My 2024 Clifton Strengths Assessment

I took the CliftonStrengths assessment on Gallup this morning (20th Feb-24, 6am). I'm having my leadership team complete the assessment as part of my team building. As usual, I have no qualms sharing my psychometrics online as I feel it will help save people time in getting to know me (my teammates) as well as potential headhunters searching for executive candidates. I was as awake as I could be for this assessment, it was a little tricky having to make a judgement call in less than 20 seconds to choose my responses to statements as part of the assessment. 

Reflecting on these results - I think these assessments reflect a period or stage one is going through. For the last four years, I decided to disrupt myself professionally and also personally - and I'm still transitioning from this big change: Relocating to a new city with no friends or family, taking a new job in a new area I knew nothing about and having to start from scratch building a network, earning trust and social credibility (during covid remote working), wrestling with the ramifications of my decision to walk-away from a domain I was expert in, to being a newbie in a very large global company with its own unique norms and culture, etc. So these results took me a little by surprise. In another post I will share what ChatGPT analysed and recommendations offered from the history of all my psychometrics to map how my strengths/motivations profile changed over the years.

Looking at the providers terms and conditions, there isn't anything preventing me from sharing this content as long as I link to the original documents with the copyright notice: 

Any reference whatsoever to this document, in whole or in part, on any webpage must provide a link back to the original document in its entirety.

So here's my results:

Here are my reports:

Completion Report

All 34 Strengths Report

Top 5 Report

Theme Sequence Report

Signature Theme Report

The rest of this post includes content from ChatGPT

The CliftonStrengths model, formerly known as StrengthsFinder, is a psychological tool developed by Donald O. Clifton, Ph.D., along with Gallup researchers. It's designed to help individuals identify, understand, and maximize their unique strengths. In essence, the model is built on the premise that every person possesses a distinct combination of talents, knowledge, and skills (referred to as "strengths") that can be leveraged to achieve success and fulfillment in both personal and professional life.

Purpose of the CliftonStrengths Model

The primary purpose of the CliftonStrengths model is to facilitate personal and professional development by shifting the focus from remediation of weaknesses to the enhancement of natural talents. The model posits that individuals can achieve more, be more engaged, and feel more fulfilled when they understand and apply their strengths. It encourages a strengths-based approach to development, where individuals and teams invest time and energy in what they naturally do best, rather than trying to improve areas of weakness.

Usefulness of the CliftonStrengths Model

1. Personal Development: By identifying their unique strengths, individuals can tailor their personal growth efforts towards areas where they have natural potential, leading to more efficient and effective development.

2. Career Advancement: Understanding one's strengths allows for better alignment with roles or tasks that match an individual's natural talents, leading to increased job satisfaction, performance, and career progression.

3. Team Dynamics and Performance: Teams that understand and leverage the diverse strengths of their members can improve collaboration, innovation, and productivity. The model helps in assigning roles and responsibilities that align with each member's strengths, enhancing overall team effectiveness.

4. Leadership Development: For leaders, the CliftonStrengths model provides insights into how to motivate and develop their team members by recognizing and cultivating each individual's strengths, rather than focusing solely on addressing weaknesses.

5. Organizational Culture: Adopting a strengths-based approach can foster a positive organizational culture that values diversity, encourages continuous learning, and promotes well-being by allowing employees to do what they do best every day.

Implementation

Implementing the CliftonStrengths model involves individuals taking an assessment that measures their natural patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving, resulting in the identification of their top strengths from a list of 34 themes. These themes are categorized into four domains: Executing, Influencing, Relationship Building, and Strategic Thinking. Understanding these themes and domains helps individuals and teams to strategize and execute tasks more effectively, capitalizing on the natural talents present within the group.

I asked ChatGPT to analyse my CliftonStrength reports for criteria like next level roles I believe I'm ready for: Group CTO, CIO, VP or Director of Technology.

Your CliftonStrengths report highlights a unique combination of talents that are highly beneficial for leadership roles in technology and innovation, especially as you aspire to Group CTO, CIO, VP, or Director positions. Here's an analysis based on the strengths identified:

1. Learner: Your innate desire to continuously improve and embrace the process of learning is crucial for staying ahead in the fast-evolving tech sector. This trait enables you to quickly adapt to new technologies and methodologies, ensuring your organization remains competitive.

2. Arranger: The ability to organize and optimize resources for maximum productivity is essential for executing complex projects and managing cross-functional teams. Your flexibility complements your organizational skills, allowing you to effectively adapt to changing priorities and challenges.

3. Restorative: Your knack for problem-solving is invaluable in technology leadership. The ability to identify and resolve issues swiftly can enhance system reliability and innovation, contributing to the overall success of your organization.

