"A poet but didn't know it"

The following is my intent to define management,

it’s time well spent because it’s a good learning supplement.

Hmm…how to start, what to list, where to depart, which way,

so many things in midst of the art of managing…it’s hard to say.

The first thing to exist must be the ability to make a decision,

sometimes it must be made quick without sacrificing too much precision,

it can be an elaborate process to make a good decision,

it may require a manager to have a strong, preexisting vision.

But what good is vision without the support of every division,

especially in a company with decentralized supervision,

management’s vision must be popular and supported, or it will be faced with certain revision.

Good management is awareness to a large extent,

of the state of affairs in the world, and of the environment,

awareness of circumstances economic, cultural, and political,

to overlook any one of these could be a mistake most critical.

Each one of these factors has the great power to influence,

verify this in professor Kurpis’s slides on the model of congruence.

What makes a manager great is not found in a pill,

it’s a combination of human, technical, and conceptual skill, sometimes

it’s about the examples that are set and the values they seek to instill, sometimes

it’s about emotional intelligence and the promotion of goodwill.

Management is also about ensuring good work quality,

about not spending too much time on matters of frivolity.

Management involves ethics, of course about ethics there is much we could say,

let’s contemplate what’s considered the right and the wrong way,

let’s not ignore the disturbing trend found in business, especially today.

All too often it’s about “terminal value”, disregarding the means and only concerned with the ends,

a once great economy will fail you, if we only focus on receiving short term dividends.

Just because your superiors will support you, for doing favors for their friends,

doesn’t mean bad decisions won’t catch up with you in the end,

a good manager’s conscience rightly contends, that a questionable action should not be taken,

unless he/she wouldn’t mind if the public found out, including family and friends.

Over to the cousin of ethics, I now digress,

without a sense of social responsibility society will become a great mess.

A possible benchmark to measure a manager’s capability,

Is his/her regard for corporate responsibility, that is,

If they’ve achieved economic profitability and basic legal responsibility,

they’re in the “zone of compliance”,

if they’ve given back to the community and consistently display civility,

this may give a manager the ability to form a strategic alliance.

Research suggests this to be more a fact than fiction,

when this is the way managers act, they’re in the “zone of conviction”.

A trend in management today which gives me a particularly positive feeling,

one which any manager should embrace, it’s the shattering of the glass ceiling,

the status quo of years past, society has not yet finished repealing,

there is still more room for reform in the work place, this, research is still revealing.

But good managers will show an appreciation for diversity,

such a work force is especially valuable, especially when faced with innovative adversity.

Managing workforce diversity can at times be very hard,

but such a workforce helps a company achieve their balanced score card.

Perhaps most important to consider is the ability to be a leader,

without this , the stability of an entire nation may teeter,

there are many styles of leadership, from autocratic to democratic,

leaders have to be able to make “nonprogrammed” decisions, these are never automatic,

to lead and sometimes go against the grain, can be a difficult dance while maintaining propriety,

to lead our nation out of its current circumstance, will require leadership--of a spectacular variety.

To adequately define management could easily take half a day,

for the sake of brevity I’ve only these last things to say:

Management is many things, it is custom tailored to each condition,

Management requires many things, from strong cognition to ambition,

Management precludes many things, from wrongful omission to violation of volition (“V”).

Management offers many things, it’s a never ending expedition.

Management blog feedback

In terms of learning about others, the first assignment for this blog was like a balance sheet for everyone. In other words, it provided readers a “snapshot” view of each of us. (Forgive the accounting analogy I can’t help myself sometimes). If we weren’t under time constraints, then I think that people would share more thoughts and ideas than what is required by our assigned postings. (The motive for posting is “extrinsic” most of the time).

The blog portion of the course defiantly forces the student to think about the class activities that took place. This reflection further reinforces the concepts pertaining to the activities. It’s a great alternative method for studying. By the way, I will never forget to bring steel wool & Crisco when I go camping.

The professor’s blog postings were all very interesting and felt kind of recreational because they were not extensions of the textbook or power point slide. They allowed us to wonder into topics that you could actually make small talk about (like if you were sitting next to someone on a plane or talking to a relative that you haven’t seen in a long time and they ask you how school is going etc..).

The blog does give the student (well at least one student) a stronger sense of control over their grade which is a relief from trying to figure out how our knowledge will be tested on exams. However, I wouldn’t say it is an EASY 20% as it does require us to stay alert and be responsive in a timely manner (while managing other courses/work etc..) and to put some real thought and effort into our posts.

I may utilize this blog after the course. I imagine that I could use it to get answers to problems at work. Perhaps I will turn it into the “answer center”.

I think the blog SHOULD remain a component of the course. The requirements are not too taxing, but, do require consistent, active participation. The requirements offer a variety of topics and the grading percentage allocation is well balanced. Don’t change anything.

Time to interpret

Results from the leadership/management diagnostic indicate that my primary profile is type S. My secondary type is an even draw between types D & C; however, because the position of the #6 under the D column (which is like a micrometer higher than the # -2 position under the C column) my secondary management type is technically D.

