Anthony Gutierrez

OGL 340: Final Reflection

Prompt #1: In Module 1, you watched "Invictus," a clip from the movie "Gandhi," and a 60
Minute Segment on Mindfulness. The idea was to have you look at attitude and a mental model
about conflict, review the attitudes of two powerful leaders, and consider your own approach to
conflict. Did this Module help set a foundation upon which to develop the rest of the course?
What worked and didn't work?

I believe that this module set a great foundation to develop the rest of the course. Mindfulness
is the root of the Aikido Way, so setting this to start the course was a great start. I think that this
module was done great, because going into this class, I had no clue as to what Aikido was.
When first starting this module, I believe that I got a good sense of it.

Prompt #2: In Module 2, you were introduced to the martial art, Aikido. The purpose of this
module was to use a martial art that deals with "physical conflict" in a different way, a way that
provided a metaphor for how to deal with conflict in the workplace. What did you take away
from this Module? Did you see a connection between the principles of Aikido and the principles
of dealing professionally with workplace conflict?

From this model, I understood the metaphor from the start. The metaphor was to deal with
outside conflict in an efficient and effective way, one must look within first. This allows for you
to come out of conflict, physical or professional, unscathed and clear-minded.

Prompt #3: In Module 3, you were introduced to the first conflict transformation skill, "Spitting
Out the Hook." Did you learn the skill? Will it help you deal with conflict? Was this quiz (and
were the quizzes} fair, too hard, or too easy? Did the quizzes help you gain more from the text?

I learned the skill of “spitting out the hook” in this module, and this has drastically helped me in
my personal and professional life ever since. It has helped me because I get too emotionally
involved in conflict in my life, leading to irrational decisions, so after, I have seen massive
improvement. I believe that this and other quizzes were just right. There were a few questions
on each quiz that were too easy, but the rest of the questions had balanced them out. The
quizzes helped me gain more from the text, because it made me look more deeply as I was
reading and go back and review concepts that I missed.

Prompt #4: In Module 4, you were introduced to the second conflict transformation skill,
"H.E.A.R." Did you learn the skill? Will it help you deal with conflict? Some of you already use
an active listening skill; was learning H.E.A.R. too redundant or was it valuable to review?

I learned the H.E.A.R. model and know how to utilize it. I have used it my whole life without
knowing the name of it, so when it was introduced, it was easier to learn for me. This skill has
helped me my whole life, and now that I know how to use it properly, it will help me even more.
Although I did already know how to actively listen, I think it was valuable to review because it
gives more structure to a broad skill.

Prompt #5: In Module 5, you were introduced to the third conflict transformation skill, "BURN
CLEAN." Did you learn the skill? Will it help you deal with conflict? Will it help you express your
"wants" without throwing out hooks?

I believed that I learned this skill for the most part, and this skill will help me with conflict in the
future. I think that this skill will drastically express my “wants” without throwing out hooks. I
have always had trouble expressing my feelings and desires, so using this skill will allow me to
do so more easily.

Prompt #6: In Module 6, you were introduced to the fourth conflict transformation skill, "SAY
YES." Did you learn the steps in this skill? Will you be able to use it to help you transform
conflict? How confident do you feel about using the SAY YES Model?

I believe that I also learned this skill for the most part. If I was a mediator in a conflict, I would
need to review the steps to SAY YES again, but it would be very brief. I think that I will use SAY
YES to transform conflict in the future, especially as a project manager when my team has
conflict among it. When it comes to confidence using the model, I think I am at 85%. So, I will
need more review of the model, but I am almost there.

Prompt #7: Is there something you wish you had learned or some topic we needed to spend
more or less time on? Add any final thoughts you think would be helpful in improving this
course. Overall, was the workload fair and manageable, light or too much?

I think that this course was designed as perfectly as you could get it for this topic. The workload
was very fair and manageable, I think any less would have made the class less supplemental,
and any more would have been too much for this topic. A couple of the questions in the SAY YES
quiz were messed up with having answers C and D combined instead of separate, but other
than a couple grammar/technical issues, the class was exactly what I had hoped for.