Reach a consensus VS argue your case

In the light of Chinese culture, it is better to reach a consensus rather than arguing your cases.

But after the Leadership in actions activity, I realised that an agreement cannot bring us the best outcome at all.

Maybe due to the time limit, I feel that almost in every group talks, we hurry to reach a consensus by voting which seems to be democratic. The topic in our class have no RIGHT or WRONG answers, however, in the real business world, it is unwise to jump into an idea merely depend on democracy.

As a follower, what is the better way to contribute to the team productivity? Nodding you head and say yes keep silent? or challeng others? arguing cases? It seems to be quite difficult to be an effective follower as well. That's why I suggest that one should learn how to be an effective follower before being an effective leader because there is no leadership without followership.

The expected outcome for each team is to find the 'best' solution to a problem, not just simply getting an agreement, which might lead the team on a wrong track. At that point, it is the leader's responsibility to say STOP! Let's....

Looking back on our group talk, I find out that we are always struggling with the time limit. Now usually the team size is 6 or 7 people, each one has 1 minute to say his or her own idea but we are supposed to show our result in 10 ten minutes, which leaves no time to argue or analyse, not even planning at the very beginning!

So I was looking for reference to find out whether there are some relationship between the team size and team performance. Or rather, the root cause is not about the size, it is the way of communicating and processing information?

Lulu Qu : 13 Jan 2020 22:15 |  Tags: Leadership |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Think about my Thinking

I am far more thrilled to learn this Model from Paul today because it sovles my root cause of procrastination.

I told him that I feel difficult to start my writing work until I got a killer idea. But the thing is there are always two people fighting in my mind when I was generating and organising my thoughts at an early stage, because I try to critically think and judge my ideas at that moment, which is definitely WRONG!

Let's how it goes.

grasp_the_solution_to_combat_procrastination.png

Lulu Qu : 10 Jan 2020 23:38 |  Tags: Book Procrastination Review |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Meeting Meeting Meeting

I was quite impressed by the Hotel meeting we had in CBE. It seems like 'Meeting' is a life-long topic in every business or management course. To be honest, I don't hate meeting.

There are a few things I would like to remind myself in the future. By the way, it is wise to start a clock at the very beginning of a meeting.

1. As a leader, clarify the Task/Aim/Expected Result at the very beginning. Make sure everyone are on the same page before talking talking talking...

2. Appoint some important roles, timekeeper, recorder or something else

Timekeeper: help the leader to facilitate the process of a meeting so that we can reach a result on time.

Recorder: summarise the main ideas and make work go smoothly after the meeting

3. Set time limit to each speaker

It is quite interesting to find that the person didn't speak much may contribute most to the result. Leaders might be misled by how much or how well one expresses his or her suggestions, rather than the value of the point.

4. Leader mindset

I am 100% agree that everyone could be a leader but is it suitable to hold this mindset when we are in practice.

I think we should focus on our own appointed work rather than having 7 leaders in one team.

5. Task-oriented VS people-oriented

It is supposed to balance these types of leadership according to different situation.

6. Use Tools to organise the flow of a meeting or people's thoughts

I have found that Six Colour Hat has been used in a meeting to help a leader to control the meeting.

1. Make sure that each time everyone wear the same colour hat.

2. Leader are responsible to arrange the sequence of different hats in order to maximum the results.

Lulu Qu : 09 Jan 2020 19:11 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Template of giving feedback

Based on my previous experience of dealing with compliants between different sectors within an organisation, I have made an simple template for giving feedback to the person you observed.

The purpose of giving feedback is to help people improve their performance from different perspectives, instead of imposing suggestions on them. In the light of that, this template is designed for observers to structure their words so that it can be used effectively by those people who were observed.

1. The part Facts takes up half of the page which encourages observers to write down as many facts as possible, which is of great importance for the observee to do self-reflection.

2. I combine the Opinions and Suggestions part together because I find out that people usually make them in one sentence.

3. Brief and warm Tips make it easier for people to pick out the pearls and keep them in mind.

The key point is never ever mix the objective facts with subjective personal opinions, because it makes difficult for us to respond to the feedback rationally, not to mention making the best use of it.

template_for_giving_feedback.docx

Lulu Qu : 09 Jan 2020 18:32 |  Tags: Leadership |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Reflection after the 2nd PMA PIUSS

I have used the cause-and-effect analysis to find out the root cause of my procrastination, or rather poor self-control. I don’t think I am lazy or just killing time. I have a desire to make the most of every minute. Moreover, it seems like this thought makes me feel more stressful and put off the work until I have an ‘excellent’ idea to approach the question. Quoted from the author of The Willpower Instinct, “Stress is the enemy of willpower. The biology of stress and the biology of self-control are simply incompatible.”

