Today's New York times had an interesting column written by Verlyn Klinkenborg titled 'Watching the Full Moon Rise Over the Northeast Corridor'. Verlyn wrote about taking the Acela up the Coast from Washington D.C. to New England, something I am familiar with. Though the column's focus was the rise of the full moon during that trip, the first paragraph is what truly caught my attention.
'Riding on the Acela I was surrounded by the sounds of business—the young women whose voices ring out like high heels on marble, the false laughter of a young executive talking to a headhunter on his cellphone. (He makes 175, going up to 200 in December, and is happy to relocate.) Everyone around me was speaking managese, that strange dialect used among the shepherds of other humans to communicate an enthusiasm for communication.'
Well said. Especially that last sentence.
I write in this blog often about being authentic. Yet, communication is simply so much more complicated. Your words can be profoundly authentic, but if not heard that way by those around you, miscommunication will reign. There is so much more to our communication, and to sharing knowledge, than simply telling the truth. We must also consider the listener, the receptor. Where are they in their own experience? Can you be heard, at that moment? Is there a way to describe what you need to say in the language of the receptor, instead of your own language? Is there a more opportune time or location to share what it is we need so desperately to share?
Our work, as knowledge sharers, as communicators, as humans on an authentic path, is complex. We need to identify what it is that is critical to share or to illuminate, how to do so, where the listener is, what language they use, how the message might be perceived, risks involved, risks involved in not sharing and how the information can be shared more broadly. And even this list is simplistic.
We expect much of ourselves and others. Yet, we can not give up. We must strive to clearly communicate, to seek first to understand before being understood, to drive towards sense making. We are the Shepards Verlyn refers to. Let us never stop being the best we can be at what we do.
Monday, October 01, 2007
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Critical knowledge for sustaining life
Once in awhile you come upon a site that has a huge impact on your world. OK, I admit, that is a strong statement. I mindfully wrote it to be strong.
Consumer Consequences is an interactive game which brings you along through a journey to help you understand the impact each of us has on our environment and the lives of those around us. The site, created by American Public Media, is very well designed and highly interactive. You choose your avatar and your home, and begin your journey.
Be prepared, you won't be the same at the end of it. There are many other opportunities in our work and our world to apply the type of interactive learning this site utilizes. There are few with so many surprises and ah ha moments. Go, try it, apply the learning/teaching style to your work. And, please, let us each apply the environmental learning to our way of life.
Consumer Consequences is an interactive game which brings you along through a journey to help you understand the impact each of us has on our environment and the lives of those around us. The site, created by American Public Media, is very well designed and highly interactive. You choose your avatar and your home, and begin your journey.
Be prepared, you won't be the same at the end of it. There are many other opportunities in our work and our world to apply the type of interactive learning this site utilizes. There are few with so many surprises and ah ha moments. Go, try it, apply the learning/teaching style to your work. And, please, let us each apply the environmental learning to our way of life.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Knowledge for the fun of it
Sometimes we all get so caught up in the serious side of our work that we forget to have fun. Or, at least I can forget. And fun is what truly makes the work worth doing. Fun and a sense of being of service to the greater good, I believe.
Anyway, I have been heads down in life and projects. Both can be a bit too serious sometimes. When I found the site I will describe here in this posting, I thought 'this is just what the doctor ordered.' Literally almost true!
A site for nothing but fun. And not just any fun, but creative, use your hands and build it, fun. Fun that is new and nostalgic at the same time.
Do you remember building paper airplanes when you were a kid? What else did you try to make out of construction paper and a bit of glue. Well, look no further. Our friends at www.papertoys.com have given you many different kinds of paper toys to build, AND shared their knowledge of how to do so.
Ever thought of building the White House out of paper? They have! Along with almost everything else imaginable. We all know it can be difficult to share knowledge like this in writing. It requires some deep thought to ensure all of the instructions are as complete as needed. Take a look, take a learning, make a toy and enjoy!!! We all need it!
Anyway, I have been heads down in life and projects. Both can be a bit too serious sometimes. When I found the site I will describe here in this posting, I thought 'this is just what the doctor ordered.' Literally almost true!
A site for nothing but fun. And not just any fun, but creative, use your hands and build it, fun. Fun that is new and nostalgic at the same time.
Do you remember building paper airplanes when you were a kid? What else did you try to make out of construction paper and a bit of glue. Well, look no further. Our friends at www.papertoys.com have given you many different kinds of paper toys to build, AND shared their knowledge of how to do so.
