment.

Creative thinking has been called the "future of work." According to the Future of Jobs report by the World Economic Forum, there will be an increasing demand for skills related to creative thinking, flexibility and agility as AI sweeps away many routine administrative tasks. Anyone exhibiting these skills will be in high demand, and it's likely that Perceivers who naturally possess these traits will find themselves at a distinct advantage.

The Gen Z Influence

There is no evidence that personality demographics change from generation to generation. Until a study shows otherwise, we can assume that the percentage of Judgers vs Perceivers in the population is the same for Gen Z as it is for Baby Boomers. But your Myers and Briggs personality is not the only thing that dictates your attitudes and behavior — the generation you were born into also has a significant impact.

Gen Z, the generation born between 1997 and 2012, are known for their tech-savvy, entrepreneurial spirit and desire for authenticity. They're flexible, creative and independent as a cohort — traits that have earned them the label "artist" generation. This generation grew up in the era of the gig economy and remote work, and they have a different perspective on work-life balance than their predecessors. They also place a high value on flexibility and autonomy over stability and predictability, which is a mindset that aligns well with the Perceiver personality type.

Trends like Lazy Girl jobs and Bare Minimum Mondays, while tongue-in-cheek, show that Gen Z is vocal and unafraid of speaking out against traditional power structures. They are not content with the status quo and are pushing for change in the workplace. While they don't express it this way, what they appear to be pushing for is a set of policies and norms that align with the Perceiver's natural working style — flexible, open-minded, variety-seeking, and anti-authoritarian.

This is not to the detriment of Judgers who can still work within such systems. But the natural consequence is a more inclusive and balanced working environment where everyone can thrive.

A Take Home Message

While any personality type can do any job, there are undoubtedly some jobs that suit certain personality types better than others. Personality tests and career aptitude tests are specifically designed to help people figure out what their preferred career paths might be, based on their individual work styles and motivations. That's not going to change and tests like these will never lose their value.

What is changing is the nature of work itself. Careers that may once have been Perceiver unfriendly, like middle management and office administration, are slowly transitioning away from the "be there,"  "do that," "on time" mentality towards a more results-driven, flexible mentality. That's great news for Perceivers who should now have more opportunities to thrive in their natural working state.

Who has the power in the workplace? Both types do. Every creative needs a realist, every innovator needs an organizer, every thinker needs a doer. We can stop thinking of Perceivers and Judgers as opposites, but instead recognize that they are two equally important pieces in the puzzle for success. And the world of work is finally meeting both their needs.