PEIGIE  LEE

At 7th Feb 2015 morning, me with an enthusiastic group of 60 to 70 students from Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus embarked on a life changing journey: the SHINE Discovery Session. The SHINE students, along with SHINE Award Centre (SAC) staff members, left for a 3-days-2-nights’ stay at the Ontok-Ontok Chalets & Resort, Batang Kali, where our potentials and attitudes were challenged, and our characters and personalities put to the test in a self-discovery camp.

 The experience of SHINE Discovery Session was definitely an irreplaceable one. Unlike the cookie-cutter camps, the workshops provided at times during the camp designed and delivered by YellowShorts (specialized consulting firm ) were superb unique. Basically the whole session is a signature learning & development programme conducted by YellowShorts Consulting.

 

' The SHINE award program, the first of its kind in the country, is an achievement record that formally recognises and rewards all students who wish to reach their full potential, by taking part in fun and diverse extra-curricular activities both on and off campus, and keeping track of it all in a second transcript that will be awarded upon completion of the student’s particular degree program. Similar programs are carried out in different parts of the world, and Taylor’s University is the first tertiary institution in Malaysia that has such a program in place for its students: to help them stand out when they enter the working world by having that extra sparkling edge. Students are encouraged to sign-up for the next opening, when registration begins in January.

One of the criteria requirements that a budding SHINE student would have to fulfill in order to qualify for the second transcript after the estimated three year program is attending at least one SHINE Discovery session, in which he or she will participate in teambuilding and character-building workshops and seminars, as well as other endurance activities, such as a jungle trek, and going on a flying fox. ’

 

The primary activities which have certainly enlightened me are:

 

1) Wholebrain Personality Test ( by YellowShorts )

The speaker kick started the first morning with this really really impressive topic, allowing us to understand how thinking preferences affect behaviors in our daily planning, work and communication, as well as explore how our behaviors are affected by these preferences.

 

We were given a paper with 72 traits, where we had to rate how much the traits describe us. After adding up the rating according to the columns, we were to transferred the final scores to ‘Whole Brain’ Preference Profile. Finally we were able to understand our personality based on the scoring using Whole Brain Dominance Model. There are four colours in this model : Yellow, Blue, Green and Red, each with different personality traits.

 

I scored the highest mark for Yellow and Green (94), followed by Red (90) and Blue (86). With this, it summarizes that I am an organizer, at the same time, a creator. Then, we were asked to jot down our strengths and blindspots in a team of people with different personalities. It was really a great time discovering our real self. We were all a lost person, constantly in the midst of wandering and wondering who we are beforehand. But now, I believe all the SHINE students have better comprehension about themselves, as well as others. Hence, not to judge others. We all have a mix of these colors in us, but one particular colour may stand out more than most, this is known as our dominant colour and is more our true personality.

 

Green

Strengths : organized, follow instructions, get things done on time, independent

Blindspots : unable to trust other people’s way of doing things, need structure and clear instructions, stubborn,  control freak, do not know how to express emotion, weak crisis management ( because it is outside of the usual procedure we do without proper sequence during crisis )

 

Afterwards, the speaker connected Wholebrain Personality Test with another interesting topic : Understanding the Whole Self. Every single person is like an onion, made of three layers : Contextual self, developed self and core self. Contextual self is who we are in any given environment / who we are with who we are interacting with. It is how we behave depending on what the situation requires. This is not the real us. Developed self is our personality development influenced by the values we have learnt to improve ourselves. Lastly, core self is the real us, where there is a tendency for us to behave in certain ways since birth, which influences how we adapt, grow and develop. Our current behavior may not be our true self, and the Wholebrain Personality Test is one of the good ways in knowing our core self.

It is important to use our strengths to supplement our blindspots, what we lack of. How everyone behaves is not a natural thing because all of us are building layers. The speaker urged us to find occupation that fit our core self, so that we can Shine with what we chose.

