Tues Nov 25th

I found today’s class to be very fun and appealing. Everyday we are faced with decisions that may impact the rest of our lives, our future, and our loved ones, but how often must we think about our ability to survive tomorrow. Our focus is usually on our ability to survive in the long run. Today’s activity helped me to realize how we all make crucial decisions everyday that impact our survival for tomorrow. The activity we did in class was done individually and then in a group. In most cases, decisions made as a group were much more effective than decisions made alone. This is because 2 heads are better than one; people who come from different backgrounds and who go through different experiences can help an individual who has not undergone certain experiences. For example, someone like me, does not understand the purpose of steel wool. I thought it was merely a tool to scrub dishes, whereas someone who has actually used it as a tool to help start a fire will tell you it can be a lifesaver. What does all this mean? It can be concluded that when making decisions, individuals should always consult with others as it can often be more valuable than damaging as seen in today’s class. This can be generalized to the business world when making decisions on what product to market, who to market to, how to package, how to price, etc. The bottom line is that it is always important to consult with others, and work with others when having to make significant decisions. This is what I took away from today’s lecture, and had we not completed this exercise today, I would still be making important life changing decisions on my own, but now that I know the difference a group effort can make, I will surely ask others for their input.

I cannot think of many strengths that I can bring to decision making, however, I can think of a few challenges. For starters, I believe that I am a very emotional person, and by doing the MBTI test, my suspicion has been confirmed, as I scored very high on the feelings portion. Being emotional is not always good as many of my decisions are impacted by how I am feeling, and what mood I am in, opposed to what is right for me, and what is right for others. Secondly, I tend to make decisions very quickly as I am a very rash and impatient person; I like to get things over with so I can move on to other issues, therefore I do not spend too much time on making decisions. Thirdly, I tend to experience a phenomenon referred to as mental set, in which once I have an opinion on something, it is very hard to change it; in other words, once I firmly believe something, it will take a lot for me to change my mind. Mental set occurs when a problem solver keeps using the same solution that he or she has used in previous problems. If I think I have a solution to a problem, I will stick to that solution. I think I act this way because I do not want to second guess myself and have doubts about my decisions, I don’t want to spend time obsessing over my decisions, in other words, I do not want to experience cognitive dissonance.

In order to become a better decision-maker, I need to try and be less emotional, and perhaps spend more time making decisions. This will help me in the business world, for example, as I will learn to make more effective organizational decisions, opposed to rushed ones. In addition, I should ask the opinions of my coworkers who come from diverse backgrounds, as they can offer some insight, this may help get rid of my cognitive mental set, and help me open up a bit more. Perhaps I should also engage in exercises in which I can reduce my way of thinking. For example, I took a cognitive psychology course in which people who experienced my mental set problem were instructed to perform an activity (refer to the 2 figures below). People have difficulty solving these problems as they experience functional fixedness, a subset of mental set, where they fixate on representing the object according to its conventional function and fail to represent its novel function, as people cannot think outside the box; this is something that also occurs during decision making, when you are convinced there is only one correct way to solve a problem, or one correct decision due to past experiences and biases. By engaging in the activities mentioned above, I will be able to open up my mind and engage in more effective decision making.

Figure 1:
Maier (1931) Two-string Problem:
Problem solver is asked to tie two strings together that are hanging from the ceiling. Because the strings are too far apart to be held at the same time, one of them needs to be reformulated as potential pendulum. The solution is to tie a heavy object (I.e. paint brush) to one of the strings, set it into motion, and then grasp the other string.

Figure 2:
Duncker (1945)-Candle Box

Candle box problem diagram
In a classic experiment demonstrating functional fixedness, Duncker (1945) gave participants a candle, a box of nails, and several other objects, and asked them to attach the candle to the wall so that it did not drip onto the table below. Duncker found that participants tried to nail the candle directly to the wall or to glue it to the wall by melting it. Very few of them thought of using the inside of the nail box as a candle-holder and nailing this to the wall. In Duncker’s terms the participants were “fixated” on the box’s normal function of holding nails and could not re-conceptualise it in a manner that allowed them to solve the problem.

november 18th

Conflict occurs in every aspect of everyone’s life; whether it is with family, friends, work, social institutions such as churches or shopping malls, conflict is here to stay! The important thing is not how many conflicts you have, but how you resolve them. The way I deal with conflict depends on my power over the situation. For example when I have conflicts with friends or siblings, I am more likely to use a forceful style in which I may try to win at someone’s expense. If, however, I have a conflict with a professor or a parent, I am more likely to use an accommodating or avoiding style. The former referring to me giving in to others, and not paying attention to my own interests, and the latter referring to avoiding conflict altogether.

