How Pedagogy Interns adapted to their Host Organisation

Before pedagogy students of a certain Dutch university start their internship, for instance in an educational institution, they were profiled with MindSonar. 

Their supervisor, having intimate knowledge of the culture of each the institutions where the students do their internships, was able to express that culture in terms of Thinking Styles and Motivational Drives.

The supervisor, comparing the profile of the student with that of the culture of the institution, could then predict the kinds of obstacles that a particular student was likely to encounter in that particular institution. Let’s say the institution’s culture was reactive, specific, and information-oriented and the student had a proactive, global, and activity-oriented profile. The supervisor could then predict that some people in the institution might experience the student as rash, uncontrollable and vague.

The supervisor would discuss this with the student and also help them think about how they could best respond, should this problem occur. This had advantages for both for students and the institutions. If the predicted problems occurred, the student was prepared to respond adequately. This reduced escalation of conflict and often prevented the eventual drop-out of the student from that internship.

Helping a Professional find their Dream Job

Sometimes talented professionals don’t fit in a given corporate culture. A common response is to doubt oneself and try to fit in. Fortunately, this professional did a MindSonar profile.

During the intake he told the MindSonar professional that he had had previous jobs that ‘fitted like a glove’. He felt happy, appreciated and was able to contribute. His last two jobs, however, had not been a great success. He felt his managers didn’t trust him and he was making a lot of mistakes. Overlooking his previous job experiences, he noticed the ‘missing ingredient’: the feeling that there was a safety net while learning.   

In his MindSonar profile he focused on a previous job when he had a 100% ‘safety net experience’. He discovered that ‘autonomy’ and ‘positive feedback’ were very important criteria for him to feel proud of his professional abilities. MindSonar helped him to understand the unique combination of meta programmes that supported his “100% safety net experience”. A combination, that immediately explained why he didn’t fit in with the present corporate culture: this was not their dominant way of thinking. 

He rewrote his resume, reconsidered his job outlook and found  an authentic way of presenting himself during job interviews (focusing on his uniqueness). He was successful: he found his dream job within a few weeks!

The MindSonar professional running this project was Jascha Kamstra (Netherlands). Look her up in the Registry.    

Developing Leadership in the Dutch Military

For many years, when an officer in the Dutch military was being prepared for a high ranking position, they started a leadership development training, working on their communication, strategic skill, and leadership competencies.

At the beginning of the training a MindSonar profile was made and the candidate defined their own strengths and weaknesses as a high ranking officer. Their MindSonar profile was related to the competencies they wanted to develop (they chose five from a list of twelve competencies defined by the military).

The Thinking Styles and criteria in their MindSonar profile were seen as a ‘lever’ to better enable them to develop these competencies. An officer might, for instance, want to develop a thinking style that had stronger ‘towards,’ ‘general,’ ‘people’, and “structure” Thinking Styles, combined with more ‘yellow’ criteria (personal development and systems overview). During the year the officer had several conversations with the MindSonar professional. At the end of the course, another measurement was done to determine if the target competencies had indeed been developed.The MindSonar professional running this project was Marjan Kos (Netherlands). Look her up in the Registry.