New Blogger Site

 Greetings!

This will be my final post here at cdrmsld.blogspot.com. Unfortunately I am having difficulty accessing this blogger account and Google+ account regularly so as of February 1, 2015 I have created a new blogger account:


 http://leadershippy.blogspot.com

 Please visit me at my new address!

Kindly,

Casey

A632.2.3.RB- Sheena Iyengar: How to Make Choosing Easier

I am a huge fan of Sheena Iyengar and her work. This is my second time blogging about her studies, this time I came across a different TED talk. I wish I could shadow her during each stage of her work so I could see how everything comes together. The first TED talk I discussed was The Art of Choosing in a blog titled Ballet Slippers or Adorable? This time I am interested in her TED talk on How to Make Choosing Easier. In a world with so many choices and the feeling that more is always in demand, Iyengar wanted to know how we can become better at managing our choices when in fact we are facing choice overload. She explains that the more choices that are available the more likely we are to avoid making a choice. 

She gave an example of a specialty store she used to visit that had tons of choices of items ranging from olive oil to jam. Each item had possibly hundreds of choices. It does not sound like a big deal at first; you go into the store, if you do not have an immediate preference you could just pick one and be on your way. Right? The jam did not overwhelm me because I do not take food so seriously. If you made me actually go into the store my attitude toward the process of choosing would probably not be so casual. She also discussed financial plans for retirement. I glazed over instantly when she discussed how there could also be hundreds of plans. I do not claim to be an expert on financial matters, so when faced with making the best selection I am clueless how I could know which one is the right one? I start worrying if there are so many, there must be a reason. If they all did the same thing, why would there be so many? 

There are three main consequences that have been observed when offering too much choice. People are more likely to delay choosing or procrastinate even if they are going against their best self-interest. Second, people are more likely to make worse choices. Lastly, people are more likely to choose things that make them last satisfied (Iyengar, 2011). Since we cannot make choice overload disappear overnight, never to be dealt with ever again, what can we do about it?

She offers four techniques that can be applied to personal decision making and business decisions:

1.       Cut- Less is more

2.       Concretize- Make it vivid

3.       Categorize- More categories, fewer choices

4.       Condition- For complexity

(Iyengar, 2011)

I found two of these particularly appealing; cut and concretize. As she discussed in detail what each entailed, I realized how beneficial each could be in my personal life and at work. In the instance of cut the slogan becomes less is more. What this means is that by reducing extraneous options you can improve the choosing experience. This can be great for an organization’s bottom line, as well. Costs can be lowered while still seeing an increase in sales. “When the Golden Cat Corporation got rid of their 10 worst-selling cat litter products, they saw an increase in profits by 87 percent -- a function of both increase in sales and lowering of costs” (Iyengar, 2011, n.p.). 

Each weekend I look to see what new movies are playing at the movie theater. I love movies. It seems like there is a dry spell and I am not interested in anything and then suddenly there are five movies I want to see at the same time. I make a list of all of the movies and I stew over which one will be better and what should I see first. Without fail, most of the time I know I am not going to be able to see all of them. It makes no sense, but I usually do not go to the movies because I am overwhelmed. “Emotions can sometimes focus the mind but can also lead to unproductive coping strategies such as avoidance” (Hoch, Kunreuther & Gunther, 2001, p. 108). It took me four years to paint my house because I could not pick the color. I have one room that has six different paint colors. I have a problem with choosing, especially when it comes to fun or creative options. I want it all or nothing at all, I guess. The cutting technique is something I can adopt to reduce this choosing anxiety.

I also believe there are other things that can improve my ability to decide. Not just for me, but for others, too. Learning more about myself, engaging in self-reflection, specifying what goals I have, what values are most important to me and checking back in on these things periodically is a great platform in which to begin better choosing. Knowing who I am, what I want, and pairing it with these decision techniques can help weed out the noise of having too many options and narrow the focus to a more bite-sized portion. I identify with an Eastern approach to thinking more than I realized. I prefer to make reflective opposed to expedient choices as much as possible, especially in my personal life. It is important for me to thoroughly be able to trace out connections between things (Hoch, Kunreuther & Gunther, 2001). As in my example about paint selection, I wanted to ensure that it is executed with my full intentions in mind. I am not just going to jump head first to do it and get it over. To be fair, I was not truly motivated or focused for the entire four years to paint, it was a casual mentioning from time to time. If I had been stuck for that long it would have been a true case of paralysis analysis (2001) and that is when these techniques could have kept me from being buried alive from decision overload.