In order to improve my conflict resolution skills when working in a team, for example, I should make sure that all rules and procedures are clarified before hand so that misunderstandings are reduced. I should also reduce interdependence among group members, which may be hard when completing an assignment together, but if I am aware prior to the assignment that I will be working with people who I find hard to cooperate with, I should perhaps take on more work that is independent, and less work that requires me to work with others. If the technique mentioned previously does not work, I should try to improve communication with the rest of my group members by talking our differences out in a mature manner. Another technique, which I have used in our MGM300 career project group, was reducing differentiation. As I mentioned in my previous blog, we all went out for dinner and found that we have common backgrounds and experiences; for example we are all interested in accounting! I think another really important technique that is used more often than we think is emphasizing superordinate goals, in which all members agree on common objectives that are more important than individual differences and or goals; this in turn helps to reduce the problems group members have with each other as they are focused on getting the task done. For example, in university everyone is concerned with marks, and it is everyone’s common goal to get a good mark, this is a superordinate goal. Conflict arises, however, when people have differing definitions of what a good mark is; for example good mark to me is anything above an 80, but to others it is anything above a 60 or a 70, and for some it may be anything that is a passing grade! To solve this problem, I would need to use one of the other techniques mentioned above such as improving communication and understanding in which I may ask all group members to write on a piece of paper what mark they hope to obtain in the assignment, and then communicating an average of all the desired marks, so people are more clear on how much effort is needed for the assignment.

The case scenario given in the blog jog was “If I was a manager and two of my direct reports were arguing over who had lead responsibility for a project I just assigned to them, what would I do?”

I would improve communication and understanding by clarifying the fact that no one has a lead responsibility over the assignment, and the two individuals are expected to work together. To help the two get started, I would help them to clarify the work that needs to be done, and help them make a checklist of all the tasks, and then I would tell them to divide the work up evenly and create deadlines for each component to ensure that everything is done on time. Finally, I would encourage (NOT force) the two individuals to go for lunch so that they can get to know each other better, and see if they have common backgrounds and experiences which will help them to collaborate more effectively. Some drawbacks of this approach is that maybe by going out for lunch the two will not find any common ground, and will dislike one another even more. In addition, by not assigning someone to be the leader, both individuals may slack off on the project as there is no one keeping track of who is doing what.

Nov 11.08

Communication is a very integral part of our daily lives. Yesterday we discussed the theory behind communication as well as its implications. In addition, we used real life examples to help depict how difficult something simple as talking to one another can really be. Before yesterday’s class, it never occurred to me that there was one particular aspect of communication that I find challenging, but after going through all those examples in class, I think I would have to say that it is probably the sending feedback to the sender stage. I feel that a lot of times I skip this stage and may not show the sender that I have received the message, and that I understand it. I believe that at times, I don’t engage in back-channelling when I should, which may cause the sender frustration, as he or she may be under the impression that I am not listening to him or her. For example in our career project group, an individual was giving out tasks to everyone, so he said to me, “You are responsible for finishing you part by October 25th”, and I did not nod, or indicate to him that I understood, so he had to ask, “did you hear what I said?”. If I had perhaps given him the appropriate feedback, he would have felt that I was listening to him.

I find that there are many challenges I face when it comes to communication; for example, I see the world through my own eyes, and not through those of others. When someone makes a point, or does something, I may not understand why they are doing what they are doing, and may think that it is unnecessary as I can only see the world through my own eyes. For example, our group had dinner at the Keg, and one of our group members who worked there, wanted to leave a huge tip, which I found to be completely unnecessary, I was shocked at how much he wanted to leave, as it was much greater than the standard 15%; later on when I thought about it, I realized that maybe he felt obligated to as he worked with our waiter, and it may have looked bad, if he did not leave more; but at the time when he did it, I could not see why, as I was only looking at the situation through my lens.

