In her blog, Creativity: Why it matters, Vivian discusses the importance of creativity to the workplace. She discusses the uncertainty which managers try to avoid by not encouraging creativity as the workplace become more diverse. She notes that creativity can act as a more effective motivator, shifting from extrinsic reward systems towards intrinsic reward systems; encouraging creativity can increase employee job satisfaction, thus bringing better results.²

Vivian has provided very interesting and valid points; however, in addition, I will further discuss the increase in productivity which creativity brings to the company. Creativity allows employees to work without boundaries and constraints: traditional practices will be forgotten and every step in the new process will be up for questioning³. Enabling employees to question the process which they do their work will allow them to think of more efficient ways to do them, therefore increasing productivity.

Creativity will encourage people to stop underestimating their ideas¹ and allow employees to feel an empowerment to change their workplace³. Sometimes one simple idea can make things easier¹. The empowerment will encourage further discussions and analysis into solving issues³. Solutions developed by a number of motivated experts means that there will be more effective solutions because many perspectives will be heavily considered in the process of generating solutions.

The fear of failure will be removed and people will have a lower level of uncertainty avoidance in creative environments³. When people have the “freedom to fail,” they will learn more about their field through their failures, hence their level of expertise will rise. A greater level of expertise means a greater potential for creativity, which in turn will lead to more effective ideas.

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References

1 Brown, N. (2008, August 5). Why you absolutely need creative employees. Retrieved April 2, 2017, from Fortune website: http://fortune.com/2015/08/05/nancy-brown-creative-thinking-at-work/

2 Guo, V. (2017, January 31). Creativity: Why it matters [Blog post]. Retrieved from Vivian Guo’s Blog: https://blogs.ubc.ca/vguo/2017/01/31/creativity-why-it-matters/

3 Jones, B. (2014, June 19). 5 ways creativity leads to productivity. Retrieved April 2, 2017, from Entrepreneur website: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/234997

Image Source

Low poly lightbulb as creativity and idea concept [Image]. (2016, February 19). Retrieved from http://blog.socialcast.com/3-ideas-to-get-more-creative-input-from-group-brainstorming/

[Embracing passion and creativity]. (2015, June 15). Retrieved from http://www.blogs.jbs.cam.ac.uk/socialinnovation/2015/06/26/embracing-passion-and-creativity/

In her post, Can the MBTI Define Who I Am?, Maxine (Mei Qing) Chen discusses the inconsistencies of her Myers-Briggs personality test results – changing from INFJ to ESTJ in one year. She claims that the MBTI is unreliable and may have hidden risks¹.

While there are limitations to the MBTI, the MBTI should not be totally discredited. Maxine describes the MBTI as dichotomic, but, as I have mentioned in my earlier post, the MBTI also consists of a report which further describes the details of where you lie on the spectrum on each of the dimensions, therefore is more continuous. Although research has shown consistencies with the MBTI, results become more consistent as people age², therefore her personal experience of having such a dramatic change in just one year may not be a surprise: there is always going to be variance and outliers.

However, Maxine’s point of self-fulfilling prophecy¹ does provide an explanation for the variances, therefore the MBTI should be used repetitively in the long-run and should not just be a one-time thing. There is also the factor that our personality is influenced by the environment we are in; MBTI may need to find better ways of accessing people in different situations.

Maxine notes that people take the MBTI tests too seriously¹, but I think people should also not completely disregard the fact that there may be some truth in the MBTI. Studies have proven the reliability and the validity of the MBTI.^{2, 3} People just have to keep in mind that there will always be residuals and variance in the sample data.

So to answer Maxine’s question “Can the MBTI define who I am?,” I would say that it is quite plausible that the MBTI can provide some aspect of truth into our personality, and thus we should not let residuals and variance make us completely discredit the MBTI.

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References

1 Chen, M. Q. (2017, February 4). Can the MBTI define who I am? [Blog post]. Retrieved from Mei Qing (Maxine) Chen’s Blog: https://blogs.ubc.ca/mchen/2017/02/05/can-the-mbti-define-who-i-am/

2 Carlson, J. G. (1985). Recent assessments of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49(4), 356-365. Retrieved from UBC Library Catalogue database. (Accession No. 6388089)

3 Thompson, B., & Borrello, G. M. (1986). Construct validity of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 46(3), 745-752. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164486463032

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16Personalities. (n.d.). Logician [Illustration]. Retrieved from https://www.16personalities.com/personality-types

Within 3 years, I have taken the Myers-Briggs test at least 5 times – every time I get the same result: ENFP (except that one time when I got ENTP).

The Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is the most widely used assessment for career counselling⁴. Bratskeir (2016) and Fox (2016) argues that the MBTI is meaningless and only a form of entertainment like horoscopes or psychics. They draw upon a study indicating that half of the participants did not receive consistent classifications and the fact that the MBTI were created by two women who had no psychological background. They argue that personality is too dynamic and complex for the MBTI to classify within 16 personality types. ^{1, 3}

Although we cannot expect the MBTI to be spot-on every time, scholars do suggest that there are general consistencies with the MBTI, that the MBTI can predict behaviour², and that the MBTI is a valid measure of personality⁵. The MBTI is a way to allow for an empirical assessment of personality based on Carl Jung’s theory of personality (his theory consisted of terms and phrasing that were too ambiguous and ill-defined)². However, the MBTI is not a predictor of which academic specialization an individual chooses but only because factors such as culture and education were not included in the study⁴.

I believe that Bratskier (2016) and Fox (2016) does not recognize that the MBTI does not solely identify a person with one trait or the other. The MBTI generalizes an individual’s type within each dimension, but also includes a detailed assessment on where one lies on the spectrum of the dimension. Looking at the conclusion is not enough if an individual wants a personality analysis of him- or herself – they will need to analyze the more detailed report. Explanations of inconsistencies in studies may be that a person has a high degree of Machiavellianism or self-monitoring: changes in behaviour and thought impacting their attitude, and hence their answers to the MBTI, because of environmental changes. Another possibility that has not been really identified is if certain personality types are more easily subjected to change.

Word count: 349

References

1 Bratskeir, K. (2016, February 10). The Myers-Briggs personality test doesn’t actually mean anything [Blog post]. Retrieved from The Huffington Post website: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/myers-briggs-personality-test-is-moot_us_56bb69abe4b0c3c5504f9b36

2 Carlson, J. G. (1985). Recent assessments of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49(4), 356-365. Retrieved from UBC Library Catalogue database. (Accession No. 6388089)

3 Fox, A. (2016, October 27). The Myers-Briggs personality test is fun, but not so informative [Blog post]. Retrieved from The Huffington Post website: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/personality-tests-not-accurate_us_58123acfe4b064e1b4b0fd8a

4 Pulver, C. A., & Kelly, K. R. (2008). Incremental validity of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator in predicting academic major selection of undecided university students. Journal of Career Assessment, 16(4), 441-455. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072708318902

5 Thompson, B., & Borrello, G. M. (1986). Construct validity of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 46(3), 745-752. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164486463032

Image Source

16Personalities. (n.d.). Campaigner personality [Illustration]. Retrieved from https://www.16personalities.com/enfp-personality

16Personalities. (n.d.). “It’s so incredible to finally be understood.” [Illustration]. Retrieved from https://www.16personalities.com/

The first generation to integrate computers into day-to-day activities, millennials are soon to dominate the workplace. With noticeably distinct cultural values, when compared to the preceding Gen Xers or Baby Boomers, millennials challenge traditional practices in business and corporate leadership. Millennials have redefined leadership to be inspiring, and making a positive impact.¹ How will business culture be affected by this new type of thinking?

Monych (n.d.) explains that millennials lead with a democratic approach, encouraging collaboration, transparency, and openness over the top-down, driven by power and money sort of approach. Technology can cut through the levels to allow the communication structure throughout the organization be like a network rather than a chain of command.³

Millennials prefer a conceptual approach to leadership, therefore encouraging creativity, which can lead to the development of valuable ideas. The crave for challenges and new experiences drives the motivation; changes, failures, and mistakes cannot barricade millennials from trying to achieve their ambitions since they have grown up with a mindset that everything they did was wonderful and everyone contributed to the purpose.³

The effects of the millennials’ approach to leadership can be examined through Hofstede’s model² for assessing organizational cultures:

Due to experience and making an impact being the driving factor motivation and the millennials’ honesty with a lack of fear for risks and failures, organizations will be goal-oriented and internally driven, that is companies will look beyond obstacles and take greater risks to accomplish its vision and mission. Organizations will become easy-going, open, local, and employee-oriented. Since transparency and empowerment are key characteristics to the millennial approach to leadership, employee issues can be openly discussed and the flatter power structure will allow employees to have an interpersonal relationship with their managers. As work and personal life become heavily integrated, the company will provide a greater care for the welfare of the employees.

Not only do I believe that this type of leadership will enable managers and employees to develop greater trust for each other, I believe that optimism and overlooking obstacles will spark zeal in every employee as more interests of the organization and the employees will align.

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References

1 Brousell, L. (2015, August 4). How millennials challenge traditional leadership. Retrieved February 4, 2017, from CIO website: http://www.cio.com/article/2956600/leadership-management/how-millennials-challenge-traditional-leadership.html

2 Hofstede, G., Neuijen, B., Ohayv, D. D., & Sanders, G. (1990). Measuring organizational cultures: A qualitative and quantitative study across twenty cases. Administrative Science Quarterly, 35(2), 286-316. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2393392

3 Monych, B. (n.d.). Millennials in charge: How they’re changing the workplace [Blog post]. Retrieved from Insperity website: http://www.insperity.com/blog/millennials-in-charge-how-theyre-changing-the-workplace/

Image Source

[Millennials at a conference table]. (2014, April 16). Retrieved from https://www.thindifference.com/2014/04/top-5-leadership-traits-millennials/

Performance reviews have long been used as a feedback channel in business culture, but is it time for a change? Leadmen (2017) explains that performance reviews do not have a helpful and constructive effect, creating no impact on how employees do their work – performance reviews have wasted time for employees and managers.³

Leadmen mentions a study by Adobe, indicating that employees prefer informal, on-the-spot feedback instead of periodic formal reviews. Adobe’s study shows two thirds of employees and managers believe performance reviews are outdated.³ Performance reviews have been emotionally rattling for most employees and most employees just fake through reviews, hiding their tears¹ (this might increase emotional labour). I believe the negative mood that performance reviews bring is a root cause to the deterrence of the effectiveness of performance reviews.