Working with students I see this is also a problem for other people, too. I am not alone in the decision-making boat. In an ERAU graduate program there are typically twelve courses, which doesn’t sound like a lot. Prior to each new term I begin the process of enrollment. Students are notorious for not keeping track of their program requirements or what they need to take so they ask for advice. What should I take next?

 If I list out the eleven or even eight remaining classes the response is that they will think about it and get back to me. Then I do not hear from them for a couple months. Graduate degrees need to be completed within seven years and time is ticking. Most programs are fairly flexible regarding the order in which coursework can be taken. I do not do anything special other than check the schedule to see what is offered and pick two they have not completed.

Based on you degree program I suggest one of the following courses for the March term: MSLD 633 or MSLD 634.

It is extremely rare that students come back with another request after I have given them a choice of two.  In the past it was structured like this: Casey your remaining program requirements are as follows: MSLD 511, MSLD 520, MSLD 633, MSLD 634, a College of Business 500/600 level elective and MSLD 690. Your capstone must be taken last, please let me know which you would like to be registered in and I will be glad to help. Students need to enroll to progress through their program and helping them make a decision instead of avoid it is an important part of the business model in education.

Concretization was a tricky one for me at first. I was not sure what this was and then I realized that is like concrete: hard, porous, grey, tangible concrete. Suddenly a picture has been formed. I see it, I feel it, I can recall sitting on concrete during a cold, rainy winter and how the dampness soaked into my bones through the layers of my winter clothing never allowing that memory to leave me. Iyengar states that choices must be felt in a vivid way. If the consequences of our choices are perceived in this way people do a better job with choosing. She asked us to think about spending cash versus using an ATM card. When you physically pull out the money and count it out to make a payment you can visually see how much is left. It is out of sight, out of mind with a never changing plastic card. During an experiment at ING they added a section to the retirement forms that asked people to imagine the positive things that could be done with their retirement savings. This type of concretization proved to increase participants.

Pictures can be used as part of concretization. I am highly susceptible to visuals. When I go to a restaurant I read through the dishes and the ingredients. They sound fine, I like the composition of each, but nothing really pulls me in until I run across a picture of a meal. I am known for ordering pictures. I used to wonder why they didn’t just make an entire menu out of pictures. Now I know that too many pictures would likely be overload in itself.

As an academic advisor we are actually a team. We are constantly trying to figure out what is the best way to engage our students. What is useful one term can become a one hit wonder, it can worn out easily. We can certainly overload students with too much information, but making announcements is important, especially for enrollment. Another graduate advisor, Brian, had a great idea for one of our enrollment outreaches for the January term. He scoured the internet for a candid-looking picture of an ERAU graduation. He placed this into the outreach email and said: This is the goal, let’s make it a reality. Let’s get enrolled for the January term. It was actually quite successful. Recently we have seen a lot of drops from courses, which are detrimental to getting enrollments. I believe that using this same type of concrete imagery will prompt the consideration of pushing on, urging students to keep going. There are times when students truly need to leave their courses. But other times it is because they are quite overwhelmed. Reframing the goal can perhaps keep in check the negative emotions by recalling the positive emotions of why they wanted to start their journey of pursuing and receiving a Master’s degree.

I think there is a lot of applicable merit to understanding and utilizing these potential solutions when we experience choice overload. I know that I can be susceptible like anyone else when there is too much coming at me all at once. I shut down and avoid making a decision. That is a choice, I suppose, but not necessarily a good one. Previously I would have applauded myself for not making any decision versus getting in over my head with a bad decision. I am enthusiastic about Sheena Iyengar’s TED talk and that I get to come away with some simple tools to add to my decision-making defense arsenal!

References:

Hoch, S., Kunreuther, H., & Gunther, R. (2001). Wharton on making decisions. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Iyengar, S. (2011) Sheena Iyengar: How to make choosing easier | Video on TED.com. TED: Ideas worth spreading. Retrieved January 22, 2015, from http://www.ted.com/talks/sheena_iyengar_choosing_what_to_choose.html

A632.1.4.RB- Multistage Decision Making

I used to think I was great at decision making; that I aced each decision with flying colors. This is not to say that I suddenly believe I make bad decisions, it is just that now I am unsure if I could be making even better choices. After spending less than a week with Wharton on Making Decisions I have become aware that there are many influences and factors that help or hinder our capabilities. Understanding and reflecting upon my decision making process compared to the multistage decision making process in the text I see that that I simply make what I consider to be the safest choices. In comparison I could be making more efficient choices that yield more significant, successful outcomes.

