Have You Heard of the PAEI Test?

I stumbled upon something interesting while job-hunting online. Found this PAEI test developed by Dr Ichak Adizes that determines each individual's personality traits or management styles. He categorises people into producers, administrators, entrepreneurs or integrators at work. His explanations are as follows:

The Producer is the individual that has the drive and the discipline necessary to see real results produced. Impatient, active, and always busy, the Producer has little time for idle chit-chat. Direct and to the point, typical Producers are behind-the scenes movers and shakers. Many Producers are attracted to high-intensity departments such as Sales. They are too busy to “waste time” with meetings. They prefer to cut the small talk and get out there to get the job done.

The Administrator ensures that rules are in place and followed, that plans are made and adhered to. Precise and accurate, the Administrator creates methods and procedures to make sure things are done “right”. Analytical and logical, Administrators clean up other people's carelessness. They like to keep the organization humming at a steady pace, and are willing to do things more slowly and carefully. Administrators are drawn to tasks that require systemic thinking and precision, such as Accounting.

The Entrepreneur is an ideas person, always asking “why?” or “why not?” A visionary with dreams, plans and schemes, the Entrepreneur leads others to ideas that they would not pursue on their own. Success for an Entrepreneur requires both creativity and risk. They sometimes get bored with short-term tasks, and prefer developing the long-term vision. Entrepreneurs are often charismatic, and generate ideas for new projects, new approaches to problems, or even new businesses.

The Integrator is people-oriented. True Integrators value social harmony, and thrive on peacemaking and teamwork. The Integrator’s pleasantness is unmistakable. Amiable and empathetic, the Integrator is the first to cooperate in helping with tasks or problems. They prefer to work by consensus, instead of taking a strong position against others. Integrators are attracted to people-oriented occupations like Human Resources.

Want to do a self-test to determine your management style? Click here: Link

My scores were: P 32 A 24 E 17 I 27
That makes me a PI person. Hmmm……quite accurate, I must say. I do like to see results in whatever I do. Impatient, hates meeting…sounds like me. And whenever possible, I would like to involve everyone and have a harmonious team. My score for entrepreneur is the lowest. I guess the decision to give up my business and just get a job is a right one. I’m not much of a risk taker. Wish me luck. Do hope to get a job soon.

Hope you people have fun doing the test. ^_^

The above information on PAEI by Dr Ichak Adizes was adapted from http://www.managementvitality.com

Quote:
“Planning is not deciding what to do tomorrow. It is deciding what to do today in light of what you expect tomorrow to be.”
Dr Ichak Adizes

An A-Z Friend

Everyone has a different idea about what makes a true friend. What is your concept of a friend? Someone wrote and sent the following to me just a couple of days ago.

A friend:
A.ccepts you as you are
B.elieves in you
C.alls you just to say Hi
D.oesn't give up on you
E.nvisions the whole of you
F.orgives your mistakes
G.ives unconditionally to you
H.elps you
I.nvites you over
J.ust be with you
K.eeps you close at heart
L.oves you for who you are
M.akes a difference in your life
N.ever judges you
O.ffers you support
P.icks you up
Q.uiets your tears
R.aises your spirits
S.ays nice things about you
T.ells you the truth when you need to hear it
U.nderstands you
V.isits you
W.alks beside you
X.amines your head injuries
Y.ells when you won't listen
Z.aps you back to reality

What then is my concept of a friend? The person who wrote this. That’s my concept of a real friend. You know who you are. Thanks pal, I appreciate it.

Time to Relook at Capital Punishment

Two days ago, I was quite stunned to learn from a post in a movie board (quite a strange place to get such info) that Singapore has the highest execution rate per capita in the world, with 70 hangings for a population of about 4 million. Did you know that this information is actually documented in Wikipedia? Gee……this small little island of ours is known for being number one in many things in the world but this is one record that I would not want to be proud of. Ok, we didn’t beat China in terms of total numbers but the ratio is still quite astounding to me.

I’m not a person who indulges in discussing contentious issues but since the execution of Saddam Hussein, I’ve been thinking hard on this matter. Isn’t it about time the world abolished capital punishment? What really do we gain out of taking a person’s life?

Most of the people whom were sent to the gallows in Singapore were either convicted of murder or drug trafficking. Can we bring back the life of the dead by hanging the murderers? Does hanging really appease the anger of the family members of the victim? Instead of having one sad family mourning the loss of a family member, we only cause another family to mourn and become just as sad. Silly isn’t it?

