GRAD 702 - Reflections on Module 3 Concepts

I feel most comfortable in the collaborative and least comfortable in the strategic perspectives of the 4-lens model. As a professional leading in the next change wave, this suggests to me that I should be aware of my strengths and weaknesses with regard to certain perspectives. As for where I fall short, I should appreciate and accept others and their perspectives for a better collaborative solution to everyday problems in the workplace and various situations throughout my life. Working in teams and understanding all perspectives will only promote wholistic and well-rounded thinking. All organizations have all perspectives within their staff; all four should be used.

My personal competency sort results mean that I perceive myself to be very aware of myself and others and am very good with working with people. I enjoy working with and discussing topics of concern at all levels. My results from this exercise were very much in accordance with the emotional intelligence test and the HBDI results. It has become very clear to me what my strengths are and where I should focus my attention for further development. Fortunately, I have a team full of other perspectives and a very diverse structure among the other classmates in GRAD 702.

When I was in the military working as the Officer in Charge (OIC) of the Personnel Readiness Unit (PRU), I had a situation in which my emotional intelligence came in very handy. In my undergraduate studies, I studied psychology. I enjoy and am very focused on the reflective, organized, and empathetic quadrants of emotional intelligence. I have found these two factors to work and complement each other time and time again. In PRU, we had two new members to the team and they were experiencing personal issues of their own outside the office. The issues started to reflect in their work and create tension within the office among all of the members. Because these two individuals were new, the veterans of the office were not sure how to react or what to say. I decided to schedule a meeting so we could discuss various PRU topics to include the one of recent tension. As discussions progressed, led by me, slowly but surely, the tension issue began to surface and the underlying problems were revealed. Through organized discussion and respect for one another, the two feuding individuals were able to resolve their issues and the other members of the PRU team were able to draw attention to the tension their feud had caused in the office. They were not even aware of the tension because their focus was mostly on what was going on in their personal lives. Once everyone shared their concerns and got the issues out on the table and dealt with, PRU was able to go back to work and be even more productive than they were before. This was a very good learning lesson for me and now I am aware that I relied heavily on my emotional intelligence in this situation.

As always, I like reflecting on past assignments and readings in the blog entry. This gives me a great way to end the week and collect all of my thoughts. I also found the 4-lens application assignment to be very helpful. I believe I completely understood the 4-lens model, but actually putting the different perspectives to work can be quite a challenge. At work and in our teams we may do this without thinking because those we work with are from various viewpoints or quadrants. When we actually sit down and try to solve a problem based on all four quadrants by ourselves, we disover this is quite the task. I enjoyed exploring other quadrants and trying to think how others would think. I believe I may be getting better at it because of my interaction through work experiences and my teammates. Either way, I definitely have a better understanding of myself and others because of these assignments.

I thought the reading on the "third alternative" (Covey, 2004) this past week was excellent! In our group, Team Fuel, I believe seeking this alternative would have been more helpful in our beginning stages. When we first got started, we all took our own personal approaches to solving issues. We listened to one another and had respect for one another but after everything was said and done, we would leave the session feeling like something was missing. We became aware of this happening this past week. None of us wanted to upset anyone or disturb the dynamics of the group. We were just being agreeable and didn't really listen and understand what the other member was saying. We were so focused on our own ideas that we ignored the 4-lens model and how effective it can be. After a few weeks of working with one another, this became apparent. We started really listening to each other and asking each other to express and explain their ideas. We were open to other alternatives. Whenever working in a group, perspectives will always be a work in progress. This kind of change or awareness does not happen over night. The main thing to keep in mind is the 4-lens model. We do not and will not all think alike. When we start accepting and appreciating the way others think, that is when the 4-lens model comes alive! I've very excited about our group and where we are going. I believe all members have a lot to offer and I'm proud to be a member of Team Fuel!