November 2011
2 posts
2 tags
1 tag
“A course more promising
Than a wild dedication of yourselves
To unpathed...”
– William Shakespeare
October 2011
3 posts
4 tags
1 tag
“play is a fundamental form of learning”
– Dana Tenneson
September 2011
2 posts
“All learning begins when our comfortable ideas turn out to be inadequate.”
– John Dewey
“In the times of rapid change, learners inherit the Earth, while the learned find...”
– Eric Hoffer
August 2011
2 posts
NASA The Frontier Is Everywhere The Sagan Series... →
July 2011
10 posts
2 tags
2 tags
2 tags
2 tags
2 tags
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“all that is not eternal is too short, and all that is not infinite is too small”
– #Stanford Memorial Church http://j.mp/oP7QhM
2 tags
“Great causes are not won in a single generation”
– Joseph F. Smith
2 tags
“Many men can make a fortune but very few can build a family”
– J. S. Bryan
Poll: Where will you most watch the BYU Football... →
2 tags
International Folks are Flocking
Lots of international folks are flocking to our Yammer community. One in particular sent me a private message thanking me for the HUGE help the community has been to him. He is from New Zealand. His willingness to share appreciation for the community I had fostered here was much needed. How often do we shy away from the opportunity to give another sincere appreciation for someone else?
A...
June 2011
4 posts
3 tags
1 tag
WatchMore reasons than ever to connect people through technology.
3 tags
“Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a...”
– George Washington
“The heart has it’s reasons which reason knows not of.”
– Blaise Pascal
May 2011
4 posts
Booyah!
sa
3 tags
“No generalization is worth a ____, including this one.”
– Oliver Wendell Holmes
1 tag
Policy Parameters
Three words provided me with a wealth of painful, yet productive, progress towards the defining of a policy for sharing information on internal social networks. The three words were “This is fun!” Harmless and innocent phrase at first glance but when attributed to a leader about a certain situation I uncovered a treasure chest full of cultural and social norms that go unspoken within the...
1 tag
Finance and Social Capital
In my efforts to cultivate a community online I have sought occasion to speak about it’s potential and the current conversations happening there. Because of my participation in and passion for this community I was invited to facilitate a discussion around social media for a large group of folks from the Finance department. I tailored their experience by introducing the notion that these social...
April 2011
3 posts
1 tag
Chief Yammer Officer
Many have looked to me for leadership inside this online social space. One individual goes so far as to pin the moniker of Chief Yammer Officer on me. The formal responsibility for ownership and exploration has fallen on the IT team. My opinion regarding complaints about Yammer has been sought out numerous times. In a most recent request I gathered together in one document the responses of...
1 tag
Listen Conditions
My time with the cadre in Florida was structured but not contrived. I recognize the implicit trust placed in each individual as responsible for his or her own learning as evidenced by the more free form agenda and little if any imposed expectations. Conversation carried a majority of the learning. In conversation each had the opportunity and, potentially because of the relationships we have...
1 tag
Sensitivity
A lesson I am slowly learning is that when I share other people’s information I tend to encounter more resistance or obstacles than anticipated. The perceived sensitivity is unknown to me until I post. I personally found it difficult to have opinions expressed opposing the open sharing of information. Yet, time was able to work it’s magic and afford me a greater ability to see the situation in...
March 2011
1 post
1 tag
Conversations
As the uncertainty of the network continues I have initiated open and sincere conversations with those I am acquainted with who most likely have greater influence in the situation than I have. My approach has been one of a very personal nature. I want to know these people individually and ask them the same questions I ask myself in my reflective action research.
On Friday I had a wonderful...
February 2011
2 posts
1 tag
Global Gathering
More joy and exhilaration from a skinny blue box could not have been had yesterday! Every minute seemed to bring news of several additional colleagues joining the online Yammer community. I could hardly contain my excitement! I probably tried the patience of my team with intermittent exclamations of surprise, awe and wonder as the stream filled with folks joining from far flung areas of the...
1 tag
OD & AR
While chatting with a much more senior colleague in HR about past education, I became very interested in the book he had written for his PhD entitled “Organization Development: A Practitioner’s Tool Kit.” I was shocked and pleasantly surprised to find Action Research listed among the theories and practices from which organization development emerged. The description of Action Research is vague but...
January 2011
3 posts
1 tag
Feedback
As of late many have become proactive in the open social space that is Yammer to voice their opinion and distaste for the changes that have recently come to the corporate intranet. I was troubled by the seemingly hostile approach some were taking with the giving of their feedback. My concerns were quickly calmed by the considerate and conscientious replies that came from the community. For many...
1 tag
Community
I have noticed that motives for participating in a community matter and determine overall attitude, perception, and contribution. Two salient motives underscore this observation. One motive is to RECEIVE from the community that which will benefit them. The potential for them to benefit from the community is their primary purpose. Contributions are made in hopes that the kind gesture will be...
