Pearl Diving Assignment 3

Julian Ferraro
Dr. Shana Webster-Trotman
November 21, 2020

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 Introduction

Over the past few weeks, a topic that has become more and more relevant is the importance
of communicating in a group setting. Through lectures, examples in class, and the readings, it is
made very clear that in order to have a productive and strong group, you need to be able to talk
to each other in a firm but respectful way. This can be a challenge at times, but is always
beneficial to the group. In this paper, a few examples are explored where group communication
is vital to resolving the situation.

A. Letter to Team Addressing Lackluster Performance

Dear Team Members,

I am regretful that I have to write this email, but at this point I feel that something has to
be said to change the course of this project. This team needs to do better because this project is
not where it should be. In the beginning, I think that we all had great ideas and a lot of ambition
and energy, but a lot of this has been lost over the passed few weeks. I know that as a team, we
are better than the work we have put forward so far. I want this project to reflect the best qualities
of each of us. I want people to be able to see the hard work that we put into it. I want this project
to serve as an example for years to come. Don’t you want to do great work that you can be proud
of? What we all need is to reinvigorate ourselves. We all need to find a source of motivation.
Think back to what made us want to start this project in the first place. Visualize going from that
place and ending up with the final product in our hands and we know it's great. Imagine the sense
of accomplishment and pride you will be feeling. Use that and think of that from now on when
you are not feeling motivated. I know that we are all capable of doing such great work and I want
this project to reflect it. I look forward to meeting with you all again soon and seeing your great
work come to fruition.

Best regards,
Team Leader

B. An Important Concept I Learned From This Week’s Activity

One concept that I thought was very intriguing in this weeks lesson was the idea of a
dysfunctional team. I was drawn to this because I have been part of a few dysfunctional teams in
the past and I have rarely known how to handle the situation. In a dysfunctional team, there can
be many things that are going wrong. Usually, there is a lack of communication between team
members themselves, and/or between the team leader and the team members. In the example that
we saw in class, there was a little bit of both. The boss was unfairly putting extra responsibility
into the lap of one of his subordinates while another had much less responsibility and was not
being productive. One thing that I learned early on in this class and that has solidified as time

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goes on, especially in this weeks example is that while it may be hard, it is absolutely necessary
to communicate. In the video, the boss was treating his subordinates differently, and he needed to
be aware of that. It also would have helped if the worker who thought he had too much work
conveyed his feelings to his other coworkers as well. His coworker who was not busy might have
offered to help, but he never granted himself this opportunity. This concept in particular
reminded me of my old job where one of my coworkers would not be productive and left me to
pick up a lot of slack. It was hard for me to decide what to do because I liked him as a person and
still do; we were almost the same age and shared a lot of similar interests. I wasn’t sure if I
should confront him, talk to my boss, or not do anything. My boss also had a personal
relationship with him since she had known him since he was a child and I wasn’t sure how that
would factor in to things if I confronted my boss. In the end, I did nothing, but I was lucky
because I ended up getting a new job and only had to put up with his behavior on a few
occasions. I realized after this weeks lesson and while talking to my group about the dynamic of
the workers in the video that I really should have stepped up and said something to him. Not only
would this have improved my situation, but it would have helped anyone who would have to
work with him in the future. Since I had been working at the restaurant for almost 4 years, I had
a decent amount of influence and respect there. I was in a position where I could have made an
impact on his working relationship with his coworkers where new people might not, especially
since they hire a lot of young students who might not be confident enough to speak up. If I were
in this situation again, I would come up with a plan where I express my feelings to my coworker
and boss because I now know how much communication can help in these situations.