4. Strategic: The capacity to spot relevant patterns and issues and to think several steps ahead is critical for strategic planning and decision-making. This strength supports the development of forward-thinking strategies that can steer your organization towards long-term success.

5. Individualization: Recognizing and leveraging the unique qualities of each team member can foster a more productive and collaborative work environment. This strength is key to building diverse teams that can innovate and operate efficiently.

Recommendations for Job Roles:

Given your strengths, roles that require continuous learning, strategic thinking, and the ability to manage and optimize resources effectively would be ideal. Positions such as Group CTO, CIO, VP of Engineering, or Director of Technology Innovation would suit your profile. These roles demand a leader who can not only envision the future of technology within the organization but also inspire and orchestrate teams to achieve these visions through innovative solutions and strategic planning.

Your profile suggests that you possess the qualities needed for these high-level roles, with a strong foundation in both problem-solving and team management. Focusing on positions that leverage your ability to learn, adapt, and strategize will not only align with your strengths but also position you to make significant impacts within your organization.

My Amazon/AWS Work of Leaders Profile

The last time I had a detailed psychometric assessment done was in 2015 as I was stepping up to executive management (C-Suite) roles, the Enneagram report, seven years ago.

It's now 2022 and I'm working at Amazon Web Services in a leadership position where the focus is on scaling myself, my team and my business. As part this journey of leading to scale, I completed a new kind of psychometric based on the DiscProfile focused on the "Work of Leaders". 

This Work of Leaders psychometric is different because unlike other DiSC reports, which emphasize understanding the differences between people (like the Enneagram model), Work of Leaders focuses on understanding how your tendencies influence your effectiveness in specific leadership situations.

Here's is decent walkthrough of the assessment:

My Assessment Results

My dot style is Di

My shading style includes Pioneering, Commanding, Energizing and Affirming (which isn't characteristic of the Di style(!)\

My Reflections on my Disc Report as shared with my Manager

My Character Strengths Profile

I am currently researching topics around well-being and happiness. One of the books I'm reading is by Shawn Achor, The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology that Fuel Success and Performance at Work". So far, so good. One of the references Achor makes is to this free survey from the VIA Institute on Character, who produce personalised reports called Character Strengths Profile, that shows you how to LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE. 

Achor highly recommended his readers do the survey, since having an idea of what your key strengths are, will help you along the way in making transitions to a more healthy and balanced living.


So I took the survey, it took me less than ten minutes to complete, and here are my results. As with all these surveys or psychometric tools, I take them with a pinch of salt - according to this tool, it summarises your overall character strengths in prioritized order of 24 attributes, my report follows:

VIA Character Strengths (Free Report)

1. Love Of Learning

Mastering new skills, topics, and bodies of knowledge, whether on one's own or formally; related to the strength of curiosity but goes beyond it to describe the tendency to add systematically to what one knows.

2. Judgment

Thinking things through and examining them from all sides; not jumping to conclusions; being able to change one's mind in light of evidence; weighing all evidence fairly.

3. Honesty

Speaking the truth but more broadly presenting oneself in a genuine way and acting in a sincere way; being without pretense; taking responsibility for one's feelings and actions.

4. Creativity

Thinking of novel and productive ways to conceptualize and do things; includes artistic achievement but is not limited to it.

5. Bravery

Not shrinking from threat, challenge, difficulty, or pain; speaking up for what’s right even if there’s opposition; acting on convictions even if unpopular; includes physical bravery but is not limited to it.

6. Leadership

Encouraging a group of which one is a member to get things done and at the same time maintain good relations within the group; organizing group activities and seeing that they happen.

7. Spirituality

Having coherent beliefs about the higher purpose and meaning of the universe; knowing where one fits within the larger scheme; having beliefs about the meaning of life that shape conduct and provide comfort.

8. Appreciation Of Beauty & Excellence

Noticing and appreciating beauty, excellence, and/or skilled performance in various domains of life, from nature to art to mathematics to science to everyday experience.

9. Prudence

Being careful about one's choices; not taking undue risks; not saying or doing things that might later be regretted.

10. Gratitude

Being aware of and thankful for the good things that happen; taking time to express thanks.

11. Perseverance

Finishing what one starts; persevering in a course of action in spite of obstacles; “getting it out the door”; taking pleasure in completing tasks.

12. Fairness

Treating all people the same according to notions of fairness and justice; not letting feelings bias decisions about others; giving everyone a fair chance.

13. Hope

Expecting the best in the future and working to achieve it; believing that a good future is something that can be brought about.

