Insights

[c9]

A couple weeks ago my company held its annual sales and operations conference at the CEO's cottage on Cape Breton. Every year there's a theme, and this year they decided to work on improving our communication skills, which is laudable. They hired Peak Performance Training to do their thing, which is: set up a survey for all conference attendees to do, and then create a profile based on our answers.

There were fifty (!) questions almost exactly like this:

Rate each of these words in relation to yourself, with one being most like you, one least like you, and two in between.

• Structured
• Flexible
• Fast
• Introverted

It quickly became quite tedious and boring, so I stopped thinking as hard about each of my answers as I did early on. I still paid attention, I just didn't give each question a second thought. Not knowing what it meant really, I didn't care too much at the time.

At the conference we each received our Insights Discovery Profile. It features a 2.5 page summary of me that is spookily accurate. I present for your amusement -- and by your I mean people who know me somewhat well -- these gems:

• "He is bored by facts, details and repetitive activities"
• "tireless in his efforts to bring about peace and well-being"
• "a tendency to want to procrastinate"
• "a good improviser who will go to great lengths to please others"
• "he may become rather over-emotional when stressed"
• "Cameron constantly tries to be the diplomat"
• "he may get bored quickly and tend to ignore significant detail in his desire to move on to more exciting things"

We were told to put checkmarks next to things we agreed with (the above items have checkmarks from me) and underline those we disagree with. I underlined things like "even-tempered" and "comfortable letting others manage." Ha!

All that was gleaned from my responses to those questions, so now I wish I had been more thoughtful in my responses. Of course, the questions were repetitive, so you already know how that went. The report is 23 pages long, and features great stuff like a list of my strengths ("boosts self-esteem in others") and weaknesses ("Cameron may open his mouth and fall right in"), a list of possible blind spots, and a description of my opposite type that reads suspiciously like leapfish sometimes. :)

My favourite part is the Effective Communications section, which reads as follows:

Strategies for communicating with Cameron

• Keep the conversation lively
• Talk tangibly and with enthusiasm
• Use an easy-going and fun approach
• Show concern for his opinions and be willing to discuss personal matters
• Acknowledge his talent for leadership
• Be personable and give sufficient time to "peripheral" matters
• Use warm gestures and expressive body language
• Omit unnecessary and intricate details
• Encourage him to stick to the agenda
• Be spontaneous and harmonious
• Maintain personal content in communication
• Avoid detailed reports, focus on people issues.

When communicating with Cameron, DO NOT:

• Attempt to impose too much structure and formality
• Involve him in formal, lengthy or tedious meetings
• Reduce the page of a free-flowing conversation
• Be mundane, boring or dismissive
• Say "any time will do"
• Restrict or restrain his natural enthusiasm
• Judge, criticise or embarass him in public
• Spend too much time discussing "what ifs"
• Make your lack of interest in his "problems" too obvious
• Challenge his perception of himself
• Be addicted to rules and procedures
• Use destructive criticism or create unnecessary conflict

I disagree with a few of the detail-oriented items, but I think they tie into whether I care about what I'm doing. I certainly put thought into details when it came to designing the Amazing Race game that I ran at the conference. All in all, very humbling and fascinating. I want to get Vinny's profile done too. But I suspect they're pricey, so I'll have to hunt for an online version somewhere.

For those familiar with this stuff, I am mostly Yellow and Red, but a Motivating Inspirer (Yellow), number 26 on this chart. I think I have more blue (details and thinking) in me than it showed, so I'd love to do another one sometime.