C. How I Would Handle My Boss Calling Me an Idiot in Front of the Team

If my boss called me an idiot in front of all of my teammates, there are a few steps that I
would take to resolve the situation. The first and arguably most important one would be to give
myself some time to step away. After the meeting is over, I would definitely be feeling deflated
and also angry. I don’t think that “idiot” is a fair thing to call anyone in a professional setting,
regardless of the situation. The feelings that the situation would give me would likely tempt me
to say something that I would regret immediately after my boss spoke. The feelings would
probably linger even after the meeting is over and tempt me to confront my boss right away. I
think that the best course of action would be to step back for at least an hour or so. As is said
often in Crucial Conversations, letting emotions get the best of you often leads you to say
something or act in a way you would regret, and actually make the situation worse for yourself.
This is why the book suggests stepping back so you have time to cool off and let the emotions
settle. If I step back after my boss called me an “idiot,” it would allow me to make a rational
decision that creates an optimal outcome for everyone involved. At the end of the day, the person
is still my boss and there is more on the line than I would be aware of in the moment. Saying or
doing the wrong thing because my emotions are running wild could end up in being
reprimanded, demoted, or even fired. I also think that taking time to step back allows me to come

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up with a plan. I have more time to think through how and what I should say when I ultimately
do confront my boss. I can think of a way to keep things respectful, but still speak my mind and
let my boss know how I feel. I think that it would also be important to confront my boss in a
timely manner, ideally the same day. After stepping back, cooling off, and coming up with a
plan, the next step would be to put the plan into action. Acting sooner than later means that I
wouldn’t overthink what I am going to say to the point of questioning myself or coming across
nervous. It would also mean that the idea is still fresh in both of our minds and still relevant. I
would quietly but confidently walk into my boss’s office when they are alone and say something
along the lines of: “Hi (Boss’s name). I wanted to talk to you regarding an incident that took
place today at the meeting. If I remember correctly, there was one point where you called me an
“idiot.” While I have the utmost respect for you and this company as a whole, I felt that your
comment was inappropriate. I felt personally attacked and undermined by what you said and it
hasn’t been sitting right with me since the meeting. I hope we can move forward in a way that
benefits us both. Thank you for your time.” This dialogue is short, to the point, and lets me
convey my feelings while being respectful. It also employs the technique of contrasting which is
suggested in Crucial Conversations. It lets my boss know that I respect them, but doesn’t
invalidate or water down what I am about to say.###

D. Results of the Big Five Personality Assessment

I agree with the results of my “Big Five” personality test. I thought that this test was
insightful, more so than some of the other tests that we have taken. So far, the DISC personality
test was the most insightful since it was the first one and made me reflect on myself in a way that
I hadn’t before. Also, I thought that the questions in the DISC test were the most deep-delving
and interesting. While this test wasn’t quite as revealing as the DISC test, I preferred it to the
JUNG test. I didn’t feel that my results to that test were very accurate. There was truth to it, but I
didn’t identify with it as much as with the others. The results of the Big Five I did feel were
accurate.
I had a very high openness percentage, which was the highest category at 87.5%. If there
is one thing that is consistent throughout all of the personality tests, it is that I am a very open
person. I don’t hide my emotions at all and I don’t care to. I am perfectly happy being someone
who is honest about how they feel. The way that the Openness category was explained did
actually make me think of my college experience in a new way, though. The result said that
people with high Openness tend to be creative and entertain new ideas while people with low
Openness are more practical and conventional. This is something that I knew about myself
already, but it was when the result said that people with high Openness are drawn to art and
culture that I started to think a little bit deeper. When I think of my upbringing at home, I was
constantly surrounded by artists and creative thinkers. Almost every single one of my friends
from home is studying liberal arts. I think I have a lot of the same personality traits to my peers
at home, but somehow I ended up in engineering instead of a more creative field of study.
Sometimes I even baffle myself at the fact that I am an electrical engineer, due to the fact that it
requires so much practical and concrete analysis with less room for creativity. I definitely notice

