Monday, March 28, 2011
Drucker and Learning Styles
Self management, in my opinion, is an important tool. If you cannot effectively answer questions about yourself, you may not be able to help your company to the best of your ability. You need to know where and how you fit in and what you can do to move forward. Understanding how you work best, as mentioned by Drucker, is so important. The presidential story about the uncertainly about being either a reader or a listener is a powerful one because it outlines how important this seemingly unimportant piece of knowledge can be. Currently, being a student, we should know how we learn best. Not everyone does… sometimes I wonder if I do. I do know that I work well under stress or pressure and often get the job done more efficiently. Personally I don’t like too much structure so working in a position where I was doing routine tasks all day every day would not fit my personality…and I would probably be miserable. What I found most important to take away from this was the quote: Do not try to change yourself- you are unlikely to succeed. It is more important to be who you are and excel at what you are good at than trying to fit the mold of something you were just not meant to do.
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Mikala I completely agree, many people are unaware of their learning styles which makes it difficult to contribute ones greatest efforts. Having worked with you on past projects I know you work well under pressure and like the spontaneity and flexibility in assignments. I would say you are more of a reader than a listener because you take great notes and jot down notes for yourself to remember things. I love the quote you ended your post with, it is so true! What is the point in expending all your efforts on something you are not good at when you can expend it on improving your greatest assets? I hope that my feedback has helped you identify some of your strengths :)
ReplyDeleteNice comment - specific and focused on the post! I also agree with the notion of exploiting your strengths and am searching for ways to have that reflected in our curriculum - e.g. why do we continually have everyone take the same courses in the same way when we know this other method works much better both in school and later in life!
ReplyDeleteI could not agree more with that last quote, Mikala. I think many people try to fit a "mold", and they ultimately do not end up happy. From personal experience, my dad worked on Wall Street for many years and thought since everyone else had a second vacation home and nice cars, etc, that that was how it was "supposed" to be. After a personal injury and him having to leave his company, he now works from home and has his own financial consulting business. He got rid of the fancy cars and now spends more time than ever with the rest of the family and doing what he loves. That is what makes him happy. He was so distracted by the "mold" and something that he was trying to be. It took time, but he found himself and now puts his energy into what he is good at and trying to improve everyday. Sorry for the story- I just thought it was very relevant. People should not change themselves, but instead adjust what they are doing in order to be sure they are being true to themselves.
ReplyDeleteMikala, I had orignally chosen this quote for my blog but I figured I would choose something else and be original. Many times people try to be something they were not meant to be. I belive that this comes from social pressures, especially the family. For example people will choose jobs because of the salary and not because they have a passion for what the job entails. They will look to obtain a certain status instead of enjoying their job. Unfortunatley these people are setting themselves up for failure. It's good to see that you are already evaluating your learning style so that you will not have this problem in the future.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with what you said in your post, Mikala. It is really important to be able to effectively answer questions about yourself. If you do not know much about your individual self, then it is almost impossible to work well with others or in a team. I also agree with your statement that 'It is more important to be who you are and excel at what you are good at than trying to fit the mold of something you were just not meant to do.' I feel that a lot of times people think they are better off being someone/doing something they feel they SHOULD rather than just being who they are. I feel that this is a possible reason why break downs can occur among teams. Like you said, Mikala, Everyone should just work to their personal strengths.
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