Ever thought of building the White House out of paper? They have! Along with almost everything else imaginable. We all know it can be difficult to share knowledge like this in writing. It requires some deep thought to ensure all of the instructions are as complete as needed. Take a look, take a learning, make a toy and enjoy!!! We all need it!
Sunday, September 09, 2007
The class of 2011 mindset
The Class of 2011: what Berlin wall?
http://www.beloit.edu/~pubaff/mindset/2011.php
Just think, most students entering college in September were born 1989. Ok, excuse me, but wasn't that the day before yesterday?
Beloit College has published the Beloit College Mindset List for the 2011. The list has 70 factoids for this group of freshman. The list gives you an incredible snapshot of how context is everything. Let me give you a few examples:
1. What Berlin wall?
8. General Motors has always been working on an electric car.
9. Nelson Mandela has always been free and a force in South Africa.
10. Pete Rose has never played baseball.
11. Rap music has always been mainstream.
13. “Off the hook” has never had anything to do with a telephone.
15. Russia has always had a multi-party political system.
23. Wal-Mart has always been a larger retailer than Sears and has always employed more workers than GM
And we wonder if we need to do cross generational bridging in our organizations? I wonder how we are able to communicate at all. We should take heart that we have done as well as we have but we must focus on the multi-generational workforce (as well as multi-cultural). This is to our sustained success...we must learn not only how to work together with different viewpoints, values, ideals...but we also need to know what knowledge is critical to transfer and how we can do it with relevance.
Given the above list and what you will find at the Beloit website, it amazes me that we are so shortsided as to think we can learn to collaborate cross generationally without any assistance. Let us learn to take the best of the best, whatever age they are, and share it with zeal in a way others can absorb. We are not all the same. Thank goodness. Let's work with that and move forward by leaps.
http://www.beloit.edu/~pubaff/mindset/2011.php
Just think, most students entering college in September were born 1989. Ok, excuse me, but wasn't that the day before yesterday?
Beloit College has published the Beloit College Mindset List for the 2011. The list has 70 factoids for this group of freshman. The list gives you an incredible snapshot of how context is everything. Let me give you a few examples:
1. What Berlin wall?
8. General Motors has always been working on an electric car.
9. Nelson Mandela has always been free and a force in South Africa.
10. Pete Rose has never played baseball.
11. Rap music has always been mainstream.
13. “Off the hook” has never had anything to do with a telephone.
15. Russia has always had a multi-party political system.
23. Wal-Mart has always been a larger retailer than Sears and has always employed more workers than GM
And we wonder if we need to do cross generational bridging in our organizations? I wonder how we are able to communicate at all. We should take heart that we have done as well as we have but we must focus on the multi-generational workforce (as well as multi-cultural). This is to our sustained success...we must learn not only how to work together with different viewpoints, values, ideals...but we also need to know what knowledge is critical to transfer and how we can do it with relevance.
Given the above list and what you will find at the Beloit website, it amazes me that we are so shortsided as to think we can learn to collaborate cross generationally without any assistance. Let us learn to take the best of the best, whatever age they are, and share it with zeal in a way others can absorb. We are not all the same. Thank goodness. Let's work with that and move forward by leaps.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Learning how to identify trends
I am one of those people who is always looking for trends and patterns in data. I don't necessarily mean to, I'm just wired like that. Trendspotter is an e-publication I have previously mentioned that spots and describes new business concepts which may change business as we know it, and shift some of the trends and patterns of business or commerce.
In this listing they actually work to help the reader learn how to spot a trend. What a tough concept to teach! Complex and complicated at the same time. First they set a common language (what IS a trend) and they set context (know WHY you are looking for trends) and the learning continues from there. I think this site does a great job at sense making of a difficult subject.
I also think if we are willing to consider the same format for teaching our colleagues (and ourselves) how to look for trends and patterns in our own data, at work or at home, we might find this method very worthwhile.
In this listing they actually work to help the reader learn how to spot a trend. What a tough concept to teach! Complex and complicated at the same time. First they set a common language (what IS a trend) and they set context (know WHY you are looking for trends) and the learning continues from there. I think this site does a great job at sense making of a difficult subject.
I also think if we are willing to consider the same format for teaching our colleagues (and ourselves) how to look for trends and patterns in our own data, at work or at home, we might find this method very worthwhile.
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