cut-e Australia blog

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Psych testing 101

by Nicole Russom

For hiring managers or the HR team that are not familiar with using psychometric assessment as part of a selection or development process, it can be quite daunting.  How much weight can you place on the results from such assessments?  How do you know if the candidate has cheated?  How do you interpret the results?  How do you position the testing with candidates or employees?

So to alleviate some of this apprehension, here are some of the more commonly asked questions about how to effectively use psychometric assessment, particularly in the selection process:

How much weight should I place on the results of psychometric assessments?  

Psych assessment is one part of the process.  It is no more or less important than any other selection process candidates go through, such as an interview. We recommend to clients that the psych testing results be seen as additional data to add to the whole picture and where possible, investigated further at a second or final interview stage.  Assessment adds valuable insight into people’s underlying capability, motives, attitudes and values that you may not be able to get from a standard interview, however it is not a perfect process.

What’s the different between ability/cognitive/aptitude testing and personality/work style preferences testing?  

Ability assessments measure capability, such as how quickly the candidate can pick up on and learn new information.  Personality is about preferences and the candidate’s natural style.  Generally, people are likely to behave in a way consistent with their preferences.  They can behave differently if they learn to change their style, but it takes a lot of effort.

How long are the results from psychometric assessments valid for?  

The results of psychometric assessments are relevant for approximately 18 months. People tend to go through a significant change in their lives every 18 months to two years (eg. change of job, moving, marriage, divorce, illness, grief) which can have an impact on assessment results.

What should I tell the candidate about the testing?

Managing candidate expectations is important. Speak to them about the testing and the best conditions to do it under (eg. in a quiet environment where you won’t be disturbed, in the morning is best if possible, try to avoid late at night). Let them know how long it will take, find out if there is anything that may impact their performance on the assessments that you should know about, direct them to any practice questions they can do, and answer any questions they may have.

At what stage of the selection process should I use psychometric assessment?

Psychometric testing can be used at different stages of the selection process, depending on why you are using it. For example, for high volume recruitment (eg. graduate, call centre) assessment (such as cognitive abilities or Situational Judgement assessments) may be one of the initial stages (after application) in order to screen out candidates. For lateral hires, we recommend completing assessments between the first and second interviews, or between the interview and reference check if there is no second interview. This way, the assessment can help to answer any questions that may have arisen from the first interview, and you can use the results of the assessment to help guide the second interview and ensure you tap into any potential vulnerabilities.

How do I know if the candidate has cheated?  

Most personality/work style preferences assessments will look at how consistently a candidate has responded to similar items on the questionnaire. If they respond inconsistently to items that tap into the same behaviours, this may raise some questions about how accurately the results represent the candidate’s true preferences. However, low consistency is not always indicative of cheating or trying to create a positive impression, as it can also suggest lowered self-insight, that a candidate has rushed through the assessment without giving due consideration to their responses, or perhaps that a candidate was distracted at the time of taking the assessment. For ability assessments there is the possibility that candidates may get someone else to complete the assessment for them, however in our experience this is highly unlikely (only 12% of candidates will cheat on an assessment, and if they do, it’s more likely to be trying to create a positive impression on a personality assessment than cheating on an ability assessment), and if they do cheat, they are often found out at further stages of the selection process when things don’t quite add up.

What are some other commonly asked questions when it comes to using psychometric assessment?  Or what other questions do you have about using psychometric assessment as part of the selection or development process?

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I am alarmed

by Prue Laurence

Words are one of the most powerful tools we all have at our disposal. Words convey our thoughts and feelings, they build and tear down relationships, and how we use our words sets us apart from others. Words and hence the collective language we use also help define cultural and group norms. Think about it. Do you have certain phrases or words that you use just with your friends or your team at work? Are there certain words that have different meanings to them when used with your partner? In my team we use the phrase “busy and important” in jest, to tease each other when we haven’t attended to less attractive but necessary tasks. For example, “I can’t clean the coffee cups today because I am too busy and important”.

Our words and their shared meaning bond us to some people and distance us from others. In social psychology this is called ingroups and outgroups.  An ingroup is a social group with which a person psychologically identifies as being a member, and by contrast an outgroup is a social group with which an individual does not identify.  For the most part, people will have preference for their ingroup over an outgroup, and will consider their ingroup homogenous and the outgroup as different from the ingroup.  Ingroups develop their own set of behavioural norms, i.e. what is and is not accepted as appropriate behaviour amongst the group. They also develop their own sense of language and a shared meaning of words.

The other day I was in a feedback session with a client who had recently completed some assessments. I sensed the client was a little apprehensive about the feedback and she demonstrated this through the words she used in the first few minutes of our session. I asked her a standard, rapport building question and one I have used hundreds, if not thousands of times with clients/candidates. “So (insert client name here), what is your role at (insert organisation name here)? Tell me about what you do.” This is what I believe to be a non-threatening, general, open-ended question designed to get the person to talk about themselves in a safe environment, i.e. “tell me about your job”, as opposed to “tell me about yourself” which can be a little daunting to some.  When the client responded with “I am alarmed that you don’t know what I do here”, I have to admit I was a little taken aback by this and her use of the word “alarmed”.

To alarm means to make (someone) feel frightened, disturbed, or in danger. Synonyms for alarmed include afraid, anxious, fearful, aghast, petrified, uneasy, troubled, terrified, and panicky. My immediate (internal) reaction to her use of the word alarmed was concern that my (seemingly) benign question asking her to tell me about her role, had made her feel in danger.

Nevertheless, the session continued reasonably smoothly as I was on high alert to use words and ask questions that would make the client feel more at ease. At the end of the session the client’s manager came in for a 3-way debrief. During the debrief, when describing a recent example of something that had happened in their team, the manager used the word “alarmed” as a key description of how she felt in response to the recent event. What she was describing, in my opinion, was not alarming i.e. it was an example of a communication breakdown in the team, and did not cause panic, terror or fear within the team. However, the significance of her story was not in describing the event itself but was in the use of the word “alarmed”. It was instantly clear to me that within that team, of which my client and her manager were a key part, the word “alarmed” was used freely and without strong regard for its actual meaning. It was a cultural norm to be “alarmed” at events that were more surprising than alarming.  To the outgroup member, i.e. me, the word had seemed odd as I do not share their ingroup bond, but to the members of the ingroup this word was the norm.

So my point? We are all members of ingroups (our families, our sporting teams, our work mates, our religious groups, etc.) and we all (to varying levels, of course) regard people different from us as others who belong to the outgroup. We have our shared norms, our shared language and ways of interacting, and what we can do better is to be aware of this, particularly when interacting with people who do not share those norms or language. We can be better aware of the impact our behaviour has on others and how, at times, this can be alarming.

