Protected Values

            Protected values, my way of understanding this is that these are decisions which I make that will never change. I will never have to think twice about making these types of decisions because these are part of my personal values. These values are imbedded into who I am and I can never waiver from holding these protected values to the highest regard. I know that I want to be a successful person but I also have limits to what I will do to attain these goals.

            This is a good subject to go over because it seems that many times once someone gets a taste of success they can become addicted to this feeling; avoiding the thought of selling your soul to become richer is one which must be talked about in business. We have to have boundaries which will not be jeopardized for the sake of some extra earnings.

            With that being said I have given great thought to what my own protected values are as I have become an adult. Some of these values I picked up recently and I think that as a humans, the older and more mature we get the more important our values can become. One of my values which I have gained and would like to have the strength to stand for in my future; would be to have any products which I ever produce to be American made.

            Far too often we forget the importance of having pride for our country and supporting our country. I do see the importance in participating in the global economy but I also see that our nation is weakening because more and more citizens no longer have a sense of pride for their country. If I was to ever become a manufacturer I would make it a point to make sure that I tried my hardest to have American made products. Many people see the negative in this because it might not be as cost effective and it might hurt some of my company’s profit; but there is also a lot that a company can gain from having American made products.

            If we think about which country has one of the largest populations with at least a high school diploma, I think that the USA would definitely be amongst the top countries. It is weird to me that we purchase so many items from countries which only have good educational systems in place for the wealthy. Another reason to support USA products would be the fact that many buyers do have pride in their country and like to rally behind a quality product even if it cost a bit more. It would bring me great pleasure if I knew that I was contributing to our economy and keeping more jobs in the USA to make us a stronger country.

            Another protected value of mine which I know I will not waiver from is being able to not take advantage of the less fortunate. We always hear about companies taking advantage of everyday people which do not have much to offer. How many times do we see these payday loan companies making a fortune off of people who are down to their last dime and their last choice? I think that it is insane to charge someone over twenty percent in interest for a loan that will be paid off within two weeks. This makes me sad because you see people and families who cannot get out of a financial hole because they are reduced to these types of options. If I could provide a service that would charge half of the interest that these other companies are charging, I think that I could make a huge difference by sticking to my values.

            Companies in today’s day and age are ruthless and business men can also follow suit. I have seen too many examples where people will make deals with others knowing that a bad business move will not only hurt this person but it will hurt those that should be left out of their loved ones mistakes. Many times we see families use their children’s credit to apply for loans and many times these creditors know exactly what is going on. One value which I would never compromise is brining family members into a problem which might go south. As business person I might miss out on a lot of money but at least I would  know that my conscious would be clear and I never let my strayed from my values.

            I think that many times we all need to stop and remember why we got into certain businesses and who we were when we were just getting started. In life, even outside of business there are certain values which do not even require a decision to be made because these are part of our values. Dan Gilbert talks a lot about the decision making process which we have, he talks about the irrational decisions which we might make. These irrational decisions are due to many of the values which we have, rather we make good decisions or bad decisions our values and our protected values play a large part in the decisions that we make.

 

Reference-

Hooch, S., & Keunruther, H. (2001). Values and Decisions (1 st ed., Vol. 1, p. 45). Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons.

 

 

  

Deception In Negotiations

            Negotiating, this would be one of my weak points in life because sometimes I feel that I am just too nice to be a good negotiator. It is hard for me to lie or mislead a person yet I know that it has to be done from time to time to get an advantage when trying to make a deal. During negotiations there are many ways to try and evaluate information, it is important to evaluate all of the information so that others do not take advantage of you. I know that I am not the type to mislead someone in a negotiation but I do know that I have learned many lessons in life and I do not let others take advantage of me during a negotiation.

            In our Wharton text it talks about the different ways to evaluate information during negotiations; one that I found very important was establishing trust. This in my opinion might just be one of the most important techniques, I feel that this is important because if we do not trust the person we are making a deal with than nothing will get accomplished. This is why when you go to those small used car dealerships many times deals are not completed unless the buyer has their own issues like horrible credit and they need someone to sell them a car.

