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Introduction for this Week's Assignment #2

Managerial Dilemma (Objectivity & Empathy)

Workshop Slides

E & O Deck

Hello BVisionRYs! 

Thank you for attending and participating in our first workshop (Empathy & Objectivity Lab); I enjoyed our learning time together! 

During this workshop we covered the following: 

  1. The meaning of empathy
  2. The meaning of sympathy
  3. How to shift from sympathy to empathy
  4. The meaning of objectivity, defined its enemies and the core mindset shifts of objectivity 
  5. Practiced how to become objective
  6. Set the 7-coach chain challenge 

Now it is time for you to put what you learned into practice. Because remember, if you do not put what you learned in practice, your tools will rust!

The purpose of this Assignment: 

This assignment is designed to help you bridge the gap between theory and practice by embracing a growth mindset. This mindset is the core belief that you can achieve things and overcome challenges not by innate talent, but by continuously learning and developing new skills.

This assignment is designed to take the theoretical tools you learned today; the Empathy-Objectivity Shift and the 3 Core Mindset Shifts, and apply them to a complex, real-world managerial conflict.

The purpose is two-fold:

  1. Expose Hidden Bias: To encourage you to consciously identify your initial assumptions, judgments, and generalizations before you allow them to drive your proposed solution.
  2. Develop Objective Language: To practice the discipline of delaying action until objective facts are gathered, allowing you to respond to the problem while preserving the ownership and potential of the person.

The process for completing this task:

This assignment is a direct application of what we covered in our second workshop. The goal is to get your learning momentum going by focusing on practicing empathy and objectivity with intention and attention through solving this managerial dilemma: 

The Situation: You manage a seven-person software development team. Three months ago, your company had a restructuring and added two new engineers into your team: Fares and Mona.

  • Fares: A senior, high-performing engineer. He can be often abrasive in code reviews, using phrases like, "This approach is fundamentally flawed and childish." He missed his last major deadline, claiming he had to fix "Mona's crappy work."
  • Mona: A mid-level engineer who is a single mother of three. She consistently clocks off exactly at 5:00 PM and has been late submitting her last two features. She seems stressed.
  • The Conflict: Fares approached you this morning and demanded that Mona be moved off the main project. He stated, "Her lack of commitment is killing our timeline. She's lazy, she disappears exactly at 5, and I have to cover her mistakes. She doesn't belong here."

You have five working days to complete this assignment. This is a continuous learning process. 

Your group must work through this scenario:

Step 1: Individual Assessment (The Initial Reaction)

  • Task: Individually, write down your immediate gut reaction to Fares' complaint and what your first proposed solution would be. (Work on this with what you feel right now and before you think it through)

Step 2: The Objectivity Audit (Neutralizing the Enemies)

Working together, dissect the scenario by asking:

  • What Generalizations are Fares making? 
  • What Assumptions are we making about Mona's intent? 
  • What potential Biases are guiding our initial solution? 

Step 3: Fact-Finding (The Neutralized Approach)

  • Task: List the three (3) objective, verifiable facts (observable behavior/data) that you must collect before you proceed with a solution.


Step 4: Final Coaching Plan

  • Task: Draft a coaching plan of action that addresses the dilemma using only objectivity and empathy as a Manager- Coach. What would a Manager-Coach do in this scenario? 


The work you will submit: 

Your submission for this second assignment will be in the same Google Sheet, where you will add a new tab call it O&E.

Instructions:

Part One- Add your individual initial gut on the dilemma; write down your immediate gut reaction to Fares' complaint and what your first proposed solution would be. (Work on this with what you feel right now and before you think it through).  

Part Two- Your Team's input on the generalizations, assumptions and biases that were guiding your initial responses.

Part Three- Your 3 objective facts.

Part 4- What was the group's agreement on What Would You As A Manager-Coach Do?  

Final Review: Take a moment to review all fields to ensure they are complete. The sheet saves automatically.

Submit Your Work:

  • Click the "Share" button in the top right corner of your master Google Sheet.
  • Change the sharing setting from "Restricted" to "Anyone with the link."
  • Set the access to "Editor."
  • Click "Copy link" and paste it into the Lighthouse submission portal.

Looking forward to supporting you on your learning journey!