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The Psychological Benefits of Sport and Exercise

by Nicole Russom

There’s 3 minutes to go. It’s the final quarter.  Your netball (or football) team is down by 4 goals.  It’s going to be difficult to win from here, but not impossible. You focus. You should be able to beat this team. The next four goals are yours. Now there’s 1 minute left. You get another goal to be up by one. But there’s still 30 seconds to go, they could draw if they get the next goal. You pass (or kick) it into your goal circle (or forward 50) and they obstruct your goaler (or your full forward takes a mark in the goal square), and the siren goes. With a goal after the siren, you’ve won by 2 goals!

Anyone who’s played competitive sport will have had a similar experience. Coming from behind to win, controlling your emotions when you’re under pressure, and how that experience brings you together as a team. In that moment, that’s all you’re focused on, it’s all that matters.  The physical health benefits of playing sport and exercising such as reduced risk for obesity and increased fitness are obvious, but there’s also some not so obvious psychological benefits to playing sport, even if it’s not competitive.  

Have you ever noticed that when you’re playing sport, you often get lost in the moment?  In that moment, all that matters is winning the next point, getting the next goal, or stopping your opponent from getting the ball. Playing sport can be good for stress relief because in addition to allowing you to escape (even momentarily) from your daily stressors and worries, it can also act as a more socially acceptable outlet for emotions such as anger and aggression (within the rules of the game).  Have you ever felt more relaxed after going for a run after a stressful day?  Sport and exercise has also been shown to improve mood as a result of the release of endorphins when exercising, and some studies have demonstrated that regular exercise can increase the amount of serotonin in your brain.  

But did you know that sport and exercise has also been shown to decrease the number of depressive symptoms and anxiety, and that it can also assist in increasing your levels of resilience?

Some of the lesser known psychological benefits of sport and exercise include:

Improved mood

Increased energy

Reduced stress, and increased ability to cope with stress

Increases in self esteem

Improved body image

Decreased symptoms associated with depression (Research shows that exercise can also help alleviate long-term depression)

Better sleep

Increased cognitive functioning (such as concentration)

Teamwork skills

Social relationships and connections

Pretty impressive list hey?!  So, with all of these benefits, why is it so hard to get ourselves to exercise?   Well, maybe it would help to know how much exercise you need to do to obtain these benefits.  Research suggests the following:

A short walk at low intensity has been shown to improve your mood and increase energy. Even as little as 10 minutes of aerobic exercise can have a positive impact.

For long-term benefits, research suggests you should exercise 3 times per week for 30 minutes per session at a moderate intensity.

Programs longer than 10 weeks seem to work best for reducing symptoms of depression.

Interestingly, watching sport (rather than participating) can also have some positive psychological effects, particularly if you are a keen fan of the sport or team.  Such positive psychological effects include:

Fulfilling identification needs (the need to belong to a group)

Higher self esteem

Feeling less depressed

Increased social relationships/interconnections

However, there are also a number of potential negative outcomes of watching sport, including cardiac issues (eg. high blood pressure), excessive testosterone (which can be expressed in the form of violent behaviour), and excessive drinking.

So, maybe it is better to get out there and actively participate in sport, rather than just to watch, from a psychological and physical health perspective.  And how can you better motivate yourself to do that? Here’s my top 3 tips:

Join a local sporting team.  That way, you’ll get the benefits of increased social connection as well as being committed to playing every week (you don’t want to let your team down by not turning up!)

If competitive sport isn’t really your thing, make an agreement with a friend, or group of friends, to walk/run/go to the gym on a particular day and time each week. If you’ve made a commitment to someone, you’re more likely to stick to it!

Make exercise part of your routine.  Get up half an hour earlier and go for a walk each day.  It’s a great way to start the day, and I know my dog definitely looks forward to our morning walks.   He’s a stickler for routine and makes me feel so guilty if I skip our morning walk!  

How do you make sure you get enough exercise?  Have you experienced some of the benefits mentioned above?  And are you doing enough exercise to obtain the benefits?

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Innovation

Do you consider yourself to be innovative?

When discussing innovation, I find that people tend to have fixed ideas about how innovative they are. They seem to feel that they either are innovative, or that they are not.  That it is either something you have, or you don’t.  However, this belief that the ability to be innovative is a fixed, unchangeable ability is inherently false.  The good news is that it can be measured, and it can be developed!

Ok, so what does that mean for you?

In the corporate world, it is becoming more and more critical for organisations to be innovative, to be able to ensure that they are constantly coming up with new ideas, new products, and new services, to ensure that they are at the leading edge, and that they can survive in a highly competitive market.

So let’s take a step back. What exactly do we mean when we talk about innovation?  Innovation involves a number of different components, including fluency (the ability to come up with many ideas), flexibility (the ability to come up with varied ideas), and originality (the ability to come up with unusual ideas), all of which are important when it comes to being innovative.  So if we are able to develop our ability to be innovative, this means that you can improve your innovation in all of these areas.  

So, how do I improve my ability to be innovative?  First of all, you need to give yourself the time and space to be innovative.  We get so busy at work that we are often caught up in the doing, which requires a more conceptual frame of mind (processing through cognition or thought).  Innovation however often requires a more perceptual frame of mind - essentially, when we are thinking about nothing or just ‘experiencing’.  Have you ever wondered why you have some of your best ideas in the shower, or when you’re out for a walk?  New ideas come to us through insight, not critical or analytical thinking, so we need to give ourselves the opportunity to get into the right frame of mind to be innovative, which workplaces don’t often encourage.

So what exactly can you do to enhance your ability to be innovative at work?

Go for a walk.  Go outside if you can, but walking inside can have the same impact on your innovation (plus the bonus of getting some more exercise in while you’re at it!)

Give yourself a change of scenery.  Work from home.  Work from a café.  A different environment can give you a different perspective and inspire new ideas.

Actively work on developing your ability to be innovative.  One way you can do this is to choose an everyday object (such as a pen) and try to think of as many uses for that object as possible.

Practice mindfulness.  This is a great way to get into a more perceptual headspace so that you can then be innovative.

In addition to being able to improve your ability to be innovative, we can also measure how innovative someone is (hence how we know that it can be improved!).  This means that organisations can now benchmark the current level of innovation of their employees, as well as assess the innovation of people that they are recruiting into the business.  As an organisation that was founded to disrupt our industry and create cutting edge assessments, it’s very fitting that we have recently developed an online assessment that measures innovation and its three components! We’re excited to see how this assessment (sparks) can be used to assist organisations to improve their innovation.

What if you could hire more innovative talent?  What would this mean for your business?

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Sorry, but you may not be as smart as you think you are

by Nicole Russom

Can you remember the last time you did badly on a test?  What was the reason?  Did you not study hard enough?  Or maybe the test was too hard?

