IFP Journal

Belated Insight

2006-05-11T07:14:00.000-04:00

Diana wrote asking if I could still accept interview summaries. I said sure, because I need more data for the deliverable.

However, it doesn't feel right asking people to keep working on this project now that my paper is complete.

Ding! This project was never about the CE.

It's Getting Very Near the End

2006-05-09T07:11:00.000-04:00

The paper was turned in around 10:00 p.m. Friday. I'm not proud of it.

Although the class is over, the project is not. I Sametimed with Leah this morning, and I was ashamed to have to tell her that we've completed about 8 interviews thus far.

I need to make good on this thing, or it will be a black spot on my professional reputation.

If anyone is reading my project blog and is looking for advice or "lessons learned" - don't choose a project in your workplace.

many worlds I’ve come

2006-05-04T20:38:00.000-04:00

Maybe my "inability" to finish this paper is a manifestation of reluctance to leave the program.

I don't want it to be over.

You Can't Always Get What You Want

2006-04-30T21:15:00.000-04:00

The hotel has high-speed wireless. I just got in and now it's time to write?

Leavin' On a Jet Plane

2006-04-30T08:01:00.000-04:00

I leave for Orlando in 2 hours. For backup, I've printed all of my notes, interviews, papers. I'll write tonight. I hope the hotel has high-speed wireless.

Eric's last email said that grades needed to be in by May 8. But at the GLBC event Monday night, I think he said they were due May 5. And this week is an MPOD2 week for Eric, so he has a lot of stuff going.

I wish this were done. It will be done.

And the Band Played On . . .

2006-04-29T22:03:00.000-04:00

I just uploaded Harlow's paper, so the individual field project paper is the very last item on the agenda. Please forgive me, Eric. I'm doing what I can - hell, I'm doing far more than I can at this point.

A Rose By Any Other Name

2006-04-26T06:44:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I defended my thesis.

Not really - not formally! But I spent several hours explaining my field project to my CIGO colleagues and answering their questions about the process and the project design.

Pam said, "You owned it!" I couldn't agree more.

There are a number of holes in my project - I know that this is because I work in such an unplanned and "emergent" way. (Emergent sounds much better than scattered and flaky, doesn't it?)

Roxane

2006-04-20T06:51:00.000-04:00

CE member-at-large Roxane volunteered to conduct two interviews yesterday. By the end of the day she told me she had them scheduled for today!

I'm awed that Roxane could move so fast on a project that she has so little knowledge about. It takes me weeks to process requests like this - I have to thoroughly analyze every aspect of it before I can take any action. She's turning on a dime!

I'm also amazed by people's willingness to help a relative stranger. Again.

So . . . what is this doing for the CE? What is the organization learning? How would I design a follow-on developmental effort, as Eric would say?

Gloom, Despair, and Agony on Me

2006-04-19T08:21:00.000-04:00

I sent an email to Mary asking for assistance with conducting an interview. I asked her to interview Ben.

How the heck am I going to finish this paper and project?!

Wouldn't It Be Loverly?

2006-04-18T12:06:00.000-04:00

I didn't get the interview protocols out yesterday. I've managed to send two emails out today to Andrea (one of my first interviews) and Diana.

It would be so lovely to have some more data to analyze this weekend! Cross your fingers.

Another Bored Meeting

2006-04-17T12:18:00.000-04:00

There is a board meeting Thursday at 10:00 a.m. - I'll be giving a 5-minute update of my project at that time.

The Road to H-E-Double-Toothpicks

2006-04-15T17:29:00.000-04:00

In an attempt to draw my client into the project, I wrote and sent a project update to her this afternoon. I intend to do this weekly until the project is complete.

Mary Poppins, I'm Not

2006-04-15T13:28:00.000-04:00

This week I primarily spent gathering the names of potential interview candidates. I have a decent list now, and I have three people who have agreed to interview someone.

I also managed to conduct a third interview with Mary, a very articulate and passionate woman from ujima, the ENG for African-Americans.

In a late Friday discussion with Diana, a woman I've known since our time together on the board of the local ISPI chapter over 5 years ago, Diana was apologizing for taking so long to respond to my request for names. I in turn was apologizing for pushing so hard for names. My exact words were, "I have to get something on paper or I'm not going to graduate!" Within a few minutes of that revelation, she volunteered to conduct two interviews, saying, "Well, this is important!" My response was, "It's important to me. I don't know how important it is to anyone else." Diana replied, "It's important to this company that you graduate."

