Same focus, new direction

The last TI session and MM's comments on my research plan modifications have had a significant impact on my thinking. I realized that although finding out how I communicate and how my peers perceive that I communicate is still at the crux of what I want to do (at least for cycle one) - I wasn't really being clear with myself why I wanted to know these things. I've been spending so much time trying to research communication and personality styles that I became too caught up in what and how and completely neglected why. So - in the 11th hour (of the Lit Review anyway), I've gone back to the proverbial (ok and literal) drawing board. For the Thanksgiving holiday (which began for me on Wed), I put away all my books and articles on communication/conflict/personality types. I gave all the research a rest and just spent some time with myself, thinking about why. The work of two of the Cadre 6 students (as recommended by MM) helped me in this inner journey quite a bit. Especially the work on leadership. I came to realize that although I am not (at the moment) in a pre-defined leadership role (a "manager" or "project manager") that doesn't mean that what I do doesn't impact the team. In fact, perhaps what I do and say has more impact than I'm aware of.

So - I spent time considering how we function as a team (and what happens when we don't). What are our common complaints when we have our little b**ch sessions with each other. What our common joys. The more I thought about why we work so well together and what the circumstances are when we don't work so well - the more I started seeing the word trust in my mind. Let's pursue that thought... do we trust each other? Yes, I think we do most of the time. More to the point at least for the beginning of this project, do I trust the members of my team and do they trust me? Again, I think the answer is yes most of the time. I wonder a bit about when the answer might be "no"... or "maybe." So - where in the team is the trust weak? Do we trust our superiors/supervisors? Do we trust our colleagues who are not direct members of the team but still our associates in other aspects of our work? Do we trust the organization we work for? Why do we trust or not trust? Finally - how can I have an effect (or affect?) on the level of trust? I wondered, is this train of thought was dramatically different from my original focus on communication? Hmmmm... no... I don't think so. Not at a fundamental level. Afterall - how can trust be developed and nurtured if not through communication? No - I think this train of thought is just a deeper understanding of why I want to understand how I communicate and how I function in the team. Because, in the end, as much as I want people to like me (and, of course I do), if I'm honest with myself, it is even more important that I know people can trust me, that they can depend on me, that the know me.

With all those thoughts in my head, I went in search of literature about teams and trust. I found a treasure trove (thanks to Google Scholar in conjunction with the Pepperdine Library). I also found that I've been far more excited about reading this literature than I was about reading the literature on communication/conflict/personality styles. Of course, this means a big, stressful push for the Lit review now... but that's ok. In the end, I think this is a much more honest and complete approach and will be much more valuable for me (and hopefully a few other people too).

Ok... back to the review writing. :)