This self-serving bias helps us to maintain and enhance our level of self esteem (eg. It wasn’t that we aren’t smart enough to do well on the test, it was the test’s fault!).

Everyone has biases (including you and I) that help us to explain things, and often protect ourselves. And if you think you don’t have that many biases think again. In fact, there’s a specific bias for that – the ’bias blind spot’ where you think that you are less biased than others (sorry, it’s true).

As a company that creates our own tests and assessments, these types of biases have a huge impact on our everyday work.  When potential clients are first learning about our tools, they often want to try out the assessments themselves.  Of course, we are more than happy for people to trial our assessments and to provide them with the validity and reliability data that support our assessments and demonstrate just how effectively the assessments are able to predict job performance.  It’s also great for people to understand the look and feel of the assessments, and what the candidate experience can be like.

But consider what happens when you try out an ability assessment and find out that you’ve received a below average result?  Are you more likely to think “Yeah, that sounds about right.” Or is it more likely to be “Really? That doesn’t seem right to me, this test is too difficult for us to use.” ?

Unfortunately it’s the latter.  When people see their results they tend to judge our assessments on their own performance, regardless of all the evidence that points to the validity of the assessments.

So why does this happen?

People with a below average IQ tend to overestimate their IQ, whereas people with an above average IQ tend to underestimate their IQ.  This is referred to as the “Downing effect.”  The impact of this in the situation above means that if someone gets a below average score, they are likely to think that the score is wrong (and not indicative of their true ability), and hence think that the test is not accurate (despite all the validity evidence to the contrary).  And if they get an above average score, they may think that the test has overestimated their ability and is not accurate (or perhaps that it is too easy).  So you can see why getting the results from ability assessments is not a good way to try out the assessment as a way to determine whether it is a good assessment to use in your organisation.

Interestingly, gender differences have also been found when it comes to estimating our own IQ, in that men are more likely to overestimate their IQ, and women are more likely to underestimate their IQ.  Given that research consistently finds that women are less likely to put themselves forward for promotions than men, or that men will put themselves forward when they meet a few of the required criteria whereas women will only put themselves forward if they meet most or all of the criteria, you start to see a worrying trend appearing.

So, whoever you are, perhaps the next time that you make a decision about a new process to introduce, who to promote, or what assessment to introduce, take a minute to think about the possible biases you have and that others may have, that may come into play when making that decision. Are you being truly objective? Are you giving yourself the best chance to make the best possible decision?

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The  (vicious, not enough) sleep cycle

by Ruth Wilden

How much sleep do you really need?  This is a question a lot of people ask regularly!

Most adults need 7-8 hours of sleep per night, but the amount required differs depending on the individual.

With so much work to do, social events to attend, commuting, TV to watch… it all needs to be done in such little time. Sleep seems to be the last priority, especially when there’s the certainty of coffee in the morning.

A book titled ‘Eat, Move, Sleep’ by Tom Rath (see http://www.eatmovesleep.org/) suggests that the most productive and efficient work can be brought about by more sleep. Even an extra 15 or 30 minutes could positively influence the quality of work and how you work the next day.

Missing some sleep can lead to a flow of negative events. These include the quality of your work, skipping exercise, making poor meal decisions or engaging in negative interactions with those around you.

It can feel like a constant struggle trying to alleviate the tell-tale signs when you haven’t  slept long enough. Coffee starts the day, a muffin too if you forgot to pack lunch. Lunch might be relatively healthy or it might be something high in carbs that makes you feel better.

Then there’s the afternoon, the worst part of the day.

Almost zero energy, very little motivation, day dreaming and the urge to just curl up under your desk for a 1 to 4 hour nap.

You think ‘it’ll be fine! I’ll just sleep a bit longer tonight…’ and then you remember you have that committee meeting or netball game or social catch up, which let’s be honest, who knows what time you’ll finish.

By the time you finally make it home, it’s very unlikely that you’ll hop straight into bed after you walk in the door.

There’s the faffing around deciding what on earth you’ll wear tomorrow, somehow eating something for dinner, watching an episode or two of that TV show you’re into at the moment and whatever else you do then… and suddenly you’ve lost a few hours.

You wonder in the morning why am I so tired?! And, so, the cycle begins again.

I don’t believe that anything in this blog is news to anyone. I also don’t believe that people genuinely want to keep up this lifestyle.  It’s definitely difficult, but somehow we’ve ‘got used to it’.

So what can you do?

Here are a few quick tips:

Try fitting in just a few extra minutes of sleep per night. Go to bed  15 minutes or 30 minutes earlier each night. The change should be noticeable after a few days!

Try cutting down on High GI foods. This includes replacing chips or muffins with snacks like celery, almonds or apples. Some people try to shop only in the ‘outside’ aisles of the supermarket meaning that you only shop for ‘fresh’ foods. This makes you avoid the ‘yummy nasties’ in the aisles. If you don’t see it, it won’t tempt you!

Try moving around a bit more each day. Think about how long you spend each day sitting while commuting, working and eating. It will most likely make up most of your day. Attempt small physical feats first, this might just be taking the stairs instead of the lift, taking the longer route to the bathroom or just walking around the block on your lunch break.

 Drink water. Have a jug or bottle of water on your desk and sip it throughout the day. It’s the opposite of avoiding the ‘yummy nasties’. If it’s there you’ll drink it. If water is too boring, try herbal tea. Most are unlikely to contain caffeine (or will have very little) so enjoy the yummy flavour while hydrating yourself.

 Learn to say no. If you’re not up for something and think tomorrow will suffer. Kindly decline. It’s called ‘Proper Selfishness’ and you shouldn’t be ashamed to take care of both your present and future self!In the end it’s all about balance. Take care of yourself and enjoy!

In the end, it is all about balance.  Take care of yourself and enjoy!

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360 assessment: the good, the bad, and the ugly

by Nicole Russom

“Can I give you some feedback?”  It’s always a scary question, as we tend to assume (based on past experience), that the feedback is going to be bad.  This might also be why 360 assessment, where your manager, direct reports, peers and other stakeholders give you anonymous feedback on your work performance, can sometimes be met with the same fears as this question.  Or maybe it’s because it is often used in the wrong way, such as giving feedback to someone that has been underperforming, and hasn’t been given feedback from anyone, and the manager wants to do a 360 to manage them out of the organisation.

When used in the right way, 360 degree assessment is a great way to gather valuable information about an individual’s work performance from a variety of sources with different perspectives.  360 doesn’t replace informal feedback, as this incidental in the moment feedback is critical for ongoing learning and development, but it can be a valuable way to solicit feedback that the individual may not otherwise receive.

