So I took this quiz here to find my learning style. Turns out, I'm a concrete random thinker. Just barely.

According to this, as a concrete random thinker, I'm supposed to be an experimenter. I can dig that. I do like to run off with my what-ifs. You folks should see my blog posts before I edit the crap out of them. I go off on every tangent conceivable. Some people think in circles, others in straight lines- I've been told I think in webs. When I tell a joke or funny story, you'll get a punchline, a setup, and any other information that happens to pop up, and not always in that order. (Not very funny, at least not in the sense that I meant for it to be.) That's why I try to limit myself to one-liners. It's hard to stray from that, but don't put it past me!

There I go again. Tangent. Anyways. The biggest challenge for me at Dev Bootcamp so far has been pairing. Seriously, I do prefer working alone, so I can juggle the logic around in my head, like mulling a fine wine. Mmmmm... Logic... Anyways, that struggle does seem to be related to my thinking style, since Dr. Gregorc's site states that concrete random thinkers do best when allowed to work on a problem alone, and on top of that, that they have difficulty explaining their answers to others.

This is also true. Sometimes I go through four or five intuitive steps in my head really quickly, and I have trouble explaining those steps verbally, because they're intuitive! It's like trying to explain 1+1 = 2, or why there are 360 degrees in a square. I can go through the formulas and all, but if you don't understand math or geometry, it's going to be really difficult for me to get through to you.

When it came time to pair, it was difficult for me to step up. Luckily, I have extremely awesome people in my cohort who make it easier to relate to and approach them. So far, they also seem really cool with the fact that I struggle with not taking over the session BECAUSE MY WAY IS BETTER! Of course, my way is not always better. It can't possibly be, I'm only human. Log in my eye and all that. So I need to fight that urge to control every solution.

So that's what I get to work on to improve and succeed here. I need to fight the impulse to take over sessions and to let other people take a shot at the logic. And I need to learn to work with other people more comfortably. Basically, I need to learn to share and play well with others. (Like a three year old. In pre-school.)

As for a plan of action, I'm kind of already doing it. I'm stepping out of my comfort zone and volunteering for pairing sessions, even without waiting until the last second. I'm biting my lip at every tiny error I see and I try to allow my buddy to catch it before it's too late. Of course, I don't succeed every time, and my awesome cohorts seem to have been cool with it so far, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time before they're fed up with me. If I don't change, that is.

Change is a tricky thing. I used to think people can't change, that they'd just fool themselves for a little bit and then go right back to normal. Now, I'm not so sure. I've already noticed that it is getting easier and easier each time I pair, so I'd say there's a good chance I'll make it through this without coming off as a total control freak hermit.

So maybe it's not the fact that people can't change, but more the fact that most people don't change. Maybe like me, they don't know that they can.

And if it doesn't work out, there's always pre-school.