Because tendencies of the “S-type” person include: demonstrating patience, desiring to help others, being a good listener, calming excited people, and creating a stable, harmonious work environment, I feel that the DISC profile system has accurately gauged my management orientation. Nevertheless, I am in disagreement with my secondary (or “minor”) profile type—D. Most of the tendencies, desired environmental conditions, and other characteristics of the D profile run contradictory to those found in the S profile system. Because my tendencies also include: attention to key directives and standards, concentrating on key details, being diplomatic with people, and checking for accuracy, I feel that my secondary profile type should be far greater on the C scale than the results have indicated.

The S-way of management suits me well because it is quite telling of how I would approach a management position; managing in an S-type fashion would allow me to perform my job comfortably because the characteristics of the S-type are quite telling of who I really am. Though I am content to manage with an emphasis on cooperating with others, it is quite possible that I could transform my approach towards the C-type. That is, with an emphasis on working conscientiously within existing circumstances to ensure quality & accuracy. This would take some conditioning. I could not, however, manage by taking the D-type approach as I would grow weary of trying to maintain an air of power and authority…and I couldn’t see myself being so concerned with immediate results.

Certainly the DISC profile test provides a glimpse into how a person approaches life and, thus, how they would manage or lead. This can be a valuable tool for understanding your manager’s (or your own) perspective which can help to create a more harmonious work relationship. Of course, as with any profiling system, the information gathered from DISC should be taken with a “grain of salt”. After all, HOW a person is questioned may actually influence their answers and we all know how influential the “framing effects” of a question can be (see professor’s blog, Nov 5^th entry).

In my opinion, a test like this may or may not be helpful for me in personal interactions. If I were aware of the results of my boss’s DISC survey (or even someone that I was going on a blind date with) before I actually got to know them through experience, I can see how being aware of their tendencies and overall perspective could help me navigate through the course of a conversation. However, having a preconceived notion of who they are may bias my actions in an adverse way; the preconceived notion might set up expectations about how we will get along. Like any tool, I would use DISC when appropriate. Would anyone care to provide any example/s of when using the DISC profile system would be highly effective? How about instances when it would be unwise to rely on DISC results?

The way I see it

Having a clear vision of the coastline is not easy when you are still in the middle of an ocean. As I sail through this vast academic ocean known as college, I try to let the vision of my destination navigate my path. My BIG vision is an aggregate of multiple personal and professional life goals.

The first of my serious life goals (perhaps the most immediate) is half personal and half professional: Conquer my inner anxiety & discomfort while giving speeches. It has been difficult to resolve because I have no problem speaking to a large group, but, the formality of speaking seems to cause me to become very self conscious. To conquer this handicap, I need more than a public speaking class; they only help while I’m actually in the class. I know someone who is an actor in an off Broadway theater and I plan to perform with them doing street theater. (A sort of shock therapy for my shyness).

Second on my list is a personal goal which has the potential to become a professional goal: become very proactive about helping the environment. I will do this by raising awareness (among friends, family, and acquaintances) about recycling centers, energy efficiency measures, convincing my relatives to compost their organic garbage to feed the soil in their back yards etc… Also, I plan to actually visit electronics recycling centers and other materials recycling facilities to see exactly how it gets done. Perhaps there may be a viable entrepreneurial opportunity waiting for me in green-friendly waste management.

Third on my list major goals (and, therefore, a part of the vision) is to attain a CPA license. This is goal is most likely realizable four or five years from now. To achieve this, I will take the following key steps: after earning an undergraduate degree I will go back and do a comprehensive review of all the major accounting concepts that my undergraduate curriculum required me to know. In the process of earning a bachelor’s degree we often don’t have time to sit with all the material and let it thoroughly soak into our long term memory; there are just too many demands competing for our attention. Next, I will diligently study while attending a CPA review course (Becker etc..) Next, I will work for a Certified Public Accountant to gain the necessary relevant work experience to qualify to take the test. While working in that capacity, I will talk to current professional accountants for insight about “how things really work” in the field and outside of academia.

The fourth major goal in my life is also a professional one: After enough years of experience, win the appointment of a 5 year term to serve on the Financial Accounting Standards Board. Often I feel as if there are shortfalls in the GAAP standards. Concessions are made in certain financial accounting rules that appear to have no valid conceptual justification; instead, these concessions appear to be politically motivated. As geeky as it sounds, improving financial reporting transparency is an important professional goal for me. Too much important information in society (such as earmarks buried in bills which get passed into law) “fly's underneath the radar.”

My aggregate vision: by the time I reach mid 60’s I am looking back at the things I’ve done and feel as though I’ve: made a positive impact on the world, have built enough financial security to enjoy a comfortable retirement, and be in a position to give back to the community, and to the world. Yes, I can see myself reflecting on all of this while the warm sunshine is beaming down onto my face as I gaze out over the Mediterranean ocean.