If you’re going to do it, you need to do it right, so here are the top tips on how to do just that:

Make sure you are measuring relevant work behaviours. If your organisation has its own competency or capability framework, customise your 360 assessment so that individuals are rated on competencies relevant to your organisation and their role.

Be clear upfront about how the information from the 360 will be used, and make sure that that is the only way it will be used!  This also includes being upfront about who will have access to the results. There is often a fear that 360 results may be used to manage someone out of the organisation, or to assist with a restructure, hence why people can be fearful of being involved in this process. 360 assessment results are best used for development, and this means not only looking at areas of ‘weaknesses’ or areas for development, but also key strengths and how these can be leveraged in the role and in their team.

Keep it anonymous.  360 assessment is used to look at trends in the data and to compare differences between groups to help understand work performance.  Individuals don’t need to know “who said what” as this can lead to singling out the feedback providers and focusing on them as a person, rather than focusing on the behaviours that have been observed.

Include a measure of potential, such as a personality assessment.  This adds depth to the data and the subsequent discussion arising from the results, as it allows you to look at where there is alignment, or non-alignment between an individual’s current level of performance and their potential and what this means in terms of their development.  For example, what does it mean if an individual has really high ratings on the 360 for leadership, but doesn’t actually enjoy leadership as indicated in the personality assessment?  Could this be an overused strength that they don’t enjoy anymore?  Or a learned behaviour that takes more effort for them to sustain?  And what impact does that have on them?  You can see how the answer to these questions will result in different outcomes in terms of the development for that individual.  

Engage a psychologist to give the feedback to the individual.  Sure, the individual can read their own report and draw their own conclusions about what it means for their development, but to get the most out of the report (and to make sure they don’t just focus on the ‘negative’ comments and low ratings as most people tend to do!) having a qualified, experienced party that is external to your organisation can help the individual explore the results more openly and candidly.  We then get the Manager and HR to attend towards the end of the meeting so that the individual can share what they got out of the results (in terms of their key strengths – don’t forget about the strengths! - and areas for development), and what they would like to focus on developing.  Their Manager and HR can then share their views, and agree on a way forward.

Make sure that the individual is kept accountable to the development objectives agreed upon.  Sure, it’s great to look through the results and discuss what it all means, but it’s pointless if nothing happens!  Once the development objectives have been agreed upon (1 or 2 is ideal, any more and it’s likely that nothing will happen!), make a time for HR to follow up with the individual to help track their progress and keep them accountable.

Despite its somewhat bad reputation, 360 assessment when done well, can be extremely valuable.  I’ve only ever had 1 person cry during a 360 feedback discussion, and it wasn’t because they were disappointed with the results, but rather because they were humbled by the amazing comments people wrote about what a great job they were doing.  They really appreciated having their hard work and effort acknowledged by others in this way, and it meant a lot to them that the work they had put in was seen as being of an exceptionally high standard and that they were truly valued by their team.

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Speaking of body language...

by Nicole Russom

As human beings we are social beings, and social interaction and communication is a huge part of our existence.  Have you ever heard that most of our communication is nonverbal? The exact percentage differs depending on the source, however the fact that most communication is not what we say but how we say it, is clearly supported by the research.  Nonverbal communication refers to facial expressions, gestures, posture, and sometimes vocal elements such as tone and pitch.  

Do you notice the body language of others when communicating with them, trying to understand what they really mean?  For example, have you ever thought someone was lying to you because they were looking away or looked up and to the left (or to the right, whatever it is, I’m sorry to tell you it’s a myth anyway! If you want more info on this here’s a great article on the truth about body language). Have you noticed someone’s crossed arms when giving them feedback and assumed they were feeling defensive?  Or have you noticed how uncomfortable you feel when your audience is giving you a blank face that you can’t read?  Or people whose ‘default face’ looks like they hate you?

What about your own body language and the impact that has on how others perceive you?  Have you ever mirrored the body language of the person you’re speaking with (this helps us to create a connection and empathise with them), either consciously or unconsciously?  Found yourself very aware of making sure you have open body language (eg. no arms or legs crossed), made a deliberate attempt to maintain eye contact, or demonstrated positive body language such as nodding and smiling to indicate that you are paying attention?  All with the aim of making the other person feel they are being listened to and that you care about what they are saying?  

I’m sure some of these scenarios (if not a lot of them!) are sounding familiar. But have you ever thought about how your body language makes you feel, and what impact your body language has on your behaviour?  Research has demonstrated that our own body language can have an impact on our mind, and therefore on our behaviour.  Social psychologist Amy Cuddy has given a great TED talk on this very subject, and looked at the impact of power poses vs. powerless poses on people’s behaviour.  What she found was that when people took on a power pose for just 2 minutes prior to an event (see picture below), they were more confident and assertive.

A power pose involves making yourself physically bigger, such as extending the arms up in a V shape, putting your hands on your hips (also known as the Wonder Woman), putting your hands behind your head or uncrossing your legs. Those that took on a low power pose (see picture below) ended up being more stressed.

Low power poses are when we make ourselves physically smaller, including crossing your legs, hunching over, crossing your arms, and the foetal position if you’re having a really bad day.  If we think about the impact of this in the workplace, this could have a great influence in situations where you are being evaluated by others, such as job interviews, presentations, meetings and so on where you need to come across as confident. Just 2 minutes in a power pose in the bathroom or elevator prior to the meeting could make all the difference (just don’t do the power pose during the meeting, that doesn’t seem to work out so well…).

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Networking

by Prue Laurence

A couple of years ago one of my younger colleagues, whojoined the team for a brief secondment from one of our international offices, and I were having a discussion about networks and networking. We were chatting about how powerful a network is and what it takes to build one. My colleague, let’s call him Robby, was fresh faced and eager. He was new not only to Australia and specifically Melbourne but also to the world of consulting. He was full of enthusiasm and impatience, desperately wanting to make a mark for himself but grappling with the idea that building a network takes time, time to build rapport, trust and a mutual understanding of our roles in the network.  The conversations with Robby about building his network continued for his entire secondment and while keen to expand his circle of influence in his secondment in our office, he could never reconcile the sheer time investment that this was going to take.

These conversations came back to me when I met with a potential client recently who was rude and did not allow me the opportunity to build rapport (read the interesting blog here). I have been thinking about my own network. It’s pretty sizable and it has taken me almost 20 years to build. I have also been thinking about how a network is never completed, you can never know enough people or be connected to enough contacts in life, particularly in the corporate world. I like to believe that the vast majority of people in my network respect me as I do them and it is vitally important it is to be professionally respected, even if you don’t connect on a personal level.

