An Ode to Management

I signed up for Management three-one-two-oh
In autumn I walked through the door
I listened to the syllabus
Then we dropped eggs on the floor
Next, I never got a McGangbang
And tried to describe shapes in vain
Constructed a lego model but failed
And then I went home... by train

Motivation's on the way

This class was something I looked forward to as I went to class.  This is rare; usually I dread school because of the commute and the monotony of other classes.  I really liked how the class was very interactive - it wasn't simply a lecture.  If it were "just" a lecture, I would probably be putting my head down every class and find a seat in the back.

There was a lot of opportunities for extra credit too (although I didn't make use of the largest one... I'm quite aversive to fast food).  All the extra credit awards was really something to stride towards to in class, and it was uncommon enough for the entire class to put in significant effort.

I don't really know of any other motivational techniques that the professor could have used.  Maybe reward us with candy.  Chocolate, specifically.  I like chocolate.

Unfortunately, the class was so enjoyable, my comfort level crossed the laziness threshold, and I definitely should have studied more for the tests.

'C' is greater than 'D' is greater than 'S' is greater than 'i'

Did the test accurately gauge your management orientation?

Looks like it.

Are you the D, I, S or C that the test said you are?

I can see those qualities in me, yes.

Did the test get it right or wrong?

Eerily more right than wrong. 

Do you wish you were another type (if you were a C do you wish you were a D)?

Not at all.  I like being me.

Can you become another type? 

Probably not.  I am very stubborn.

Do you think it is helpful to determine people’s management “type” to better understand where they are coming from and how to interact with them?

Of course; assigning people blindly to tasks is never a good idea.  It is best when the puzzle fits together.

How would a test like this help you in business interactions?

I suppose that if others knew my results of this test, they would see the method to my madness.

I ended up being C > D > S > i.  I'm used to being talked over, and most of the time depending on the environment I am in I just sit quietly and listen.  I definitely need to "develop tolerance for conflict;" my patience drops like a rock under conflicting circumstances.

An example of me demonstrating "C" qualities would be if I were cooperating with a team of my friends, blood vessels would be exploding if my teammates were messing up due to carelessness.  I wouldn't explicitly state my frustration and emotions, but others would probably read it off my face and voice.

My vision is to evolve

No just kidding.

Anyway, some visions that I can think of off the top of my head (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER):

1) Graduate, get a career job, buy a house, contribute to society, not fail at life (these are all related so I'll group them together).

2) Obtain more knowledge in mathematics than Professor Alfred Friedland.  He's great if you want to take theoretical math classes.

3) Have an awesome computer setup.  Currently, the significant parts to make that would be:
i7-2600k
GTX580 (SLIx2)
2 SSDs
and probably dual 24" monitors.

4) Completely nerd out my room with figurines on glass shelves and posters covering the walls.

5) Jump out of an airplane.

Visions 3, and 4 (and 5, somewhat) are subsequent to vision 1.  Visions 1 and 2 are simple and straightforward but require a lot of effort.

As for the video we watched in class, I think a lot of it was redundant.  The points were legitimate, but the video itself was drawn out, repetitive, and corny.  The professor could have just said the following three lines:


Vision without action is just a dream.
Action without vision merely wastes time.  
Vision coupled with action can change the world!

After that, give a few examples.  That's basically what the video gets sparknoted into.

I've been delayed

Out of the five ways that people behave during decision making, I believe that initially I was the avoidance character.  I felt like the professor just let the class run buck-wild.  People were even bashing his test format and his response seemed indifferent, so I did not really want to be part of this unregulated chaos.

After listening for twenty minutes or so, my brain started feeling restless; I was hearing a lot of selfish ideas and I felt that the argument was going nowhere.  At this point, I feel like I took upon two merged roles - "Compete to win" and "compromise."  I started yelling at some point because I was frustrated and irritated, but the point I wanted to get across was that we should first find some lesser things that EVERYONE can agree on. 

The most prevalent behavior of decision making that I observed in the classroom was the "compete to win" mentality.  That kind of method stands out the most, because those people have all outbound and no inbound.  It was kind of irritating.  Avoidance wasn't something as easily observed - I just noticed many people that didn't have any input at all during the chaos. 

I feel like if I were the "leader up front," I would have been just yelling at people to shut up and talk one at a time.  I think I would have fun being in a place of power, but people probably wouldn't like my methods of trying to get a clear compromise.  However, I would be mostly neutral and try to interpret the things people suggest into more understandable means.

(Late post)

Sorry, no egg pun here

Of the five steps in the planning process, I feel as though the group I was in completed it fully.

During the 25 minutes of planning, we clearly defined our goal: preventing an egg from breaking on impact as it falls 9-10 feet by using 8 straws and 4-5 feet of tape.

Current status was our resources and details - the straws and tape.  Weakness included no scissors, but we came up with a plan that didn't require scissors.  Little details such as how far the drop actually was going to be and conditions of an egg shell breaking.

Premises and alternative strategies - What was expected to happen = the egg hits the ground and breaks.  We had 8 straws and 4-5 feet of tape to prevent it.  50% of the egg must be showing.  I figured that a shell wouldn't work through some spatial reasoning; for example, since the egg was round, it would be extremely difficult to cover all the sides with 8 straws.  Also, we chose the shortest person in the group to drop the egg.

Our plan ended up being making not a shell, but an attempt to cover the egg so that it would be "spikey" - the spikes would deccelerate the egg as it hits the ground, so when the actual egg shell hits the ground, it would be slow enough to not break.

Implementing the action: a suspenseful success.  Although construction of the contraption was nothing as planned, there was still a very positive outcome.

A very s-egg-cessful outcome indeed.  (Dammit, I cracked).

I'm from Texas, y'all

Indeed I am, even if it was just the suburbs.  I spent most of my life growing up there, including two years of college.  Then I come here, to NYC - one of the most urban cities of all cities.  Generic conversation when meeting someone new in the NYC almost always includes
"So where are you from?"

in which I reply with
"I'm from Texas."

Often, the response to my declaration is a face of shock and uncertainty.  If I had to guess at what they were thinking, it would be something along the lines of
"Oh man, it was a mistake talking to this guy"
or
"he's got to be kidding..."

Then the next line of the conversation goes as follows:
"But you don't have an accent..."

And that concludes my conversation containing the subject of where I'm from.  At this point, I'm used to it and try to throw in some clever responses but initially it irritated me.  To add to the Texas thing, I currently reside in Staten Island as stated in the previous post.  I had a conversation with my sister about telling people how we're from Staten Island and she just tells people she's from Hoboken (her boyfriend's residence).


I also visited Hong Kong, England, and France when I was single-digit-years old.  Unfortunately, since I was young and ignorant, I did not notice any extraordinary habits.

Just for the record, there's nothing wrong with "y'all."  Synonyms would be "you guys" and the obvious "you all."  "Y'all" is second nature to me.
By the way, people from New Jersey pronounce "water" like "w-oh-tter" and they don't realize it.  I laugh at y'all that say water funny.

The Internet is also a big topic with culture.  Playing games on the Internet, there is frequent trash-talking and often through the names they use, they have a small prefix or suffix hinting at where they are from (example being "Coolgamername.QC" = from Canada).  Also, with voice support in games over the Internet (VoIP) it is very easy to distinguish what race they are whether they speak a language other than English or have a strong accent.  All sorts of horrible things arise from this, since the Internet + anonymity = huge jerk.  When other agitated people learn that my group of friends and I are from America, I hear a LOT (emphasis on LOT) of "fat American pigs."  Apparently that is what gamers outside of America think of America.