14. Teamwork

Working well as a member of a group or team; being loyal to the group; doing one's share.

15. Perspective

Being able to provide wise counsel to others; having ways of looking at the world that make sense to oneself/others.

16. Forgiveness

Forgiving those who have done wrong; accepting others’ shortcomings; giving people a second chance; not being vengeful.

17. Kindness

Doing favors and good deeds for others; helping them; taking care of them.

18. Humility

Letting one's accomplishments speak for themselves; not regarding oneself as more special than one is.

19. Self-Regulation

Regulating what one feels and does; being disciplined; controlling one's appetites and emotions.

20. Curiosity

Taking an interest in ongoing experience for its own sake; finding subjects and topics fascinating; exploring and discovering.

21. Love

Valuing close relations with others, in particular those in which sharing & caring are reciprocated; being close to people.

22. Social Intelligence

Being aware of the motives/feelings of others and oneself; knowing what to do to fit into different social situations; knowing what makes other people tick.

23. Zest

Approaching life with excitement and energy; not doing things halfway or halfheartedly; living life as an adventure; feeling alive and activated.

24. Humor

Liking to laugh and tease; bringing smiles to other people; seeing the light side; making (not necessarily telling) jokes.

My 2015 Enneagram Report

Continuing with my sharing the results of the various psychometrics I've been through, in this post I share a very recent report called the "Integrative Enneagram". The report is created from the responses I made to a series of multiple choice / scenario / feeling type questions. You can find free samples of these tests online...

What is the Enneagram...?

The Enneagram is a geometric figure that delineates the nine basic personality types of human nature and their complex inter-relationships. Each of these nine types has its own way of relating to others, its own set of perceptions and preoccupations, its own values and approaches to life. Each relates to others in different but understandable ways. The Enneagram helps everyone understand that there are nine different points of view, nine distinct sets of values, nine different communication styles, nine ways of solving problems - and so forth - that are all equally useful and valid. All of the types have something necessary to contribute to a thriving, balanced world.

Source: "Discovering your Personality Type", Don Riso & Russ Hudson

Enneagram Figure

Why Use the Enneagram?
To develop Self Mastery: Do you know what makes you tick? So that you can become more self-aware. Improve Self Development so you recognise and build on your strengths, and improve your weaknessses. Better Interpersonal skills - recognise 9 different personality types, nine ways of communicating & solving problems, respecting differences in order to coach your workers and enhance personal relationships.

My Enneagram Report: it turns out I am a 3 with a 2-wing

Type 3: The Achiever

The adaptable, ambitious type. Focused, excelling, driven, and image-conscious. Threes know how to work efficiently to get the job done according to customer expectations. Often attractive, charming and energetic, they are conscious of the image they project of themselves as well as of their team and company. They like getting recognition and are attracted to success and positions of prestige. They can be competitive and workaholics, driven by the need for status and personal advancement, deteriorating into cutting corners to stay ahead. At their best, they are accomplished and admirable, often seen as inspiring role models by others.

Type 2: The Mentor / Helper

The helpful, interpersonal type. Generous, appreciative, people-pleasing, and possessive. Twos are sensitive to the needs of others and seek to be of service. They appreciate the talents of others and act as confidants and guides, good at networking people and services. However, they typically have trouble saying no to requests and tend to become stressed by trying to help others too much. They dislike impersonal rules and work situations and can deteriorate into favouritism and time-wasting personal over-involvements. At their best, they are empathetic and generous and help build team interpersonal connections.

Snippets from my Report, you can download the full report here.

Multichoice Psychometrics (Feb 2011)

Continuing with my psychometrics journey in self-reflection...

I'm almost drawing to the end of my psychometrics review. One more post to follow which is what I recently did in 2015, the Enneagram (scheduled for publishing in May). In my previous post, I shared the EQi report which was part of the Multichoice HR assessment. To complete Multichoice's assessment, HR collates all reports from the various testing and compiles a single report that offers HR's overall assessment of the candidate, made up of the following:

• Occupational Personality Profile (OPP)
• General Reasoning Test Battery (GRT2)
• Cognitive Processes Profile (CPP)
• Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQi)

I had an interesting session with HR, as I didn't agree with some of the feedback. Bear in mind that I did rush through the assessments, so it could've been a factor. Anyway, the profile that was targeted at the time was for a Scrum Master role, which according to HR was an "average fit" (my point of contention!). Anyway, as the story unfolded - the management team felt I was too senior and experienced for that role, and instead offered a Senior Project Manager role, which I eventually accepted. Shortly after being hired, I ended up being promoted to a senior Program Manager role, where I remained for about two years, before branching out on my own as an independent consultant.