            Paying attention to non-verbal cues, so it is said that some people are able to detect when others are lying. This would be a very great tool to have when in the process of negotiating, clues to look for would be increased blinking or changes in respiration. If we had the power to tell if someone was lying this would increase the chances of establishing trust and it would also increase the probability if making good deals throughout life.

            Keeping records and getting things in writing, if we lived in a perfect world this would not be necessary. Unfortunately we do not live in a perfect world and it is very hard to establish trust with a complete stranger during a negotiation. This is also a way to keep future negotiations from going sour, if everything is in writing than there is no confusion and no room left for arguing about a past negotiation.

            Ask direct questions, this technique might have saved me a lot of grief in the past, sometimes it is important to drop the barriers and ask direct questions. We all try to be as polite and as nice to people during negotiations as possible but there does come a time when it is best to ask honest questions no matter whose feelings get hurt.

            I recently purchased a 25,000 dollar car from a used car lot, they seemed credible and they only sold high end cars which made me feel more comfortable. As soon as I drove twenty miles off of the car lot my brand new car showed the transmission was malfunctioning. I was told that this repair would cost me 8,000 dollars, I was very upset by this. The person who sold me the car at the used car lot was unwilling to work with me at first, this made me even more upset. The next day I called the owner and told him that they were not going to rip me off and I told them that I would have every news station from the Dallas area in front of their lot and that they would never hear the end of this.

It seemed that my negotiating tactics worked and they decided to fix my car, I did have to go to great lengths to get my point across but it seemed like I was left with no choice. Negotiating can be difficult but sometimes it is a necessity, to avoid situations like the one from the used car lot I will keep these techniques in mind to get the fairest deals possible.   

 

 

Reference:

Hooch, S., & Keunruther, H. (2001). Deception in Negotiations. In Making Decesions (1 st ed., Vol. 1, p. 196-197). Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons.

 

 

 

           

Frame Blindness

 

            Frame Blindness, this most likely occurs a lot more often than most people would believe. To have frame blindness means that you are most likely not seeing yourself or your organization how others are viewing you. This can lead to catastrophic failure, to not see what you are doing wrong with your organization is the true meaning behind frame blindness. When an executive thinks that there work is complete and is overconfident with their work this can lead to an organizations growth stalling.

            What I am taking from this week’s reading is that according to the “Wharton” text we need to continue to understand that our organization always has room for growth and it can sometimes be good to never feel like you work is complete. I have seen it all too often in my life when people who are over confident usually end up losing because they cannot see their flaws or they lack the ability to ask for someone else’s opinion.

            Fortunately for us; Wharton’s text on making decisions comes with a solution to this problem which we call “frame blindness”. There is a way of managing these frames to avoid the “traps” of frame blindness, for us to manage these frames we need to take a step back and understand that we must analyze our own work from time to time. To avoid these traps one step which we must take as leaders is to see the frame by conducting a frame audit. As I mentioned before this is when we take a step back and create a picture to see our frame, I see it as a critical thinking session on paper.

If we can surface our frames than we can understand the elements, the important features and the optional features of our frame. Taking the time to create an illustration of our frame will put our ideas and our work into perspective. I recall a time when I was a lot younger and I was going through an intense air traffic control school in the military. I had eight hours a day of air traffic control being crammed into my brain for ten straight weeks, it was a very tough school with a test each week which decided rather or not you would be able to advance each week. I knew that I needed to create a strategy so I made a chart that would surface my frames and present my different challenges visually. Creating this chart helped me organize my thoughts, find what was important for me and then put my plan into action.

