I’m taking a few days off this week to attend to some class related projects and just to have some time off. I’m working on my paper for Capstone and just looked down at the floor and realized that this may be one of the last times that I have such a scattered mess on the floor near my desk (who am I fooling). My thinking may have evolved during my time in the Adult Learning program but my method of writing papers really hasn’t.

I locate all the resources I need and they end up scattered all over the floor. The only book missing from the image below is the APA Style Guide, but that doesn’t usually make an appearance in the pile until I’m almost done with a paper. Appaprently, I need to quit procrastinating and get on with it so the APA book can make its appearance.

 

Happy Friday, ya’ll.

Is it possible that the end of the semester is here already? It seems like the semester just started but as I look out the window, I realize the landscape is quite different—trees are leafing out and flowers are blooming. The yard needs to be cut.

Generally I experience a lull in mid-February when apathy takes over and I feel like school work is a chore. I didn’t have this feeling this semester and I wonder if it’s because I know a good thing is coming to an end, or if it was because how assignments were scheduled this time around. I’m inclined to think my landscape has changed. I’m looking forward to a break this summer but I’m going to miss the energy I get from attending class. Perhaps in addition to learning something about organizational change I’m learning something about change in myself. Change has begun and I don’t see it stopping.

Certainly all of my classes made me think, but there’s been something about Change Strategies that has been different. I’m sure the timing of this course has much to do with this feeling—coming on the shirt-tails of the organizational learning class, but I really feel like the dots are being connected now. I think I’m seeing the web of relationships as described in the early chapters of Warner Burke’s text, Organization change: Theory and practice, and further demonstrated in the movie Mindwalk. I’m seeing connections where I saw nothing or just hints before. My awareness has been elevated.

Rarely during the course of this program have I picked up extra reading outside of what’s been assigned or what’s necessary for writing papers, but I’ve done that this semester. I’m augmenting what we’ve discussed in class and expanding my understanding of our discussions and assigned readings.

Tying individual change to organizational change
If I think of myself as the leader of my own organization, then I’m leading a transformational change. Let me explain by using the Burke-Litwin model as a framework for my own change.

The external environment and individual and organizational performance have definitely been inputs for me. The external environment is a combination of school and work with work being an especially obvious source of input. I’m becoming more comfortable with the disconnect I’ve been feeling between what I’m currently doing in my professional life and what I’d like to do with my career. I know I’ll get there and it’s just a matter of time.

This feeling about my career is influenced by what I’ve learned during this and in other semesters. I’m better able to see a bigger picture of what I want and I’m not limiting myself to one specific thing that I’ve always liked—I’m able to see that I need to take the training/instructional design part of my skills and combine it with what I can offer in the way of organizational development to make myself a better employee for whatever company I end up joining. Of course, this way of seeing or knowing is the individual and organization performance portion of the Burke-Litwin model.

I think changing my way of thinking also falls into the mission and strategy portion. I’m formulating both of those as I make decisions about what I want to do with my life once this portion of my learning journey is over. I’m also changing my culture—this is a bit of a stretch, perhaps, but I’m considering my internal framework as my culture. I never thought I would continue with my education after receiving my bachelor’s degree and here I am at the tail end of a graduate degree. I’m still mulling over if this is the end of my formal education of if there needs to be another side trip into academia. Even if that path doesn’t come to fruition, I know I’ve come too far to stop and will have to focus my informal learning in a more productive way than I have in the past. This is where the transactional change comes in.

I don’t think there can be transformational change without some transactional work—the two seem to walk hand-in-hand. In my case, my motivation, needs and values will continue to evolve and my internal structure will continue to fluctuate depending on my ability to sustain this idea of continuing my education, whether formally or informally. We had a small group discussion recently during the Open Space Technology demonstration about self-leadership and how our educational growth has given us the courage and confidence to now research what interests us most. I found it interesting that we were in unanimous agreement on this point. Each of our paths and interests throughout the Adult Learner program has been different even though we’ve experienced it together. Our differing perspectives are often our strength but it’s nice to see the commonalities we all share.

Demonstrations
In addition to finding commonalities in our experiences, it has been nice to see everyone really get into the presentation of the three change strategies. I’ve liked being able to experience each change strategy and the conversations during follow-up have been thought-provoking as well. I think this semester we’ve really explored different conversations than we have in the past. I think we feel more comfortable in going down a tangent.