Current Level of Work: Tactical Strategy

Evaluate practices and systems to identify and co-ordinate optimal methods

Consider alternative  routes to  maximise the goal achievement of the functional unit

Potential Level of Work: Parallel Processing

Pursue and co-ordinate multiple parallel  pathways

Synchronise and connect  efforts of the different functional and/or business units

Focus on  business  processes  and  business strategy

Interpersonal Skills/ Team Orientation

A fairly sociable and outgoing person who enjoys working within a team. He feels at his most constructive as a member of a group. In meetings and discussions, he will frequently adopt a leadership role. Given his high need for affiliation he may however become a little restless if he has to be by himself for long periods of time.

Emotional Intelligence: Total EQi: Enhanced Skill

The Total EQ indicates an individual who overall feels good about himself and others and who is leading a successful life. Such individuals are generally optimistic about dealing with problems and have a positive outlook on life. He successfully controls his emotions and typically is not impulsive. He is probably realistic, assertive, and at least fairly successful in solving problems. He is likely to be optimistic and have a positive outlook on life.

Intrapersonal: Enhanced Skill

Interpersonal: Enhanced Skill  

Stress Management: Enhanced Skill 

Adaptability:  Enhanced Skill

General Mood: Effective Functioning

Implementer & Coordinator

He should be particularly adept at co-ordinating a team to achieve a practical result. He will establish well-defined areas of responsibility in a group, supervise regularly, and set an example of conscientious determination and hard work.

Self motivation

A fairly optimistic person, he has a basic belief in his own abilities and will generally expect to be successful in most things he does. A very resilient and secure person who will be able to quickly recharge his batteries given demanding work schedules.

Communication

Somewhat more persuasive than most people he will be a moderately effective speaker, particularly when he is talking about a subject he is familiar  with. He is fairly aware of social expectations.

Assertiveness

An extremely assertive person who usually dominates interpersonal relationships.

Forceful and at times somewhat brash, he rarely 'takes no for an answer'.

Quick to challenge he will speak his mind, even if it means upsetting some people.

He may be inclined to force decisions through, with scant regard for other people's feelings

Creative

As interested in artistic, creative activities as most people. While not overly creative he will nonetheless see the value of the arts.

Planning and Organising

Not inclined to be impulsive, he usually plans well ahead. He likes to work  in a systematic methodical way, within  fairly well defined structures.

Leadership Style

Directive: Characterised by having firm views about how  and  when things should be done.

Delegative: Characterised by delegating work to subordinates.

Subordinate Style: Informative & Receptive.

Generally, he is likely to produce creative ideas and innovative solutions. A very accommodating individual who is eager to complete the work that is assigned to him in accordance to pre­ specified procedures .

Reasoning Abilities

Verbal Reasoning: Slightly Above Average

Numerical Reasoning: Well Above Average

Abstract Reasoning: Slightly Below Average

Problem Solving Styles: Logical Reasoning

Looks for logical evidence to verify arguments.  Follow  reasoning processes through  in a self-aware and logical way.

Reflective

Usually associated with a relatively slow approach, pace control does occur. Tendency to explore.

Learning Potential

Muhammad shows a high level of learning potential.

Recommendation

There is an  average job-person fit. May be forceful and inattentive to the needs of others. May tend to be inflexible and resistant to change. Highly communicative, he may have difficulty distancing himself from subordinates and will not enjoy working alone.

Click here to download the official report.

My 2011 BarOn Emotional Quotient Inventory

Continuing with my psychometrics journey in self-reflection...

In 2011 I decided to leave the UK and relocate back to my home country South Africa, after spending all my professional life overseas, having setup my life and family from scratch, so decided to leave it all behind and start afresh in South Africa. At the time, I was experimenting with other job applications in the UK, but my heart had already decided to move back to SA and give that a chance.

At the time, I was engaging with a company called Multichoice, the technology providers behind DStv PayTV service in South Africa & rest of Africa. I had interviewed for a Scrum Master role (anything to get my foot through the door really, it turned out in the end that an entirely new position was created for me since I was considered too experienced for the Scrum Master role), passed the interview rounds, then had to undergo a battery of psychometric testing before final decisions were made.

Truth be told, I was rather impatient to get through the exercise. The first appointment was a mess, I had to travel to London in the early morning, pitched up at the appointed place - only to find out the building on that day, was under construction and couldn't be used. I was a little annoyed by the organiser to say the least, we went from one hotel to another, looking for a suitable quiet space, in the end decided to reschedule. So a wasted trip - not a good first impression on the company's part.