Creating this frame audit helped me in many different ways, this frame audit also helped me Identify and change inadequate frames. Not only did presenting my work see what I was doing right, it also helped me see what I was doing wrong; by seeing what I am doing wrong I am avoiding the trap of running into overconfidence and the illusion of completeness. I feel that many times I am lucky in life, I feel this way because it is easy for me to see and admit to my mistakes. This has not been an issue with me I can remember many times in life where I have been put in charge of a situation and I still ask for the opinions of my subordinates. At my job I am in a unique situation because my title has given me the opportunity to be in charge of people that might have been working for the company since I was in diapers. I do understand that I am in charge but I am also able to lower my pride and ask the opinion who has been working in the field for a much longer time than me. If we can identify and change inadequate frames than we are avoiding many of the traps which people in charge can fall into.

The most important step to avoiding frame traps in my opinion is to master techniques for reframing. When I left for boot camp at the age of eighteen I was thrown into a world which I did not understand; I know that the first couple of weeks of boot camp are meant to break me down. After boot camp was done I then understood that I was broken down to the core and the remolded to become the person that I am today. This is what we need to do when reframing, we need to find the good and the bad in the work which we are doing and then master the technique of reframing ourselves and our work.

When I think about what this exercise has taught me about myself I think about what has made me who I am. As I mentioned before I am not the type of person who is not overconfident or blind to my mistakes. I usually am the first one to admit when I have done something wrong and I am always looking to hear the opinions of others. Some might see this as a weakness but I see it as a strength, I am constantly challenging myself and trying to improve myself as a person and a leader. Every year I have improved myself and my goal is to never have the illusion of feeling like my work is complete.

 

Reference

Hooch, S., & Keunruther, H. (2001). Reflective Versus Expedient Decision Making: Views From East and West. In Making Decesions (1 st ed., Vol. 1, p. 109). Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons.

 

 

 

 

Too Many Choices

            Sheena Lyengar goes over something which I feel closely relates to my current life, Sheena goes over the obstacles and disadvantages of having or making too many choices. At my job I am in charge of moving America’s freight in the form of trains across the country, one would think that this would be a simple task mixed in with a couple of intricacies. Sheena said that the average American makes about 70 choices a day, I on the other hand feel like I am making about three to four hundred choices in an eight hour period. There are so many decisions and choices which need to be make at work that by the end of eight stressful hours I am losing my focus and I feel a mental strain. Incorporate this mental strain with the amount of choices which need to be done outside of work and this can account for me wanting to skip the world market food emporium with 100 different types of jams and drive me straight to the Aldi store with only one type of strawberry jam.

            This busy and choice filled way of working is a typical day in the life of many professional Americans and this is why Sheena’s presentation makes so much sense. In the study that Sheena completed she realized that when we are offered or forced to make too many choices and decisions our brain can only keep this up for so long. Our mental capacity for the day can easily be reached if overwhelmed, once this point has been reached I make it a point to head straight to my couch and stare at mindless television until my mind has relaxed enough.

            So as aspiring leaders and future business professional we have to ask ourselves; how can we stop our consumers from feeling this way? Sheena Lyengar gives us four methods for helping businesses avoid causing their consumers to make a mad dash for the store exit and hang around a bit longer to spend some extra money. Her four methods consist of cutting the amount of choices at the store so people can hone in a lot easier on one product to purchase. Categorize items to help consumers make easier choices, Sheena believes that this will help us tell items apart. Concretize items to make them real; Sheena believes that if people can understand the ins and outs of a product and they can grasp the concept of the item than it becomes something real and perhaps something worth spending money on. Sheena’s fourth method is conditioning, if we can condition people to hang around longer by slowly working them up to more choices than we might not lose them in the process.

            I think that these are all great methods, I can truly see myself putting these methods into practice and saving a business extreme amounts of profit. If I could use two of these methods for my own decision making purposes and finding a way to utilize these methods of my own organization; I would look for ways to cut the amount of choices and condition people to want to make choices. I think that if I can cut the amount of products available so that I can provide a lower price to the consumer; in the long run I will condition them to buy more because the less things cost the less amount of decisions need to be made. When you are spending less at a store you are not as worried about staying within your budget, there are less choices to be made for the average American if they do not have to think how a shopping experience will affect the rest of their week.

