core personal values
I value honesty and integrity. I like peace, calm, and order, but value those who disrupt and challenge.
ethics tested
Going from a humanities degree at Victoria University to a tradie job in Sockburn was an ongoing series of ethics tests (😅).
One situation that comes to mind in another job involved a task that required a simple microscopic test. This test would either give a pass or a fail result. The problem was: a fail would result in a bit of indirect complaining from management and could create a bit of stress. I noticed myself and others feeling pressure to give a pass result and counting low rather than sticking to the criteria. Although the consequences of analysing a near-pass as a pass result were not too serious, this bugged me. I spoke to management about it and things were changed to correct the issue.
culture
I was brought up in a religious family. This community taught me core values, but the rejection of that religion also shapes my values. For example, I am more sensitive to people being ostracised by a group or expelled from a group, because of my experience with and rejection of religious shunning.
strengths and limitations
learning and career development
I am good at using initiative to think outside the box and develop creative solutions to problems. I have been limited in the past by a lack of confidence in my own skills. This has held me back from pursuing the career path I wanted and consequently I spent a long time just passing time. Since then I have been given the opportunity to use my skills in the workplace and this has given me confidence in my abilities.
which strengths help learning?
I like to test the limits of things while learning and play with the capabilities of different tools. I think I have a good attention span for exercises that many people find tedious. I like puzzles and things. Sorting lists. All that exciting stuff.
encountering tension in the workplace
At my workplace, I have tried to make some processes more efficient. For example, moving to computer-based solutions rather than using paper. This was met with some resistance by people who have always used their method. This taught me the importance of explaining why you are doing something and respecting peoples’ agency to do things their way. In the future I know I need to take a step back and question whether changes I am trying to make are in the best interests of everyone - or whether I’m just changing something to fit with my idea of how it should work.