The second trip was scheduled for a few weeks later, it was cold and miserable - I had to drive for about an hour, on a weekend... Apparently, these EQ tests must be done first thing in the morning, when your mind is fresh, etc. Seeing this was my second trip, I rushed through the tests, just wishing to get through it as quickly as possible (at the time I wasn't too convinced about the need for these psychometric profiling, my track record along with my network of contacts, testimonials - should speaks for itself, so I thought) - and what would usually take four hours to complete, I completed in under two hours, didn't go back and double-check my work, and left (requirement ticked)...

In this post, I share the results of the EQi BarOn Emotional Quotient Inventory report, that I believe was hosted by this company.

I sometimes wonder how the report would have panned out had I went into the session with full body, mind & soul, fully supportive of the psychometrics instead of seeing the testing as somewhat of an HR irritation (I was under a lot of stress at the time, leaving a well-earned dream techie software labs job, having built-up-a-life-and-family-in-UK, I used to be the one that said "I'll never return back to SA" and here I was actually applying for a job in SA!)...

My EQi Development Report (Weighted against South African Profiles)...

Profile Summary

Total EQ: 118

The Total EQ for Muhammad indicates an individual who overall feels good about himself and others and who is leading a successful life. Individuals like Muhammad who are at the upper end of the scale for Total EQ scale are generally optimistic about dealing with problems and have a positive outlook on life. Muhammad successfully controls his emotions and typically is not impulsive. He is probably realistic, assertive, and at least fairly successful in solving problems. He is likely to be optimistic and have a positive outlook on life. Muhammad's Emotional Intelligence will help optimize his achievements and success. A more detailed description of the EQ-i components is given in the next section.

The Overall EQ-i results indicate well-developed Emotional Intelligence. One or two subscales stand out as particularly high relative to the others. These components contribute the most to his Emotional Intelligence.

The highest subscales are Flexibility (127), Independence (120), Empathy (120).

BBC Psychometrics

Continuing with my psychometrics journey in self-reflection...

In 2010 I put myself on the job market in the UK before deciding to leave the life I built up there from ten years, and just return back home to South Africa. So I took a stab at applying to the BBC. At the time, the BBC was moving much of its organisation from London to the north Manchester, Salford Quays - they had hundreds of positions available. I actually sat in one session going through five different positions. 

I know now, that's not a good way to go about the job search, it had been a long time since I'd interviewed, I came off the biggest project delivery, and was confident in my chameleon-like abilities of taking on multi-disciplinary roles.

Anyway, the BBC had at the time, a long and intense filtering process, starting with email and telephonic conversations, a formal write-up to respond to scenario & experience-project-based questions, and an online assessment exercise, that lasts between two-five hours, with all sorts of profiling: pattern recognition, maths, scenario-based questions, video simulation, the works. Once you past that hurdle, your results are reviewed, and then if you're lucky, you get called in for the interview.

I tried to follow-up with BBC on their specific tools-set they used for their profiling. This was their response at the time:

As requested, please find attached feedback following your application for a role at BBC North. This has been generated automatically based on how you have responded to the questions as part of the online assessment. The assessment and feedback has been created using software developed by a company called Previsor (www.previsor.co.uk), who specialise in selection tools.

A key part of how we’re recruiting for BBC North is looking at the behaviours of applicants and whether they match the ones that we feel are important in our employees. Our online assessment is therefore based on finding out about your preferred working style and how well this matches our requirements.

We hope the feedback is useful to you. 

This company, Previsor merged with SHL and are still in the business of providing organisations with talent assessment tools.

The report that was generated for me, had this to say:

This report is designed to give you information about your relative strengths and weaknesses on the competencies known to be important for success in this type of job. In addition, the report provides valuable on-the-job tips and suggestions to help you excel in the workplace.
The score that you receive describes how your responses compared against our database of responses consisting of your peers. The assessment that you have taken has been scientifically validated by up to 30 years of statistical data collection and analysis. People who score higher on the dimensions tend to perform better on the job in the key areas outlined in the report.

What annoyed me was that there wasn't any indication of the relative errors in the report, that the results are based on theories, instead it assumed a validity of correctness that I found a little unsettling, because it assumed to "know me", since some of the findings reported were totally off, as you shall see below (see Flexibility & Resilience commentary).

In summary, I did fit into BBC's style, as the report concluded:

Situational Judgement

This is a measure of the degree of alignment between one's approach to resolving work-related issues and the expectations of BBC. This is characterised by responding to work-related scenarios in a way that promotes original thinking, connecting with audiences and communities, being open to new ideas, taking responsibility for decisions and actions, and displaying a can-do attitude when faced with obstacles.