I've been mulling that over. I don't know that it is important to the company that I graduate. I don't think anyone at the company has any deep knowledge of how hard I'm working in this program, or what I'm learning. Is that a problem for me? Should I be more vocal about this program and how it is adding value to the company? I think it is a problem, and I think I need to be more vocal. I'll have to think about how to do that more effectively.

I also feel guilty/embarrassed about communicating my 'need' for interviews in such a backhanded way. I unconscioulsy fell into the old 'victim' pattern that has worked in the past to get me what I want, but I don't want to be that anymore. I really need to learn how to better assert my desires without being so damn passive-agressive. I've been making progress in this area, but apparently not enough.

But I digress. Back to the interviews.

Stupidly, I left the my carefully compiled contact list (Excel spreadsheet, two tabs) on my work computer and neglected to email it to myself at home! My original plan for this weekend was to assign interviewers to interviewees and send them the interview protocol and summary sheet with instructions on how to proceed. My hope was to get at least three more interviews generated by this team by the end of the week, and then compile the data next weekend.

I guess I can salvage some of this work. I can compose the instructions and email them to myself at work for distribution early Monday morning. People aren't going to be doing any interviewing before that time, anyway, so all is not lost. It just would have been nice to have this task completely finished this weekend.

In addition, I'm going to continue writing the final progress report given what I know now. So far I'm beating myself up at every turn. My failings as a researcher/ practitioner are many and now deeply documented and detailed!

Sketchy Outline

2006-04-09T16:35:00.000-04:00

I transcribed my interview notes today, and I've started on the final installment of my field project paper. Guidelines from the syllabus appear below:

1. The Story: Describe what actually happened in each phase of the project from where you left off in Part I. Who did what, when, where, how and why? Pay special attention to unforeseen events, changes in direction, and new decisions you and others made as the project progressed. You might use Chapter Two in Becoming an OD Practitioner as an example.

2. Reflect on how your understanding of and your relationship with your primary client(s) changed, if at all, over time - key insights, personal learning?

3. In retrospect, how well did the contract work? Did you change it over the course of the project? If so, why?

4. What were the high and low points of the project? What actually changed as a result of it? Why did things turn out as they did?

5. What would you have done differently if you could have? Why?

6. If you have yet to complete the OD cycle at the time you need to write-up your report, how would you do so if you could (or how do you intend to do so if the engagement is still active). Please be as specific, identifying who, where, what, what, when and why, foreseeing contingencies and your response to them, anticipating findings and their implications, etc.

7. What did you learn from this intervention with respect to consulting and the practice of organization development? Describe any of your insights that ran counter to what the literature had led you to believe?

8. What did your client learn from this intervention? To what extent did you achieve your goals for his/her development? If you have not covered this already, what would you have done differently if you had the chance to start over? What would you do now were you continue to help this person develop?

9. What did you learn about yourself from this intervention? How, if at all, do you think you have become a better practitioner as a result of this experience?

10. What do you plan to do next in your career as an OD practitioner and why?

w00t!

2006-04-07T19:27:00.000-04:00

One of my interview candidates called me back and asked me to interview her right away! Today!

Two down!

And guess what - there are indeed a couple of themes poking their little heads out of the primordial soup . . .

Conducted an Interview!

2006-04-07T15:43:00.000-04:00

I conducted the first interview today with the leader of NATIONS. I'm sure she gave me at least one good quote.

Now I'm curious to see what themes emerge once we get a few more interviews completed.

Accentuate the Positive

2006-04-05T07:03:00.000-04:00

Eric sent his comments on the paper yesterday. He's concerned, as am I, that no interviews have been set up as yet, let alone conducted.

Rosie turned down my invitation to talk yesterday. I left her a voicemail late yesterday afternoon after I received her 'Declined' response, but I haven't yet heard back from her.

I'm trying not to feel desperate at this point. Let's rewrite that - I'm trying to stay optimistic!

Thumbs Down

2006-04-04T09:43:00.000-04:00

Progress Report II

2006-03-28T15:34:00.000-05:00

I just shipped "Progress Report II" off to Eric. What a relief!