The Wharton text gives examples of complex formulas used by researchers to solve multistage problems.  These formulas input the variables and probabilities to provide a solution with the greatest chance of success. This approach referred to as dynamic programming is aimed toward the idea that “a decision problem may involve a large number of stages…one need not enumerate and take expectancies of all possible contingent future realizations to arrive at an optimum decision policy” (Hoch, Kunreuther, Gunther, 2001, p. 42). The text goes on to say that few solves problems through equations, which is a relief because I was near abandoning hope at making any improvements in my decision-making methods.

Hoch, Kunreuther & Gunther explain that we tend to use experience to learn and improve, also known as heuristics, and that we should consider the future in our decision making processes. However, the fact that advice must be continuously given such as ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away’ suggests our heuristic solutions may not always be as good as we wish them to be (Hoch, Kunreuther, Gunther, 2001). “Precisely measuring how good (or bad) we are at making dynamic decisions, however, turns out to be more difficult that one might presume” (Hoch, Kunreuther, Gunther, 2001, p. 43). 

Perhaps it would be beneficial for me to adopt a more systematic means by which to make decisions. Looking at optimal decision making I can use these to help predict how decisions I make today will affect my future. Working full-time and also pursuing my graduate degree full-time constantly makes me feel like my plate is as full as it could be. I cut corners all of the time lately when it comes to what I eat and whether I exercise. I keep promising myself that if I can just make it through another month it will be easier or if I get through the last half of my degree this year that I can focus on my health again come 2016. 

This sounds like a nice idea, but waiting a whole year to make a change can have quite an impact. There would be another year’s worth of habits to break and even unseen health consequences that I may not be able to undo. It is important to think of future impact of today’s decisions. Sometimes theory of good decision making is easier than practicing it; after all there are only so many hours in a day. Excuses aside there is an internet meme that says, “You have the same amount of hours in the day as Beyoncé”. Well played, internet… well played.  Thinking forward, as I am going to start calling it, I know I can improve my decision-making. I am not going to study decision-making solely, but really put it to good use and practice it, too. There is a great trail by my house that is calling my name! Time to get out there and get busy!

Reference: Hoch, S. J., Kunreuther, H., & Gunther, R. E. (2001). Wharton on making decisions. New York: Wiley.

A631.9.2.RB- Video Debrief of Team MA

There is a video of Steve Jobs brainstorming with his new team at NeXT Inc., which was an interesting look into a brilliant mind at work. In the beginning, the atmosphere during the first thirty days of the startup company seemed friendly, energized and cohesive in their new collective creative mission to launch a new product. Only ninety days in and I could feel the tension from this side of my very handy and portable iPad screen. This may perhaps be the nature of a startup company where the inevitable pressure kicks in and the days are dreadful and grueling until you make it or break it. The NeXT team projected having a product to unveil in eighteen months, and after six months together they may not be on target to meet their goals and the consternation starts to set in. Steve Jobs was visibly distressed, pacing, interrupting and irritable. The ideas were not going anywhere; the wheels were starting to spin. While I like the idea of building something new, I do not think I would be well suited for this type of organization. According to my NextSteps Research Management Assessment (MA), I would do best in a large, rapid growth venture business environment; there would be more disadvantages than advantages to having me on this start up team. 

As per my MA, my leadership style is tailored toward being a confident, introverted strategic leader. 

Strategic leaders exhibit a process-oriented leadership approach.  People who are skilled at planning strategies, discovering patterns, devising and systematizing projects or prototypes, and excel in focusing on achieving visionary goals are often strategic leaders.  This leader likes to encourage innovation, prefers persuasion as a means of motivating people, and would probably work well with creative groups with their conceptual, yet results- oriented approach to leadership. 

While I do like to gravitate toward creativity, particularly in product inventiveness, there are other factors that I believe would weigh too heavily on me where I did not feel the freedom and space to think from a peaceful place. Although my MA indicates there is nothing I love more than a challenge and problem solving I know that I have to feel good to perform well. 

My preference is toward team dynamics; however, I have a strong desire to be appreciated and although it was a team environment, my definition of team is not a group of individuals that have their own planetary system complete with a shining star.  Jobs’ style seems quite domineering and likely it would have rubbed me the wrong way, especially if I was being spoken over and dismissed mid-sentence. It is hard to predict how I would have reacted under his thumb but it would have gone one of two ways. I would either wither away internally each day like a shrinking violet until I disappeared completely or I would have exploded all over him in an epic battle of wit and will. Since I am polite and generally kind it would probably be the former and not the latter. 

