Decision

Making,
Reliability
& Creativity

CDEV 1520: Understanding

Workplace Behaviours
Assignment Update
Self Assessment
• Due September 28th
Elevator Pitch (Written)
• Due September 28th
Informational Interview
• Due November 16th
LinkedIn Profile
• Due November 23rd
Todays Topics
Apply the rational decision-making model.
Decision
Making & Recognize the role of emotions, biases and errors in decision-making.

Creativity Discuss critical timelines and the impact of missed deadlines.

Discuss tools and resources for handling failure.

Discuss growth versus fixed mindset.

Discuss creative thinking and the role of curiosity in the workplace.

Discuss the impact on punctuality, meeting deadlines, and critical

Reliability timelines.
Explore time management skills, tools and resources for effective time
management.
Discuss productivity and how it impacts success.

Discuss the term “what needs to be done, what can I do?”, proactiveness,
and integration as a new employee
 • How do you make a decision?
• What strategies do you use?
Decision When? Why?
Making • Is it important?
• What is the value of good decision
making skills in the workplace?
The Rational Decision Making Process

The Rational Decision Making Model: Steps and Purpose in Organizations

RDM model for problem-solving
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY
 1. Identify the Problem
• Jane’s manager expects her to complete a
Identify the problem client’s website by the end of the week. The
and level of client keeps calling and changing the content
importance. and design. Jane is not able to meet the
deadline with all the changes the client is
Determine your making and she is not comfortable setting
desired outcome. expectations with the client.

• What is/are the problem(s)?

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

2. Establish Decision Criteria
• Jane reviews the client’s contract and the costs
Relevant for all the changes resulting in delays.
information? What • Jane discusses the situation with her manager
variables can impact and explains all the delays.
the outcome? • Jane can stay late to complete the most recent
changes, but it requires overtime.
• Strategies to deal with discomfort with
confronting the client.
3. Weigh Decision Criteria
• Contract billed the client for a set fee to build
Rank the decision the website based on established content and
criteria. design with the client
• The contract is clear that changes may result in
additional fees
• Jane is scheduled to work on a new client
project the following week so she would need
to work overtime to complete the changes

What decisions can be considered?

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under

CC BY-NC-ND
4. Generate Alternatives
What are the options?
Create a list of
• Ask manager to speak to the client about
options. expectations and added costs for changes
• Make changes and bill client / or do not bill
client
• Ask to work overtime to complete the changes
at an added cost for overtime
• Ask manager to assign new project to another
team member so Jane can work on it the
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-
following week
• Ask for coaching on setting firm expectations
NC-ND

with the client and communicating the impact

and cost of changes
5. Evaluate Alternatives
Consider the What option would you pick?
• Manager speaks to the client about expectations
alternatives and and added costs for changes
weigh the options. • Jane speaks to client about expectations and added
costs for changes
• Make changes and bill client or do not bill client
• Make changes and incur the costs of Jane working
overtime
• Make changes and assign new project to another
team member so Jane can work on it the following
week
• Jane asks for coaching on setting firm expectations
with the client
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under
CC BY-SA-NC
• What is the impact on the client relationship?
• What other alternatives could be considered?
6. Select Best Alternative
Choose the best
option and finalize
your decision.. What option would you pick?

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under

CC BY-SA-NC
How to Make Better Decisions
Are You Reliable?

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY under CC BY
under CC BY-SA

What does How does

What is reliability
productivity mean to productivity impact
and how does it
you? success?
impact your
To your employer?
reputation?
The business?

What needs to be done, what can I do?

Time Management

*Common Interview
Question

"This role has a lot of new and competing priorities....

How do you manage your time and prioritize so tasks and projects
are completed on time?"

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

Overcoming the Imposter Syndrome | astrobites
https://astrobites.org/2018/03/02/overcoming-the-imposter-syndrome/
I'm an imposter?!
What is Imposter Syndrome and How Do You Overcome it?
https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/what-is-imposter-syndrome-and-how-do-you-overcome-it/

• “What am I doing here?”

• “I am not a developer. I am fooling myself and other people.” (feels fake)
• “My colleagues are much smarter than I am; I could never match up to them.”
(undermines own achievements)
• “My coworkers have told me I’ve achieved a lot, but I feel like it’s never
enough.” (discounts praise)
• “I have no idea how I got through the interview process.” (feels only luck
dictates results)
• “I will be ridiculed and fired when people realize I am not as smart as I
portrayed myself as being.” (fears failure)
• “My IQ is not high enough to work here.” (doubts inherent ability)
• “I need more training to feel like I deserve to be here.”
 How to....
Solve Imposter Syndrome
=
GROWTH MINDSET

What's your MINDSET?