Just one more progress report for this baby and I'm home free.

Oh, Ho, Ho, It's Magic

2006-03-28T08:05:00.000-05:00

Sometime between 2 and 3 a.m. I had an idea for the evaluation of the project.

It occurred to me that if one believes in the social constructionist model, the measure of success is participation. That's it. Simply by participating in the project, the interviewers and interviewees are reaping the benefits of learning and changing. The principle of simultanaeity!

I wonder if Eric is a social constructionist.

And the Operator Says 30 Cents More . . .

2006-03-26T08:59:00.000-05:00

As I reread an earlier post, I realized that I could be making a huge mistake with Rosie by not approaching her first and bringing her up to speed. Leah said she would call her, which is preferable if you accept Harlow's client triangle model. However, Leah is so distracted by other things that I'm not sure if or when she will contact Rosie.

Conclusion: Better to contact Rosie first myself, before I send out more stuff directly to the rest of the board. I should also meet Rosie in person - better try to set up a face-to-face with her this week.

Questions to be Answered This Weekend

2006-03-25T12:22:00.000-05:00

4. Describe the goals of your intervention, both for your clients as individuals and for the organization? What do you hope to accomplish? How did you reach this conclusion (aspirations versus client readiness versus prevailing conditions, resources, etc.?

5. Describe the method(s)/process(es) you will use to intervene. What are the major steps you plan to take? Whom will you involve and when and how? What makes you think that this approach fits this organization's needs better than any other at this time? What evidence is there in what you have read to support this approach?

6. What are your hunches about what will learn and what kinds of results you think are achievable. For example, if you are doing an interview feedback program, what are your first guesses based on your initial conversations with your clients thus far, about the kinds of themes that will surface in the data. What major difficulties, if any, do you anticipate? How might you deal with them were they to arise?

7. What is the contract you have with your client regarding the intervention? Specifically, what role do you expect your client to play? What resources are you asking for? What can you offer in return? What risks are involved for you or your client and how will you manage them?

8. How will you evaluate your success? From whom will you obtain feedback? How will you measure your impact on the client system? How will you measure progress along the way? How will you know when it is time to change your strategy or abandon the effort altogether?

9. What are your personal learning goals for this project? How will you know if you have achieved them?

All By Myself

2006-03-24T07:12:00.000-05:00

Leah has been assigned to a long-term project in Asia - she's leaving for Hong Kong April 2. She has turned over responsibilities for the Cultural Exchange to Rosie, whom I have not met.

Leah gave me the green light to proceed with the project without her, so I'm going to do just that.

Now I need a plan. I arranged a tentative call with Cheryl last night to strategize, but we didn't connect (my bad). I hope she's available this weekend to consult!

Send Lawyers, Guns, and Money

2006-03-23T07:14:00.000-05:00

Late yesterday Leah accepted an invitation to meet today. I'm driving over to Polaris in about an hour.

I need to reread the syllabus again. Maybe all of this has some bearing on my paper . . .

Big Gulp

2006-03-22T07:19:00.000-05:00

Last week we clinicked (i'm verbing a noun here) around my project in Harlow's class. Essentially, my peers told me to get a face-to-face meeting with Leah immediately.

So, I wrote to Leah early yesterday asking for a face-to-face meeting Thursday at her convenience (her time, her location, etc.). She has not responded. She appears active on Sametime, so I think she's around.

I have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach about the prospects for this project completing. What will I do if she cans it?

Slow Burn

2006-03-08T16:07:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting on a bridge line waiting for Leah to show up. It's seven minutes past the hour. I changed the time of the meeting to accept her "counter" in Lotus Notes, and still yet I'm left holding the bag.

Ah, here we go. The conference call service apparently just cut me off the line since no one else is on the call. Lovely.

You Can't Always Get What You Want

2006-03-06T07:32:00.000-05:00

It took all day, but I came up with a draft of the interview protocol for the Cultural Exchange yesterday. Pam took a look at it and gave me a couple comments, and I forwarded it to Leah for her review.

Leah wrote me at 5:45 a.m. today to thank me for keeping her informed. She makes no mention of when or whether she plans to review the protocol.

I am dreading the IFP review scheduled during next week's residency. Everyone else will have finished, and I'm still . . . God, I don't know what I'm still doing. Slogging along, I guess. I hate this project.

