Adam Grant’s Talk

Dear Me,

If you only remember one thing from Adam Grant’s talk, it should be that it’s, on average, matchers are most successful. This is because, whilst Takers tend to rise quickly in their areas of work, they also are susceptible to falling just as quickly. Givers, on the other hand, tend to be so absorbed into other’s problems that they often tend to suffer on a personal level because of this, unable to complete the work that was assigned to them, due to them being so wrapped up in other problems.

This is because people are, fundamentally, opportunists, and when a giver only gives and refuses to take once in a while, people can, and will, attempt to take advantage of them. However, to truly prosper, a giver must be willing to continue giving, as well as being able to take once in a while.

Yours,

Me

Smartphones: Are they making us smarter?

To find my audio recording, click here.

Quotes:

From the second lesson:

“People are becoming precisely networked beings.”

From the TED talk:

“The only people who refer to customers as “users” are drug dealers and technologists.”

From the SLATE article:

“We ingest so much material that it’s impossible not to learn something.”

I used to think that smartphones were distracting, trivial things, but now I think that they are simply just that: tools. The fault of dependency is not on the phone, but in the user; in the children we haven’t taught to wonder, to create, and to aspire. Blaming phones for “killing a generation” is the equivalent of cutting yourself on a knife, then blaming the knife. It has no logical sense, and to make a significant change, we must get to the root of the problem; kids who don’t feel interested in creativity

Sources:

•Photo Credit: <a href=”https://www.flickr.com/photos/46646401@N06/36238945240/”>amira_a</a> Flickr via <a href=”http://compfight.com”>Compfight</a> <a href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/”>cc</a>

“User Manual”- A DPERS task

What I value when working with others:

Honesty and transparency. I know I’m not perfect; nowhere near to it, in fact. If I’m doing something wrong or you don’t like the way I do something, I want you to tell me and I’ll attempt to change, as a form of self-improvement.

What I lose patience with when working with a partner:

Indecisiveness. Making decisions is a large portion of working, so making choices quickly and efficiently is, when working with me, a very important trait. While I do tend to closely analyse my choices, indecisiveness is quite infuriating, at times.

If my last collaborative learning experience had a soundtrack it would be:

This is one I’m really struggling with. My last real “collaborative” learning experience was the science fair, and it went pretty smoothly. I’ll see if I can find something else. If I do, I’ll update this for sure.

The #1 you can do to support me best when we work together is:

Be patient. I try to be as quick of a learner as possible, but sometimes I just don’t get something, and getting mad won’t help either.

When it comes to tech, I’m good at computer hardware, but I need to get better at working with software:

While I may be a slight bit tech-savvy, I’m at my best when working with hardware (In fact, I’m even saving up to build my own desktop PC). Software frustrates me, as it can crash and freeze without any warning. Hardware only damages when it’s your fault.

What people sometimes misunderstand about me when we are teamed up together:


People think I’m a smartass. When I do know things, I tend to get overconfident on my facts, and this can be irritating at times. Just remind me when I am becoming it.