 

 

 

2) Spaghetti & Marshmallow ( by YellowShorts & SAC )

Spaghetti & Marshmallow challenge was another outdoor activity that has inspired us, as if giving us a wakeup call from dreams.  Mr Amalen, the speaker helper, briefed us clear rules and instructions of the Marshmallow challenge. Each team was given same amount of spaghetti, a marshmallow, tapes, scissors and ropes. We had to build a freestanding structure using spaghetti with entire marshmallow on top, the team with highest structure wins. The judge ( Mr Amalen ) will measure the structure from the ground to the top of marshmallow. Then we are given limited time ( 18 minutes ) to create our freestanding tower. During the game, some of us who were non-engineering students stepped back and only helped with doing trivial things such as cutting tapes and ropes, or hold the spaghetti because we thought that our opinions weren’t significant, while the engineering students are busy figuring out and designing a stable structure. Three of the engineering students in our group had their own ideas, they never compromise with each other’s ideas and stubborn with their own design, thus doing their own structure separately. At the end, when running out of time, we combined three structures together. Our structure came out to be the second shortest one, but fortunately its stability didn’t compromise at all!

The speaker then questioned us, “Why do you think you cannot build  a tall tower?”

“Insufficient materials!” “Time constraint!” “Game mechanic!”

“ Everyone was given the same amount of materials, same period of constructing a tower, same quality of materials. Why the winning team can make it but you can’t?”

Then we just realized, the time and materials weren’t the main issues, it’s all about people around us. When we were asked, some of us had better ideas but didn’t voice out. Why? Because of fear. Fear that our ideas got rejected. Fear that no one will listen to our ideas. Sometimes, we have neither time to know each other nor ice-breaking session when we go to work. Therefore, ADAPTIVITY  is what employer nowadays look for. Some of the employers throw the problems to you with insufficient time and resources, or problems that are not even identified as problem yet!

Then the speaker let us watched a video of TED talk about the marshmallow challenge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In his TED talk Build a Tower, Build a Team, Tom Wujec reports on his work with something called “the marshmallow challenge,” and how it forces people to collaborate quickly, revealing deep lessons about design and collaboration.

I ) Teamwork. Research shows that when teams are comprised of a combination of CEOs and administrative assistants, they create taller structures. So as we go through our own work, we shall think about who is part of our team and pay attention to the special skills they can bring and contribute.

II ) Organizations must be learning-driven. As shown below, the common design process that people will follow is 1) orient themselves, 2) plan, 3) build with the spaghetti  and tape for the bulk of the time, making an increasingly taller structure. Finally, at the very end, they 4) place the marshmallow on top, stand back, and… the tower often collapses, leaving the group with nothing to show for their efforts.

On the other hand, kindergarten children don't spend time seeking power. They play, they build prototypes, always keeping the marshmallow on top, and test them throughout the 18 minutes, ultimately ending up with more interesting and more successful designs. So with each version they get instant feedback on what works and doesn’t work – they are continually learning.

A learning-driven approach is an ongoing part of the strategy of great organizations.  The best organizations don’t wait for a crisis; they incorporate learning into their daily operations.

Picture

III ) Don’t make assumptions. The marshmallow is a metaphor for the assumptions of the project. In this challenge people think marshmallows are light and fluffy and easily supported by the spaghetti sticks.  When one actually tries to build the structure, the marshmallows don’t seem so light.

In short, I have learnt that we need to think what we can do now for our future. We have 3 years more in uni to prototype our career and we need to be mindful of skills that are required for our career. Technology is replacing all of us right now, we have to be HUNGRY to get what we want. I came to realize that I shouldn’t just limit myself, I can do a lot of things only IF I open up myself !

 

3) Emotional Intelligence for Students & Leaders ( by YellowShorts )

What I have learnt in this session are:

i ) We need to manage our own emotion first, then others. For this instance, in the morning, if one look into the mirror and hate herself, she is not building relationship with herself, then how is she going to build relationship with others?

ii ) We all can learn skills but hardly could we learn to deal with people.

iii ) Do not let extend emotion affect me. There is no use crying over spilt milk. We need to understand what set us off. No matter how we do it, just get things done.