1 tag
Eyes to See
With a more ample attitude toward seeing the needs of others, I have been intrigued by the circumstances surrounding the sharing of fairly personal sentiments.
I had a conversation with a colleague regarding his need for more honest and complete feedback from his boss in the design work he performs. Committed to understanding te situation more clearly I asked what he believed the difference was...
December 2010
1 post
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Shine Through Technology
The team here has heard my constant petition to add a more social and community approach to the challenges of building innovation and excellence in leadership at all levels of the organization. It is my opinion that the tools available to us today afford each individual the opportunity to have their voice heard and collaborate like never before. When thinking of the medium for most of our...
November 2010
2 posts
1 tag
Common Conclusions
After reviewing the learning circle’s first drafts, I am struck to see so many common conclusions emerge from very disparate research angles. Learning challenges seem to benefit from interpersonal interaction. I saw this play out a week ago as the Instructional Design community within my organization held its annual conference and divided the participants into four groups tasked to devise...
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Organic Growth
A significant moment in the life of the organization was the flow of invite emails from yammer once again. Eager to get more people in the online space I invited many of my associates who I considered more interested and open than not to social networking to join yammer. Many were only acquaintances for mine. I noticed that the level of participation was not what I anticipated and I began to...
October 2010
3 posts
1 tag
Leadership in All Places
A spark of excitement always hits when I make connections between a concept manifest in various contexts.
This afternoon I was privileged to participate in an event with President Kim Clark, BYUI president and former dean of the Harvard Business School. He facilitated a wonderful discussion around defining direction as a leader. He modeled the principles proffered by both the audience and his...
1 tag
Confusing Conversations
Wondering why classmates get so bent out of shape when the experience teaches them exactly what is being illustrated. Pure text chat in Sakai was painful. Confusion ensued shortly after we began. The interface was difficult to interpret. Context was lost in one line of text. I thought the experience (intentional or otherwise) clearly demonstrated the critical role social presence plays in...
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Scoping Action Research
I notice, after examining Dan Wood’s project, that I tend to think big. The size and scope of his very similar project is much more focused. My thoughts gravitate towards the more universal applications and impact I can potentially make. I am less confident that this approach and perspective are well suited for the action research tasks at hand.
Also, my exploration of other projects has led me...
September 2010
6 posts
1 tag
Feather Tread (not bed!)
Last night, as I was wrapping up a family birthday dinner I began my journey into a new semiotic domain!! (How’s that for a big confusing term? I am currently reading a fascinating book by James Paul Gee on what video games can teach us about learning. He uses this term often.)
A simple question sparked it all. My brother asked me what year my Camry was. I said it was a 2006 but also mentioned...
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Identity Transfer vs. Identity Growth
I’m not so sure that my tweet about gamers being able to make quicker decisions with the same accuracy as non-gamers will be true today after playing studying WoW until 1am. That silly level up experience bar somehow coaxes me to top it off before exiting the game.
David, Julie and I explored some additional features of the game together. One that I am still a little unclear on is the class...
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Circle of Learning Consultants
The thought that each person in my circle may act as a learning consultant framed my experience well last night. As I shared the challenges I was facing in cultivating the internal SmartBuilder community online, experiences and sincere questions emerged for me to consider from my four cadre mates.
Learning for me has almost always come after I have put myself out there, extending hooks for...
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Together Time in World of Warcraft
Class in a virtual world like WoW was a unique experience but not without it’s own hiccups. All the cues I had indicated that I was fully present with the cadre. Yet, no one seemed to respond to anything I typed. Try as I might I could not participate and because of the limited means for communicating (text only and strange avatar body language). Had I been tipped off earlier it would have been...
1 tag
Stewarding Technology
Digital Habitats is an interesting read so far. I find a lot of solace in knowing that there are others in the same situation of focusing on enhancing community potential with online technology. In my own pursuit of this desire I have seen social challenges dominate any technical considerations. I also appreciate the leadership aspect of assuming the responsibilities of a tech steward.I am happy...
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Learning is Identity Engagement
Learning via iterative and rigorous action research is transformative in nature. With the Pepperdine cadre we commit to community and to contributing collective intelligence towards the value-aligned decisions we make. Informed decisions become actions within each individual’s organization. The outcomes are analyzed and evaluated. Reflection provides greater light and knowledge about the...
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Contextualizing Action Research
A phrase that stood out to me last night in our sync session was building collective knowledge among the cohort. I’m not sure our cadre fully grasps this concept and objective as one of the key outcomes of the program. It seems that each of us is stuck in doing all the work ourselves in isolation. Yet, we are hoping to pick up a few ideas in this program of how we might facilitate collective and...
August 2010
6 posts
1 tag
Collaborate
A phrase that stood out to me last night in our sync session was building collective knowledge among the cohort. I’m not sure our cadre fully grasps this concept and objective as one of the key outcomes of the program. It seems that each of us is stuck in doing all the work ourselves in isolation. Yet, we are hoping to pick up a few ideas in this program of how we might facilitate collective and...