I have built my network, and continue to build my network through concerted efforts. Through seeking to get to know people in all areas of my life and allowing them to get to know me. And this takes time. Time to build rapport and trust, time to have good experiences and even bad experiences together.   This is what frustrated me about my recent client experience wherein I was not able to build that rapport nor establish that trust and subsequently no relationship was built and the networks were not expanded.  I was not concerned that we were not to do business together, but I was disappointed that the meeting had been for nothing and the client’s rudeness was unwarranted.  It is commonly known that it takes about 7 seconds to make an impression on others, be that good or bad, and once that impression is made we subconsciously pick up information from others to support that impression.  It is not impossible to turn an initial bad impression around, however it does take a concerted effort to do so.

Networks are powerful entities in their own right, made particularly more so with social media tools that enable you to connect with people all around the world. These days you don’t need to shake someone’s hand to expand your network, though this definitely helps and for me is still the preferred way to establish trust and rapport. The way others perceive and judge you is still done from afar however the ramifications of a poor judgement (and a good judgement!) are now more damaging. A bad reputation or a poor professional experience can spread quickly through a network and the social media world makes this a lot more permanent.  If we liken our networks to sites like Tripadvisor or Urbanspoon, think about how quickly a bad impression of a restaurant or a hotel can damage future patronage of that establishment.  Or if you have poor service at a café you may tell 5 of your friends who tell 5 of theirs and so on. We never know how big and powerful the network is of others.

When you are growing up you are told not to “burn any bridges” or that you have to “earn your stripes” and when you are young and impatient these tired sayings seem outdated and irrelevant. But they are true and I found myself saying these phrases to my young and eager colleague Robby. Networks are not built in a day or a year even, but in a lifetime of hard work and commitment to increasing your sphere of influence. You need to give to get.

So what? I hear you ask. I am sure there are hundreds of blogs out there on networking all with gems you can apply to building your own network. So I’ll leave you with my pearl of wisdom – when building your network be prepared to put in the hard yards, to maintain professionalism even if people are rude as this will reward you in the long run. To be well regarded by your network is very powerful and something that can be leveraged as you may require it. To be considered less than professional or to leave others with a bad impression can move through your network like wildfire and can take years to undo the damage.

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Your work vs your real self

by Ruth Wilden

As we progress through high school, university and postgraduate studies, young graduates like myself find ourselves eventually thrown into the real world of work and internships. This exposes us to  situations that are very new and at times even frightening. The most frightening thing I've found is the transition and integration between my ‘work-self’ and my ‘real-self’, forcing stark comparisons between my "polite and I-don’t-know-what-I’m-doing" self to my "say-what-you-are-really-thinking, self-assured" self.

Over the course of our lives up to the point of being thrust suddenly into the "real world" of work and internships, graduates have come some way to forming ideas about themselves such as who they think they are, what they think they like, and where they think their opinions lie.  We generally know what people think of us in our extended social groups, we know how we like to dress, and generally we have enjoyed a lack of much responsibility beyond handing assignments in on time and turning up to part-time jobs on time.  You learn to ‘get good’ at these things and they’re easy.

Then you pop into the ‘real world’ where you are supposed to know lots about that thing that you got a degree in.  You are supposed to have an opinion on topics you’ve only rote learned for an exam (and then immediately braindumped during an exam), and you need to fit into the workplace culture and ways of doing things fast.

In a world that relies so much on face value and first impressions, the pressure of balancing your work and real selves can cause anxiety and stress which makes one resort back to your polite, self-doubting self. As a young, female intern who is also shorter than your average person and who has been raised to be polite-to-a-fault, there are struggles that come with finding this balance.

One particular situation springs to mind when I think about how my politeness has got me into trouble.

A piece of work had been looked over a number of times just before the end of a contract. On the final day, I was advised that the piece of work wasn’t up to scratch because it had taken a wrong angle and that it needed to be redone and checked in a few weeks. My real self would have stood up for myself and reasoned that the ‘angle’ I was supposed to have taken hadn't been in the brief given to me.  My real self would have asked why I hadn’t been set up for success during the previous meetings. My work self, on the other hand, didn’t say anything. So I was stuck with having to do more work.  More annoyingly, the annoying voice in my head was saying ‘Why didn’t you just say something?’

Now I have decided to apply what I know  to what I don’t know. It’s a lot like matching shoes to an outfit, something you do as your ‘real self’. Most of the time, you want to go for your lovely new heels (especially for short people) that make you feel fantastic (and tall), but you know that when you consider that you need to catch a tram, then transfer to a train and then walk to work, these heels are not quite a good idea. However, it’s a risk and can be exciting! Despite this, you put on your average flat ballet flats knowing that you’ll be comfortable and that they are good for your feet but at the same time knowing that they are never really noticed. It’s also important to remember at times, especially as an intern, that it's about balance. It’s not a great idea to speak up all the time.  So wear your flats sometimes.  At other times, put on your heels so that you’re noticed. This is using balance, as well as both ‘mindfulness’ and ‘desensitisation’. The aim is to be mindful and conscious of when you’re being too polite and not speaking up. Desensitisation involves just putting yourself out there into the situations in which you feel less confident. This means that hopefully over time you should become less anxious about the new and frightening situations and actually become good at them.

It’s all about learning and getting better, like all things in life. So use what you do well (real-self) to improve your ‘work self’ and integrate the two!

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Throw away your assessment centre materials!

by Nicole Russom

Assessment centres are time consuming, and hence, expensive. While they are a highly valuable part of the selection process (when designed and run consistent with best practice) where you get to see firsthand the behaviours of candidates, anyone that has been involved in assessment centres knows that there is a lot of work behind the scenes that goes into making them run smoothly and effectively.  From carefully planning the logistics of the day (rooms, candidate schedules, assessor schedules) to printing and collating all of the required materials (candidate handouts, assessor guides, scoring sheets, interview guides, role play guidelines), through to collecting all of the scores from the different assessors at the end of the assessment centre and working through the wash up/integration session to make decisions, phew!  It makes for a lot of work!

With all of the advancements in technology that we have in HR today, it’s not surprising that assessment centres are now taking the next step and going online.  This means no more paper, no more printing, and a more streamlined and efficient process when it comes to collating scores.  In our webinar earlier this week on enAC (enabling Assessment Centres), our online assessment centre tool, 43% of our webinar attendees indicated that they printed more than 60 pages per assessment centre, demonstrating that going online offers significant, cost, time, and environmental savings.  Furthermore, with 55% of attendees listing innovation as the most important value for their organisation, utilising the latest innovative technology also sends a strong message to candidates about the values of your organisation and how these values are lived every day.

