Values and Vision (Eric Dodge)

I have now done the blind square exercise two times, and I still do not think there is any easy trick to doing it well. I have learned that participation from the whole group is necessary to do a good job. Probably the most important thing is that some people step up and take leadership roles. The other people in the group also need to be able to accept that these "leaders" will be telling others what to do. If everyone in the group trusts each other and goes with a plan that is agreed upon, the exercise will be a success.

There is frustration that comes with doing this exercise for the first time because it is new, and you do not really know what is going on. But there is also frustration for people that have done this exercise before. This frustration comes from the idea that you think that you know what to do. But in reality I did not feel like I had any more insights than the people that were doing the exercise for the first time. I had done the exercise before, so I was a little frustrated with myself for not being able to help out more.

For me the intrinsic value of a job well done is very important, maybe even more important than payment for a job well done. I felt like I did not do a very good job during the blind square task, so I was disappointed in myself for that. But it was a group task, so the main goal was for the group to succeed. I was happy that the group did succeed in forming a square at the end. I do not think that some type of reward for doing well in the exercise would have made me work any harder on the task. I think if anything, it may have hurt the exercise because too many people would have tried to step up and lead. This would have created chaos. Overall I think that most of the people were motivated to do a good job for themselves. The idea that a reward is necessary to do a good job may be more of an excuse than anything.

I do not feel like my behavior in the blind square exercise were completely in line with my core values. But I do not think that my behavior was that far away from my core values either. I did not feel like I had very much to offer in a leadership role during the blind square exercise. For this reason I did not try to take on a leadership role, which is in line with my core values. I do not try to take over a situation where I don't think that I am a good person to be leading. But at the same time I did not help out as much as I probably could have during the exercise. I definitely could have helped out with the people around me a little more, and maybe I could have come up with some ideas that could have helped the group.