Caoching assignement week 8

I am currently working on a project for the Faculty (FSA) administration with another member of the faculty (Hugues). This operation is called “Opération comment ça va?”. Indeed, our mission is to call all foreign students who arrived in January and ask them some question in order to see if they adapted themselves well to Canada and more particularly to Laval University and try to detect any distress signals. We have to work together with Hugues and we have to adopt the same strategy when we call, that is to say that we have to agree on the questions we ask to the foreign students, for instance. That can look simple but it is way harder than expected to use both of our opinions and ideas in order to find the most relevant questions in order to detect any distress from the foreign students. I personally find it hard to build our respective ideas and to really improve our questions thanks to the other. That is why I wanted to apply Kantor’s model on us.

I observed the way we behaved and I found out that most of the time I am the Mover. I usually propose an idea and he follows it, becoming the Follower. But at some point I realize I have a new idea which is better than my first one so I change my mind, I forget the first one and I become the Opposer. Usually, I consider that second idea to be the best I can find so I stick with it. Sometimes Hugues finds out a last idea which is different than the two I proposed and he becomes the Bystander. Usually, it is hard for me to give up on my second idea and recognize that Hugues’ third idea would be the best. But I sometimes do it. I think it is because I am not challenging myself enough and I think that my first idea is good and if I have a second one which opposes the first one I will almost be sure that this second one can’t have any failure. I trust myself too easily and too quickly. And I am so stuck in my idea that I don’t give too much credit to my colleague. I think that is why I am a bad Follower and Bystander.

That is why when, two days ago, when Hugues had an idea about a potential question we could have asked I decided to take the role of the Supporter saying that his idea was pertinent and that we should use it. I actually realized when I said that, that it helped me to analyze his idea because it forced me to listen to him carefully and to think about what is just said. I actually put a lot of efforts in  analyzing what he said and I cleared up my mind in order not to be influenced by any judgments I could have. And I actually found it good. A little later he challenged his own idea. But, surprisingly, a third proposition came into my mind: I became the Bystander without forcing it. I really think that paying attention to the others and truly listening to them helps me being able to accept their opinions and help us to construct upon the new reflections we have.