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

GROWTH vs. FIXED

This Photo https://www.just-spark.com/2018/08/fixed-vs-growth-mindset/

Creative vs. Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is the ability to clearly and logically consider information that
is presented to us.

Creative thinking is about generating new, novel, or useful ideas.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/creative-thinking-vs-critical-james-taylor#

Creative Thinking Critical Thinking

Generating Focusing
Ideas Analyze
Intuitive Logical
Unusual Comparing
Unique Judging

Defining Creative Thinking and Critical Thinking

Creative & Critical Thinking
James Taylor - https://www.jamestaylor.me/creative-thinking-vs-critical-thinking/
 Weaknesses - What
Strengths - What are are the weaknesses of Opportunities - What
Threats - What treats
the strengths of creative and/or critical opportunities might
do your think might
creative and/or critical thinking? Have you present when using
arise when using
thinking? Is there a used one style in a creative and/or critical
creative and/or critical
better time to use one situation when maybe thinking in the
thinking?
over the other? the other would have workplace?
been better?
In Class Graded Case Study 1
You have just been hired by a small software consultancy company as a web
developer. It is a small company with 8 employees. There are only 3
technical people on staff. You have been on the job for 3 weeks and have
been working closely with your mentor that was assigned to you.
You are working on your first project for a client and at the start of your 4th
week, you run into a problem. When you reach out to your mentor, you
receive an out-of-office reply that they are away and have not given any
return date. You are stuck and do not know how to proceed with the
project.

What would you do if you were in this situation? How would you keep the
project moving along?
Include any assumptions that you are making with your answer.
In Class Graded Case Study 2

• You are excited about your new job at a start-up with a great
reputation for excellent workplace culture. Not long into your
venture, you encountered a problem where you are assigned a
section of a project that is very unfamiliar to you in its scope and
involves multiple technologies that you were not exposed to in
school. It is evident that you needed to accomplish this task
independently. While it's a fun place to work, you find that start-up
culture means things move fast, and other members of the team
have other responsibilities, and you feel they may not have time to
support you.

• What do you do?

Assignment Industry Panel 1
Week 4: Attend virtual panel - Industry Panel 1
• Preparation and Company Research
• Review the Industry Panel 1 assignment in Week 4.
• Your instructor will provide the names of the panel guests to allow
you to research the person and company in advance of the panel.
• Answer the pre-panel questions in a Word document that will be
submitted after the panel.
• Two days prior to the panel (or earlier), submit a question using
the link below that you would like to ask the panel that is related
to the topics listed for the panel.
• Note: due to time limitations, not all questions will be presented
to the panel. Your instructor will try to identify and summarize
common themes.
Industry Panel - Next Steps
• Please submit your panel question on or before September 30 at
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSebcNhWClEVuFBJnGolDAMNVh
MCqVVmWQ5g2FC4Isz6pKHnEA/viewform

CDEV1520 Industry Panel 1 - Morning Session

October 3, 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM
Zoom: https://conestogac.zoom.us/j/93235107903?pwd=MzR3ODlEL01KK0dGeDNUTEI5NitBQT09
Meeting ID: 932 3510 7903 | Passcode: 831254

CDEV1520 Industry Panel 1 - Afternoon Session

October 3, 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Zoom: https://conestogac.zoom.us/j/91020432224?pwd=THFGb0hkTEMydnozR1dlQTVyUnZYUT09
Meeting ID: 910 2043 2224 | Passcode: 315316
Resources
• Rational Decision Making: The 7-Step Process for Making Logical Decisions
• Learn FASTER and become a PRODUCTIVE developer with a pyramid of skills
• Spark: REACHING YOUR POTENTIAL – FIXED VS GROWTH MINDSET
• 11 Growth Mindset Strategies: Overcome Your Fix Mindset to Grow as a Person
• 4 Steps to a developing a Growth Mindset
• TED – Carol Dweck: The power of believing that you can improve
• How to get better at receiving feedback
• Creative thinking - how to get out of the box and generate ideas: Giovanni Corazza at TEDxRoma
• The 6 Habits of Exceptionally Creative People
• The benefits of a good night's sleep - Shai Marcu
• Common Biases and Judgment Errors in Decision Making Organizational Behavior (by Jennifer Lombardo)
• How to Plan Your Week Effectively
• These Skills Are Hard To Learn But Pay Off For The Rest of Your Life
• Why Most People Will Remain in Mediocrity
• 4 Ways To Be 10x More Productive In 2022
• Free book download: How to Be More Productive
• How to NOT GET FIRED in your first programming job!
• The psychology behind irrational decisions - Sara Garofalo