Inch by Inch

2006-02-23T09:14:00.000-05:00

I received the first three interview candidate names yesterday! Hooray!

Pulling the Levers

2006-02-22T06:56:00.000-05:00

I wrote to Leah yesterday asking her to think strategically about whom she might like to interview for the project.

Just a Minute Mr. Postman

2006-02-21T08:37:00.000-05:00

Leah distributed the request for candidate names Friday at 4:14 p.m.

This was a long weekend, so people disappeared early on Friday and most were not here Monday. This morning will be the first time many of them will see the request. If their Inboxes look anything like my Inbox this morning . . . well, we may have a long wait for responses!

I need to think about how I can shake loose some of those candidates if they don't appear magically in my mailbox by COB tomorrow.

The Best Laid Plans

2006-02-19T20:30:00.000-05:00

We were ready to send the message to the board. At the last minute, Leah decided (without my input) it wasn't the right timing - there were too many other messages going to the board and they hadn't reacted to other things they were supposed to be doing.

She said she would bring up identifying the interview candidates during the board meeting Friday. I edited the guidelines and forwarded them to her with a new deadline of February 22.

Cross your fingers that the message gets out and the board reacts.

The Ball is in Both Courts

2006-02-13T07:30:00.000-05:00

I sent two items to Leah for her review last night. One is the guidelines for selecting interview candidates. This is to be used by the board members in determining who to interview. It also provides some very simple bulletized instructions for emailing the names of the candidates to me for compilation, etc.

The second item is a list of suggested appreciative topics. I had hoped that Leah would work directly with me to develop this particular list. While that hasn't happened, I've now provided her a short list of topics with some thoughts about what kinds of data and stories might come from those topics. At the very least I've given her some choices.

I've scheduled a 30-minute call with her Tuesday so that we can review what I've sent to her.

If all goes well, I will start building the interview protocol tonight. Even though we haven't firmed up the topic, I can develop a scaffold for the inquiry. It will be a small step forward to have an outline, but I'm trying to learn to build these small progressive steps into projects. This inability to move forward until everything is in place has kept me from making progress on large projects in the past. This is a skill I need to build.

Back in the Game, Sort Of

2006-02-10T17:07:00.000-05:00

This was a bad work week for the IFP (not to mention Tina). Leah and I played phone and email tag all week and never did actually connect.

I will spend this weekend writing up all of the materials I need to deliver for the Cultural Exchange, and I will deliver them Monday morning.

The Global Gallery director contacted me, too. I had a short email volley with her about choosing another project.

Whom Do We Want to Engage?

2006-01-24T07:22:00.000-05:00

I started working on 'Guidelines for Selecting Interview Candidates' last night. It feels good to have actually begun producing something.

The Board Meeting

2006-01-20T19:48:00.000-05:00

Today I had my 15 minutes at the board meeting. About half an hour before the call, Leah called and changed what she wanted me to focus on during my bit. That blew the little bit of preparation I had actually mananged to work up, but in the end it turned out okay. I think it freed me up to go ahead and speak extemporaneously, and gave me the self-permission I needed to flub up. Just that little bit of permission was all I needed to speak from the head and the heart.

Members of the board were receptive and asked some good questions. For example, one of the employee networking groups is brand new in the Columbus market. The chair of that group wanted to know if she could interview people in another market since there was no history here. I was able to improvise a decent answer, and it gave me a chance to expound on the immediacy of the appreciative approach. I told her she could certainly interview members in another market, or she might want to use this opportunity to identify potential new members in this market and tailor the interview protocol a bit to emphasize the idea of building a new organization. That option could begin generating excitement and energy about her group.

I had a chance to 'observe' Leah as she facilitated the call. This added familiarity with her style humanized her for me and made the process less intimidating.

Initially I thought the board comprised 17 people. With the expansion of the Cultural Exchange from seven employee networking groups to nine, the 2006 board consists of 22 individuals. This is good news, as it will potentially provide us with a larger number of interviews and a wider variety of stories, quotes, and ideas.

All in all, I think it went well. Now I need to produce some materials to support the board in moving forward with the interviews. First, they will need a few sentences requesting that they identify members of their groups for interviewing. That message will give them some guidelines for choosing people. Leah and I will also need to talk about the appreciative topics around which we want to build the interview protocol. Then, I will need to actually produce the protocol. All of this needs to happen this week, probably.

