Skip to main content

THE SILENT COST OF ASSUMPTIONS

After my first SIWES presentation, I learnt a vital lesson: confirmation gives better confidence than standing to defend what you only assume. So here’s the tea.
Two weeks before the SIWES interns had their presentations, we were given the opportunity to watch two NYSC interns present. It was beautiful and impactful. After the presentation, I requested the document format from my supervisor, and he sent it to me.
About a week before our own presentation, the HR in charge of training sent a document format for us to use as a guideline. The format was completely different from what my supervisor had sent, but I brushed it aside. I mean… it didn’t look like what the corps members used for their presentation.
The day of the presentation came, and I used the format my supervisor sent. I wasn’t the only one who made this mistake. Others also used the same format because it looked similar to what we had seen earlier.
Midway into my presentation, the company manager asked, “Is this the format that was given to you?” Honestly, at that point, I was lost. The confusion was clearly written on my face, because I hadn’t taken the time to properly compare both formats and notice how different they actually were. But I was asked to finish my presentation.
After all the SIWES interns had presented, the only corps member presenting with us that day stood up and used the format sent by HR.
When we were all done, the manager asked why we didn’t use the provided format. I tried to explain, but most of what I said started with “I thought…” along with several reasons to justify my actions.
In the end, the corps member’s presentation was rated higher than ours. It wasn’t because his work was more complex or better. It was simply because he paid attention to detail.
Ours was even more tasking and time consuming, but all that effort wasn’t recognized because it was built on assumptions.
I learnt a major lesson that day: confidence built on assumptions will always fail where clarity would have succeeded.

I hope this gave you a lesson or two to take with you 😊.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR

I didn't fully understand this phrase "be careful what you ask for" till it happened to me. Preparing for my SIWES (Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme), I wanted a good place. An environment where I could learn and grow not just work... I was so sure that was what I wanted. I applied to various offices, checked for placements online, made enquiries from family and friends, even wrote an exam (on top SIWES 😂) and sent a lot of mails.  I eventually got a call to resume work as I had been accepted. Getting there, I realized they didn't directly offer the service I wanted to gain practical experience in, but they offered something similar which is still a plus. Now, this is where it began. Work officially started and this was nothing like what I planned or asked for. In the first week of resumption all SIWES interns were given a study plan that included courses we were expected to take within a period of time... yep, we had deadlines to meet. Plus, we still had ...
2 comments
Read more

LETTING GO

Happy new year everyone. I hope this write up adds to us in this new year. According to the vocapture dictionary, an habit is an action performed repeatedly and automatically usually without awareness. I would say that an habit is an action that is cultivate gradually. As human beings, we can discern from what is right and wrong. With this ability to discern, we choose to cultivate either good or bad habits. The cultivation of these habits will determine if the products will ad to your life positively or negatively and this is where our inner man comes to play and directs our actions. It is left to us to pick an action between what is wrong and what is right. The cultivation of bad habits often leads to grevious consequences. I want to point out something here; the cultivation of bad habit is easy but turning a new leaf is going to be difficult and if not careful, it could develop into an addiction> In some cases, their addiction leaves a stigma in their lives forever. To all those ...
Post a Comment
Read more

BENEFITS OF GARLIC

There are various benefits of garlic, which some will be listed here: 1. Boost immunity:  In test tubes,  garlic  appears to kill cancer cells, and studies involving people show some of the same outcomes. According to the Iowa Women’s Health Study, involving 41,000 middle-aged women, those who routinely ate garlic, fruits and vegetables had a 35 percent lower colon cancer risk. Benefits came from raw and cooked garlic – not supplements. 2. Work as an anti-inflammatory:  Research  has shown that garlic oil works as an anti-inflammatory. So, if you have sore and inflamed joints or muscles, rub them with the oil. 3. Improve cardiovascular health:  The verdict is still out on whether garlic improves your cholesterol levels, but research does indicate it can have a positive impact on your arteries and  blood pressure . Investigators believe red blood cells turn the sulfur in garlic into hydrogen sulfide gas that expands our blood vessels, making ...
Post a Comment
Read more