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a difference between myself and my peers in engineering. I think I am much more interested in
arts and culture than they are, and they are more concrete pragmatists. Because of this, I have
always had a hard time making friends in my major, something that I have never had a problem
with before. All of this was making me question my choice of major. After I thought about it for
a while though, I was reassured. I remembered what drew me to engineering in the first place.
Since I want to be a product designer, it was the idea of using knowledge of electronics to create
something new that excited me. This is when I realized that although I may not be as concrete
and pragmatic as other students in my major, I still belong; I just look at my major from a
different standpoint than they might. I also think that product design is a specific job which
might require more creativity than other engineering subsets, and no one has the exact same ideal
job.
I had a very low Conscientiousness result, which was at 21%, the lowest of all of the
categories. I agreed with what this category said about my self-discipline. I am not a very
organized person, and I am also not good at making decisions to benefit myself in the long run. I
have always prioritized short term gains over long term gains, even when I know that I am doing
myself a disservice. This is another theme that remains constant across all of the personality
tests.
Extraversion is one that I always tend to score high on in personality tests. The fact that
this category was at 85% was not surprising to me. As I mentioned in previous assignments,
socializing is one of my favorite aspects of life and I wouldn’t be where I am today without the
social skills that I have developed over many years. One thing that I didn’t think about so much
until this assessment was how much I actually rely on others for attention. I feel that in a way, I
have created my own character and person from the ground up, without a lot of direction from
others. This is because used to feel out of place and unhappy with myself, and I wanted to make
a change. I wanted something more for myself and put in a lot of effort to become more outgoing
and pick myself up. While there were a lot of people that helped increase my confidence, I still
feel that the drive to change came from inside. Because of this, I often think that I don’t care
about other’s opinions or how others view me, but I only just realized that this isn’t entirely true.
I think that everyone lets others’ opinions influence them in some way, and it effects the way the
person acts or dresses, myself included. I might just be effected less than the average person.
For the Agreeableness section, I was interested by the way the results described this as
putting others’ needs ahead of your own. Again, this is not what I immediately associate with the
idea of agreeableness. When I saw the word agreeable, I thought of what I said about the
previous personality tests and how I realized that I try to be somewhat of a moderator between
groups. I like harmony between people, and sometimes I do extra work to get along with people.
The way that the personality described it was more about being selfless and having empathy. I
scored a 60% in this category and while I think this makes sense, I also think this can be broken
down further. I always offer to help people and genuinely enjoy doing service to others. I always
hold the door for neighbors, I offer to carry something for an elderly lady, I ask someone who is
crying by themselves on the street if they are ok. At the same time though, I often forget to buy
friends or family members something for their birthday, I borrow my parents car and forget to
tell them, I ask my coworkers to cover for me without asking them if they have anything
planned. I think that I have less consideration for long term help than short term. What I mean by

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that is that it is very easy for me to say “yes” to things and want to help strangers, but when it is
someone I know, it is a different situation. I tend to rely on the fact that we have a relationship to
neglect certain things. Sometimes I think that since it involves my own parents or close friends,
that there is no way that I can harm our relationship or no way that they could be genuinely mad
at me so it is ok to think of myself over their needs. It is less binding and with a stranger since
there is no expectation for anyone to do anything for them. You could stop helping a stranger at
any time and there would be no consequences. This is definitely a very narcissistic viewpoint and
it is something that I know I need to change. My parents have vocalized that at times I don’t
show reciprocity for what they do to help me, by being neglectful of their thoughts and needs. I
know that I can hurt those around me by doing this which is why I am going to try to put more
effort in offering to help friends and family.
In the Neuroticism category, I scored relatively low in at 29%. I like to think that I am
able to put negative energy out of my mind and am very resistant to the unfortunate things that
happen in my life, but I think that this is changing in me. Over the course of this semester, I have
been getting bogged down by negative emotions more. I was worried because I considered the
past winter break to be the greatest period of personal growth in a long time, but I started to lose
some of the momentum that I had built for myself this fall. I think that can be credited to the
pandemic though, which has been hard on everyone. I am counting on the fact that when things
return to normal, I will be able to be less neurotic.

Conclusion

In this paper, I discussed a couple of scenarios where communication was crucial to the group’s
success. I also discussed the results of the Big Five personality test and how it provided me with
some new insight that I wasn’t expecting to find. Although this is the last Pearl Diving
Assignment, I will continue to take personality tests every once in a while to see if and how my
results change over time.

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