The Long Weekend

2006-01-13T17:17:00.000-05:00

Leah and I spent about 20 minutes on the phone late this afternoon talking about the project. This weekend we will bounce the appreciative topics around. I will update the time table, listing the activities and the numbers of people expected to participate.

I also need to put together a one-page brief for the board on the criteria I want them to use when selecting candidates for interviews. I told Leah we will want to request 5 names from each board member. We will ask the board to interview at least one and up to 3 individuals from other ENGs.

Leah said that she wants to: look at the past (2005), understand the current state, and identify where we can get the most return this year. She also stated she "doesn't have much hope for the future." I'm thinking CE and the other ENGs are threatened with extinction in the new world. Maybe this project will demonstrate their value and help to keep them alive?

Answers About the Board Meeting

2006-01-11T13:14:00.000-05:00

Leah says there are typically 15 attendees at the board meeting. It's a conference call, and she plans to allot 15 minutes to introduce and discuss the project. That means no visual aids, unless I develop a Sametime meeting.

I wonder how comfortable the board members would be with that technology? If comfortable, does it add credibility? If uncomfortable, does it create frustration and distrust? What are the risks?

Questions about the Board Meeting

2006-01-10T08:35:00.000-05:00

I forwarded a list of questions about the board meeting to Leah a few minutes ago. I almost sent it off with just the questions and not much else, but I thought better of it and decided to spend a few more minutes on crafting a frame for the email. The framing is short (2 sentences), but I think it turned out pretty well. I guess maybe HB has added something to my repertoire after all.

On Board

2006-01-10T07:18:00.000-05:00

Last night's family conference call was helpful to me. The consensus is that I should move forward with the Cultural Exchange project by preparing for the board meeting.

Today I will write to Leah and get some details about the board meeting. Who will be there, and how much time will I be allotted to describe the project?

Contracting?

2006-01-09T07:08:00.000-05:00

Leah wrote me that, although she hasn't had an opportunity to run the project past Earl, she thinks "we should go ahead to plan on this and do our best to make the results as impactful as it (sic) can."

She also asks me to prepare to speak to the board during its first meeting of the year January 20.

Whaddya think? Do I have a project or not? I guess I need to prepare a contract of some sort so that we can both (all) be committed to making this happen.

Video Killed the Graduate Student

2006-01-07T15:37:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week I did a bunch of web-based research on video editing and the like. I didn't find much that was very useful. I also identified someone at my employer who listed video production in his online profile, and I left him a voicemail. Yesterday he called me back and we spoke at length about things I might do to get the stories from the interviews produced. Some of his ideas included contacting other students at Case who might be studying video and walking into CompUSA and just looking at the shelves to see what kind of off-the-shelf video production products they have.

It occurred to me that I could potentially approach the Communications department at Otterbein, from which I graduated 10 years ago. They have a campus television broadcast production facility and students who are majoring in broadcast. Maybe someone there would be interested in working on this little project?

Take Me To Your Leader

2006-01-07T15:03:00.000-05:00

Leah and I had a good conversation yesterday. She seems supportive and enthusiastic, and she is taking the idea of the action research to Earl, the Cultural Exchange's executive sponsor.

She made some very minor changes to the proposal I sent to her; I think that demonstrates that she is sincere about and committed to moving forward.

It may take as long as a week to get Earl's decision. We have an appointment next Friday at 4 to talk again, although I've asked her to let me know before that if the news is not encouraging.

In writing my paper for Eric, I noted that I had approached the wrong people in many of my scouting activities. I tend to approach people I know or who are referred to me because it is the most comfortable thing to do. In this case, too, I think I made the same error. I guess I should be approaching the decision-maker in these organizations if I want to create excitement and interest and move quickly.

I started scouting for this project before I wrote that for Eric, so I can probably be forgiven for having made the same mistake. However, I don't know that I will be able to change my approach, even given what I feel I have learned. It's much more difficult to identify and approach the decision-maker in these situations. These outlyers are gatekeepers, anyway, and are supposed to be playing this role.

I'm torn about this learning point. Is it accurate? Any thoughts from my family?

Another Day

2006-01-06T07:40:00.000-05:00

I didn't call anyone yesterday. I meet with Leah this morning. Cross your fingers.

