INTRODUCTION

  • Socrates said: KNOW THYSELF
  • Clint Eastwood said: A MAN HAS GOT TO KNOW HIS LIMITATIONS

In the current world view, the field of management and organization behavior is dominated by social psychologists whose world view is that a person adopts himself to the group culture. Therefore all emphasis is on groups and changing the organization culture.

However, this view forgets that we come to our business’s and organizations having lived in a family for 18-20 years……and that family formed us to be a certain way. It is through your father and mother, your brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles that most of us form ourselves, our world view, our view of self, and our values around cooperation and competition. WHICH WE THEN BRING TO OUR ORGANIZATIONS.

So it is important that we have a way of looking at what we received in our upbringing and to do that we provide a series of self-assessments which are widely used in many organizations. Too often, these assessments are run by HR and given in a company setting where privacy is not valued, thus, many people answer the self-assessments on the bases of how they should appear at work. Or how they want their peers to think about them. But it is not how they actually are.

No one self-assessment is determination. It is important to take all of them and then see what pattern emerges. The overlap. The consistency.

And the first question that emerges is:

HOW DO I CHANGE MYSELF

Which is, on the one hand understandable, and on the other hand, simplistic. Patterns are patterns, they are developed slowly over time and do not go away or disappear because you do not like them or think they intrude up your management trajectory. What is IS your teacher, not what you would like to be. If you do not begin with the immediate you go on a endless pursuit of cat chasing tail.

THE SELF-ASSESSMENTS
MYERS-BRIGGS

This framework, also known as the Keirsey Test is the most widely used in the world. [The MBTI was constructed by Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers. It is based on the typological theory proposed by Carl Jung, who had speculated that there are four principal psychological functions by which humans experience the world – sensation, intuition, feeling, and thinking – and that one of these four functions is dominant for a person most of the time. "The underlying assumption of the MBTI is that we all have specific preferences in the way we construe our experiences, and these preferences underlie our interests, needs, values, and motivation."

The four areas are:

Favorite world: Do you prefer to focus on the outer world or on your own inner world? This is called Extraversion (E) or Introversion (I).

Information: Do you prefer to focus on the basic information you take in or do you prefer to interpret and add meaning? This is called Sensing (S) or Intuition (N).

Decisions: When making decisions, do you prefer to first look at logic and consistency or first look at the people and special circumstances? This is called Thinking (T) or Feeling (F).

Structure: In dealing with the outside world, do you prefer to get things decided or do you prefer to stay open to new information and options? This is called Judging (J) or Perceiving (P).

You answer a whole series of questions [see below OR free websites] and which then place you into one of 16 types. You then read the description of that type from various sources and apply it to your management style.

THE SELF ASSESSMENT

Since this is so widely used, there are a number of locations on the web where you can take the self-assessment for free, for example,

For the best analysis go to:

Personalitypage.com

And on top you will find 4 boxes/tabs that you want to click on, in order,

You click on a tab, scroll down to find your four letters, pull it up, read it, perhaps print it.

OR IF IT MAKES SENSE

THEN CHECK OUT: http://pin.it/M0u4PRa

DILBERT © 2010 Scott Adams. Used By permission of UNIVERSAL UCLICK. All rights reserved.

MANAGERIAL
SELF-ASSESSMENT

INTRODUCTION: where does a managing “style” come from?

  • A book?
  • A college course?
  • Watching others?
  • The culture of the company?
  • Your family of origin?
  • All of the above?
  • None of the above?

To understand how you approach managing it is important to start with 1st assumptions.

Most of the literature about organizational behavior comes from social psychology. Their premise is: you are a blank slate and adopt the style of the organization. This is followed by the change assumption – if you want to change people, change the organizational culture and people will adapt to what they see. The social psychology premise – you follow the group. Very popular among American folks!

There is an alternative approach coming out of individual psychology and family therapy. Your personality comes out of the interactions you had in your family – parents, siblings – and that is what you bring to an organization.

Experience teaches us that both these ideas have merit. The real question is – which comes first, individual or social. As predispositions to what you find interesting, to what you are drawn to, to what you see as an ideal, and who you choose to copy.

The questions below are intended to help you understand various aspects of your managing:

The questions below are intended to help you understand various aspects of your managing:
IN MY FAMILY OF ORIGIN
  • MOTHER DOMINANT
  • LOW COMPETITION
  • LOW OBEDIENCE
  • HIGH COOPERATION
  • INFORMAL
  • SIBLING COOPERATION
  • ALL CHILDREN TREATED EQUALLY
  • ACADEMICS NOT STRESSED
  • WE ARE ORDINARY
  • COOPERATE WITH OTHERS
  • BE FRIENDLY WITH OTHERS
  • TEAM SPORTS
  • BE YOURSELF
  • HUMILITY