There are other personality attributes that I have that are all wrong for NeXT, Inc. such as not being the type of person that would do well in a startup company. I have a strong need for structure, conservative goal ambitiousness, and a low desire for personal risk. While I do not think working in a computer start up would physically endanger me, my sensibilities are not aligned to putting my own eggs into a new, uncertain basket that may render me without employment or a paycheck if the project is a bust. Surely this could happen at any company at any time, but I feel the risk is too great for a startup to be my full-time gig. I already do not sound like Steve Jobs material. 

I have a desire for challenges, understand business risk, have a problem solving drive, and have the urge to invent products, but that is just not enough to draw me to the NeXT team. I would have been a terrible fit for them, and it would have been a horrible fit for me. Steve Jobs was wonderful, brilliant, but not for me. I am satisfied appreciating his work and legacy from afar. 

A631.8.4.RB- Reflective Analysis

Never have I learned of four letters more beautiful to me that truly serve as a key to unlocking a new world of understanding of me than “INFJ”. I have never taken the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) test before, though I kind of guessed which of each category I fall under prior to taking the test. Little did I know that there was a deep pool of information that describes me so perfectly from one of the sixteen personality types. INFJ means (I)ntrovert, I(N)tuitive, (F)eeling, (J)udging. Apparently there are even scores for how intensely you fit under each area. I am moderately introverted (56%), moderately intuitive (50%), slightly feeling (13%), and moderately judging at (33%). (Though I felt the need to take the test many times to see which answers influenced changes in the results.) Naturally for me, I wanted to dive in to every resource on the internet to go through with a fine tooth comb to learn more. What is so deeply important to me about this is that I feel more connected to who I am by having an explanation rather than just feeling that I am very different than most people I have met. In almost every resource I have come across it makes specific mention that INFJ is the rarest type with estimates of around 1-2% of the population deriving this representation. This makes sense, I suppose, because I do not meet a lot of people like me at all. I really thought for thirty years now that it must be who I am, which is so very different, or how my unusual circumstances growing up affected me. Undoubtedly they did affect me, but perhaps maybe in a positive way, in a way that I did not expect or understand. 

Unfortunately for everyone in my life, I am now hyper aware of these typings and I try to guess everyone’s type in addition to trying to get them to take the test which can be found accessed at http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp. What I have found the most joy from is starting a conversation about MBTI and familiarizing those unfamiliar with it, which I am surprised how everyone seems to know about this, but I did not. Then I reveal my type. I have known for a long time I am introverted. I just never mentioned it. The shock on my friends and families faces brings me unusual amusement when I start with the first indictor of Extroverted or Introverted. At the same time Extroverted comes out of their mouths and Introverted comes from mine followed by confused faces. I like to describe INFJ’s as introverts who masquerade as extroverts. “They are, in fact, sometimes mistaken for extroverts because they appear so outgoing and are so genuinely interested in people -- a product of the Feeling function they most readily show to the world. On the contrary, INFJs are true introverts, who can only be emotionally intimate and fulfilled with a chosen few from among their long-term friends, family, or obvious "soul mates” (Heiss & Butt, n.d., n.p.). No truer words have been written about me.

Just because someone is introverted does not mean they are shy, which I am not. I think this is a common misconception about introverts. If you brought me on stage right now in front of thousands of people I could easily make up a dance routine or discuss a familiar topic from knowledge or do a question and answer session. (Just do not ask me to do math on a blackboard or I am out of there!) I also engage people quite enthusiastically when I meet strangers or friends. However, the Feeling part of me causes me to give a lot of myself and I feel extremely drained sometimes to exhaustion from social situations. 

While instinctively courting the personal and organizational demands continually made upon them by others, at intervals INFJs will suddenly withdraw into themselves, sometimes shutting out even their intimates. This apparent paradox is a necessary escape valve for them, providing both time to rebuild their depleted resources and a filter to prevent the emotional overload to which they are so susceptible as inherent givers. (Heiss & Butt, n.d., n.p.).

Going home and taking a nap and being secluded is not enough, a dark hole or a rock would be more suitable for recharging. Jokes aside though, sharing this information with the people around me will help them understand me better and let me be more of my authentic self. Typically I do the worrying about making others comfortable and do not necessarily fuss about myself much because it is not a natural need of mine. “As a pattern of behavior, it is perhaps the most confusing aspect of the enigmatic INFJ character to outsiders, and hence the most often misunderstood -- particularly by those who have little experience with this rare type” (Heiss & Butt, n.d., n.p.).