Mary M. emailed me that she thought the MPOD generational learning initiative (GLI) would be a good project. Pam liked the idea, too. If this thing with Leah goes south, I am going to ask Eric to seriously consider this for my project.

Now what?

2006-01-05T09:11:00.000-05:00

Leah and I are scheduled to meet tomorrow, but I think that I should be doing 'something else' to move this thing along. What can I do to improve my chances of turning this opportunity into a real live project?

What about the alternative, back-up plans? Should I call Connie at Global Gallery? I haven't heard from her since she offered some background information. Should I call Theresa at the branch? I haven't heard from her, either.

Is Half a Paper Better Than None?

2006-01-03T07:17:00.000-05:00

Last night I shipped off half a progress report paper to Eric.

Ouch.

2006-01-01T19:12:00.000-05:00

My heart hurts from writing this paper. These reflective papers just expose every raw nerve and every failing I have as an efficacious human being. I guess that's the point. Until you can see the problem, you can't address it.

Happy New Year!

2006-01-01T13:34:00.000-05:00

Eric needs my progress report "by Monday," so today's the day.

Wish me luck.

Beyond Here There Be Dragons

2005-12-31T14:38:00.000-05:00

Eric reviewed the presentation for Leah, and he thinks it would make a good project. Cross your fingers now that Leah will be interested in pursuing it.

Part of what I proposed involves videotaping AI interviews and producing a DVD deliverable. Since I don't know how to do any of that, and I don't have the equipment on hand to produce it, I'm afraid I'm biting off more than I can chew.

I asked Ed if he would be willing to produce the video, or if he would let me use iMovie on his Apple, and 'that isn't going to happen.' So I have some big-time research and purchases and production ahead of me if this goes forward.

Friday

2005-12-30T13:20:00.000-05:00

I spoke with the executive director of Global Gallery just now. She gave me some deep background about the organization and is sending me more information. I'm not sure how I would step into this project.

Yesterday Eric wrote to me asking about my progress report. I've written him back with some details about what I've been pursuing by way of a project, providing him with a link to this blog. I'm hoping he will share some thoughts with me about how to progress.

Next.

2005-12-29T17:00:00.000-05:00

I sent a draft proposal to Leah.

Hard of Thinking

2005-12-29T08:59:00.000-05:00

I spent a good amount of time (5-6 hours?) writing up a proposal for Leah yesterday. The process started to feel like it belonged to me after about 4 hours of sweat equity . . .

Why is this so difficult? Why am I so difficult? "Other people" seem to be able to do things without questioning every step of the process. Why am I so obstinate?

Cultural Exchange

2005-12-27T10:07:00.000-05:00

Leah returned my call this morning. She struck me as being very knowledgeable about this kind of work, and I think she would be easy to work with from that point of view. In fact, she seemed like she would be a wonderful collaborator - she had some good insights into pre-merger/post-merger states of the organization(s), as well as a long view of how the focus of the organization(s) has changed over time.

She asked for some more specific information including:

"Introduction to program at CWRU
Your previous similar research result
Your expectation as of time and scope
Purpose/Process/PayOff"

Why do I feel as though my credibility is being questioned? I explained that I am a student . . .

Light Bulb, and I Don't Mean Philips or GE

2005-12-23T12:38:00.000-05:00

I created a team blog for the AMOC, CIGO, and MPOD groups this morning. As I was telling my friend John about it, he asked me why I didn't use the blog as the basis for my paper.

Why not, indeed? On to Eric.

And More Scouting . . .

2005-12-23T07:07:00.000-05:00

Sue wrote back that she has already collected volunteer stories, but that maybe we could do something else with the CML volunteers. I'm not sure what to suggest! I seem to be a one-trick pony. Or maybe the blood has stopped flowing to my brain.

The consulting company branch manager wrote me back. Text of the email: "Sounds interesting. Tell me more. When, What, Where, Time commitment as well. Thanks." This is an interesting response. Where do I go with this? I can't prescribe something in an email. I guess the next thing to do is to call her and do some appreciative listening.

On the Edge of Chaos

2005-12-22T08:12:00.000-05:00

Sue dashed off a note last night to see what had become of the GG project. Since no progress on that front, I offered another option: what if we inquired into what "gives life" to the CML volunteer program?