            I feel that today Sheena has provided me with four new tools to use in my everyday life. As she mentions in her presentations these are all methods which we can use for ourselves not only for business purposes. I see myself heading to the nearest Aldi from now on after a stressful day at work; I think I have found my solution for those days when I have reached my “making choices threshold”. I will no longer spend that extra time at the store making choices for things that do not matter too much for me. From now on I see myself going to the World Market Emporium only if I am in the mood to take a stroll around the store and kill some spare time wine tasting and perhaps buying some specially aged cheese from Italy. My days of making too many choices will be cut down when necessary and enjoyed only when wanted.   

 

By: Alberto Gil

MSLD 632

                

Making decesions

            Decision making has never been an easy process, there are so many “what if’s” involved in the decision making process. In our text it describes a way to put these “what if’s” into a sort of mathematical formula which might help us decide what is the best path to take when making decisions.

            The first step in the decision making process according to our text is to make an accumulation of knowledge. A firm which is trying to make a decision on which company they choose to use in a partnership might go through a trial period. Through a trial period a company can gain data on a certain service which they are receiving from a company. In the example used in the text a company is torn between two different providers, they are uncertain of who will give them the best coverage. The formula in the text works well because they use this trial period to make an educated guess on who will be the best provider.

            Once this firm has gone through the trial period they can then apply this knowledge into the formula which researchers use to solve multistage problems. They take the facts that they have on a prior providers potential for one year and then they take the accumulation of knowledge from the second provider and apply the potential for profit in one year. Once their formula is in place they are able to use information to decide if the new provider will offer them better coverage which will in turn give them a higher potential for profit.

            This is an interesting way of looking at decision making, in some ways we all use formulas when making decisions. In life we weigh the pros and cons of a decision and then come to a conclusion. I think that a lot of the decision making I make in life are either split second decisions done without much thought of decisions based on my passed experiences. During my decision making process I also incorporate how my feelings are on certain subject matter, it is usually an uneducated guess when I make decisions in this matter; this would be an optimal way of making decisions.

            I do believe that the formula in which researchers solve multistage problems would truly improve the types of decisions that I usually make. I think that if I actually get an accumulation of knowledge at the beginning of each decision that I make; I might see things in a much clearer light. As humans we make brash decisions and base them on emotional content rather than knowing the facts. If we take the time to stop and think about the future outcomes of our decisions instead of living in the now; better choices can be made. If I were to use this formula it would also increase my ability to succeed at forward planning, “studies find that people generally can plan no further than just one step beyond the current decision” (Wharton).

            One thing that I have found myself very interested in lately is current events and politics, I think that when you look at the politics of a country you can see where the future is headed. If I am using optimal dynamic decision analysis I am able to understand the future a bit better by looking at current events. Many times decision makers use these techniques to understand which route might their investments take based on the world around us. This is definitely a technique which would be very valuable to me, I would definitely apply this technique to the way that I make decisions for a company or myself. If we pay attention to current events we are empowering ourselves, to know the future one must have a good understanding of the past and present. I believe that if I am making decisions using this technique than I can break the pattern which many people have of not being able to think one step ahead.

 

Reference:

Hooch, S., & Keunruther, H. (2001). Bumbling Geniuses: The Power of Everday Reasoning in Multistage Decision Making. In Making Decesions (1 st ed., Vol. 1, p. 45). Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons.

 

The Dimensions Of Leadership

In chapter twelve of the leaders guide denning goes over some very important dimensions of leadership. Every leader needs to have a certain guide line which they follow to be successful, there are core values which need to be upheld every time someone takes on the role of a leader. Being a leader is a big responsibility, as a leader you are in charge of a team of individuals that look up to you to make the right decisions which will guide the team to success. In chapter 12 there were three particular dimensions which I know I will use in the future and reflect on these techniques to guide me on the right path to being a better leader. In my opinion the three keys to being a leader are connecting with your group, being free of your ego and being a leader which has feeling.