After completing the test a description is provided to explain the typing. If you type in your ‘letters’ in a Google search a lot of information is available including INFJ personality, careers, relationships, and famous people. There was even a prompt for worst career choices. I have been in a couple. An unlikely source was also Pinterest which basically has a whole community of every typing. Now that I have this insight it is absolutely part of my own personal arsenal of fancy life tools that I can use. I love it! “INFJs are distinguished by both their complexity of character and the unusual range and depth of their talents. Strongly humanitarian in outlook, INFJs tend to be idealists, and because of their J preference for closure and completion, they are generally "doers" as well as dreamers” (Heiss & Butt, n.d., n.p.). For my leadership potential and capacity this seems like great fortune has smiled upon me and that I can essentially have the best of both worlds, dreaming and doing. 

Due in part to the unique perspective produced by this alternation between detachment and involvement in the lives of the people around them, INFJs may well have the clearest insights of all the types into the motivations of others, for good and for evil. The most important contributing factor to this uncanny gift, however, are the empathic abilities often found in Fs, which seem to be especially heightened in the INFJ type (possibly by the dominance of the introverted N function). (Heiss & Butt, n.d., n.p.).

I have always felt that I have a great deal of understanding or intuitive awareness of other people almost immediately upon meeting someone and my perception deepens as I know them. People can show one face and hide another. The most generic of circumstances, words, movements, feelings I get from another person helps me build a portfolio of the interworking of that person. I do not trust very easily, but this is something you would not know by being in my presence. Before this typing all I could really say was that I had a feeling. Of course to be polite I give people the benefit of the doubt, but I always instinctively know who to give a wide wake and it does not usually take that long to see that I am well founded in my assessment. This is beneficial in a professional setting because I know who to be extra cautious with my words and phrasing so that it cannot be manipulated against me or who I need to work extra hard at building a relationship with where most people would have difficulty. I think this would beneficial to building a team, to have a sense of someone before working with them. “Accurately suspicious about others' motives, INFJs are not easily led. These are the people that you can rarely fool any of the time. Though affable and sympathetic to most, INFJs are selective about their friends” (Heiss & Butt, n.d., n.p.). 

I am also painstaking self-aware, perhaps way too much in a way that can manifest itself in crippling self-doubt without good reason. “There can sometimes be a "tug-of-war" between NF vision and idealism and the J practicality that urges compromise for the sake of achieving the highest priority goals. And the I and J combination, while perhaps enhancing self-awareness, may make it difficult for INFJs to articulate their deepest and most convoluted feelings” (Heiss & Butt, n.d., n.p.). I see and feel things that are so great and quite intense and sometimes it seems like it transcends even the most complex vocabulary available. This makes it hard for me to get out ideas or feelings and equally difficult to be understood. I think extensively about myself, but also about pretty much everything and anything. Details do not escape me and I think expansively about all possibilities. It is also just as exhausting as being introverted.

Usually self-expression comes more easily to INFJs on paper, as they tend to have strong writing skills. Since in addition they often possess a strong personal charisma, INFJs are generally well-suited to the "inspirational" professions such as teaching (especially in higher education) and religious leadership. Psychology and counseling are other obvious choices, but overall, INFJs can be exceptionally difficult to pigeonhole by their career paths. (Heiss & Butt, n.d., n.p.).

One of my hopes is that as I continue my leadership journey I am able to utilize my writing capabilities in my career. I would like to continue blogging and sharing with others through written word. I think this is something that I have strength in and feel that each time I write it is practice and that I can continue to fine tune this ability by continuing to write. I am unsure if I will always remain in higher education as an advisor; however, teaching has become increasingly interesting to me and this is why being a mentor, coach, or even a career or academic instructor could be a good match. I believe in leadership there is a need for a strong leader to be able to take that role whether it is part of the job description like an actual “teacher” or not. 

I feel extremely proud to be an INFJ and to uncover more information about myself in more concrete terms. This is something I feel I will continue to read about and reflect upon. Having this information can only make me stronger and that is ultimately the goal; to continue to build to be better for yourself and others. I have had jobs in the past that just were not honestly good fits for who I am internally and my core being and I felt the effects of that and it made me feel shame for not being a good enough fit. Now I know that there are better areas for me and what they are. However, while I will never be an accountant (not that I ever tried) I also do not feel limited either. In the list of famous INFJ’s I have very inspiring company that shows that nothing is impossible in terms of becoming a leader that leaves a long-lasting impression. There have been two U.S. Presidents, Martin Van Buren and James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and Gandhi. I am unsure how this list was composed, but no complaints from me. I will try to do my best to make them (or their legacy) proud to share me as their INFJ company.

Reference: Heiss, M. and Butt, J. (n.d.). INFJ Description. Retrieved December 13, 2014, from http://www.humanmetrics.com/personality/infj