I await her response with bated breath.

Happy Holidays

2005-12-21T14:52:00.000-05:00

I left a vm for Leah. She is out of the office until Jan 3.

Another Lead

2005-12-21T14:42:00.000-05:00

I got up the guts to call a VP in Diversity (Ray F) today to ask if there might be a project around the Employee Networking Groups (ENGs). Although he thought the scope of including all ENGs might be too broad, he suggested I contact Leah M, the coordinator of the Columbus networking groups. Those groups are under the banner, "The Cultural Exchange." I will contact her next.

Contact

2005-12-20T11:13:00.000-05:00

I made contact with the executive director. We plan to meet next week.

What Comes Around . . .

2005-12-20T10:58:00.000-05:00

Kate referred me to Sue, someone I already knew! Sue has referred me to the Executive Director of the GG. Onward.

Tuesday

2005-12-20T07:05:00.000-05:00

I plan to call Kate this morning about a potential sustainability project at Global Gallery. She seems to think it is a sure bet.

I wrote a paragraph of "the story" for Eric last night.

Enticing Emails

2005-12-19T10:42:00.000-05:00

I can see that my scouting emails have garnered some responses, but I cannot read the responses here at work!

I'm going to leave for lunch and check my gmail on a computer at the library. I hope I got a few nibbles!

Chapter 7

2005-12-19T07:55:00.000-05:00

I chose to spend the remainder of the hour today re-reading the "Scouting, Entry, and Contracting" chapter in Eric's book, Becoming an OD Practitioner.

I found I had forgotten what activities entailed "entry," so it was a good review. It also gave me a chance to see that I do have a lengthy scouting story to write.

In the Beginning . . .

2005-12-19T07:16:00.000-05:00

I have vowed to spend the hours between 7:00 - 8:00 a.m. working on the IFP this week. So here I am back at the blog trying to figure out how to proceed. I'm waiting for some of the energy I sent out into the world yesterday to boomerang back to me, but I cannot only wait. I must press forward.

I wrote to my family yesterday and asked for new ideas, too. Mika wrote me back and suggested that I "think fresh again." That's what I'm attempting to do now. She also suggested a brainstorming conference call, which I may take her up on.

Meanwhile, my employer has re-org'd at the higher levels again as of last Friday. I'm not sure where I "live" in this new design, so I've lost my footing (again). In theory, it shouldn't matter where I live, because I still need to coordinate IST and UAT for the enterprise release. But the power structure has changed, and that will most certainly affect others around me on whom I am dependent. So there truly is a "real" affect on process and productivity.

But I digress. Why did I bring the reorg up here in this post? Ah, it is because I would like to do my project here at work, and each time I think I get a handle on something I could do here, we reorganize and I lose my nerve.

I *should* be more flexible - I'm a "change agent" for crying out loud! But I'm also human, with my own foibles and insecurities, so I need to be mindful of those and work through them.

So what concrete actions can I take during this morning time to make progress on the IFP? First, I can brainstorm, as I'm doing here. But that doesn't feel much like concrete progress. Second, I can start writing "the story" that Eric wants to read (by January 1). That would at least get something down on paper that I could stew about and react to. Yes, that's the ticket - I need to start writing the story.

Once upon a time, there was a crazy woman named Tina . . .

Scouting, scouting, scouting

2005-12-18T18:50:00.000-05:00

I wrote some scouting emails this afternoon. One to my entrepreneur friend mentioned in an earlier post. One to my former employer, an international consulting company with a local office here in my town. And one to an after-school program coordinator at the kids' school.

Howl and Rant

2005-12-18T14:40:00.000-05:00

The weeks have flown by, and still no project to be seen. It's my own fault - I have little to no ability to multitask the papers and the projects, and so I follow them linearly into a pit of lateness and despair.

I would rather do a paper than try to do this project. This project will be the death of me. I'm not a bad person, am I? I'm not a bad student. I really try! I don't try to get out of things. But this is killing me.

What can I do next to make this happen? I wrote to a local entrepreneur about an hour ago. I asked him if he needed assistance with his own organization or if he had some ideas for volunteer orgs that might need some development help. Maybe something will come of that. But I can't stop there . . . I have to come up with something solid, and I have to come up with something solid NOW.

