32 THE INVESTOR
his billfold so that all the presidents face the same direction. I know,
it’s not wrong, it’s just so... so anal-retentive!)
Perceivers like jobs that give them flexibility and room to ne-
gotiate. A diplomat or improvisational comedian is likely to have
a “P” preference.
See if you can pick the judgers and perceivers from the follow-
ing quotes.“Sit loosely in the saddle.” (Robert Louis Stevenson)
“Life is what happens while people are making plans.” (John
Lennon)
“Life is tons of discipline.” (Robert Frost)
“Man must be disciplined for he is by nature raw and wild.”
(Immanuel Kant)Two perceivers, followed by two judgers, right?
Investment types tend to be more judging than perceiving, es-
pecially in the trading rooms, where decisions must be made and
executed without much hesitation. The strength of judging types
in the investment world is their ability to bring order to the chaos
of the markets, to impose their valuation systems on seemingly
random occurrences. Their capacity to be decisive even in the midst
of uncertainty and high pressure can be extremely valuable. I re-
member a senior officer at Drexel Burnham Lambert who, during
the market crash on October 19, 1987, bought heavily at noon—
a very gutsy and decisive move—only to see the Dow drop several
hundred more points in the next few hours. Decisive and wrong.
The perceiving types in the investment world are valuable as
researchers, who will forever dig and uncover more data because
they are unwilling to settle for a partial picture. Their weakness, of
course, is that they can go forever without reaching a conclusion
or taking any action. Like the fabled two-handed economist, per-
ceivers tend to say, “On the one hand... but on the other hand... ” Another interesting aspect of judgers and perceivers is their
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