Hey guys! It's my first time on a blog too!

Define success—was it accomplishing the goal (the square), or how we accomplished it? One of the things that hit me during the discussion after the exercise, was how unhappy some people were with the exercise despite Prof. Johnson saying it was the best square she’d seen, and that we had avoided many pitfalls that had befallen other classes. It was a good life lesson in that a team or organization may meet its goals, but people can have a different perspective of success.

Overall, I think I was successful by fully participating in the exercise. One thing I took from it was the idea of varying leadership styles as mentioned in Jay Conger article. That a “new situation demands a shift in their style, and which leadership approach is more appropriate to the particular situation.” Once the counting off wasn’t working, we should’ve tried a different tactic (continuing with the counting was only going to do so much, lol). Trying the different method of aligning ourselves to the courtyard seemed to help finish the exercise. Things I’d change would be changing tactics, listening more and soliciting more input.

If I had done it before, I’d have wanted people to ask me for tips, but I also think that sometimes you need to take the leap and offer the expertise you may have. The other perspective of people that had done it before was to not diminish the experience of the first-timers. In that case, I’d have appreciated some instruction that it was a good thing to share my experience with the group.

I wish that everyone had participated in the activity—it seems that some people weren’t that into it for whatever reason, and it affected the group.

I'm proud of participating and not giving up :)