So how does enAC work?  The software allows you to input the framework of your assessment centre (competencies, activities, timing, room availability, assessor details and so on), and even has an automatic scheduler that you can use to schedule each assessment centre, making the logistical planning of an assessment centre much easier. On the day of the assessment centre, enAC is used by assessors, facilitators and administrators to log in and access their schedule for the day as well as soft copies of any relevant documents (eg. assessor guides/briefing documents, candidate CVs and psychometric reports) either on a tablet or laptop.  Consistent with best practice assessment centres, assessors can then observe and take notes on candidates during activities or interviews, and following the activity score candidates based on key competencies and behavioural indicators.  At the end of the assessment centre, the scores can be viewed in the system and discussed during the integration session, or exported to an Excel file.

To see enAC for yourself, you can check out the recording of the webinar here.  Or feel free to get in touch with us to arrange your own live demo to see how it could improve and innovate your assessment centres.

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You had me at hello

by Prue Laurence

Yesterday I had a new business client meeting.

For the last (almost) 20 years I have had hundreds, if not thousands of client meetings and not many stand out in my memory, mostly because they go according to plan, everyone stays happy and, ideally, relationships are built and networks expanded.  This was not one of those meetings. I believe it will be one that I will remember in the next 20 years.

As a consultant a lot of the success of my work comes from the quality and depth of my relationships. As the saying goes, “all things being equal, people like to do business with people that they like. All things not being equal, people still like to do business with people that they like”. Establishing rapport and building a strong basis of trust is key for successful relationships as a consultant. When meeting with clients, both current and new, the first thing I always do is build rapport. At the end of the day we are both people, we both have lives outside of work, we both bring our own unique perspectives and personalities to the meeting. It is important for me to continue to build that trust, to continue to get the client to ‘like me’. Initiating rapport didn’t always come naturally to me, it was a skill I had to learn, and still continue to hone every day. Some people see it as making ‘small talk’ and deride this practice as time wasting or distracting from the real business at hand.  But small talk is where relationships are started, it’s about getting to know the person behind the professional mask and appreciating that we are all more than the sum of our parts.

When rapport is built successfully this enables clarity in communication, a shared understanding of purpose and a sense of inclusion.  Without rapport, when issues arise or misunderstandings ensue they are harder to resolve and can potentially impact the relationship overall. As people we thrive on social contact and are often energised by communicating with others who share our perspectives, and with whom we have something in common. Without rapport, meetings with clients and particularly new clients can be awkward, stressful and may not achieve the original objectives of doing business together

So back to my meeting yesterday. I arrive in a timely manner, with my rapport topics ready (the client had recently returned from an exciting holiday) keen to establish a relationship and maybe, potentially do some business together. After being taken from Reception to a small windowless room I wait. And wait. And wait. Fourteen minutes later the client comes in. During this wait my impression of their professionalism is waning slightly. Sure, we can’t always be on time for every meeting, but letting me know there would be a wait would have been ideal.  And then it got better. The client burst into the room with a quick apology before sitting down in front of me (no formal introduction was offered, no hands were shaken), and letting me know that she had “hated” the product demo I had sent her last week.  No rapport was built and no trust was established and the first thing she says is how much she dislikes what I was there to talk about. Now don’t get me wrong, everyone is entitled to their opinion, and if they don’t like what we have, then they don’t like it.

Taken aback by this opening to the meeting, my rapport topics flew out the window (of the windowless room). I was on the back foot, tasked with having to convince the client to see my point of view.  It was an uphill battle that I have to admit I wasn’t prepared to complete. Without the basis of rapport and trust I couldn’t rely on my sense of humour (that is at times cheeky) to convince her to see another point of view. Her mind was made up before she came (late) to the meeting.

The meeting went for 10 excruciating minutes before I called it to an end saying I didn’t want to waste any more of her (my) time if she could not be convinced. We said our goodbyes, no hands were shaken again, no declarations of “nice to meet you” were made and I left. And I left annoyed. Annoyed that I wasn’t given the chance to build rapport and that without that trust there was no way a relationship could be built. Annoyed that I had let her tardiness and initial comment stop me from building rapport in the way I had wanted to enable me to get the meeting back onto my agenda.

So what’s my learning from this? Don’t let people derail you. When faced with behaviour from someone that doesn’t follow the social script don’t let that distract you from the importance of building rapport, establishing trust and conducting meetings on your terms. Networks are powerful entities and bad impressions of people can filter throughout a network very quickly.

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Just Another Average Blog

By Nicole Russom

Average.  When you read ‘average’ in the title of this blog, what sorts of words, feelings and images did it invoke up for you?  Typical?  Common?  Ordinary?  Nothing special?  Ok? Reasonable?  Tolerable?  Meh?  (I’ve been told that’s not a word, but as a Gen Y, I’m going to use a bit of creative licence here!)

If you’re into maths, perhaps you thought of average in the mathematical sense – as the sum of a list of numbers divided by how many numbers there are.

And while average does mean all of these things, it often is interpreted as having negative connotations.  For example, if you describe your day as average, it means it was just a typical day, nothing special, and therefore not necessarily good, right?  I mean, no one likes to be described as average when it comes to their looks do they?!

If you’re into psychology (like me!), then average means typical, but not in a negative way.  It just means that you’re the same as most other people.  When studying human behaviour, traits and abilities, we measure them by comparing them to a group of other people (a norm group).  If you are average when compared to this group, it means that you are similar to most other people with respect to that behaviour/trait/ability, which isn’t actually a bad thing!

If you’re not into maths or stats, please don’t freak out at the graph below, just try to go with me on this.  The comparison group (norm group) that we use for psychometric assessments can be plotted on a graph such as the below, known as a normative (or bell) curve.  What this shows us is that when compared to the other ranges (identified by letters), the majority of people (close to 40%) will end up in the average range (section C in the graph below, between the 31st and 69th percentiles), when compared to the far below average (section E, 10%), below average (section D, 20%), above average (section B, 20%) and far above average (section A, 10%).

Ok great.  So, what does that actually mean?  Let’s have a look at an example of someone, let’s call her Sam Sample, who scored in the average range on a verbal reasoning assessment when compared to managers. 

What’s even more important than her average score is what this actually means in terms of Sam’s on the job performance.  That’s the whole reason you got her to do the test, right?  With regard to her verbal ability, a score in the average range means that Sam is likely to have a clear, intelligible communication style, and she can be expected to produce good quality verbal and written communications.  When she is working with verbal information that is in a format she is familiar with, she should be very comfortable and confident analysing and understanding such data.  If she is however working with information that is in a format she is not as familiar with, it may take her a little time initially to understand the information before she can then analyse it in more depth.  Indeed, psychologists tend to describe the average range as the general level required for competence in relation to that ability for the role level they are being compared to (in this case, managers).

Our assessments also provide an indication of Sam’s processing style, and specify whether she completed the test very quickly and less accurately, or whether she completed the test more slowly and very accurately.  This gives you further information on what Sam’s on the job performance is going to be like – when she’s working with new information and/or under time pressure will she rush through her tasks and be less accurate?  Or will she take her time and be more accurate?  And what style is better suited to the role?