I know we’re all good at having side conversations, but this semester we’ve been able to focus our conversations and really add to the way each of us thinks about a subject in a way that’s richer. I’m proud of us. And, I’m really interested in us. This is that energy I described in an earlier paragraph.

Concluding Thoughts
I’ll just state the obvious first, it will be strange not keeping up with a formal reflective journal in the coming months. I’ve been either writing in a piecemeal way or in a more measured way (my journal entries have become richer as I’ve become more committed to the program) for so many semesters that it will seem strange to stop. I’m not sure what will happen to this blog and by extension my reflective journal after graduation. This is something I’ll have to think about—keeping up with the journal or storing it away. If I don’t write it down, will I still reflect in a meaningful way?

I can remember when Dr. Muth and I were going over the course schedule a few years ago and mapping out when I should take which class. We got to this semester and realized that Change Strategies would be paired with Capstone. We decided that would be a match that would work as a companion to Capstone—interesting subject, but not overly taxing so that my energies could be focused on Capstone. At that time, Change Strategies was the second fiddle. I think my experience in the class proves that Change Strategies is just as vital and important. It has been a nice counterpoint to the Capstone because of the whole class discussions we have on Wednesdays. The whole system is in the room, so to speak.

I finished reading The Power of Appreciative Inquiry: A Practical Guide to Positive Change by Diana Whitney and Amanda Trosten-Bloom today at lunch. I mentioned in an earlier post that this was the last book I had to read for the master’s program. In the last pages of this last book, I was particularly struck by some of the passages. They speak not only volumes for Appreciative Inquiry but as lessons to live by. I got a similar sense as I finished reading Flawless Consulting: A Guide To Getting Your Expertise Used by Peter Block.

The particular passages that really spoke to me were on pages 249 and 252. From 249:
“[Organizations] are prone to problem analysis and hence to fear, blame, and critique…it is simply not the norm to have fun, be happy, or be positive. Despite the pain it causes, people allow themselves to be swept away in collective currents of negativity.”

And from 252:
“…add to the growing body of knowledge about the liberation of power, life-centered organizations, and positive change. In short, we invite you to make our world a better place, one organization at a time.”

Wow.

Isn’t this really what we’re all in the program to do? To make a difference in an organization–whether it’s where you work or where you live. Change your critical attitude to one that’s supportive and it will be noticed by others. This positive attitude could ripple out to help create a change in your organization. I’m constantly reminding myself to quiet the negative voices in my head and search for positives. I can’t say that it always works, but I’m practicing. Small steps can have big shadows.

Some may read this blog and wonder how on earth I can purport to be reflecting when nearly every Friday this semester I’ve posted a music video. My answer is simple. Music is part of reflection, at least for me. It’s a little ironic that at the moment I’m not listening to anything but the sounds of my printer. I listen to music at work to keep me sane. I got on that kick when I sat in a cube and couldn’t concentrate for all the surrounding noise. Now, I think it helps me focus. It isn’t always about the lyrics either–sometimes it’s just about the rhythm. Sometimes it’s about the way the notes fit together and those notes inspire me. Sometimes it’s about volume–usually on early Friday mornings when no one is yet in the office and I need to celebrate the end of the week.

Several years ago I decided should I ever teach a literature seminar (it will never happen) that I’d create a course that explored story telling through southern writers. I’d have a little Carson McCullers thrown in with a little Lucinda Williams. I’d have to accommodate those singer-songwriters who really should have been from the south but somehow ended up being from a northern state (Patti Griffin). And, how I’d work Virginia Woolf into the mix (really she should have been a southerner with all the isolation, hearing voices and emotional psychology in her work) is still a little iffy in my mind. Anyway, the idea is that it’s all about telling a story just a different means.

To take that thought a step further, I consider my music entries to be a different way of telling what’s going on in my head. Granted this means of telling isn’t nearly as clear as reflecting (seeing my thinking) but, perhaps, consider it a way to hear my thinking.

Update note 4/23/09: there was something weird about the embed code on the Josh Rouse, Thin Blue Flame video that was wreaking havoc with the front page of this blog. So, it’s gone. It’s a great song so I encourage you to check it out.

