Respond to 2 classmates discussion posts

PLEASE RESPOND WITH AT LEAST 150 WORDS AND CITE ANY REFERENCES USED…PLEASE SEPARATE EACH RESPONSE

POST 1:

Hello Everyone.

As you go through the MBA program at Walden, you will probably hear over and over again that diverse teams are preferable to teams where everyone has the same background. When we hear “diversity”, we often think of age, race, gender, or sexual orientation. These kinds of diversity are of course an important part of our mission of positive Social Change where we are trying to build a society where all kinds of people can learn to live and work together.

But another key part of diversity is “psychological diversity”. Puccio, Mance, and Murdock (2011) define this as “differences in how people organize and process information as an expression of their cognitive styles and personality traits.” This week we will be looking at one aspect of psychological diversity known as creative styles, which represent an important factor in the way that different people approach a problem. For example, some people like to focus on details while some prefer looking at the big picture. Some like to do a lot of planning, while others would rather just jump in immediately. These tendencies all based on a person’s creative style (Laureate, 2012).

Unfortunately, differences in creative style can be a cause of conflict on a team, as you will see in the case study media presentation this week. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Part of the key to working well in a team atmosphere is accepting teammates who have different perspectives from ourselves. And understanding WHY they act the way they do can go a long way in helping us appreciate what they bring to the team.

I look forward to hearing more about your experiences working with different creative types and your ideas on how you can leverage the psychological diversity on your team and lead them to success.

References

Laureate Education (Producer). (2012). Creative teams and creative conflicts. [Interactive media]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Puccio, Mance, and Murdock.. (2011) Creative leadership: Skills that drive change. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.

POST 2:

Workgroups just like life has many facets to it. In reviewing the scenario in Creative Teams and Creative Conflicts media shows how a group of four different processing styles is trying to approach a task (Laureate Education 2012). It appears this group has worked together before and has a lack trust in each other’s ability to have a successful outcome.

The three suggestions I have for the team to overcome their differences are clear direction, mutual respect, and patience. The team needs to start with a clear idea of what the client is looking for as the end product. Brainstorming is a good tool for ideas once you have an idea of the direction you need to go in but a clear starting point is vital. This type of team is referred to as “cross-functional”, it is the bringing together of invested people from different functions to define and resolve issues or complete a task in a limited amount of time (Bellman 1992). Even though Max speaks of the overall assignment he fails to provide clear direction. I have identified him as the Implementer of the group, Marco is more like the Clarifier which makes the most sense to me.

Once the group has identified the needed outcome, they can work together to utilizing their skills. Anna has the characteristics of the ideator and Catrin the developer. By each team member accepting the roles in the project will help it move along to the desired outcome. Catrin will most likely have to pull in Anna’s reigns on ideas but can utilize her knowledge of the different electronic book options that are available.

Taking on the leadership role for this project will require patience and the ability to identify the different working practices on the team. As per Puccio, Mance and Murdock 2011, leaders who first understand themselves are in a much better position to leverage their strengths and to find ways to compensate for their deficiencies.

I found this assignment challenging, even though I can identify the different FourSight preferences it was difficult to pick the best outcome. I have many of the characteristics of Adaptors and truly feel less creative as reading suggest. In order to satisfy the customer, I would delegate Marco to clarify the needs of the company to get a better understanding of what the want. Once presented to the team we would all Anna to share her ideas and then utilize gather data to direct the outcome.

References:

Bellman, G.M. (1992). Getting things done when you are not in charge. (pp131-135)

Laureate Education (Producer). (2012). Creative teams and creative conflicts [Interactive media]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Puccio, G.J., Mance, M. & Murdock, M.C. (2011). Psychological diversity: Leading people with different styles. In Puccio, Mance, & Murdock, Creative leadership: Skills that drive change (pp 241-264). Los Angeles, CA: Sage