Reflective Thinking Essay #4
A lot of my biggest “a-hah” moments were with Discipline. There was a lot in that lesson that
either solidified what I knew or filled-in gaps I wasn’t sure of. First, I didn’t realize that it
wasn’t an unwritten rule to stop someone before they “spill the beans” on a potential crime, but
rather something you’re supposed to do (as well as read them their rights). I’ve always been a
bit wary of that one. Knowing this will make me much better able to handle some of the difficult
situations I occasionally come across in my job.
The Discipline lesson also helped me better understand how correction should be documented
and applied. The concept of setting the standard of acceptability and determining the appropriate
level of correction based on severity and frequency will also come in handy. My Airmen tend to
break the rules as much as they follow them, and are very touchy about how they’re treated.
Hopefully, this will give me additional ammunition to better handle these sorts of situations.
Another area I found helpful was the Decision Analysis portion of the Continuous Improvement
lesson. Tying-in from another lesson, I know that my organizational skills (gold temperament) is
severely lacking. I tend to make decisions based on emotion and justification rather than cold
logic. I don’t think I’ve spent more than a day or two house hunting at any of the bases I’ve
gone to, and my current car was somewhat of an impulse buy. I’m sure this carries over into my
work as well. Decision analysis is likely to help me put everything in order better so I can make a
rational decision rather than a knee-jerk one.
As stated in previous reflective essays, as a public affairs photojournalist, I communicate most of
the ideas in the Emergent Leadership Issues lessons on a regular basis. I can’t say I really gained
much from those lessons, although I hope I was able to relay some of my own knowledge to help
the other students.
TSgt Morse/Flight M/M08/671-0286/sam/25 Nov 13