Progress in any system sometimes depends on uncharacteristic action.

But people, leaders, managers and workers have preferred patterns of behavior, things they like to do, things they avoid, and things they do because they are required by the rules of the game, the systemic imperatives.

Often, these behaviors are automatic and don’t help.  Most of this is unconscious.  It’s just what happens.  To recognize and act on these repetitive patterns in work, family, community or government takes a special kind of self awareness.., .a willingness to be vulnerable for the sake of a greater good.

This Self in System Sensitizer is a personal assessment that will open your eyes to the automatic behavior that you and others bring to life and work in systems.

We all develop our own unique patterns of interaction with others. These patterns often become so ingrained that we lose sight of them and the consequences they have for ourselves, for others and for the situations we are in.  As a result, we may also fail to consider optional patterns which have potential for ourselves and our systems.

This exercise is not a test.  There are no summary scores to tell you how well you are measuring up as a manager.  The purpose is to heighten awareness and to broaden your sense of the options available to you. Hopefully, somewhere in this process, you will say something like:

“Aha!  Isn’t it interesting that ‘X’ is what I typically do, and that ‘Y’ and ‘Z’ might also be worthwhile alternatives for me to explore?”

Described below are eight dimensions of organizational behavior.  Read each description carefully, then step back, take a look at your behavior in organizational life, and ask yourself:

“How characteristic is this description of my organizational behavior?”