The point is it does take me some time to get inspiration, surprisingly, usually they pop up when I was walking, cooking, or doing anything else except sitting in front of the desk staring at the screen. But I know I cannot just wait for the arrival of an inspiration, and it looks like waiting for a present from the Santa.

The other thing I’d like to mention is about the wellbeing. Some students may find that papers, exams, dissertation have a large impact on their happiness or wellbeing, including me sometimes. I have been learning to control my willpower for a few years, like controlling what I pay attention to, what I think about, even how I feel. It is a life journey to learn and practice. Possibly, the most effective solution is getting your body on board. As one of my friends put it, treat your body as a temple and respect it. Eat healthily, do work out and look for small steps before a giant leap.

Recently, in the L&E class, Paul also mentioned that “Nothing could change our Wellbeing since it is something that comes from within ourselves. It is not the particular thing/person (external environment) annoyed you, rather, it is your THOUGHTS and then you give these thoughts power to become FEELINGS whether negative or positive. But all the thoughts and feelings are temporary as the clouds block out the sky whilst the sun is always there to shine.

Lulu Qu : 08 Jan 2020 15:47 |  Tags: Wellbeing Willpower |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Writing could be fun & Powerful

Recently I am reading a book Writing your dissertation in fifteen minutes a day that is quite informative and inspiring, which is borrowed from my tutor Paul before Christmas(seems to be a wonderful Christmas gift).

Usually I spend fifteen minutes reading before hitting the pillow and use some sticky notes to jot down and tab any points that insterests me. To be honest, I am not a big fan of writing because I've got little positive feedback or recognition of my writing work since primary school. Writing tasks have always been hard for me so that I am struggling to meet the deadline with procrastination. But I am fed up with this situation and I have made up my mind to learn writing from scratch so as not to burn my candle at both ends for a dissertation.

It is much easier for me to express my thoughts verbally rather than writing a formal, well-written and well-articulated passage. However, I was quite schocked when the author showed that writing is a process of improving one's thinking, inquiring the questions, and getting closer to the truth of a subjet because I thought it is just an interpretion of my research result. In the same vein, Jordan B Peterson has emphsised the power of writing as a powerful weapon to help people to think critically, make great presentations and lay out proposals, which could be one's deadly wand.

I am working on find my own process that works best for me.

Lulu Qu : 26 Dec 2019 23:43 |  Tags: Book Review Writing |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

A few task words puzzled me

Lulu Qu : 24 Dec 2019 22:42 |  Tags: Academic |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Another Support for Legibility

>>> import this
The Zen of Python, by Tim Peters

Beautiful is better than ugly.
Explicit is better than implicit.
Simple is better than complex.
Complex is better than complicated.
Flat is better than nested.
Sparse is better than dense.
Readability counts.
Special cases aren't special enough to break the rules.
Although practicality beats purity.
Errors should never pass silently.
Unless explicitly silenced.
In the face of ambiguity, refuse the temptation to guess.
There should be one-- and preferably only one --obvious way to do it.
Although that way may not be obvious at first unless you're Dutch.
Now is better than never.
Although never is often better than *right* now.
If the implementation is hard to explain, it's a bad idea.
If the implementation is easy to explain, it may be a good idea.
Namespaces are one honking great idea -- let's do more of those!
>>>

Further information: https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0008/

Lulu Qu : 20 Nov 2019 11:01 |  Tags: Legible |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Helvetica

After searching and reading piles of papers for the PMA the other days, my eyes still hurts. The font of some are just ridiculous, making it too hard to read. It enables me to realise that how important a typeface could be. Helvetica is generated in 1957, yet now it is still everywhere, “like air, like gravity.” If you ask me what is classic? Just like Helvetica. I have been learning and practicing Chinese calligraphy for years. When I was in primary school, it was just a burden for me since it took up much time from cartoons or radio games. But then, I really appreciate those who have a nice handwriting so I just pick it up again. When it comes signature, I used to quite proud my signature that I designed for myself when I was in junior high. However, now I think it is not readable at all, I had better redesign it based on Helvetica. Good night~

Lulu Qu : 19 Nov 2019 23:58 |  Tags: Classic Legible |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

What I have learned from my first PMA

Lulu Qu : 19 Nov 2019 18:32 |  Tags: Pma |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem