Know Your Tuning

WHAT:
                       This week during lecture, we discussed the idea that everyone person is “tuned” by his or her surroundings one way or another. Understanding how you are tuned as an individual may help explain why you tend to react different ways in different situations. People are tuned a certain way as a result of a combination of different things: childhood experiences, cultural background, gender, and values. I have decided to try to figure out my personal tuning for the subject of this blog post.
                        I found that understanding my triggers was extremely helpful in determining my personal tuning. Triggers are sharp experiences evoking something inside you that completely dominate the present moment. In Chapter 15 of Adaptive Leadership, Heifetz describes triggers as the stimuli that cause your defense mechanisms to kick in, generated by fear and fueled with adrenaline. Understanding what actions trigger your defense mechanisms is an important part of adaptive leadership. 

SO WHAT:
                       After delving farther into determining my triggers, I found that people questioning

my ability to complete certain tasks automatically causes my defense mechanisms to kick in. I become immediately obsessed with proving myself to them, which at times can be detrimental to myself, or others around me. I also found that arrogance of any kind evokes my defense mechanisms. I am extremely bothered when I feel as though someone is making someone else feel as though they are inferior in any way. This triggers me to immediately make the victim’s problems my own and resort to irrational actions. 

NOW WHAT:
                       I think that having a clear understanding of what your triggers are and how they affect you can be very beneficial in everyday life. I can now channel the emotions evoked by my triggers to a more positive solution, rather than the reactions I described before. In addition, being able to control your triggers is a very important part of leading adaptive interventions. If someone understands that they are triggered by conflict, they can anticipate these triggers and act in a more productive way, benefiting everyone involved. 

Service Learning Action Plan

WHAT:

            Last week in class, we learned the basics of creating a Service-Learning Action Plan. I wasn’t sure that I had ever heard of the tool, but after reviewing the worksheet, I knew I had created a diagram similar to the one on the front of the page. As a Business Information Technology major, learning how to visually lay out steps in a system or process is vital step in identifying places for potential process improvement in meeting the ultimate goal of operational efficiency. Last semester, I took a class called Quality & Process Improvement. Our big semester assignment was to analyze a process and look for areas of improvement. For my project, I chose to analyze patient waiting times at Schiffert Health Center. The first thing I did for this assignment was interview Schiffert employees and patients and create a process flow diagram (see picture below) of all the steps patients take starting from entering the front door, just like how the diagram pictured on the Service-Learning Action Plan worksheet laid out all of the steps of working with the local Boys and Girls club to help start a "Triple Play" program. I was a little bit confused at first because I had never really considered or thought to make a connection between the two different subjects. 

Process Flow Diagram for Patient Check-In Process at Schiffert Health Center

SO WHAT:

            After thinking about how a tool like a system diagram could benefit both systems analysts and leaders, I was no longer confused about the connection between the two fields of study. Leaders can make use of system diagrams in order to plan efficient projects and ensure accountability for critical tasks. BIT majors can make use of system diagrams or process flow diagrams in order to accurately understand the different steps of a process to understand where improvements can be made. A visual representation of steps helps in both of these situations.

Sample Process Flow Diagram

NOW WHAT:

            After understanding how these diagrams can be useful in a multitude of situations, I think that I will probably use them as an analysis tool more frequently. Whether you are mapping out certain steps to carry out a new years resolution, creating an action plan to meet a certain business goal, or indentifying the flow of work steps in a service-learning project, flow diagrams can help accomplish the task.