Saturday, October 14, 2006

Amiable Analytical

This week at work I was out of the department in a Social Styles Class. It's a fun class where you learn about your social style, how to manage it under stress, and how to Identify, Reflect, and Modify your style with others who are different styles. There are 4 styles: Amiable, Analytical, Driver, Expressive. I had homework before class where I had 5 people, one of whom had to be your boss, "profile" you by answering questions about how they see you. In the class you get your results with the second style being your dominant style. I am an Amiable Analytical so my driving style is Analytical with my other less dominant style being Amiable.

What does that mean for me?

I'm Analytical:

The Analytical is polite but reserved, logical, fact- and task-oriented. This
person’s focus is on precision and perfection. Other strengths include
persistence, diligence, caution, and a systematic approach.

Weaknesses involve being withdrawn, boring, quiet, reclusive, and even
sullen at times. If he or she seems indecisive, it’s because of a need to assess
all the data. Perfectionism can be a fault if the Analytical pushes it too far.
This person is definitely not a risk-taker.

The Analytical needs to be right, and won’t openly discuss ideas until
confident in a decision. His or her pleasure is accuracy. Pain is to be wrong
and criticized.

When communicating with an Analytical
Be systematic, thorough, deliberate, and precise
Focus on the task
Be prepared to answer many “how” questions
Provide analysis and facts
Don’t get too personal
Recognize and acknowledge the need to be accurate and logical
Don’t rush unnecessarily
Expect to repeat yourself
Allow time for evaluation
Use lots of evidence
Compliment the precision and accuracy of the completed work.
Portrait of an Analytical’s office

The first thing you notice will probably be the glasses. The Analytical will
have worn out his or her eyes from constantly reading everything. On the
wall you may see a framed degree, but the chief decoration will be charts,
figures, and graphs of every kind. The analytical is not very friendly, will
often greet you skeptically, and doesn’t want to share much – especially
anything personal. There will be no flowers or plant; for the Analytical, they
belong in greenhouses. On the desk will be only business-related
information, and that will be carefully arranged. It’s not a power office, but
it definitely will be functional. As for color, black and white will do nicely.

I actually agree with alot of this, it is very true and makes sense to me and I am sure that those that know me will see it too as they read this. Only thing that I don't really agree with in this profile is the not very friendly, that is where my amiable takes over.

Speaking of Amiable, this is my less dominant style but also holds true to me.
b

The Amiable


Devoted, consistent, dependable, and loyal, the Amiable is a hard worker
and will persevere long after others have given up. He or she is a team
player, cooperative and easy to get along with, trustful, sensitive and a good
listener. Working in groups with cooperative individuals, the Amiable tries
to avoid confrontation. He or she enjoys company, performs best in a stable
environment, and often has a stabilizing effect on others.

Weaknesses include indecision and an inability to take risks. Amiables are
often too focused on others, conforming, quiet, and passive. They often
won’t speak up for themselves, are too compliant and nice, and often
painstakingly slow to make decisions.

The Amiable’s pleasure is stability and cooperation. His or her pain is
change and chaos.

When communication with an Amiable
Be relaxed and agreeable
Maintain the status quo
Be logical and systematic
Create a plan with written guidelines
Be prepared to answer “why” questions
Be predictable
Agree clearly and often
Use the word “we”
Don’t push
Don’t rush
Compliment him or her as a team player
Be a good listener
Portrait of an Amiable’s office

The first thing you will notice will be pictures of loved ones on the desk:
husband, wife, family, favorite pets. They’ll be in a candid style, and the
Amiable loves to talk about them. On the walls will be colorful photos of
landscapes, waterfalls, birds, and sunsets. You’ll find flowers or plants that
are growing well and office colors that are harmonious and restful. The person
will almost certainly be dressed in colors that match. Furniture will
be fashionable, but not overwhelming. Files are present, but usually kept out
of the way. If you’re a little late, the Amiable won’t mind. If you have the
Amiable in your company, he or she will stay with you. The Amiable likes
company, newsletters, picnics, gatherings, and retirement parties.

My desk is really organized and lots of folders and organizing things, I do have a few pictures in frames pushed away from my desk, I have a Dilbert cartoon hanging on my wall in my cube and I have a calendar of Seattle but not alot of "flare"

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Wednesday, October 11, 2006

As promised, pictures from Saturday

Jim uploaded the pictures I took on his digital for me from this past weekend. We drove up to Ludington and Manistee and into the Manistee National Forest. Enjoy!












Monday, October 09, 2006

My weekend in review ... hopefully photos to come later

I have been so incredibly busy I've not been blogging much. I had a nice, relaxing yet busy weekend. I have some pictures on my film camera as well as a few I snapped on Jim's digital. Once I get those pictures off the camera I will try and post a few.

Friday night Jean invited Jim, Paul, and I to a bonfire at a friend's house of hers. Paul didn't go as it was his kid weekend and his night to work till 8pm so Jim and I went. The people's house we went to was really nice, they are working on fixing it up, and they have been friends with Jean since high school, a really nice couple, lots of fun and really made us feel welcome! We had lots of munchies and a nice big bonfire outside, with a bunch of guys there they were sure to keep adding fuel to the fire, have to get it bigger and taller than they are! We also had a rock, paper, scissors tournament, I was knocked out the first round as was Jean but Jim made it to the 2nd round! A nice relaxing evening.

Saturday morning Jim got up to get tickets for Bob Seger for a few of us, he lucked out and got us floor seats and we came to find out a few minutes later the concert sold out in 5 minutes! A second show was added and it sold out in less than 15 minutes too! We are really happy to have our tickets :)

After getting tickets we headed out up north along Lake Michigan for a fall color tour/mini road trip. We drove up to Ludington and stopped at House of Flavors for lunch and ice cream, very tasty! From there we drove around and stopped at the beach to take some photos, you couldn't ask for a better day at the beach in October! It was bright and sunny but windy. I sure hope they turn out! From there we drove into the Manistee National Forest where Jim likes to go camping each year and stopped for some more pictures in the forest and along the beach.

We then made our way back down and listened to the Detroit Tigers game on the radio and listened to them beat the NY Yankees! Go Tigers!

Sunday I did some organizing and cleaning around the house and watched several episodes of Here Come the Brides on DVD that I got from Amazon.com a week or so ago.

I will try and post pictures when I can. I hope everyone else had a good weekend too!