Selective listening is another big challenge that I face with my friends and family. I find that both my parents are so busy multitasking, that they only hear certain bits and pierces of what I say, and then I end up having to repeat myself later because they claim that I did not tell them earlier. I find this completely and utterly frustrating, but I doubt it will ever change. I think they are so use to doing multiple things at once, that it is now hard to have a conversation with them in which I do not have to repeat myself. For example, when my mom is driving, and someone is speaking to her, she hears like only 2 words, because she is trying so hard to concentrate on the road; so now if anyone is in the car with her, they just avoid talking altogether!

Although I mentioned several challenges to communication above, I believe that these challenges can be defeated using a few strategies that I commonly find myself engaging in; one very important one would have to be active listening. Active listening can only be done if you have mutual trust and respect with the other party, and if you are able to empathize with him or her. You cannot actively listen to someone you do not want to listen to; i.e. someone you do not respect or trust. In addition, you have to be open with one another and give each other feedback, as this opens up the lines to effective communication. For example, when I am in a group meeting, and I want to show the speaker that I am actively listening, I ensure that I do not interrupt him or her, I show that what he or she is saying is interesting by giving the speaker non-verbal feedback (i.e. eye contact), in addition, I show that I empathize with the speaker by being able to relate and understand what he or she is communicating, and I would clarify their message in the end by asking follow up questions. An example of this process would be as follows:

I am having a conversation with my best friend “Mary”, who is speaking to me about her frustration with her boyfriend “John”.

Mary: Nurin, I just don’t get it, he does not call me unless I call him! Like I mean we have been….

Nurin: (does not interrupt, and lets Mary continue to speak, but shows Mary eye contact, and uses facial expressions)

Mary: We have been going out for 6 years, and John still never calls me on his own.

Nurin: (waits for a gap in which she can provide feedback): Mary, I totally understand what you’re going through, I know how annoying it can be when your boyfriend does not call you, it makes you feel frustrated, right? (Follow up question)


The steps I outlined above are what I use when I show that I am actively listening to a friend, family member, acquaintance, co-worker, etc.

nov 4

In my experience, I have learned that leadership is the key to success. Tuesday’s lecture was all about leadership and the various styles individuals might employ. I believe the styles that would work best if a manager wanted to motivate me would be a supportive and participative style. I suspect that these two are best suited for me because of all the traits and characteristics I have learned about myself throughout this course. For example I have a high EQ (emotional intelligence), and a supportive manager who is encouraging, highly approachable, shows concerns for my needs and well being fits in appropriately with my personality. In addition, when I am assigned to a team, I feel that it is necessary that I am included in the decision making process, as this makes me feel more needed, and important. A participative leader would encourage me to help make decisions, and will consult with me, as well as ask for my suggestions and opinions on certain topics. This will in turn motivate me to do a great job, as I will feel the obligation to prove to my manager that I value the organization as much as the organization values me.

My manager in the summer had a directive and participative style of leadership. She used a more directive style with the summer employees, as we were more inexperienced than the normal staff. This sometimes made me feel worthless and unmotivated, as she would only consult the permanent staff with decisions. A lot of times I would overhear her asking the staff for their input on certain ideas, and I would find myself interrupting the conversation because I had the answer to her questions and concerns. Sometimes I felt less motivated to complete tasks as I felt that she did not respect me because she was under the impression that I had no experience; I would have definitely preferred a more participative leader who would ask for my input, and value my opinions.

Presently, I feel that I am more of a task-oriented leader; I prefer to get things done, and I don’t care too much about other people’s feelings during the process. I realize that this is not the best style, and I need to have a balance of both worlds, as it will help me in future group work. Currently, my group members may find me demanding, and would therefore be less motivated to complete work, but maybe if I was a bit more people-oriented, they may be more inspired to complete tasks. In order to become more people-oriented, I will need to have trust and respect for my group members, have concern for their individual needs, listen to their suggestions and advice, and support their interests. I think the hardest part will be to ask my group members for advice, because at times I feel as though I have all the answers. I must admit that sometimes I have the attitude “it’s my way or the highway!”, and this obviously needs to change if I want to become an effective leader. I can definitely start by asking for more input and advice from my MGM300 career project group members.