Tag: Career

My Belbin results – Part 2

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Doug Belshaw

In My Belbin Results – Part 1 I outlined what the Belbin process is and listed the nine different characteristics that the process identifies for those who are part of a team. At the end of the blog post I asked people, whether they knew me solely online or also offline, to ascertain which three of the nine characteristics were most like me. Go and read that post (and especially the comments) before proceeding. 🙂

It was interesting that those who know me solely online seem to view me differently from those who know me offline as well. That showed up in my ‘official’ Belbin report as well – there was one external assessor who I’ve only ever talked to on Skype and over the phone.

So what were my results? In order:

Plant – Creative, imaginative, unorthodox. Solves difficult problems. Ignores incidentals. Too pre-occupied with own thoughts to communicate effectively.

Resource Investigator – Extrovert, enthusiastic, communicative. Explores opportunities. Develops contacts. Over-optimistic. Can lose interest once initial enthusiasm has passed.

Shaper – Challenging, dynamic, thrives on pressure. Has the drive and courage to overcome obstacles. Prone to provocation. Liable to offend others.

The above were agreed upon by all five of my observers, apart from one who came up with ‘Specialist’ instead of ‘Shaper’. As for me, I had down Plant and Shaper, but had ‘Monitor Evaluator’ down as number one. Perhaps I’m not so ‘serious minded’ after all… 😉

The pigeon-holing is interesting but some of the report was intriguing. There were six people who assessed me, if you include the self-assessment; here are the top words and phrases people selected to describe me (in order of most frequent):

innovative
impulsive
creative
imaginative
opportunistic
enterprising
provocative
encouraging of others
persistent
outspoken
technically skilful
clever
professionally dedicated

The word ‘aggressive’ also came out a couple of times, but right next to it was ‘calm & confident’ so I saw them as cancelling each other out. Talking to one of the people who assessed me, they explained the former as positive and being akin to ‘tenacious’. 🙂

There’s various other bits of feedback you get, including a ‘strengths’ and ‘possible weaknesses’ report, along with (hilariously) a ‘counselling report’. Here’s some choice excerpts:

Has innovative tendencies and needs to work in a mentally challenging environment. Requires work where he can use his outgoing nature… Needs to work in an environment which offers scope for personal expression.

Could have problems adapting to a supportive and subordinate role when necessary.

Needs to work within a loose framework. Will function best when given the freedom to roam.

Yours is essentially a pioneering profile. You are one of the few people equally read to develop new ideas on your own or in conjunction with others. Your best line of work is one in which you are required to explore possibilities and to take advantage of new opportunities. You have some features of the visionary. But take care you do not become isolated from others and resistant to the contributions they can make to the development of what is new.

For you above all others, it is best to establish the moment of exit. Do not outstay your welcome.

Your operating style is that of one who always seeks to be at the cutting edge of change. So remember that this is a hazardous spot to occupy. You will need to respect others of more traditional habits if you are to win respect yourself.

Does that seem a fair assessment? 😀

‘So… what do you do?’ (v2)

Posted on November 5, 2010 by Doug Belshaw

Pigeon-holes. Not those, of course, of the physical variety in which you might keep racing birds, but those of the mind. That, and people’s seemingly-innate desire to find areas of common ground in any given situation. Combined, they’re a potent, but potentially destructive force in society.

“So… what do you do?” is a question I try not to ask. It’s only one step removed from, “What do you do for a living?”, asked explicitly to answer the implicit question “Are you of any value or interest to me?”. I have a three step strategy to answer such questions:

Questioner: So… what do you do?

Me: I work at Northumbria University

That satisfies 80% of queries. Sometimes that’s followed up by:

Questioner: Oh really, what do you do there?

Me: I work for an organization called JISC that’s based at Northumbria and deals with educational technology.

This deals with a further 15%. Only about one out of every twenty people ask for the full details:

Questioner: What type of things do you do?

Me: I work for a part of JISC called JISC infoNet. We’re funded indirectly by the taxpayer and provide guidance on digital technologies mainly to senior managers. We produce ‘infoKits’ which are detailed online briefings to get the further and higher education sectors up-to-speed on relevant topics. I’m currently working on some giving guidance about Open Educational Resources and mobile technologies. JISC saves the taxpayer more than thirty times what they cost to fund.

If all three questions have been asked, this usually leads to a longer conversation where we both get to talk about what we enjoy and find interesting in life. I am, of course, slightly more loquacious than the above, but you get the idea. :-p

Apart from my absolutely most-hated phrase which I will no doubt write about soon – a phrase banned in our house since the birth of our son – apart from that particular phrase, the one I revile most is the one which asks what you do for a living?. Every action and utterance has a symbolic element. In this case, the questioner not only assumes, but serves to endorse and reinforce, societal notions that what a person does to earn money is necessarily the defining feature of their life.

I’m currently reading a book about Greg Mortenson called Three Cups of Tea. Whilst I’ve only devoured the first six chapters, Mortenson has already attempted to scale K2, been kept alive by the hospitality of a tiny, remote, and very poor village, worked as a emergency-room nurse, slept in a car to make ends meet, and returned to Pakistan to build a school after raising money through the writing of 580 letters. How would he have answered, “So… what do you do?” at this point of his life, I wonder? I’m guessing he would barely mention what happens to pay the bills.

I do enjoy working at JISC infoNet – how could I fail to? It’s a flexible occupation where I’m surrounded by great people doing work that the sector respects and deems worthwhile. I didn’t enjoy my previous job, however. I was constrained and cajoled into doing things against my better judgement. Refusing to sell out, I changed jobs (and educational sectors) and took a pay cut, despite having moved my family to a different part of the country specifically for the previous position. I write this not to self-aggrandise, but to make a point:

Your mission in life is bigger than your job.

So what’s my mission? I’ll find the specifics later but I’ve got the broad brushstrokes: improving user outcomes. Let’s just check that back against what I wrote 14 months ago, shall we? Does what I said then still hold water?

So what do I do?

I blend digital and physical worlds.

I tell stories about how learning can be.

I show people stuff.

I research.

I find the best of the best.

My job’s what I make it. I can live with that.

Is that still true? Absolutely. 😀

Innovation: where it’s at.

Posted on May 1, 2010 by Doug Belshaw

One of the things I love about having a blog is that it’s a space to think things through. This is something I’ve been thinking about for a while and so needed to solidify my views by committing it to writing. 🙂

Interest can get you a long way in life. If you’re interested in something it fires your curiosity and motivates you to do something about it.

People interested in photography tend to buy a decent camera and practice until they become better.
Those interested in collaborative technologies tend to use them with others and evangelise their use.
Individuals interested in endangered species are usually the ones found donating their money and volunteering.

That’s why interest leads to an increase in awareness and skill level. That, according to Seth Godin in Linchpin, makes you immensely valuable:

But.

The commonly-followed trajectory is from interest to a job/employment in that area. Which is great. What you need to make sure of, however, is that you don’t lose the relevant, up-to-date domain knowledge (green circle) in your trajectory to the right of the Venn diagram.

Good luck. 😀