Chaos into order

During our decision making “activity” I noticed that the process of attaining unanimous agreement among the class went through several “stages” of development. From the beginning there were disagreements among classmates, some disagreements were over minor details of what to propose to the professor and some were fundamentally different in every major aspect. Each different stage of the activity brought with it a different complexion; a different climate of negotiation. Through the entire activity I was primarily interested in coming to an agreement that would mitigate—or erase—the harmful effects that the outcome of the first midterm would have on my overall grade. During each stage, my approach to handling the conflict changed in accordance with the negotiating climate of the class as a whole.

Initially, when I heard ideas that came into conflict with my own, I sought to persuade others to see things my way. This approach—“compete to win”-- met with failed results (as I had suspected, but I figured I would try) so I soon abandoned this method. As time kept passing I noticed that the class as a whole was actually getting FARTHER away from unanimous agreement. For this reason I thought it would be best to try to do whatever I could to integrate peoples’ ideas and bring them together towards some sort of agreement; chances were that agreement on something would probably help us more than agreement on nothing.

As time kept passing and a group-- which appeared to be composed of representatives from each “district” of the class—formed into a cluster in the middle of the class and began to deliberate over what would be best, I thought to myself: “they think they are getting somewhere by holding a private conference but in doing so they are isolating those who are not involved.” For this reason I went to the marker board because I knew that the entire class had to be involved AT THE SAME TIME. If the entire class could see what was up for consideration, then the entire class could at least be on the same page--a good starting point. This was the “collaborative” approach. This idea was working well for the first five minutes, however, people then began to crowd around the marker board and it was again sending the message that only a few people were in charge of making the decision. Then, once someone grabbed the marker out of my hand, I concluded that it was hopeless; how would the group get anywhere if everyone was trying to take control and be heard without some sort of relative order?

Because of this, my approach—again—shifted to a more indifferent nature. This “withdrawal” , or avoidance method, was the result of feeling powerless to make a difference. As people continued to have private conversations--even when we actually managed to have one speaker stating the proposals--while we were taking votes on proposals, I just couldn't see how we would achieve unanimous agreement. As a result, I remained withdrawn for the rest of the time.

With the presidential election just over 1 week away, I figured I would ask the class: has anyone ever fallen into “withdrawal” mode regarding our nation’s politics? Do you avoid participation in our political process (a right which is ours only due to those who died fighting for that right, and those who struggled for women’s suffrage, and those who fought through the civil rights movement) because you feel you can’t make a difference?

Eggs-ercise in planning

Reflecting on our class planning exercise in light of the five commonly known steps: 1) Define goals, 2)Determine resources and current status, 3)Develop several alternative strategies, 4) Make a tactical plan, 5) Implement plan and evaluate results, has confirmed to me that every circumstance requires some modified version of this structured approach to planning.

Since we were instructed to achieve an end result with certain standards (more than 50% of egg visible, prevent it from breaking etc..) step one was not really necessary—this was already defined. Step two required our group to find those members who could make special contributions in certain areas. Lucky for our group we had someone who could draw which helped everybody share their ideas more effectively. As for the “raw materials” resources, they were “fixed” so that was one less thing to figure out. Step 3 was probably the most involved step for the egg activity. Each proposed design required special consideration. Factors for each design included our materials budget, our visibility regulations (50%), and—most importantly—our construction time restrictions. The challenge of exploring a potentially infinite amount of design considerations (and their related outcomes) was exemplified by the diversity of finished products from all the groups in class. Step 4 was highly relevant also. Once we actually arrived at a design that we thought we could construct in just 10 minutes (less when considering that we had to be at the front of the room with the specs & finished product in hand) specific tasks were assigned. This increased the efficiency of our group effort. Step five was an afterthought. There was no time for revision or corrective actions. Though step 5 is definitely important in the planning process, sometimes time simply won’t allow for it. The break-neck pace of the construction or our egg container might be same tempo of work that a natural disaster relief team has to manage.

In all, I thought our team (“hardboiled”) did the best it could have given our circumstances. No member on our team ever designed—let alone constructed in 10 minutes—a supportive structure for and egg. Because our egg did NOT survive the drop, I can’t honestly say we achieved success. However, our unsuccessful egg drop was NOT the result of poor planning or management. The only suggestion to improve planning that I can give to myself, or anyone, is to always have an internet connection at your fingertips; the answer to many of life’s questions/problems are out there on the internet!

Unexpected detours

It may be common sense that having a plan before taking action will probably increase the effectiveness & efficiency of our action. For this reason I usually plan out my daily agenda just before going to bed. Throughout my college experience it seems that I have an undeclared major—time management. I’ve taken no courses with this title, yet, this discipline has presence in every single course I take. Time management has been a recurring theme every semester and continues to be the most crucial factor affecting the outcome of my grades. After about 4-5 weeks into every semester I usually have my time management “program” down to a formula. Nevertheless, there is always a monkey wrench that complicates my schedule: the dreadful unforeseeable event.

I’m interested to know: how do you, the reader, deal with unexpected setbacks/delays/interruptions? Do you look for other time slots in the week to try to make up for this loss in time? Do you assign a level of priority to the thing/s that have been missed and weigh it against other upcoming things on your schedule? Is there a “winning philosophy” when it comes to the unforeseeable?