how to work with me

Well, besides my LinkedIn profile, which describes some of my experience, skills, abilities and so forth, what should you know about the soft skills of Davin Greenwell if you happen to find yourself working with him?

Well, I am him, so I’ll share some insight on that, based on a series of tests I took to determine my personality / talents etc. One of the tests is about strengths (why work all the time on weaknesses when you can, instead, leverage what you excel at?) and another is personality based (MBTI). You can use this information to figure out how to interact or collaborate best with me (hi boss), judge me, or otherwise attempt to manipulate me in some manner.

Strengths

These are themed by Gallup and the test is called StrengthsFinder; you can also see the full list of strength themes. As far as I know, there’s no free version of this test, so there is no link to one here.

  • Individualization
    People who are especially talented in the Individualization theme are intrigued with the unique qualities of each person. They have a gift for figuring out how people who are different can work together productively.
  • Futuristic
    People who are especially talented in the Futuristic theme are inspired by the future and what could be. They inspire others with their visions of the future.
  • Activator
    People who are especially talented in the Activator theme can make things happen by turning thoughts into action. They are often impatient.
  • Learner
    People who are especially talented in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them.
  • Command
    People who are especially talented in the Command theme have presence. They can take control of a situation and make decisions.

Anyone who has worked with me will not be surprised by any of the above.

Myers Briggs Type Indicator

The MBTI (Myers Briggs Type Indicator) test was first introduced to me as “a way for people to put other people into little boxes.” There are four dichotomies of personality in this test with a range in each; at the end of the test, you get four letters that describe your personality. For those of you keeping track at home, that is 16 possible combinations of letters, or 16 possible personality types.

So, my results (after multiple tests) are:

  • E (Extraverted)
  • N (iNtuitive)
  • F (Feeling)
  • P (Perceiving)

Some call the ENFP “champion,” “inspirer,” or other nicknames, which are no doubt chosen to make the test-taker feel good about taking the test and spread it to their friends. Nonsense aside, here’s a snippet of what that term approximately means:

“Like the other Idealists, Champions are rather rare, say three or four percent of the population, but even more than the others they consider intense emotional experiences as being vital to a full life. Champions have a wide range and variety of emotions, and a great passion for novelty. They see life as an exciting drama, pregnant with possibilities for both good and evil, and they want to experience all the meaningful events and fascinating people in the world. The most outgoing of the Idealists, Champions often can’t wait to tell others of their extraordinary experiences. Champions can be tireless in talking with others, like fountains that bubble and splash, spilling over their own words to get it all out. And usually this is not simple storytelling; Champions often speak (or write) in the hope of revealing some truth about human experience, or of motivating others with their powerful convictions.” – Dr. David Keirsey

You can read the full ENFP description on Keirsey’s site and then analyze me. It is somewhat accurate.

Some psychologist friends of mine think this test is mostly rubbish, so perhaps keep that in mind. Also, if you get one letter or another, that does not mean you are just that one thing, rather you may sway in that direction most of the time. For example: I have introverted times, which nobody believes happen because they don’t see me (imagine that) when I am spending time by myself. Anyway, there are a few free versions of this test online; here is the MBTI test I’ve been using the last several years.

topographic vector map of BC

BC_map_davingreenwell

I keep on making these and then switching computers every few years and losing them, so I’m putting it here. The above file is what it looks like, but it’s a .PNG; ignore it. Here is a link to the BC vector map in AI (Adobe Illustrator) format. If you need to know what an Illustrator file is, this blog post isn’t for you.

I can’t guarantee the accuracy of the elevations but this will generally do for presentations / report covers etc. It is based on a JPG I found through a Google image search, but this will reproduce far better if you are working in Illustrator or InDesign. If you need a more sciencey or accurate topographic map, I recommend you go to GeoBC.

If you are a topography nerd, you should view this list of North American ultras. There are some sweet prominences in there, many of which are in B.C.

to fly

Another bit from The Experiment.

This is just an exercise in symbolism; the focus is on the barrier but the bulk of the image is an out of focus plane in flight. So that could mean a lot of things, really whatever you want. Obviously there are different barriers for different people to travel – the image of a plane as freedom by itself is a dream and woefully incomplete.

magnetic minds

The blueprint for how TEDxVictoria currently exists came from these three – Dylan, John and Carol-Lynne. I am fortunate to have worked with them quite a bit on TEDxVictoria in the past.

You should check out the three of them, they’re actually very active in their own ways:

  • Dylan is the chief organizer of TEDxVictoria and just went to TEDActive – check out his blog as linked – he has written extensively about it and a lot of other stuff too. He has lent me two dystopian future scifi novels that I am reading right now.
  • Carol-Lynne has a lot of stuff going on.  I think the only way to keep up with it all is her 11k+ tweets. She hasn’t lent me any books.
  • John has tremendous business and technology  sense and has started up something called Coinforest. He’s lent me a book called “What Technology Wants” and I haven’t started it yet, because Dylan lent me two books that I haven’t finished yet.

experiment_john
John

experiment_carollynne
Carol-Lynne

spiderwebbing

experiment_spiderweb2

So far, I’ve mostly been posting parts of the experiment that don’t involve people. I don’t know why that is the case, but it’s what I’ve been gravitating to in my selection so far. Maybe it’s because I am so used to people photos by way of social networks, and this feels different – closer to why I do photography.

But it’d be a mistake to say I don’t love taking photos of people – I do. I think I may just save those photos a little while longer.

This is a couple different angles of some spider webbing I found at Gowlland Tod.