Not So Much

Today didn’t go so well.

I went into my DA exam feeling psyched. I came out of the exam…not so much.

I started the test off pretty well. I read the case and thought I understood what needed to be done. I set off defining my strategy—but somewhere along the way, I got lost. Nevertheless, I pressed on. I just started building the model. Halfway through, I realized I was stuck and that there were some things I didn’t know…but I didn’t know enough to know what I didn’t know. 🙁

The more frustrating part of all of this is that I didn’t think…

The beauty of Decision Analysis is that it’s not just about having the perfect model. It’s also about making a recommendation and justifying the recommendation that you make. That translates into the potential for earning points via a strong qualitative argument. Duh, Jackie– I didn’t walk into the test a master modeler, why did I expect to suddenly become one during the test?? Why not get as far as you can and then focus your time on what you can do well? I DO have the ability to look at a situation strategically, make a recommendation, justify that recommendation, and determine what’s needed to move forward w/that recommendation. I think I left a lot of points on the table because I spent the majority of my time trying to be something I’m not (a master modeler) and then only spent minimal time writing up my recommendation. I focused on something at which I’m not so good and didn’t fairly display the thing at which I AM good…

And such seems to be the case here with me, in general. Instead of acknowledging my strengths, I’m fixated on all of my weaknesses, which is the polar opposite of what I’ve been taught:

Develop your strengths and manage your weaknesses.

Instead of spending all of this time being overly concerned about what I don’t know and what I don’t do well, why not spin that around and acknowledge what I DO know and what I CAN do well? Why is it so easy for us to ignore our gifting—whether inherent or developed—and obsess over our shortcomings? Yes, we are supposed to try to grow in the areas in which we need development, but not at the expense of further developing the things at which we excel.

Easy to say…we (I) just need to do…“…faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” Eh…The exam (and my performance…or lack thereof) on it put me in a mood today…

My brain is fried…and I have one more exam tomorrow!

I was actually looking forward to this one (Accounting…yep, I’m a geek) because I thought I would do ok on it…now…not so much…