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IN MY FAMILY OF ORIGIN
  • FATHER DOMINANT
  • HIGH COMPETITION
  • HIGH OBEDIENCE
  • LOW COOPERATION
  • FORMAL
  • SIBLING RIVALRY
  • BIRTH ORDER COMES FIRST
  • ACADEMICS STRESSED
  • WE ARE SPECIAL
  • COMPETE WITH OTHERS
  • BE CAUTIOUS WITH OTHERS
  • SOLO SPORTS
  • BE # 1
  • PRIDE

IN MY SCHOOLING
  • STUDENT DOMINANT
  • LOW COMPETITION
  • LOW OBEDIENCE
  • HIGH COOPERATION
  • RELAXED
  • INFORMAL
  • ALL CHILDREN TREATED EQUALLY
  • ACHIEVEMENT NOT STRESSED
  • WE ARE ORDINARY
  • COOPERATE WITH OTHERS
  • BE FRIENDLY WITH OTHERS
  • TEAM SPORTS
  • BE YOURSELF
  • HUMILITY

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IN MY SCHOOLING
  • TEACHER DOMINANT
  • HIGH COMPETITION
  • HIGH OBEDIENCE
  • LOW COOPERATION
  • RIGID
  • FORMAL
  • TEACHER’S REWARDS A FEW
  • ACHIEVEMENT STRESSED
  • WE ARE SPECIAL
  • COMPETE WITH OTHERS
  • BE CAUTIOUS WITH OTHERS
  • SOLO SPORT
  • BE # 1
  • PRIDE

IN MY WORKPLACE
  • FRIENDLY
  • LOW COMPETITION
  • LOW OBEDIENCE
  • HIGH COOPERATION
  • LOW STATUS DIFFERENCES
  • PEER COOPERATION
  • ALL EMPLOYEES TREATED EQUALLY
  • RESULTS SOMEWHAT IMPORTANT
  • FOCUS OUTSIDE
  • MANY CELEBRATIONS
  • BE FRIENDLY WITH OTHERS
  • TRUST
  • INFORMAL
  • LOW STRESS

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IN MY WORKPLACE
  • FORMAL
  • HIGH COMPETITION
  • HIGH OBEDIENCE
  • LOW COOPERATION
  • HIGH STATUS DIFFERENCES
  • PEER RIVALRY
  • BOSSES MOST IMPORTANT
  • RESULTS MOST IMPORTANT
  • FOCUS INSIDE
  • FEW CELEBRATIONS
  • BE CAUTIOUS WITH OTHERS
  • SUSPICION
  • RULES
  • HI STRESS

MOST ADMIRIED BOSS
  • FRIENDLY
  • LOW COMPETITION
  • LOW OBEDIENCE
  • HIGH COOPERATION
  • LOW STATUS DIFFERENCES
  • PEER COOPERATION
  • TREAT ALL EMPLOYEES EQUALLY
  • RESULTS SOMEWHAT IMPORTANT
  • FOCUS OUTSIDE COMPANY
  • MANY CELEBRATIONS
  • BE FRIENDLY WITH OTHERS
  • TRUST
  • INFORMAL
  • LOW STRESS

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MOST ADMIRIED BOSS
  • FORMAL
  • HIGH COMPETITION
  • HIGH OBEDIENCE
  • LOW COOPERATION
  • HIGH STATUS DIFFERENCES
  • PEER RIVALRY
  • BOSSES MOST IMPORTANT
  • RESULTS MOST IMPORTANT
  • FOCUS INSIDE
  • FEW CELEBRATIONS
  • BE CAUTIOUS WITH OTHERS
  • SUSPICION
  • RULES
  • HI STRESS

SO WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

As you develop you’re managing style, all your previous experiences come into play.

  • Was your family primarily cooperative OR
  • Was your family primarily competitive
  • Were you and your siblings treated equally OR
  • Were there favorites in your family
  • Was affection the focus OR
  • Was obedience the focus
  • Did you play team sports OR
  • Did you focus on solo sports
  • In your schooling was cooperation the focus OR
  • Was competition the focus
  • Were there rewards for all OR
  • Were rewards granted to smartest, most obedient
  • Did you learn to be compliant OR
  • Did you learn to be rebellious
  • In your company, is competition favored
  • Or is cooperation favored,
  • Is the culture focused on authority, hierarchy, the boss OR
  • Is the culture focused on teamwork, group spirit
  • Do you love going to work OR
  • Do you go to work with apprehension and fear
  • Your favorite boss is friendly and engaging OR
  • Distant and formal
  • Your favorite boss creates a team OR
  • Plays peers off against each other
  • Encourages cooperation OR
  • Encourages competition
  • Focus is outside on the market and competitors
  • Focus is inside on rules and procedures

Thus we end up with the beginnings of a managing style.

  • A focus on cooperation OR a focus on competition
  • A focus on informality OR a focus on formality
  • A focus on results OR a focus on procedure

And thus a management style is born.

  • Out of your family experience
  • Out of your early schooling
  • Out of your company culture
  • Out of your “admired” boss
WEST COAST MANAGEMENT

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COMMAND AND CONTROL

DILBERT © 2010 Scott Adams. Used By permission of UNIVERSAL UCLICK. All rights reserved.