Now isn’t that more useful and meaningful than just focusing on her ‘average’ result?

So let’s change our use of average back to what it should be – typical, usual, normal.  Not bad, poor, inferior.  And let’s go back to focusing on what these scores really mean on the job.

Or, should we be changing the language we use to describe assessment results?  What do you think?

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On competently assessing skills and potential

by Nicole Russom

For someone that works in assessment and selection, competencies (or capabilities as many organisations seem to refer to them now) are part of our everyday language, they are the foundation for all that we do.  But this can easily be seen as psych babble/jargon to anyone that doesn’t work in the area!

So what do competencies refer to?  And how are they used?

Competencies are used as ‘hooks’ on which we can ‘hang’ similar types of behaviour.  They consist of:

A name/label;

A definition; and

Key behaviours.

For example, let’s look at the competency of Teamwork.

Name/Label: Teamwork

Definition: refers to the ability to work effectively through collaboration and co-operation as a member of a team to achieve a common goal.  Actively contributes to building positive relationships.

Key Behaviours:

Positive Behavioural Indicators

Openly encourages the input and sharing of information, knowledge and expertise with other team members and co-workers

Encourages, engages and actively builds trust and respect amongst team members

Appropriately gives, and is open to feedback from individuals/group

Actively removes obstacles to team effectiveness

Asks for assistance from others when required

Offers help to fellow team members when required

Takes into consideration the feelings and emotions of others

Negative Behavioural Indicators

Misses opportunities to work in synergy with others

Shows minimal or no respect for others

Misses opportunities to seek the input from others

Is ineffective in providing constructive feedback

Misses opportunities to remove obstacles to team effectiveness

Does not actively participate in team

Belittles team processes

Is overly controlling of the team

Responds in a critical but not constructive manner

Misses opportunities to consider the feelings of others

Typically, a role would have a number of key competencies that have been identified through careful job analysis as being critical to success in that role.  For example, the key competencies for a customer service role may be communication, customer focus, problem solving, resilience and planning and organising. 

In order to determine whether someone is a good fit for a role, when they go through an interview, assessment centre, or psychometric assessment, we are always looking at the key competencies of that role in each of those selection stages and scoring each candidate against key competencies based on their responses, behaviours and preferences shown in each of the selection stages.

So why do we use competencies?  Maybe this is easier to answer by looking at what would happen if we didn’t use competencies.

If you didn’t use competencies how would you:

1)      Know what to look for in each of the selection stages? and

2)      Know what you are basing your scores on?

I once had a client ask me if they could just give graduates in an assessment centre one score for an entire team activity (rather than 4 scores based on the 4 competencies the activity was designed to assess). As I explained to the client, the problem with this is that you lose touch with what you are actually scoring candidates on.  What does a score out of 4 for the team activity mean?  What does it say the candidate is good at?  Time management?  Teamwork?  Communication?  Or just one or two of those competencies?  Or just that you liked them and got a good feel about them based on nothing other than your gut instincts?

Without competencies, the ratings and therefore decisions we make about candidates are not defensible.  When you do not have a solid foundation, the entire house (in this case, the selection process) can fall down.

Competencies also allow you to look at a candidate’s transferable skills and potential.  Whilst they may not have the experience you’re after, they may have demonstrated the competency in another job or situation – which is especially salient for graduates, many of whom may not yet have worked full time.

Does your organisation have a set of competencies or capabilities that have been mapped to different roles?  How effectively do you utilise a competency framework in your selection and development processes?

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Stress Less: National Psychology Week

by Nicole Russom

At cut-e, we are psychologists that specialise in psychometric and behavioural assessment, meaning that our practice is focused on psychology in the workplace and covers the so-called realm of ‘normal’ psychology, as opposed to ‘abnormal’ or clinical psychology.  That’s why this year’s theme for National Psychology Week (#NPW2014) particularly appeals to us - focusing on reducing stress and increasing wellbeing.  Running from the 9th - 15th November, National Psychology Week aims to “increase public awareness of how psychology can help people and communities lead healthier, happier and more meaningful lives.” This year’s focus is especially pertinent to the workplace which is where a lot of people experience stress.  Given how many hours the typical person spends at work each week, this is not surprising!

Indeed, compared with previous years, the APS Stress and Wellbeing in Australia survey found that Australians are experiencing lower job satisfaction and work life balance than previous years.  Furthermore, our reported stress levels have been higher during the past couple of years compared to 2012 and 2011, and more than 40% of respondents indicated that workplace issues were a source of stress for them.

If you stress a lot, it’s not something you just have to put up with.  The good news is that you can build your resilience to stress by using some simple techniques:

Take breaks - don’t have lunch at your desk. Get outside, take a walk.  A change of scenery and moving around (even inside if the weather is bad) can really help you to reenergise and refocus, possibly even get a different perspective on what you were stressing about.

Take time out for you – meditate, read, listen to music, whatever does it for you.  I have a long commute to work, so really enjoy reading on the train as a way to unwind after work.  Schedule your ‘me time’ if you need to!

Don’t bottle it up – talk about it with trusted colleagues, friends, family.  Having a good social support network is so important.  And don’t be afraid to ask for help.  You don’t have to be a superhero - you’re human just like the rest of us!

Try to see difficult events that could be stressful as challenges that will help you to develop and grow as a person and in your career.  Research has found that taking on a growth mindset in this way can help you to be more successful as well!

Challenge negative self talk.  Do you ever tell yourself: “I’m too busy,” “I can’t do this,” or “I can’t cope?”  What impact does that have on you?  Try instead: “I’ve done this before,” “It’s manageable,” or “I can cope.”

For more tips on managing stress, check out this infographic and our blog on making stress work for you. 

What strategies or techniques help you to manage your stress?  We’d love to hear what works for you, if you’d like to share just add a comment below.

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Speaking from (candidate) experience

by Nicole Russom

Well it was another big few days at the Australian Association of Graduate Employers (AAGE) Conference in this year. For the cut-e Australia team, it was great to get our brand out there, catch up with old friends and to make some new ones!

For us, the AAGE is also about finding out about current graduate trends, particularly in the area of assessment. So after attending a few sessions over the 2 days that I was there, here are my key takeaways…

Candidate experience is extremely important. When it comes to graduate recruitment, candidates are assessing your organisation just as much as you are assessing them! As we all know, graduates apply to many different organisations, so attraction doesn’t stop when they’ve applied, it continues throughout the assessment process. Indeed, assessment should be part of your attraction strategy, not a separate process.

