New Management Fad: Strength Finder

[Marita40]

My small work group of 6 did it a year ago. Honestly it made for an interesting and even fun meeting (we're pretty informal, like each other, and enjoyed the findings--which seemed pretty accurate). But did we apply it/or see applications to the workplace. No. It went nowhere after the meeting.

 

[Koolau]

Back in the day, I actually enjoyed this kind of diversion. MyersBriggs, Career Anchors, etc., etc. I think I went through all of them until I retired. We never did anything with the results. None of my management ever used the info to help (or hinder) our performance. Still, it was interesting to see what made ME tick, so to speak. It was cheaper and less "invasive" than going to a shrink and a lot more fun for the most part. Generally, I always confirmed what I had thought about myself and I guess that was reassuring. I never found any of it useful in day-to-day operations, but it was good break room trivia. YMMV

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Yeah, it's kind of a break, but MegaCorp is insisting we do all of it on our own time, even the non-exempts (which, if not outright illegal, is questionable).

 

[NW-Bound]

I suffered a few of these management techniques. It was one of the reasons I striked out on my own to form a venture with friends, to escape from these torture techniques.

Yes, I think of them as mental tortures. I think corporate management hate us. They cannot torture their employees physically because it is illegal, so they use these "training" techniques to inflict emotional pain and mental anguish. Or they do that to get some to quit without having to fire them and pay unemployment.

 

[Amethyst]

I'm having a flashback to a boss who accused me of being a different MBTI than he'd originally thought. I'm not kidding; he was genuinely disappointed.

 

[Walt34]

Yeah, it's kind of a break, but MegaCorp is insisting we do all of it on our own time, even the non-exempts (which, if not outright illegal, is questionable).

Wow, insisting you do it on your own time? No way, but I worked for government and they played by the rules on that stuff. If it was required, it was on the employer's dime.

As far a the teamwork stuff went, our lives often depended on what others did so the cohesion was pretty good already. We didn't need no stinkin' classes for that.

 

[kcowan]

I would have walked out. I cannot imagine allowing anyone to poke a sharp stick in my neck, trust or not. If that gives me a bad trust score, I'm okay with that.

Yea we had some non-participants too. They did not walk out. Trust is not something you can manufacture.

 

[growing_older]

Perhaps I misunderstand the description of the exercise. But to have someone, perhaps even a co-worker whom I do trust, pushing a pointed stick into my neck makes no sense at all. Unless I am training for blindly obeying orders from higher command, the idea that this proves I trust the co-worker and he in turn trusts the instructor seems to have no value at all. I've worked with lots of instructors and consultants who it turns out know something about their area of expertise, but not everything. Likewise, unless this instructor is some kind of a medical expert (which I doubt) I have serious reservations about whether his expertise can be considered to include all the possible medical variations and complications that could arise if the person with the stick makes a mistake, or the if person being poked has some kind of complicating condition.

Maybe I would not have walked out, if non-participation was an option. But I would certainly want to dig into why whoever contracted for this experience made the selection of instructor, and campaign strongly for not doing such a thing again.

I remember seeing a Richard Branson TV special once, where he worked with people who wanted to learn his secrets of business success. They did a variety of stunts. At one time they set up a trust exercise where the candidate would ride with Branson over a waterfall in a barrel. But it was a trick all along to see when/if the candidate would object to a stunt too dangerous to really attempt, and in fact the candidate never objected. It was Branson who at the last minute called it off. Some trust exercises can show too much trust. This candidate failed by being too trusting.

I once worked with a software company with a new VP who wanted to show all the engineers he was a fun guy. He devised a game that involved using soft bats to hit each other's heads. Almost all the engineers signed up for this game and proceeded to whack away at each other. Who wants to not be fun? As soon as I saw how much force was being delivered, I dropped out and refused to participate. He was the VP. I couldn't stop his game. I suggested the blows were too severe. I was regarded as a wuss. The game was abruptly cancelled during the semi-finals when one of the participants was rushed to an ophthalmologist for an urgent eye exam. Fortunately he recovered in 24 hours and there was no apparent permanent damage.

After the VP left the company later in a management change, as soon as his non-contact agreement expired, the VP recruited me for his new venture. I guess I wasn't just a wuss, I was someone willing to speak up about risks. But this was a risk that never should have been taken. Whether it was trust, or just lack of judgement of the risks they were running, this exercise should not have been conducted. It isn't only risk when there is a bad outcome. It's risky when the chance of the bad outcome exceeds the benefits. In this case I was vindicated by what actually happened. But I would have been right about the risks even if we were fortunate and no one was hurt. It doesn't mean you never take risks. It means you don't take risks unless there is sufficient potential benefit to justify the risk.

I don't understand what was the benefit of being poked in the neck with a sharp stick. There seems too much scope for error and too much risk of actual injury from an untrained coworker following the instructor's guidance as much as he understands it. I've participated in management training exercises where the instructor gives verbal instructions for a simple task like assembling a plastic toy, and the takeaway message was that verbal instructions are not as clear as you think they are, and it's surprisingly easy to be misunderstood. I'd rather learn that in a safe environment with my neck unexposed.

 

[Curmudgeon]

Yeah, I just left Megacorp, and Strengths Finder was all the rage. That, and "diversity". Totally useless, as well.