Fun and Learning!

I have to say, through my undergrad and the first 3 semesters of my masters program Ive never enjoyed any class as much as I enjoy this one. Usually when I hear of weekend classes, its a put off to have to get up early on a Saturday and sit in class the whole day. And that's what I pretty much thought till we started class on Saturday. Turns out, this has been one of the funnest weekends Ive had in a while.

Saturday's class began with a great exercise, the name game. I think that was a great way to break the ice between all of us and really help us feel more connected with each other. Since we are a relatively small group I feel this has helped us develop a friendly and comfortable atmosphere in the classroom.

We then went on to play the card game. The lack of communication between the players was quite a challenge for all us. By the end of the game I was still at the same table I started with not having ever moved tables. I didn't even realize that the different tables had different rules, and I was wondering why people were having confused looks. Yet surprisingly, I did not sense much hesitation from those who came to the table making it more impossible for me to understand that the rules were different everywhere. The activity really helped drive the point on internal and external attribution. When things are ambiguous people have so many different ways of adapting to the ambiguity.

We also had a quick lecture in between where we discussed the traits of a good leader? A question popped up in my mind- Is agreeableness a quality/ trait of a good leader? We say leaders should always be open and take in new ideas, and yet they have to make the decisions. So if a leader is not agreeable, does it come across as he's not open or understanding?????

Another interesting activity was the Dan Slater and Sally case. This scenario is probably very common in many companies, where employees are unable to get what they want due to miscommunication. It also shed light on the importance of understanding where someone is coming from before making judgments about their character.

The next day started off with quite an intensive exercise: the stake holder dialogue. My team represented the FUNAI and took the role to our hearts by color coding our outfits with the official FUNAI color: red. In the heterogeneous groups what I really learned here was how we should avoid debating or arguing, and actually truly listen to what each stakeholder has to say. I can imagine such meetings could go on and on for hours in real life since it wasn't easy for all of us to come to a consensus, even in a simulation.

The Salvadorian lunch pepped us up for the outdoor activity that followed. That was a great team building exercise! It also showed us how it is very effective to work as a group rather than to focus on your team or yourself. I liked how Joyce just let us go at it the first time, and how no one even stopped to think that we should have communicated and devised a plan. Only when she made us realize what a mess we were in did we think of a different way out!

The last activity of the weekend (sadly) was the role play with the American journalists and the Xians. It was a great way to end the class because I just couldn't stop laughing, to see my classmates who are usually so outspoken and jovial, be Xians who were soooo shy and docile! This activity really made me realize how uncomfortable I am with awkward silences and how I would do anything to move past that moment. As the American, it took me quite some time to understand the ways of the Xian culture, and I guess I offended them at some point because Keith and I were not granted permission to Country X.

Experiential learning in this class is proving to be very educational. The role plays actually do help put us in the shoes of the person and has helped me become more aware of the cultural gaps that exist. Role playing is hence the best way to save ourselves from embarrassing situations.

On an ending note, I'd like to end with a very catchy quote that came up in class "Managers do things right, Leaders do the right things"!