The Human Initiative

SITUATIONAL JUDGEMENT TEST

Imagine that you are taking part in a month-long residential study designed to simulate life in an off-world environment.

Participants in the study have been divided into four divisions. Although the community lives and works together as a whole, each division is responsible for a specific set of mission responsibilities.

1. Research division: research, education, and knowledge preservation.

2. Integration division: community support and mental wellness.

3. Operations division: maintenance of life support systems and resource management.

4. Wellness division: physical wellness, personal growth, and cultural and spiritual programming.

Different scenarios may require you to put yourself in the shoes of a participant in one or more of these divisions.

Initiate's Name

Scenario #1

You notice that a few members from your division have started making inside jokes about the habits of another division. The jokes are subtle and not openly hostile, but they are creating an “us vs. them” mentality that is beginning to strain the otherwise positive community atmosphere.

Question: How can you address this most effectively?

Bring it up at the next community-wide meeting, speaking about the general importance of unity without singling out your division.

B. Speak privately with the individuals involved, explaining how their jokes could be perceived and appealing to their commitment to community cohesion.

C. Organise a cross-divisional social project or competition to encourage positive interaction and break down the emerging sub-group barriers.

D. Ignore it for now. These minor tensions are a natural part of group formation and will resolve themselves over time.

Scenario #2

Your research division is working on a critical, time-sensitive research project that requires use of the community’s only satellite imaging array. However, the operations division has scheduled a routine 48-hour maintenance on the array during the same window, citing risk of total system failure if delayed. Both division leads are unwilling to reschedule, and tensions are rising.

Question: What immediate action you would take?

A. Agree with your research lead and begin the work. The scientific gain justifies a minor procedural breach, and you’re sure that the community will understand.

B. Insist on adhering to the scheduled maintenance window. Upholding fair process is more important than any single discovery and a precedent cannot be set.

C. Propose a compromise: send out an emergency digital poll among the entire community, accepting the outcome even if it means missing your research window if the results don’t go your way.

D. Privately voice your concern to your division lead but ultimately defer to their authority and follow their final decision.

Scenario #3

Resources for personal projects have become scarce. You discover a small, unlisted cache of supplies that would be perfect for a personal project you are passionate about. Official channels for requesting these supplies are slow and have a high chance of rejection.

Question: How do you proceed?

A. Quietly use the supplies for your project. You are sure that your initiative will ultimately benefit the community's morale and innovation.

B. Leave the supplies untouched and follow the official, albeit slow, request process.

C. Propose a new, more efficient community-managed system for allocating resources for personal projects.

D. Inform the operations division lead about the unlisted supplies so they can decide how to integrate them into the official inventory.

Scenario #4

The community takes part in a simulated emergency drill. You notice that a member of the operations division consistently ignores safety protocols, opting for a faster but riskier shortcut.

This team member is extremely well-liked and a major contributor to community morale. Their actions don't cause a problem in the drill, but they could be dangerous in a real emergency.

Question: What is your most appropriate response?

A. Praise their innovative thinking in the post-drill debrief, but privately mention the importance of protocol in a real crisis to the operations division lead.

B. Do nothing, trusting that their operational expertise and positive influence on morale outweigh the minor protocol deviation.

C. Privately discuss your concerns with them, emphasizing the potential danger their actions could pose to the community, regardless of their popularity.

D. Formally report the protocol violation in the post-drill debrief without mentioning their name, focusing only on the action and the risk.

Scenario #5

A close friend in the integration division confides in you that they are feeling overwhelmed and burnt out, but they are afraid to report it officially for fear it will affect their standing. Their work involves monitoring the psychological well-being of other crew members.

Question: What is the best way to support your friend and the community?

Encourage your friend to take a few unofficial “mental health days” while you help cover their essential duties.

B. Respect their confidentiality completely and simply offer a listening ear whenever they need to talk.

C. Advise them to speak with their division lead, offering to accompany them to the meeting for support.

D. Anonymously alert their division lead to a potential burnout issue within their team, without naming your friend.

Scenario #6

While reviewing geological survey data for a research project, you discover a sealed cave adjacent to the habitat that was missed during initial scans. This cave could be a priceless source for scientific discovery (a research goal) or converted into a unique recreational space (a wellness goal). You know that announcing it will trigger a major, potentially divisive, debate over its use.