We all know that it is wrong to kill so why does the law allow the authorities to kill? Isn’t it ironical? The law prohibits anyone from causing harm to a fellow human being yet lawmakers continue to take away the lives of people who erred. Don’t they realise this causes great harm to the family members of the convict too? It’s already bad enough that these people have to live with the guilt and shame of their family member’s error. Why torment them further by taking the life of their loved one?

Drug traffickers will always be there as long as there's a demand for drugs. This is basic economics theory. Hanging a trafficker doesn’t stop the demand. Human beings will stoop to their lowest and find ways and means to get what they want in life as long as they have the urge for it. Education is still the best way to help the human race. We need to be awakened to realise that we must be responsible for our every action. What human beings need to help them grow is encouragement, not threats and fears.

Who doesn’t make mistakes in life? But what right has any human being to take the life of another? I would really hope to see a more forgiving society as we progress. Let us all learn to forgive, put down what has happened in the past and treasure the now.

ps: I’ve been a little serious with my thoughts lately so my posts may seem a bit more solemn than normal. Not sure why I’ve become so staid. Probably it's just a swing of moods or perhaps it's a growing awareness of the affliction I see around me. No, it's not PMS and Thuy, I’m quite sure it’s not early menopause…hehehe! The dark clouds will pass soon.

This morning on the train, a toddler with down syndrome gave me a big smile before she was pushed out of the train in a stroller. What a radiating smile. She definitely made my day! Life is so beautiful!

There’s No Need to be Right

I encountered some differences with a couple of friends recently. We couldn’t see eye-to-eye on some issues. In the beginning, I did try to explain or defend my position but gradually, I decided to let go, put it down. Why? I ask myself. Why not? I answered myself. It wasn’t a matter of utmost importance in life.

During my younger days, I would never allow any argument to end without insisting and affirming that my opinion was right. I always had to have the last say. I did win many arguments because I really was right but at times, I also won because my voice was louder than the person I was arguing with. It just felt so good to be right. How can I be wrong? That’s what I used to tell myself.

But now, somehow I do not get the thrill out of winning arguments as much as before. It’s not because I’m tired of arguing but because I don’t see a need to argue and explain my position over every single thing in life. To get all agitated and heated up just to prove and convince someone that I am right? What do I gain out of it?

This so-called satisfaction or feeling of being triumphant over another in an argument, how long can the feeling last? Is it tangible? Does it go into your record as one of the achievements you’ve made in life? Chances are the feeling will disappear the moment you turn away from that person.

So what if I am right? More importantly, is there anything wrong to be wrong? Whether right or wrong, acknowledge it and move on. We’re not put on this earth so that we can argue. We are meerly growing our ego whenever we convince ourselves that we are right.

While I was contemplating over this issue about differences in opinions, I received several timely teachings of Krishnamurti again. Yes, someone just seems to know what guidance I need in life. The guru says all our thinking, no matter how noble, is the outcome of our experience and knowledge, a reaction of memory. Action without reaction is what he advises. Thought is the process of choosing and when you choose, you’re actually making a decision and the decision creates opposites – good and bad, right and wrong.

Sounds like only don’t know. Am I right? Hehehe. :p

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Daily Quotes from J Krishnamurti

Action without reaction
The idea, the concept, the pattern is born of our thinking, which in turn is based upon our conditioning. All our thinking, however noble, refined or subtle, is the outcome of our experience, of our knowledge. There is no thinking without the past. Our thought is merely the reaction of memory. And what I am talking about is action without reaction, which means living without thought as the reaction of memory.

From listening there is an action
Do you understand what I mean by a reaction? You insult me, you say something which I don’t like, and I react; or I like what you say, and again I react. But is it not possible to listen to what another says without reacting? Surely, if I listen to find out the truth or the falseness of what you are saying, then from that listening, from that perception, there is an action which is not reaction.

Decision creates a contradiction
So what we are trying to do is to feel out the totality of action. There is no action without the background of thought, is there? And thought is always choice. Don’t just accept this. Please examine it, feel your way into it. Thought is the process of choosing. Without thought you cannot choose. The moment you choose, there is a decision, and that decision creates its own opposite – good and bad, violence and nonviolence. The man who pursues nonviolence through decision creates a contradiction in himself. Thought is essentially born of choice; I choose to think in a certain way. I examine communism, socialism, Buddhism; I reason logically and decide to think this or that. Such thought is based on memory, on my conditioning, on my pleasure, on my likes and dislikes, and any action born of such thought will inevitably create contradiction in myself and therefore in the world; it will produce sorrow, misery, not only for me but for others as well.

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ps: I can hear ZMSS shouting at me: “Don’t check! Only don’t know! Just do it!” Yeah…it’s slowly sinking deeper into me.