Your responses to the work scenarios demonstrated a high level of match with the judgements and behaviours looked for by the BBC. The BBC values and promotes original thinking, connecting with audiences and communities, being open to ideas and partnerships, taking responsibility, and having a can-do attitude.

I was placed in their talent pool for Senior/Technology-Manager roles.

See detailed report below...

My 2010 MVS & SDI (Motivational Value System & Strength Deployment Inventory)

Continuing with my journey into psychometric profiling...

In July 2010, I attended a training course with my team of fellow project & program managers, on the Strength Deployment Inventory & Motivational Value Systems, based on the work of Elias H. Porter, coursework from Personal Strengths Publishing. Checkout the reference material at the end of the post.

The essence is around improving relationships and managing conflicts:

My Results

• Strength - the SDI helps people identify their personal strengths in relating to others under two conditions: 1) when everything is going well, and 2) when they are faced with conflict.

• Deployment - means to move strategically or take a position for effective action. The SDI suggests ways that one's personal strengths may be used to improve relationships with others.

• Inventory - the SDI is not a test where judgements and "right" or "wrong" answers are graded. It is an inventory for taking stock of motivational values (the basis for how you feel and act in different situations). It is a self-discovery tool.

We were a team of nine project and program managers based in two sites in UK (Southampton & Staines), collectively we managed a portfolio in excess of £50 million pounds (close to R1 billion+ South African Rand), with our teams extending across to France (5 PMs), Israel (6 PMs), India (2) - roughly across the globe we had about 25 project & program managers involved in technical program & product management, for a Set Top Box software stack (middleware & applications), interacting with a development team in excess of 350 people worldwide, including 20+ development managers, ~30 system architects, 3+ Chipset vendors, 5+ STB device manufacturers & customers such as BSkyB, UPC, Sky Italia, Foxtel, Sky Deutchland, Yes, Get, Tata Sky...

The core product team was run from the UK, where I was based. I started off with owning the development & delivery of the product to one primary UK customer, then moved on to coordinating and managing the product release schedule for multiple customers. So I was part of the R&D Technical Product team, my customers would be the customer-facing delivery & account managers (who spoke directly to the clients).  Our UK PM team itself was split between locations, we'd meet regularly for PM forums, we weren't a fully well-formed team (hence also the course to find out about your colleagues), however we didn't really need to be (how many management teams are really self-organising and fully collaborative hey?) since we were each consumed with specific areas of responsibility within the product-space, albeit we all shared the same strong delivery mindset...

I would interact with hundreds of people across the globe, different levels of seniority, departments and domains. Often faced with multiple customers, competing project priorities, and hard-to-please-clients in terms of timelines, quality, etc. - and an engineering team (system architects, UI/UX designers, software developers, integrators & testers) scattered across the globe, challenged to maintain clear communications of priorities, direction, not to mention language and cultural challenges as well.

Working in this environment, I not only had to maintain a sense of myself (as a person, individual, professional), but also have an appreciation for the relationships I would have to foster to get the job done. Projects don't deliver because of a project plan, because of a PM constantly checking up on the status, no...it's the people that deliver projects (and mind you, I have paid my school fees in this area!).  

According to Donnie MacNicol, who ran our training (article published in April-May 09 Construction Journal titled "Colourful Relationships"):

PMs are often at the sharp end of projects, needing to deliver even when multiple technical challenges exist and relationships are under strain. It is critical that PMs develop strong and sustainable relationships to allow them to influence others. This will require them to understand: a) the impact they have on the feelings of others (b) what makes others 'tick' and how they react in certain circumstances (c) what makes themselves tick.

The SDI is a self-development tool based on Relationship Awareness Theory.... underlying assumption of SDI 'all human beings need to interact with others in a way that makes them feel good about themselves'. The SDI looks at our motivations in good times as well as when face with conflict.

It is important to understand a person's intention and motivations as this allows us to relate more effectively to them and their actions...

The SDI distinguishes our underlying motivations by introducing four main Motivational Value Systems (MVS), which describe 'how we seek to be valued by ourselves, others and in all life situations'. Our MVS means we seek to be recognised for being:

• of genuine help to others - BLUE
• focused on achieving results - RED
• self-reliant and orderly - GREEN
• part of an effective group - HUB (which is what I came out as)

Four Motivational Value Systems (I was a HUB)

 Our behaviour may vary due to circumstances and the environment, but our MVS will remain as an anchor when things are going well... Relationship awareness theory defines conflict as a reaction to a perceived threat to self-worth so, typically people are willing to go into conflict about things that are important to them. This allows you to identify their conflict 'triggers...