Question: What is your initial action?

Immediately share the finding with the entire community, proposing a formal process for everyone to decide on its use.

B. First present the finding to the wellness division, advocating for the space’s potential to improve physical fitness.

C. First present the finding to your own research division, working with them to build a strong proposal for scientific use before a public announcement.

D. Temporarily withhold the finding to choose the most strategic moment to reveal it, hoping to minimize conflict when you do.

Scenario #7

You are leading a multi-divisional project with a tight deadline. Your childhood best friend, who is part of the team, is struggling to keep up, and their performance is jeopardizing the entire project. You know they are dealing with personal issues that they haven't disclosed to anyone else. The team is growing frustrated, but they don't know about your friend's personal history.

Question: What is your initial approach?

Discreetly take on your friend's most critical tasks yourself, hoping to cover for them until they can recover, to protect both them and the project.

B. Advise your friend to ask the integration division for support with their personal issues and formally request a reduced workload, even though it will mean a major project delay.

C. As the project lead, officially remove your friend from their critical role and reassign their duties, treating them the same as you would any other underperforming team member.

D. Meet with your friend privately, acknowledge their struggle, and collaboratively create a plan that involves reassigning some tasks while keeping them in a role where they can still contribute.

Scenario #8

A small group of individuals has started using a section of the central community area for an intense, daily workout routine that is noisy and disruptive during a time many others use for quiet relaxation and socializing. There are no formal rules about this, but it is causing unspoken tension and resentment.

Question: What would you do to address the situation?

Anonymously post a message on the community bulletin board asking for quiet hours to be respected in the central area.

B. Approach the group directly and politely, explaining that their activity is disruptive, and suggest they find a more suitable time or location.

C. Propose a community meeting to create a formal schedule for the use of shared spaces to prevent future conflicts.

D. Join the quiet group and make your displeasure obvious through non-verbal cues, hoping the workout group gets the hint.

Scenario #9

Your research division is planning a groundbreaking experiment that involves synthesizing new biological agents. The wellness division, which is responsible for the community’s physical health and must approve all such experiments, has flagged the proposal, citing a small but non-zero risk of containment failure. Your division lead is passionately arguing that the potential rewards far outweigh this “statistically insignificant” risk and is pressuring the team to find ways to persuade or bypass the wellness division’s concerns.

Question: What is your most appropriate course of action?

Side with your division lead, focusing on preparing a presentation that emphasizes the immense scientific benefits while downplaying the risks to secure the necessary approval.

B. Anonymously send the risk assessment data to a member of the operations division, so they can raise an independent alarm about the potential operational impact of a containment breach.

C. Formally request a joint, open-door meeting with members from all four divisions to review the proposal, ensuring maximum transparency and community-wide input on the risk-vs-reward decision.

D. Privately tell your lead that you cannot support the experiment until the wellness division’s safety concerns are fully addressed and resolved, even if it means the experiment is cancelled.

Scenario #10

During a casual conversation, a friend from another division shares a brilliant, undeveloped idea for a new hydroponics system that could revolutionize the habitat's food production. Weeks later, you are in a high-level meeting with leadership and you see a perfect opportunity to present this idea. You know it would bring you significant recognition, but you also know your friend has not yet had the chance to formalize or propose it themselves.

Question: What is your course of action in that moment?

Present the core idea as your own, believing that great ideas must be acted upon quickly for the community's benefit, regardless of their origin.

B. Mention the idea but give your friend full and explicit credit, saying, “My colleague [Friend's Name] has an interesting concept we should explore...”

C. Say nothing in the meeting. Instead, go to your friend immediately afterward and urgently encourage them to formalize their proposal, offering to help them prepare it.

D. Propose a new, formal system for “community innovation submissions” where individuals can log ideas, ensuring that credit is always properly tracked and rewarded.