If the only tool you have is a hammer...

If the only tool you have is a hammer, you will see every problem as a nail. -- Abraham Maslow

Reality is what we take to be true. What we take to be true is what we believe. What we believe is based upon our perceptions. What we perceive depends upon what we look for. What we look for depends on what we think. What we think depends on what we perceive. What we perceive determines what we believe. What we believe determines what we take to be true. What we take to be true is our reality. -- Gary Zukov (The Dancing Wu Li Masters)

If you have completed Woodbadge II or been exposed to organizational behaviour theory through other means, you might recognize Abraham Maslow from his hierarchy of needs. Gary Zukov's quote comes from another website I stumbled upon looking for Maslow's quote. It says the same thing, in a different way. Which quote resonates more with you?

This posting, and this forum, arrived here in a roundabout way. I asked myself what can I do to get a group of like-minded individuals with an interest in the future of Scouting in Canada to share ideas and formulate plans to make Scouting better? How do I give everybody an opportunity to voice an opinion and give them a chance to have those opinions heard? How do we turn those ideas into actions? How do we get started?

The little step I could take was putting up this forum. It takes very little effort for a person with the right knowledge and skills to pull together one of these websites. In Scouting we have a lot of people with the right skills to do just about everything. So how do we tap into our membership to find the person with the right skills who can do the other jobs that would take them an hour but would take me days, weeks, or months? A lot of hard problems for me are easy for somebody else.

Sometimes the challenge is too big for an individual. Collaboration is required. Effective collaboration requires team building. Throwing a bunch of people together, even with the clearest objective, may yield no useful results. According to Bruce Tuckman, every team goes through 4 stages: FORMING, STORMING, NORMING, and PERFORMING. Teams that work through the first three stages are capable of great things. Teams that cannot achieve the performing stage are unlikely to succeed. Understanding group dynamics is the foundation of everything we do in the Movement, and will determine the ultimate success of this forum, and Scouting.

We don't think alike. None of us. We won't always see a problem as a nail, because we are not all hammers. We share common values and demonstrate those through our commitment to Scouting. Some of us share very similar points of view and similar preferences but we are all different. That is a good thing. It means that idea people like me can team up with planning people and decision people and feeling people and accomplish some amazing things. Recognizing that others don't think the same way you do is a major step in leadership development. Recognizing that their contributions are every bit as valid as your own leads to better decisions.

My signature below gives my Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and points at a quiz you can take to get a sense of your preferences. More importantly, it may give others a clue about how you perceive the world and make decisions. Myers-Briggs gauges your preferences using 4 pairs of parameters and results in a set of 16 combinations, each a 4 letter acronym.

• Extroversion - Introversion: Where do you get your energy, from without or from within?
• Sensing -INtuiting: How do you gather information?
• Thinking - Feeling: How do weigh alternatives and make decisions?
• Judgment - Perception: Which decision-making function do you favour (sensing - intuiting) or (thinking-feeling)?

MBTI is a tool that can help teams get to and stay in the PERFORMING phase. INTPs like me are more interested in picking the right tool for the job than actually doing the job that needs to be done. Who needs hammers and nails when there are so many other fasteners to choose from?

So have you decided which quote you prefer? Let me know by voting and posting a reason for why you voted. Maybe we will all gain a little insight into the way you think.

I like the Maslow quote because it's simpler and straight to the point. Using more words rarely makes things clearer.

My personality type... ENTJ. Although my score has moderated somewhat over the years:
Strength of the preferences %
E:89 N:12 T:1 J:1

Strong E... who would have guessed! My T & J are situational... I like to know that there other fasteners, which is why I like working with xNTPs... but I'm really about putting things together... once... then move on.

I like'em both. The first for it's snappiness. The second for its progressive explanation.

I'm an INTJ and have been F O R E V E R. You can read about them at http://keirsey.com/handler.aspx?s=keirsey&f=fourtemps&tab=5&c=mastermind.

Now, if we only had an ENTP in this thread we'd have a full set of Rationals.

I prefer the simplicity of the hammer analogy. I had to read the second quote several times before I figured out what it was saying.

I'm an ENFJ.

INTJ

INFJ

I took the test; this is me:
Your Type is
ISTJ



@edited colour

ISTJ
Responsible, organized, and objective. Has the patience and follow-through to confirm that the plans are realized. Love of precision and an ability to handle detail. Loyal to their close associates.

Karl:

INTJ, as you already knew. Good to see that you're putting all that WB II training to use!

I really like the hammer quote for it's directness (sort of like a hammer, you might say), but I'd like to use that other one for a course because it makes one think.

Mark.

Mr Simpson - You said you needed an ENTP for the Rationals to be complete. Here I am!

MM

I like both quotes, but the first one gets the edge for being snappy. I usually use the full-length version of it, however.

I'm a borderline INTJ/INTP. 15 years ago I was definitely an INTJ, but age is mellowing me....maybe. Anyway, the test score has shifted, and hopefully I don't tramp on people's feelings as much anymore.

But, back to team building. Myer Briggs may help you understand why you like working with X, but can't stand to be in a room with Y, but that's all intellectual, and team-building, with X, Y, and U, has to get into the personal and touchy-feely. Working on common projects, and meeting face to face, can't be beat, though using 'social media' for info sharing and common projects is helpful. Common experiences, of any sort, can't be beat.

As a new Group Commissioner, I find its the sense of 'team' across the leadership that's missing - there's a tendency to a 'silo' approach between sections, and I am trying to encourage not only linking activities, but social activities among the leaders and their families, to build a sense of team and community for the whole Scouting group. (The next 'leaders and families' BBQ is this Saturday; then I'll host something in October to include the new leaders with the continuing leaders).

Jim in Bells Corners

>As a new Group Commissioner, I find its the sense of 'team' across the leadership that's missing - there's a tendency to a 'silo' approach between sections, and I am trying to encourage not only linking activities, but social activities among the leaders and their families, to build a sense of team and community for the whole Scouting group. (The next 'leaders and families' BBQ is this Saturday; then I'll host something in October to include the new leaders with the continuing leaders).

This is quite common, unfortunately. I've seen groups that are very integrated and have lots of group wide activities, and others where the sections practically go out of their way to frustrate each other. The silo mentality is probably the norm, where each section only wants to worry about themselves. The leader BBQ idea is good, we have done it a few times, but it can sometimes be hard on leaders to dedicate another time to Scouting when they are away (hopefully) so many weekends as it is.


Allan.

Like the simplicity of the "hammer" thought.
I'm going to guess I'm an ESTJ - beware .

ENFJ

Interesting exercise.

Before you put too much emphasis on MBTIs please read the following...

http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4221

Be skeptical of catch all personality tests created by people that don't appear to be qualified to do so...

Regards,
Gord