Who do you trust........

Trust No One! You can thank me for this advice later.

You might be wondering why I am discussing trust at midnight. Well, Melissa questioned my definition of the "A" in KSAs. She indicated that she was taught in college that it stands for abilities and I said attitudes. The authority on KSAs in instructional design, the IBSTPI sates the "A" stands for attitudes. They wrote the original set of competencies in 1986 and that is one reason that I am going with their meaning. Another is that I have done much reading on the topic and I have found that, much like anything, depending upon who you read and the point they are trying to make, the "A" can stand for abilities or attitudes. Finally answer, I am writing my dissertation, I can most definitely back up what I am saying, so attitudes it is.

For those of you that could care less about instructional design, you do not know what you are missing but that is neither here nor there, the bigger idea here is: How old were we before we realized that simply because someone is an "authority" on a topic, they can be wrong too. I know, several of you are thinking, I have never trusted anyone. Well, good for you and just so you know, I sense a bit of paranoia and conspiracy theory in your background-heee!

I, on the other hand, was raised to not question people in authority that are older than me. I am 40 and I still have a problem questioning those that are older than me that hold a position of authority in my life. It is very interesting, because often I am left in disbelief over things that older people will say or do and I find myself thinking, geez, you are older than me, you should know better! However, I know that is not true because age is definitely no indication of a person's level of intelligence. It is just interesting how something that was drilled in my head from birth through the age of 9 was so firmly imprinted. However, I cannot remember anything that I read before, well, NOW!

I also find it interesting that certain things we choose (consciously or subconsciously) to believe, hook, line, and sinker. I mean, there are things that people will say, and we are like, buddy you are totally incorrect or we will wonder if they are right and we will go seek verification. Then there are things that people will say, and we think, yep buddy you are sooo right and we never seek any verification. Only to later find out that the person had no clue what they were talking about. I know that part of it is how we feel about the person. Another component is that what the person tells us has to jive (ha @ that word) with what we already know or believe. A lot of social psychology and psychology stuff in general.

This “who do you trust” discussion is most prominent when we look at the presidential candidates. Sure I support Obama (I cannot get on the bridge to no where), but do I believe what he says? Nope. Not everything. Yes, I know he is a politician but that is only a part of it. Important to me is that I see Oman as being in a job interview (the longest job interview he will ever undergo) and we all know that we say all kinds of things in interviews. I will even give Mrs. Bridge to No Where (Palin) a moment. How many times have we walked out of an interview and thought, what the hell did I say “X” for. I mean true, she surely must say that 50 times a day, but we all have had those moments.

Alright, back on my topic. Prior to going to an interview, we research the company, call our friend that “used to work there”, and brush up on the standard interview questions. So, Oman has done that to the 10000th degree. Then, we get the call, Yippee, yet again the dream job has been acquired (really it is not, it is just the next thing on the list of things to accomplish). So, we move our crap in, dress real nice the first few months, you know, get a feel for the environment. Then as time progresses, there are days that we forget this was our “dream job” there are days where we do not give 100 percent for whatever reason. We are all human.

So, do I believe that Oman will do everything he says, well, he does have a 10 year plan and his term is only 4 years (does this bother anyone but me). Hell NO he will never do all that he says because he has no idea what is coming considering the current state of the economy. So, he has “read the website of his perspective employer and he has focused his interview responses in that direction. However, what actually happens when he is on the job is yet to be determined. He will have some slacker days.

So, there is my stream of consciousness on Trust. Hope you enjoyed it.

Soon, I shall provide a short update on my trip….Tuesday; I will be a little lighter in my bank account because the final payment will be billed. I want to go to Spain. Yes, I am going to get to Ecuador first then I will plan the “next trip” but you should look for me to announce a Spain trip for late 2009. Oh, I saw the piece of luggage that I want at Macy’s –Samsonite, garment bag of the “spinner” variety. However, it was $250 and I refuse to spend that on a piece of luggage – Ebay, here I come.

Nite all!