Leadership that connects is supplied by a leader which is interactive, a leader that connects has their own agenda but they are also interested in seeking the opinions of others. A leader that can connect with their group on different levels has many advantages; once a leader is connecting with their team they can learn from their view points. Seeing solutions for different obstacles through the eyes of all of your team members can have a very successful effect on a project and on the moral as a group in general. When a leader is able to connect in an effective way they are also able to connect to an audience and get their point across. Being able to get your point across and effectively convey a message to your audience is what being a leader is about.

Leader ship that is free of ego, this is a leader which is trying to make a difference in the team. This type of leader is not looking for a return, better yet their goal is to give to the team and make things run as smooth as possible. A leader who is not concerned with their ego is even willing to suffer through loss or humiliation to attain the goal of the team, this is a selfless person who tries to make everything around them better. As Denning states we have seen leaders like this in the past who have accomplished great things; leaders like Martin Luther King Jr and Nelson Mandela would be amongst this list of ego free leadership.

Our third dimension and I believe the most important dimension which is leadership that has feeling. We have all been moved by leaders who believe in their cause, this is important as a leader because a leader must be able to motivate an audience. I believe that there are many leaders that complete their job without passion, they finish their task because they have to not because they want to. Many times people are driven to finish a task because they are driven by a paycheck; I feel that this type of leader does not put in any feeling to what they are doing. A leader that completes task by pouring their heart and soul into a project is a leader which can create something special. These types of leaders are not motivated by money, what pushes these types of leaders is the fact that they know they are working towards something that might make a difference.

The three dimensions of leadership which I mentioned above are in my opinion are some of the core characteristics of great leaders. Leaders that have made a difference in this world know how to connect to an audience, they are free of their egos and they lead with feeling. I think that if I incorporate these three dimensions into my own leadership skills I can someday make a difference in the way things are done. Every leader who cares about their team and their work wants to make an impact. If I can add some of these leadership dimensions to my vast repertoire of leadership skills than I think I can be a great leader someday.    

 

 

   

 

public speaking

            Talking to a complete stranger, this is not an easy task for some people; for others it is hard for them to keep to themselves when in public. I always wondered why certain people were good at speaking in public and what made them so good at sparking a conversation with people around them. Sometimes people are only good at one or the other, for example I feel that I am good with talking to strangers but I get nervous when I am speaking in front of a crowd. I have never felt like I am able to work a room with ease but I do feel confident about myself.

            When reading our text called “Messages” I began to understand what some people might go through when trying to speak to strangers. People that are not good at sparking a conversation with strangers usually feel like that person is not interested in them. They feel like they are not smart, or they feel that they are boring and do not know if anyone would be interested in them; this is what rejection can do to someone that is not confident in themselves. I found this learning lesson from our text interesting because this is the way that I feel when I am in front of an audience.

            According to our text the key is to reframe rejection, we have to realize that the ideas which we are creating in our minds are usually not true. “We are mind reading when we say that someone might not be interested in us”(Messages pg.207), we are truly never sure of what someone is thinking at all. The reason for rejection might be because the other person might be afraid of strangers, they could be worried about other things which they might have on their mind or they might have a very hectic schedule this particular day and no time to chit chat. There are many reasons which can cause someone to reject a conversation, the key is to not view it as a personal issue.

            I think that growing up in a city where there are millions of people and you are constantly in contact with them by riding the subway and taking the bus everywhere you go; being social might come naturally. On a subway conversations are sparked on a daily basis, people complain about how long they have been waiting for a train, how dirty the subway station is and even how dirty the person sleeping next to you might be. This has helped me immensely in my life, I am very social amongst strangers and for the most part I have always been. My upbringing has given me the opportunity to feel that when I am in public I am not worried about what other people are thinking about me because I am so used to constantly being around others. My next step in life will be to get accustomed to feeling this way in front of an audience.     

Reference:

Mckay, M., Davis, M., & Fanning, P. (2009). Negotiation. In Messages, The Communication Skils Book (3rd ed., p. 207). Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.