...we approach conflict with a predictable sequence of motivational changes and related behaviours. Initially we tend to focus on the problem, the other person and ourselves. If the conflict is not resolved, then our behaviour changes and we will tend to focus on on the problem and ourselves. If still not resolved, then at the 3rd stage the person would focus only on self-preservation. Conflict is rarely resolve at this stage.

So our training entailed getting to know ourselves, as well as our fellow team members. We each created our SDI/MVS profile, had individual and group-sessions to talk about it.

My results - What is a HUB then??

My Cultural Orientations Indicator Profile from 2007

I'm continuing with my journey of self reflection by digging through my archives of Psychometric reports, this one goes back the year 2007, where I was operating in the technical space as Senior Software Engineer and moonlighting as a Technical Projects Manager as well.

At that stage of my professional development, I had experienced core software development in embedded systems as well as server-side systems programming. I'd seen the launch of three major Set Top Box projects, worked with a high-performing, self-managing team in the space of VOD / IPTV

streaming products, and was also managing a product portfolio of broadcast headend components as Project Manager.

And at the same time, I was also working on greenhouse, new innovation projects such as the Talking TV.  By then I was interacting with people at all levels of seniority, managers and engineers, and interacting with customer account & delivery managers. I had come across people & customers from various cultures, and had come to appreciate the pace / performance expectations of high-intensity-beat-the-competition-like projects.

So the company I worked with at the time, was a truly global player, and thus felt it necessary that all staff were trained and equipped with some knowledge of working across different cultures. They employed this system "Cultural Navigator" that implemented the "Cultural Orientations Index". Everyone had to register their profile on this system, answer a set of questions, resulting in a personal profile of one's preferences, and operating styles. Training was provided by TMC, where we spent a day or two learning about this assessment tool, and working through some role plays.

This was quite a valuable and powerful learning experience for me. I had used the tool quite often in preparing for interactions, be it for meetings, telecons, or face-to-face intros at new countries. Since almost every employee's profile was available online (company intranet) to compare your profile against others (even a country-by-country difference), as well as having access to to country-specific information (public holidays, type of food, gift preferences, shared interests, etc, etc.)...
Check out the video at the end of this post.

We live in a highly connected and globalised world. In the software business, it is almost impossible to NOT have a team made up of varying cultures. In this day-and-age, you cannot ignore this reality, and to plead ignorance is just not on.

Every company that has cross-country relationships, should implement the Cultural Navigator, it is extremely valuable IMHO!

So, would you like to see my full profile (downloadable) in all its glory :-) ??

I was once an ESTJ

I am continuing to dig through my records of psychometric & personality test reports, this one goes back to when I was a Software Engineer of three years, I'd just lost my job through redundancy, Ireland was going through some pretty bad times, and I was faced with a lot of uncertainty: do I return back home to South Africa, find a job in Ireland, or try my hand in the UK?? 

As part of the redundancy package, included a one week intense course on Career Planning, CV/Resume writing, Video Interviews and Personality testing. At the time, this would have been my second experience with personality tests, the first was right after university, where I showed all signs of an analytical, thinking, careful engineer. In the two years since, I had left my home country, settled in a brand new world, got to meet new cultures, and see a different side of software engineering - that it changed my outlook of life and work quite a bit.

I strongly feel that a person is on a path to discovery, despite being born with certain traits, that life and experiences will change a person's outlook (although we're told that our real core tenets are what we born with, and fall back to these by instinct or default), thus I have some reservations with these personality tests, because I just don't like being placed in a box. I prefer to create my own path, and adapt to the situations as needed. However, these tests are interesting, and useful to trigger one to reflect...

So this goes back to 2002, thirteen years ago, when I did the Myers-Briggs profile questionnaire, here's the results of that time:

In 2002, I showed signs of ESTJ

So looking back almost thirteen years ago, it's interesting to note that I remained a Software Engineer for another four years, before breaking out into leadership roles as development project manager, senior project manager, and more recently senior program & technical manager.

However, I am no longer that traditional and conservative, as I'm constantly learning and adapting my processes, style and working tool-set, although I do sometimes fall-back to my own traditions that are known to work, deliver value...

