Case Analysis 1

The Case Analysis was not as bad as i thought it would be.  I know the saying that "two minds are better than one" but i didn't think it was the case for writing papers.  I found that having the extra person made it easier to bounce ideas off of each other.  It actually made me think about the team performance curve because me and my partner began developing an interdependence.  I think it made some of the material we've covered in class more evident.  We established roles, determined goals, and began using each other to accomplish more.  Maybe two minds are better than one for writing a paper.

Carter Racing

I thought the carter racing activity was very beneficial. By using the scatter plots of the gasket data it kind of displayed the 'gut feeling' you get when deciding if an action is beneficial.  By using the mathematics on the board  you could decipher the marginal benefit of an action.  I think people do that everyday innately but usually don't think about the process.  It's much simpler to use the metaphor of a gambling game than a more realistic scenario.  But i wonder if unconsciously, we do this kind of math in our heads to estimate the benefit.

Spaghetti and Gumdrops

I found that after analyzing the spaghetti and gumdrop team activity, that it was actually very beneficial.  In the beginning I found the exercise a bit irrelevant.  When the class went over the initial interactions of the groups, everything that was said explained my group’s interactions.  When my group met in the beginning to start constructing our spaghetti structure, we didn’t start by throwing out ideas.  We started by introducing ourselves.  Also, because our group didn’t know each other when we began working on the project, we all didn’t want to put our hands in there and work together because it would have been awkward.  This exercise really helped to analyze a group’s first interactions, and why they happen.

Team Performance Curve

I agree with the team performance curve mostly.  I also agree that when all members are working towards a common goal, the group’s performance is increase.  But I feel as though at times this team dependency can also sometimes hinder the group.  With one bad link the entire team would be hindered.  It kind of all goes back to the saying of, “a team is only as strong as its weakest link.”  In the event that a team member is not at the same level as the rest of a team, the inter dependence of the group could cause each individual to focus on the on slack of the less qualified team member.  In respect to this scenario I believe both a working group and a high performing team could come close to each other depending on the scenario.  However, I will admit that a high performing team will always be better than a working group.

After reading the Personality Plus article, I think that it is really neat that so much money is being put into finding personality types.  This way we can create a top quality workforce or military.  However, i feel like certain careers will only pursue certain personality types.  For example, the military would want more people like Alexander Nininger.  The only problem with this quest for a top notch workforce, is that once all the preferred personality types are taken, what will happen to the less desirable personalities?  I hope that they won't be forced to work in less desirable professions as a result.
My only hope is that a new personality test is designed that is shown to to diagnose preferred personalities.  I don't have much faith in the Myers-Briggs test because is was designed almost a century ago.

While reading the Personality Plus article, I found it very unnecessary that the faculty of the McKinsey consulting firm knew their coworkers' M.B.T.I. types by heart.  In the workplace I wouldn't focus so much on someone's personality type based off of a test.  Instead, I'd focus on how that person reacts in certain situations.  I mean, it isn't hard to gauge how someone will react after you've interacted with them enough. We do it in college with our social groups all the time.