Candidates want assessments to be engaging – fun, short, interesting, and consistent with your values. They want to be able to learn more about your organisation and what you stand for, so that they can work out which organisation is the best fit for them. And as with everything, actions speak louder than words. You can tell them all you want about being an innovative organisation, but are you showing your innovation through your assessment process? If you’re still doing phone screens rather than video interviews, and are using outdated, clunky online assessments, perhaps you should consider what message this sends to your candidates.

Gamification is one way to make assessments more engaging and fun for candidates, and has definitely been one of the hot topics in assessment over the past couple of years. They’re fun, engaging, and give candidates a positive experience. But getting a customised assessment game for your organisation can be very expensive, hence why there are a number of off the shelf options available.

One innovative way to get cost effective customised gamification for your organisation is through using a realistic job preview (RJP). This is an optional, anonymous quiz that prospective graduates can complete prior to applying for the position. As a pre-application assessment, graduates can complete it as many times as they want to get a better understanding of the role and your organisation. Graduates are presented with a scenario they are likely to be in on the job, and presented with three different possible responses. By embracing elements of gamification such as feedback and reward, the RJP provides graduates with insight into whether they are a good fit for the role, and are encouraged to apply if they select the best fit responses. Ok great. So why would you use an RJP rather than a game?

• It’s customised! So it can reflect your organisation, the role, and your values, giving candidates a better understanding of what you’re all about, and what they could be doing on the job.

• You get more bang for your buck. We know you have tight budgets and you are always being pressured to get more for less. An RJP is a great way to get less applications overall, and those that you do receive are better suited to your role, saving you time and money. And as this is a first step in the process, you’re being proactive in ensuring you get better fit candidates from the outset.

• Candidates get to determine how their data is used. As an anonymous pre-application assessment, based on the feedback they receive candidates decide if they want to proceed with applying or not, rather than the organisation deciding for them.

• Candidates can see the relevance of the RJP to the role, as it describes exactly what they’ll be doing on the job. Assessment games may be fun, but candidates don’t always understand what they’re being assessed on and how it is relevant to the job.

So it all comes down to the experience that you want to give to your candidates. Think about your assessment process, and how it represents your organisation. Is it engaging for candidates? Do they get to understand your organisation and what you’re all about? Is your assessment process part of your attraction strategy? What could you be doing differently to make sure that it is?

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Alert not alarmed

by Rod Whitfield

For all his foibles and issues, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd got this right: his attitude towards and message to the public about terrorism…

‘Be alert but not alarmed’.

A perfect message, for the circumstances. Remain alert, keep your eyes open, have ‘an eye for trouble’, as my Dad used to say. But go about your daily life and don’t live in fear of it, don’t live your life by it.

Terrorism is real, very real. And it isn’t going anywhere until human beings can sort out their religious, political and ideological differences. Until everyone on the planet, not just a few enlightened people or groups here and there, wake up and realise that we all have our differences, our beliefs, our own versions of spirituality, attitudes, skin colour, sexual orientation and so forth, and learn to be more accepting of these differences. 

And until we all realise that, in being different, we are actually all the same. We all breathe the same air, we all need food and water to survive, most of us just want to be happy and carefree. Most of us enjoy music or other forms or art, sport of whatever code you prefer and all other things that human beings enjoy. Regardless of what colour your skin is, what you believe in in a spiritual sense, what gender of person you are attracted to.

Until we all ‘learn to get along’.

It seems a simple enough concept, an idea that most people of even limited intelligence can get their head around. I’m not better than you just because you were born with different coloured skin. You’re not better than me because you have more money than me. At the end of the day we are equal, we are human, and seven billion plus of us live side by side, sharing this, the only planet we have.

However, it seems a forlorn hope, a hopeless concept. Wars, terrorism and prejudice of all kinds have all been around as long as humans have, and there seems to be no end in sight. In fact, in some ways, it seems to be getting worse.

At this moment, as far as terrorism is concerned, it’s just a matter of how we, as a people deal with it. Our leaders, law enforcement, and everyday people. Unfortunately, our current government seems to have the concept and the message completely the wrong way around. Their message appears to be:

‘Be alarmed but not alert’.

Stay blind, stay ill-informed. Swallow whatever the mainstream media feeds you and panic. Live in fear of terrorists.

Obviously, if you’re out in a public place and you see someone with explosives strapped to them, or a masked individual running around at night with a sharp weapon seemingly bent on beheading someone, or something of that ilk, that will be a time to be alarmed. But in general, in everyday life, Mr Rudd had it exactly right.

You can apply this concept to other life situations, especially ones that have a potential for danger and injury attached to them. Like driving a car, for example. Remain alert at all times whilst driving, but remain in control. You have a far better chance of staying alive and healthy.

You can also apply it to things on a greater scale as well. Like major world events, events that shaped our lives and changed the course of world history. And what was behind them.

‘Conspiracy theories’, some may say. People’s attitudes towards such things have me scratching my head at times.

In keeping with the terrorism motif, take September 11 for example. I have seen much compelling evidence to suggest that it was indeed an ‘inside job’. Several documentaries I’ve seen on the subject have been extremely convincing, and seriously got me thinking.

However, simply watching a few documentary movies does not arm me with all the facts. Unless you actually have all the facts and evidence at your disposal, you cannot make a fully informed judgement on such matters. And let’s face it, who does have all the facts? Very few people on the planet.

There’s another saying that I hold quite dear, and that is ‘be informed, not just opinionated’.

Virtually no one on earth can sit there and state with absolute surety that September 11 was definitely an inside job, and nobody can state with absolute conviction that it wasn’t. The claims of anyone who does must be taken with the tiniest possible grain of salt.

Of course this can be applied to any of these types of events: the moon landing, JFK's assassination, the illuminati/zeitgeist/new world order, and so forth.

In fact I think the only thing that we can say for certain is that things are very rarely exactly what they seem.  The often simplistic story we are told, especially by the mainstream media, is not the full story. There is more to these things than meets the eye. Much more.

So with these things in mind, we come back to the original concept: ‘be alert but not alarmed’. Be aware to the fact that things are not as they seem, that there is more to a story than what we are being told. Question everything, accept nothing.

Do your own research, don’t blindly accept what the 6pm news on commercial television told you, or what you read in the daily papers. It will regularly be a very watered down version of events, withhold many facts and vital information, and in many cases, simply be downright wrong. And, possibly worst of all, it will be serving a particular political ideology or party.

The mainstream Australian media has become increasingly blatant and brazen on this latter point.

However, on the flip side of the coin, don’t become obsessed with conspiracy theories and questioning everything that goes on, as some people have done. Live your life, go out, eat dinner, watch your favourite football side, go to the movies, enjoy your holidays/weekends away, go to the beach. Enjoy everything that life has to offer.

Just do so with your eyes and your mind wide open.