I am still quite the organisational, control freak...everything has it's place. I'm so glad that it's actually a Lean discipline to keep the workspace organised, clean & efficient :-)

Pyschometric / Personality / Emotional Intelligence Testing - Part 2

CPP - Cognitive Proficiency Profile
I'm sure most of you might not have heard of this CPP Test being used by certain recruitment consultants. Apparently this is quite a mainstream subject, CPP being the brainchild of a Dr. Maretha Prinsloo, to quote PyschometricsForum:

The Cognitive Process Profile is a computer-based assessment that helps individuals to understand their preferred style of thinking along with an insight into the level of complexity they can handle (in bothquality andquantity). The assessment is the brainchild of aSouth African neuropsychologist, Or Maretha Prinsloo whowanted to develop an assessment that would overcome thecultural issues inherent in her country and demonstrate 'true'potential in individuals who may have only had up to 5 yearsschooling compared to the UK standard 11 years

Recently I had to take one of these tests under the examination of a South African contractor based in London. They were so specific about the test itself and stressed the importance of the test being the first thing one does in the morning, the test must be taken in the morning when the brain/mind is most fresh and active. They also stress that if you've taken a similar test before then it defeats the purpose and the results will be invalid, the test itself should be taken just once in a person's life time because familiarity of the test itself defeats the purpose.  They were so serious that because there was a problem with the test venue, the building was closed due to essential buildings work that we had to re-schedule. Apparently, because it's computer-based, the computer logs the date/timestamp of the test, and on submission the auditors review the logs and can tell whether or not the test was indeed taken in the morning or not.  So I'm going to tell you a little bit of the CPP based from memory, but I won't go into too much detail, such that you grown familiarity and result in a void test should you get the chance to attempt one in future.

The context behind my test was as a result of another recruitment process, a company in South Africa. I'd passed the face-to-face interview, the next step was a Pyschometric assessment. If I thought the BBC experience (See Part 1) was bad, it pails in comparison to this assessment. This assessment consisted of the following:

• Computer-Based CPP Test (2-3 hours)
• 10 minutes to answer 35 multiple choice questions based on Abstract shapes and Pattern recognition
• 8 minutes to answer 25 multiple choice questions on English vocabulary
• 8 minutes to answer 25 multiple choice questions on mathematical numeracy
• 120 questions on Personality tests
• 120 questions on Emotional Intelligence

All in all, it was a full morning's worth of non-stop evaluation....being the weekend, I was impatient to get this over and done with, and basically did the whole thing in 4 hours, without double checking my responses. The timed multiple choice questions, in my opinion, were designed so that it's nigh on impossible to complete all...I'd previously played with the Mensa Brain Test app on my ipod for about 1 hour before the assessment as a mini preparation, and that test allowed 1 minute per question, even the BBC questions were time to at least two minutes...so 8 minutes to answer 25 questions is a bit of a tall order!

So what is this CPP anyway?
The CPP is a computer-based testing program that is based around a card game. It's not a game so to speak, there is a collection of cards. Each card has a symbol drawn on it. Each symbol has a meaning. The way in which the symbol is drawn, for example, the accent of the line (thick bold lines, thin lines), colours convey meaning (e.g. a symbol in red indicates severity), dotted lines. Symbols can have more than one interpretation. There are helper cards offering clues. Some helper cards have no meaning and can be discarded. Some cards change the meaning of the symbol. Some cards change direction, etc.

The program first starts off by introducing you to the rules of the game. It takes you through the motions of using your mouse to drag and drop, to turn cards over, etc. It then has a few practice examples to show you how things work.

Essentially, there are about 8 scenarios or stories. Each story contains a collection of these cards. The cards are left covered, and you have to turn each card over to know what it means. You then have to use the available cards to put a story together. Based on the symbols revealed by turning over the cards, you decide which cards to keep for your story, and which cards can be discarded.

The computer is noting down your every move, every mouse click and time on each story. It expects you to remember the symbols without turning the cards over too much, it expects you to remember useless cards.

A story can have any interpretation you like. There is no right or wrong answer. It tries to measure ones ability to understand symbols, and measure how one translates those symbols into a coherent story in your mind.

Computer presents a series of symbols. You then look up the cards from available pool and then place the cards next to the given series, and build up a story. When you're ready, you then write down in words you see.

Take for example the following symbols:

Hospital

Lightning or Accident

I or Me

And then the computer presents following series, to be interpreted left-right:

So what story can we write about this sequence?

• So the colour red indicates seriousness or emphasis
• A bold/thick line indicates past tense
• So you could say: 
• I had a very bad accident and landed in hospital or
• I was struck by a the worst lightning bolt in history, but thankfully due some protective gear I had on, managed to survive and landed in hospital to recover or
• I was struck by lightning and now find myself waiting in hospital to be seen by an ER attendant

So you're free to write down any story that makes sense to you. And in doing so, some brainy psychologist will interpret your results, and then through some black art assess your mental stability, ability, cognitive reasoning, creative disposition, creative flare, professional attitude, cognitive proficiency and make recommendation if you're good enough for the job, or progress through the next round of the recruitment process...


By the way, I did make it through the next round, and waiting for my test feedback. Once I have that report I'll update this post!


Cheers