The Lenore Thomson Exegesis Wiki
In Lenore Thomson's theory, the four-letter code "INTJ" stands for a person with:
Introverted Intuition as their Dominant Function
Extraverted Thinking as their Secondary Function
Introverted Feeling as their Tertiary Function
Extraverted Sensation as their Inferior Function
Bearing in mind the Classification Mismatches, here are:
Joe Butt's INTJ profile
David Keirsey's INTJ profile
Brenda Muller's INTJ profile
Hale's INTJ profile
How do INTJs develop Te?
Hypothesis: By developing a bargaining position consisting of the ability to promise and deliver useful results that other people understand and value.
(This is essentially an elaboration of the Saints-and-Politicians Exegesis.)
Acquiring capabilities that other people can understand and value moves you into a position where you can see more to do in the world than declaring it unworthy of superior beings like yourself. It radically transforms your whole perspective on life. You might still retain and enjoy the "commentator" pose, but your observations will be greatly enriched by real experience as a participant.
When you can offer people something better than "I can point out that you're not omniscient" or "I can accuse your actions of being tainted by self-interest" or "I can say that your conclusions are not justified on the basis of perfectly rock-solid foundations", you'll satisfy your need for power. You won't need to come up with rationalizations for why you're powerless or why people ignore you, nor will you be tempted to take up kick-boxing. You'll have a bit of real influence in the world, and people will have good reason to listen to you. You may even find something beneficial to do with that influence.
Where will negotiating with other people lead you? You have no idea until you get there. There are some things that cannot be known by foresight. All you can do is pick some small, feasible goal, bring everything you've got, and achieve it. And then you'll be in a new position, able to see new options--options that were invisible from the position of total forethought.
A possible problem with this hypothesis
Doesn't this amount to selling out? If you're carrying an ineffable vision, how is learning some pedestrian trade going to help you bring that to life?
Perhaps the answer is unknowable before you engage. The answer may be that the ineffable vision is half empty verbiage, and only worldly experience will give you the perspective to see that for yourself. The answer may also be that even a pedestrian trade is miraculous once you experience it. The answer may be that your ability to see from many angles at once gives you a way to transform seemingly mundane things into something much more wonderful than most people would think possible. You'll know by finding out. The only thing that's clear at the outset is that you'll be good at it.
A peculiar way that some INTJs develop a bargaining position is by finding a niche deep within a world where no negotiation is necessary, like academia. There, one is given some very low expectations to meet, and then one can "play Te": no matter what you see or read, you find a way to interpret it in terms of some theory that lets you "objectively" rule it lacking or a sham. Postmodernism and analytic philosophy might be prime examples of these INTJ-traps. ("Introverted" Te would figure into it because of the way that everything gets funneled into predefined categories and criteria.)
If you're happy there, maybe there's no need to escape the trap. But if you sense some calling within yourself to make a contribution, or just to exist more fully, you need to bring Te into the game in a more genuinely extraverted way: by accomplishing tangible goals.
Another way that secondary Te can become an introverted trap is when you manage your affairs so that nothing unexpected can happen, and you live your life by "phoning it in". The real you is safely held back, "tolerating", "accepting", "making do", "rising above it", never really enjoying or finding fulfillment in daily life. You're not really there.
A common example is INTJs in managerial jobs who keep everything in both work and family life completely predictable. Family and co-workers feel "straitjacketed" around you: they know that everything they say will be re-interpreted in terms of some hard-set criteria. You find yourself viewing every new thing through a very narrow lens. Through that lens, everyone looks appallingly stupid--the Daria Morgendorfer worldview. You've become oblivious to the fact that most of what the world offers has little to do with the narrow game you're so skilled at managing. Here, a small dose of worldly power has become a tool to avoid living.
Perhaps the only way out of these sorts of traps is to quit and do something radically different--something that will call upon you to engage more of yourself, learn new concepts, and deal with things that are not so easily controllable. When you are in complete control, you've outgrown the job. Then again, maybe it's a pretty comfortable, workable trap and therefore not such a bad way to live.
See: Miss Manners, Daria Morgendorfer.
See also: Egghead Personality, Taxi Driver.