Management Development and Leadership Skills

Steve Prevette said:

My students in Applied Statistics this week have to answer the question - would you rather have your surgery performed on you by a Doctor who got straight A's or one that got straight B's? That always leads to some good discussion of operational definitions. and then relating to what is ther purpose of grading of homework vs getting feedback.

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Reading this post made me curious. Look at the question how thoughtful it is. To its reply I wrote my experience with another question: Mention that difficult decision, big or small, we had to make and what steps did we take to make it.
These type of questions help improve our decision making skills and other leadership skills.
Now I ask you all to share more of such situational based questions. I am thinking to discuss such questions with my team at work to improve our teamwork and do other managerial analysis.

I'll happily share some of the exercises from the course. This is for ITEC 265 at Southern Ilinois University at Carbondale.
Information Technology Courses | 2021-2022 Academic Catalog | SIU

This course will give students an understanding of the basic principles and techniques involved in the statistical treatment of data, including the selection of data sources, the design of statistical studies, and the analysis, synthesis, and utilization of data. Students will gain experience in using data for decision-making in their respective professions.

The A vs B question I mentioned is part of the online discussion:

DISCUSSION
Search for the term “Operational Definition” on the internet and familiarize yourself with its meaning.
Read the paper attached to this module written by Tim Higgins. Create a new Thread and make your initial posting. Then respond to at least 2 threads by other students. Use the Discussion Board topic area for Module 3 with your opinions of the paper.
OPTIONAL INFORMATION

• I did learn of Tim and his work in the In2InThinking group which was sponsored by Rocketdyne and Dr. Bill Bellows (86) Bill Bellows | LinkedIn.
• For background on Tim (and an intro to Dr. Deming), you may refer to The W. Edwards Deming Institute® Podcast: Tim Higgins, President, In2:InThinking Network and Quality Engineer, NASA, "Rocket Science, Profound Knowledge, and The New Economics Study Sessions”
• For those interested on the effect of grades on children, feel free to google “Alfie Kohn”, especially his books “Punished by Rewards” or “The Homework Myth”.

Questions to address in your discussion follow. You may also add ideas not related to the questions below. Provide sufficient initial input that I may award 1 point to you. Then continue the discussion with two additional posts that expand upon ideas that others have posted (1 point each). Please be sure to address the four questions below in your first post.

• What do you believe the “Operational Definition” should be for your 3 (or in some cases 4) points credit for your discussion responses for this assignment and the remainder of the course?
• You need surgery. You have the choice between two doctors, one who got straight A’s in medical school, the other got straight B’s. Which one would you choose to do the surgery? Is this a good basis for making a choice from? What other criteria might be used?
• What if I gave you no feedback about your work or your learning? What is the difference between grades and feedback?
• How is this topic applicable to this course? Your career? Raising children? (pick at least one of these three – course, career, family - to discuss).

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I will bring up my own story, from temporary duty between Navy assignments - It was at the Naval Academy Preparatory School. The question was - were NAPS grades good predictors of performance later at the Naval Academy. The results were interesting - B students did best.

The explanation I figured out was -"C" students tended to fail out. "A" students tended to be successful, but voluntarily left to go to other universities.

Another module is related to the Dewey vs Truman election. We think elections have gone to heck lately? Open the 1948 NY Times headline linked below.

Discussion.
Watch these videos. Post your response, and make 2 responses to others’ posts for one point each. Please refrain from partisan politics, that is, judgements on the value of Democrats vs Republicans, let’s stick to the question of – how did the predictions made in 1948 (and by extension 2016 and 2020) turn out to be so wrong? You are welcome to discuss 2020 also, with the same caveat.
Discussion – Please address the following in your initial response:

• What errors in the polling process and data gathering led to the generally accepted prediction that Dewey would win?
• What did Truman do that surprised the media and pollsters?
• What lessons do you think should have been learned going into the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections from Dewey vs Truman? (For some extent of the issue, simply internet search for “Election Polling 2020”)
• Optional – Any thoughts about 2016 and 2020? [Clean, respectful language only please, even if certain candidates ignore that rule]

It’s Déjà vu all over again!
This is a rather interesting headline from 1948: And we think the name calling is bad now! PRESIDENT LIKENS DEWEY TO HITLER AS FASCISTS' TOOL; Says When Bigots, Profiteers Get Control of Country They Select 'Front Man' to Rule DICTATORSHIP STRESSED Truman Tells Chicago Audience a Republican Victory Will Threaten U.S. Liberty TRUMAN SAYS GOP PERILS U.S. LIBERTY (Published 1948) (no, you don’t have to read the whole article).
There is a parallel in 2020 in that Joe Biden campaigned by train. https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...370ffa-0330-11eb-897d-3a6201d6643f_story.html

One more, and I will pause for a bit, is Dr. Deming's Red Bead Experiment.

Another good one I have used in face to face classes is "The Tinker Toy Exercise" which came from the old "Deming Electronic Network". I have previously posted it here on the COVE:

The Tinker Toy (C) Exercise (elsmar.com) The Tinker Toy (C) Exercise | Page 2 (elsmar.com)

I used it in MBA classes in Washington (state). This is an old set of posts, and I used the COVE before discussion software was readily available.