4) SWOT Analysis ( by YellowShorts )

5) Self Reflection with LEGO PSI ( by YellowShorts )

 

4) Jungle Adventure

Early morning of second day, everyone had gathered in the cafeteria, our bags packed with mass tins, garbage bags, water bottles, insect repellent, raincoats, raw meat, eggs, uncooked rice and vegetables, random pinches of salt and turmeric, and a portable stove, waiting for our next instructions from Mr Amalen. When everything was ready, we journeyed into the jungle in a line, walked pass a river, and finally reached our destination at a waterfall. All of us had fun chilling in the water, but not forget to put our safety as priority.

The task proved yet another challenge: we were to cook our own lunch, and present it to our SAC staff members as well as speaker and Mr. Amalen too. We will be judged based on Students utilized the natural gifts of Mother Nature – the river water for washing the vegetables and drinking and banana leaves for plates. With the aid from one of our team mates who studying culinary arts, we  have cooked turmeric chicken as well as saucy chicken, eggs, and a pot of  really delicious ABC soup. In this task, I reckoned most of my team mates had no working experience, thus I took initiative to coordinate the preparation of food materials. Then, while the other team mates were busy cooking, I brainstormed for our food presentation. It came to my mind that the finished water bottle can be recycled and reused to serve soup! I also gathered another two team mates to find different colour of leaves around to decorate our food presentation. It was my pleasure that my team mates had faith in me for designing and decorating because of my love towards design. Thus we had a pretty traditional presentation for our food. Eventually, we were on cloud nine as we were announced to be the group with Best Food Presentation!! Also thanks to another team mates from School of Business for promoting and presenting our food, relating our group’s food theme to Malaysia’s Tradition.

Different from the previous outdoor activity ( Marshmallow Challenge ), this time, our team mates were working hand in hand disregard power and status. Each of us were not told to do any task but we just did what we are good in. The team mates also stepped back and starve the ego within self, letting the teamwork flourished.

 

7) Accelerative Learning Styles & Profiles ( by YellowShorts )

Learning style is as unique  as one’s personality. As described in the model, I found out the right and comfortable study style ( Blue and Yellow ) for myself, which is what I always do when doing revisions. I will refer to notes gave by lecturers, rewrite and reorganized my own way. Sometimes, I will also made comparison of the notes and made a table or mind maps to make my study more convenient. I tend to use different colours of pen and using key words. Benefits of using keywords are so that I can skim the notes and save the time, and remember what I’ve study more efficiently. During exams, I just have to combing all the keywords and create a complete answer. I like to concentrate on only one subject, and only continue with other subjects after finish the first one. After revising every subject, I will read my notes again and again to make sure I’ve understood. I also love to listen to instrumental music as it can keep me focus.  Not to mention, I study best under dimmer lightning. As my eyes are sensitive to lights, I will cover my eyes or slanting sideway while reading.  

The YS speaker also suggested some study tips to us, which I think is quite useful :

i ) Don’t get sweet or salty food when study as it will make one feel more tired. Instead, pick organic snacks such as sunflower seeds.

ii ) Do not listen to soundtrack music while studying because the soundtrack’s purpose is to bring the emotion out of us. Instead, listening to baroque/ classical music ( except rushing classical music ).

iii ) Try Enya music.

 

8) Personal Values & Personal Development ( by YellowShorts )

In this activity we were given a deck of cards which displays values that are imperative for our self-actualized growth both professionally and personally. The objectives of this exercise :

• Allow us to understand the differing values of our personal and professional lives.

• Engage us in a self-reflection session in which we will identify core values that govern our lives.

• Consolidate these values into a Leadership Values Matrix that will allow us to find congruency in our leadership styles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I came to understand there is symmetry between personal values and leadership values. Both of the values are almost overlapping. We tend to embody our personal value as leadership. These values let us HAPPY TO BE STRESS.

 

 

 

 

9) The Art of Reflection

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10) Mission Statement & Johari’s Window

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11) Goal setting & Action Plan