Cranked this one up on my way home yesterday:

When my husband and I were getting married, the minister wanted to meet with us a few times before he felt comfortable with performing the ceremony (he knew my mother but not me or my soon-to-be husband). One of the things we talked about with him was the idea that we needed a community. I do not remember anything else he said to us during the two meetings we had with him but I remember thinking about the idea of community. He said it didn’t matter if we found a community in our families, in our friends or by joining a church. His point was that it would take more than just the two of us to be successfully married. Frankly, the thing that made me think was that I didn’t need a community to be successfully married that love was enough. Naive? Um, yes.

As I’ve moved through life, I’ve seen the value in communities and I especially see the value in the MEd Adult Learning community. Since I joined the program in 2006, I’ve been impressed by the camaraderie and supportive nature of many members of the Adult Learning program. That supportive nature actually started before I even joined the program and was taking my first class. I had several folks who have since graduated tell me they wanted me to join them in more classes. Talk about a warm welcome–I was skeptical about whether I wanted to pursue a master’s and here were a few students telling me they thought I should.

I just recently wrote my final reflection essay and in that essay I talk about feeling like I’m “home” in the program. It was a safe haven for me during some rocky times in my work life and, more than that, the program has helped me expand myself. I will surely miss these feelings of encouragement, friendship and strength after I graduate in May.

OK, thanks for letting me get all touchy-feely.

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I’ve been kicking around the idea of community in my head for awhile now and I think if I ever pursue another degree one of the things I’d like to look at is the idea of a community of practice. It seems that so many things are pointing towards community lately that I’d be foolish to ignore the signs.

If you think about it, action learning is embedded in the idea that a community of people can come together and solve a problem. The idea of a whole system intervention certainly includes members of a community whether work-related or wider-world related. And then there’s my interest in using technology to foster the idea of a community–by wiki, blogs or other tools.

I’d love to figure out a way to bring my organization around to the idea of hosting “coffee breaks” online for those clients we serve–a place for our participants to get together and discuss practice issues. From a business perspective, we could relate those issues to training they’ve received, training they should receive and even to the development of training based on the issues raised in this “coffee break” online space. Besides identifying opportunities for my organization’s own good, it would be a good thing for our clients–they’d become a community.

Our discussion on using technology to help facilitate an Open Space conference made me think about why I was reluctant to join in the conversation. I’m usually the one who says, “Yes, technology can be used for anything.” But, I realize that not everyone feels comfortable with technology (at least those of us of a certain age), not everyone wants to embrace technology and not everyone has access to technology. Getting everyone comfortable, willing and able is an uphill struggle. We, as a country, also need to make sure there is high-speed access to the internet in every town, city and rural location (that’s a whole other conversation on why that hasn’t happened yet).

There’s also a need for commitment. It’s all too easy for people to say they’ll do something online but when actually confronted with the event/meeting/whatsit they bail. I’ve done it and others in class admitted they do it too. It’s all too easy to put the webinar on mute and get on with your work. That’s the equivalent of rifling through paperwork during a staff meeting while the rest of the group reports out or makes plans for strategy meetings. You are there in body but not in mind.

Part of the reason why I will check out during a webinar is that either the connection is SO bad that I either can’t hear well or the video lags behind the audio (and to think I work in an office park–what about those people in Ruraltinytown, USA who have a tin can that projects data) or the content delivery is SO bad that I’d rather check email than listen to another poorly organized meeting or training. These are two problems there that I know will be solved sooner rather than later…we’ll get better connectivity and we’ll adjust to what is a new medium. New medium=new rules.

With all of this swirling around in my head, I decided to do some very quick research into what’s really available out there to make a large scale meeting possible online. In about one minute, I found two really interesting projects that are working right now. The AmericaSpeaks project and Virtual Agora. These projects are putting the technology in the hands of the people and are working through the methods of how to make everyone’s voice heard. To me, that’s real democracy. Let everyone have the tools and means to express themselves.

That ability to let everyone’s voice be heard is really what we’re talking about when we talk about whole system change strategies. We’re attempting to get the whole system (or at least a good representation) in the same space to talk about a common topic. We hope to get commitment, passion and action started in communities and organizations so that the people will “own” the process and real change can be made because of that ownership. The change strategies we’ve been talking about are really about ownership and altering the business as usual aspect–we had a meeting and nothing happened. I think that’s where the passion comes from for the people involved. They make the plan and then they follow through. They know the problem and then they fix it. That’s pretty powerful stuff and, for many, a completely new way of doing things.

Last night I realized all of the magazines (and one catalog) on the coffee table accurately reflect the things I like most. I suppose this makes sense since those magazines come to our house in my name.