Immen (2012) notes Professor Culbert’s argument that many managers are not confident that they can motivate without fear, whereas HR encourages reviews so HR can be busy and appear important. Professor Culbert suggests providing feedback should be an informal, two-way conversation: performance reviews are just one way where bosses provide review, but subordinates fail to have their viewpoint expressed. Culbert also claims that during performance reviews, managers use phrases with encoded meanings. He argues that holding both employees and managers accountable for providing feedback results in building trust within the workplace.² Mayer et al. (1995) suggests that trust is developed through integrity (honesty and truthfulness), ability (technical and interpersonal knowledge), and benevolence (having others’ interests at heart)⁴.

Professor Culbert’s solution does contain the three characteristics for trust: having an open environment allows honesty to flow and the understanding of each other’s ability to help fulfill the interests of individuals and the organization. However, convincing managers to change may be a cumbersome process. In some settings, the corporate culture may not allow the feedback to generate an effective solution to problems (such as when younger employees and older managers differ greatly in the way they practice business), therefore the effectiveness of feedback is not only dependent on the openness and understanding of employees and managers, but also how well the solution align with organizational and individual interests.

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References

1 Adobe. (2017, January 11). Full study: Performance reviews get a failing grade. Retrieved February 4, 2017, from Slideshare website: http://www.slideshare.net/adobe/full-study-performance-reviews-get-a-failing-grade/1

2 Immen, W. (2012, August 23). A failing grade for performance reviews. Retrieved February 4, 2017, from Globe and Mail website: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/career-advice/a-failing-grade-for-performance-reviews/article1243140/

3 Leadem, R. (2017, January 17). To make your employees happier, lose this HR policy. Retrieved February 4, 2017, from Entrepreneur website: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/287797

4 Mayer, R. C., Davis, J. H., & Schoorman, F. D. (1995). An integrative model of organizational trust. The Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 709-734. Retrieved from JSTOR database.

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[Performance review]. (2016, November 3). Retrieved from https://culturestars.com/tag/performance-review/

Training and performance [Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.insperity.com/blog/are-annual-employee-performance-reviews-really-dead/

Many people let this one slide, but how many times have you asked how your mental health has affected your work life? Landrum (2017) argues that we need to rethink and adapt business culture because millennials report a higher number of cases for depression than previous generations. 45% of the cases are untreated – resulting in a potential economic cost of $147 billion annually.³

She mentions that in an interview, Simon Sinek suggests that the millennials’ “cultural fascination” with social media is a key cause of depression because the obsession of the newsfeeds of friends and neighbours reduces the feeling of security of our own lives and accomplishments. Furthermore, every time we receive desired notifications (such as likes), a dose of dopamine is released in our body; as the doses accumulate, we become more dependent and depressed.³ Sinek notes that millennials were not properly raised; they were raised in a more subjective and individualistic environment.¹

Because social media has created the loss of security, I believe the belonging and self-esteem needs from Maslow’s hierarchy⁴ seem to be most affected by the changes in the millennials’ culture, values, and attitudes, therefore reaching the self-actualizing level is rather difficult and may require hard emotional labour. Studies have shown that people often forget that their friends on social media only post the greatest highlights of their lives² and equity theory seems to apply to this case (people seem to feel under rewarded).

When coming to job enrichment, managers and employees should be able to collaborate when redesigning jobs. Designing a job that suits the family and social values of millennials will help create a healthier workplace culture that discourages excess use of social media and encourages putting value into things employees do in life. Together, employees and managers can design a workplace culture through job redesign that is supportive for those suffering from depression.

Word Count: 310

References

1 Crossman, D. (2016, October 29). Simon Sinek on millennials in the workplace [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hER0Qp6QJNU

2 Degges-White, S. (2015, July 16). 17 minutes a day?: How many minutes a day on your cellphone is too many? Retrieved January 26, 2017, from Psychology Today website: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/lifetime-connections/201507/17-minutes-day

3 Landrum, S. (2017, January 17). Why millennials are struggling with mental health at work. Retrieved January 25, 2017, from Forbes website: https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahlandrum/2017/01/17/why-millennials-are-struggling-with-mental-health-at-work/#668079714a9b

4 McLeod, S. A. (2016). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Retrieved January 26, 2017, from Simply Psychology website: http://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html

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Leadership and management [Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.insperity.com/blog/ millennials-in-charge-how-theyre-changing-the-workplace/