I need to just sit here with paper and pen and write down every damn idea I can think of and approach five of those groups and take the first one that says yes. I wanted to start writing the Progress Paper for Eric, but I can't even answer the questions, because I DON'T HAVE A PROJECT TO REPORT PROGRESS AGAINST!

ARGGGGGGGGGGH

2005-12-18T14:29:00.000-05:00

I just lost a huge post.

Glimmer of Hope

2005-11-11T08:34:00.000-05:00

Last week I spoke with a former MOD who walked me through some ideas for a project. Together we identified a potential project for Circles, my group mentoring organization. I'm a little heartened by this idea of identifying an affirmative topic around group mentoring and doing a series of cascading AI interviews about it. Somehow it feels right. I need to approach the Circles administrator about this idea in the next few days. Heck, maybe I'll even email her today.

Progressing Nicely

2005-11-08T09:17:00.000-05:00

We had another meeting of our family support group last night. Everyone on the call appears to be progressing nicely with their projects, save for me. I feel worse every day, and the worse I feel the harder it gets to make progress. I'm in a reinforcing negative loop.

Positive Change Corps

2005-11-04T07:09:00.000-05:00

MS of Positive Change Corps offered to partner with me for my project. She is working with AI in schools, and there was the potential of doing a project that would bring businesses into schools - in particular, the Intergenerational School in Cleveland. It looked interesting, and it would have solved my lack-of-a-project problem, but the idea of trying to work on something in Cleveland . . . there are only so many hours in a day, so many weeks in a year, and so many vacation days available.

I recognize this is not a very good description of the potential project. Since I've opted out, I'm not going to spend a lot of time documenting what might have been.

Weekend Update

2005-10-16T18:50:00.000-04:00

The update is that there is nothing to update. I haven't made a lick of progress on the IFP in over three weeks.

Cheryl offered to put me in touch with some Columbus designer friends. Hilary put me in touch with a former MOD student in town. But I've just been too down to make these cold calls.

Stealth Change

2005-09-27T07:33:00.000-04:00

We had a meeting of our family support group last night. I was grumpy and inarticulate, and therefore did not contribute much. Russ and Mika were on the call for the first half, and then Cheryl joined a little later.

Mika was helpful to me in simply stating that it was difficult to communicate the idea of a learning organization. She said that it had taken almost a year of activity before her management finally "got it."

Russ coined a new term: subversive positive deviance. I like that! Maybe we'll write a book by that title someday.

Still Focusing

2005-09-21T08:19:00.000-04:00

Spent about 30 minutes talking to JP yesterday about this project. He has good instincts and ideas, and with an MBA he's already been down this path and understands the process and the need for a bottomline deliverable!

One thing that emerged for me from the discussion was solidification of a core concept - that to have organizational learning you have to have individuals who learn. It seems obvious, but sometimes the obvious needs to be made explicit before one can progress.

So what are the behaviors that individuals must exhibit in order to create a learning organization? That seems to be the core question.

JP came up with a really cool idea of working with B and his directs. Using the LSI and Appreciative Inquiry, we could attempt to build Brad's team as a learning organization, which would then cascade out through the rest of the division.

I really like this idea, but it isn't what B and I discussed last week. I wonder if he would be open to a shift in focus like this?

Meeting with a Remarkable Man

2005-09-18T16:11:00.000-04:00

I talked to Eric today about my so-called "learning organization" project. He gave me some questions to think about:

How will it take the company forward?
How would it benefit the individuals involved?
How could I mobilize support for it?
What would make it successful?

It's starting to feel like something that could actually have some form to it.

Terrapin Station

2005-09-10T13:32:00.000-04:00

The division's Learning Organization project is the center of gravity right now, so I'm starting this blog with a post on that.

Reading Senge's The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook is like reading a prayerbook. He makes creating a learning organization sound like a spiritual aspiration, and I think that it is.

But exactly what is a learning organization? Is it a journey or a destination? I believe it is a never-ending journey, which makes it hard to build a structured "project" around it . . . what are the milestones? What are the deliverables? How will I know if we've been "successful?"

I need to talk to Eric before I set off on such a journey.

It is an activity that excites me, though. What if through this experience I got a chance to take it to another organization . . . and another . . . and another? I could be a part of human transformation in a way that makes my heart beat faster. Wow - to engage in joyful, meaningful work every day - what a concept!