Is this semester actually already over? It’s hard to believe that three months have already come and gone. But reflecting back on the semester, I feel as if I’ve not only grown academically, but personally. There were so many aspects of the project that pushed me out of my comfort zone and challenged me in ways that I never would have thought before. While I could go on and on about the ways I’ve grown, here are a few standout highlights:
- Does empathy know no bounds? If you ask anyone to describe me, a word that will likely pop up would be “listener.” Since coming to college, I’ve realized that I’m naturally an empathetic person. So, considering this to be one of my strengths in how I connect with friends, family, peers, and even random strangers, I always make sure to foster that ability. But just like most everything else in this course (in a good way, I promise), I was surprised. I realized just how much more I had to learn and grow. Early on, particularly in the observation and interview stages of the process, I discovered that I may be a good listener, but I may not be so good at recognizing deeper insights that come from what people are saying. I realized that up until now, I’ve not really taken the time to dig deeper into insights that lay underneath what someone says or does. Even though it may not always be helpful to do this in regular daily life (over-analyzing what people say and do when it’s unnecessary is not good), when I’m in a setting that requires me to dig deeper and figure out what lies underneath the surface, such as this project, I need to do more than just listen. Part of being empathetic is working to understand where the person is coming from and why they say and do certain things. Over the course of the semester, I definitely have grown in my ability to recognize key insights from interview, focus groups, or observations that I probably would have missed before.
- Do I really know what I’m doing? Absolutely not. There’s nothing that used to make me more uncomfortable and nervous other than taking risks and being comfortable with ambiguity. However, for the large portion of this course, particularly during the first half, I felt that I only had a small understanding of what I was doing, if I was doing correctly, or if it was even benefiting the project. While the guidance in class was helpful in pointing our group towards the right direction, I often felt like I was floating (maybe drowning would be a better word during some points) in the massive sea that was this project. I think it felt very uncomfortable and unnatural at times due to not having a crystal clear end vision in mind. A huge part of this, I believe in addition to patience and spontaneity, is being flexible and adaptable. Even though “flexible” is a word I would have agreed described me before, I quickly learned that I had a long way to go. In hindsight, it’s hard to tell if you actually are flexible and adaptable until you’re thrown into a situation where you have no choice to adapt as you go. For this project, my group definitely had to be flexible when it came to how our idea developed along the way. Looking back, our end result was completely different from what we first thought it would be in the beginning. However, because we adapted as the project adapted and evolved, the end result ended up a lot better than it would have been had we stayed on one narrow path without any “scenic routes” so to say.
- What you have to say is important. I’m agreeable, and I know it. Though it’s not a bad thing to have an agreeable personality, sometimes (read “all the time”) I’m regrettably agreeable to a fault. I’ve always had a tendency, especially in the business school where I’m already a little out of my comfort zone, to distrust my own ideas, thoughts, and opinions, and rely more on the thoughts of other people who have more business experience than I do think. However, during the course of this class, I quickly realized that for it to be a true team effort from all perspectives, I needed to trust that what I had to contribute would benefit our project. For this reason, collaboration was a huge growth area for me. Like I said above, being agreeable isn’t a terrible quality to have. But when you become too agreeable in the sense that you’ll just go with what the group thinks just for the sake of not “rocking the boat,” then it becomes an issue. When the entire team isn’t on board with the every aspect (or at least a majority) of the project, the end result isn’t as cohesive or comprehensible. It was never an issue with my group that one person took control of the project and over-shadowed the rest. But I became aware early on that because I was already uncomfortable with the ambiguity of the project, I was holding back even more than normal. As much as I hate to admit it, this was a problem, because I was already a more reserved and quiet person to begin with. The further along we got in the project, however, I began to share more of my ideas and thoughts with my group. Whether this was due to the methods we used for group work in class or just becoming more comfortable with my group in general I don’t know. But what I do know is that by the end of the course, my group taught me that what I have to share is important even if it isn’t something grand or ground-breaking–every little bit helps round-out the project.
- Teamwork makes the dream work. If I were to highlight one team out of all of my classes that I could say was almost perfect, it would without a doubt be my group for this class. While the course of the project wasn’t always smooth sailing for our team, I believe that we were able to collaborate effectively to produce a great end project. Thinking back, however, I wondered what it was that made my team such a well-rounded and successful team dynamic. The biggest surface level aspect I think contributed to our strong team was definitely the diverse personalities in our group. The team was almost balanced when it came to extroverts versus introverts. But moreover, we all had various strengths that we brought to the group that helped during all stages of the project. However, one thing that I did realize early on is that since everyone has different strengths it’s difficult to keep drawing from those abilities when it may not seem relevant or needed at that time. I think this is where it’s important to have a collaborative effort mindset when approaching a project. Even though one person may excel in a certain area, it doesn’t mean that another team member shouldn’t contribute. This is something that I struggled with in the beginning, because I what I mentioned above. I often feel out of my comfort zone in business school courses. For this reason, I often automatically write off my contribution for certain aspects of projects as not beneficial. This course and my team members have proved me wrong though as I have learned that any contribution is useful.
I’ve heard it said the things in life you work the hardest on are the things you remember and learn from the most. If Customer Insights for Innovation isn’t the perfect example of that, then I don’t know what is. This semester has taught me so much and I can’t wait to continue building on the foundation that the course and Professor Luchs has given me.