…Think of an example of successful technology, and share how motivation was a factor in its success. I was going to say Twitter, but then I thought better of it because figured Twitter and Facebook are both pretty obvious examples. So I would have to move to LinkedIn, a social networking website for professionals who would like to find others in their genre. LinkedIn is a great tool for us to utilize, a sort of ‘Facebook for Business’.

I used LinkedIn extensively for my action research project, and I am continuing to do so today. I’ve made many contacts since I became more motivated at using LinkedIn. Strangely enough, this occurred when I began my research in earnest.  I realized that LinkedIn was a natural community of practice opportunity for me.

The thing about any social networking tool is that it will only be as successful as the motivation behind it. LinkedIn is a perfect example. You begin a new little community, advertise its inception, collect data and contacts, and with luck you will create a successful new group. This has been happening with my sub-group, Instructional Systems Design for Consultants, in LinkedIn. Another person started it but encouraged me to manage it. Since that time we’ve had some good discussions and polls.

Comparing LinkedIn to Facebook and MySpace, other more loosely constructed social networking platforms, LinkedIn provides a professional but also innovative outlet for those looking to keep up on the latest and greatest developments in their respective fields. Like the other two, LinkedIn allows those with incentive to keep a running tab on others’ accomplishments and events. At the same time, you can advertise as much as you’d like about yourself. LinkedIn’s management team was wise enough to work with Twitter so that a profile posting can also be a Tweet from your account if you choose to link it that way. Naturally this will increase your potential to reach more people, which motivates you to stay connected, which motivates you to do more. It’s a giant ferris wheel of networking genius.  ;- )

It’s been a long and sometimes excruciatingly difficult year, but overall it’s been quite a program! I’ve learned a great deal, and true to the program’s intent, not much of it was what I initially thought I would learn.

I mean that in a positive way. I learned a lot about myself, a lot about the way people learn or at least should learn, and I made 23 great friends in the process! This may be an expensive way to make friends, but it has been a rich experience that I would never give back.

The last couple of weeks of school are surprisingly busy. I was hoping that once we got back from Graduation and presentations, things would wind down slowly. Instead, I’m as busy as I was before going to CA. Maybe not quite as frenetic of a pace, but still; there’s a lot to do in order to successfully wrap up. I’m putting final touches on my website, but also working on two PSAs for two different classes (including this one) plus a ‘dream job’ interview process that I’m working with Cramer on this Thursday. After that, we’re pretty much finished with this program.

I have to say, I’ll miss the insane conference calls, Skype chats, even the crazy Tapped In sessions. In short, I’ll miss my cadre mates and our constant back-and-forth jokes with each other. Hopefully that will continue to some degree – on Facebook, iChat, maybe even live calls now and then. Thanks to everyone for their unique perspectives on everything! It’s been a fascinating run.

And… How would you use these tools to motivate those around you? To be personally motivated?

I love the tool kit! It’s my favorite part of the book. Even the ones I’ll never use again for my daughter was fascinating to me. I really wish I had something like this book when she was young. I would have taken different steps in her education and even some in general upbringing. The whole allowance thing, for example. I was taught to work for money and I turned around and did the same thing with her. Oh well. I learned; I’ll tell her about it too.  ; -0

Some of my personal favorites in the tool kit:

• Flow Test
• Sagmeister
• Performance Review
• Oblique Strategy
• Move Five Steps Closer to Mastery

The flow test just seems interesting to find out about us. It would be great to use this to our advantage. When you’re more likely to be energetic, do your most difficult work at that time of day. I wrote a course about project management in which I made that a tip for managing your time, so I guess I already knew that one.

Sagmeister: I have tried to do this my entire life. Unfortunately I’ve never been able to take a year off of my job, but I do take ‘mini-Sags’ throughout the year. I’ve never been the type of person who can work with no vacation for months and years. Instead I work for the next vacation. I try to jet off to France for a week, or Canada for a long weekend. I am instantly rejuvenated when I schedule and take trips, no matter how long or short.

I realize that isn’t the same as the Sagmeister idea. I always thought that was a smart move on a university’s part. Allowing tenured professors to take sabbaticals to continue their passion is such a great idea. Every company or educational institution should take part in that idea.

The performance review idea is great for everyone, but it made me think of my husband. He has people working for him, and the performance review is always a difficult time for everyone. Dirk does a great job of it anyway, but I know it’s a stress factor for him. It doesn’t have to be though. I’m sure if he followed some of the tactics mentioned here more closely it would help everyone in his office.

Oblique Strategy: Not to drag him into every tool kit item, but my spouse introduced me to Oblique Strategy because he’s the consummate Eno fan.  ;- ) We have every album Eno has ever produced or co-produced! Naturally, every Eno invention has swept through our home. I have the Bloom app on my iPhone, in which you can play a tune that you program in or help play yourself. Awesome. The image in today’s post is of that app as it looks while you’re playing it.

Five Steps closer to mastery: I’ve heard this one before, but it’s such great advice. There is no way around practicing to become better, and we can all use that prod every now and then. Well, I can. It’s the reason I’ve played guitar for 20+ years, but I still have to go by the dots when I’m finding the chord. No fretless guitars for me! Ha ha

I am not sure which type of change we’re talking about, so I’ll just wing it, going by the book Drive by Daniel Pink. In it he discusses how businesses can change for the better by listening to employees’ real needs, and motivating them with a different set of rewards than most companies are used to handing out for a job well done. So let’s say a company decides to change the company work structure, as described in one section of the book. Instead of clocking in and out every day in a building and giving eight hours to get results in their project timelines, employees are given a chance to work in a different fashion. They’re allowed to work their own hours, their own way, at home if they’d like or in an office setting if they prefer.  The hours they work really don’t matter. What matters is that they accomplish what they should be doing each week.

People react differently to changes in their given levels of autonomy. The impact of this change to someone who wasn’t expecting it can differ drastically. For a majority of people the change will be positive, even if it was at first a shock and perceived negatively. Once they’re used to the idea that it’s a positive idea that will benefit their lifestyles they’ll usually settle in well and excel in their job roles. A few cannot get used to the switch, and may leave to find a more traditional position. Their learned behaviors get the best of them, and they return to the traditional manner of work.

I keep thinking of the movie ‘Dead Man’, where Johnny Depp’s character goes to a small town in Oregon and tries to get a job as an accountant in a factory there. The image you see in this week’s post is of Robert Mitchum as the factory owner, who doesn’t remember hiring him. As a result, he lowers a gun on Depp when he steps into Mitchum’s office.  I tried to find an image of the actual office, which was a dismal row of desks headed up by a team leader whose job is to ensure everyone is working the entire time they’re in the office. I couldn’t find one, unfortunately, so this shot is metaphorically close.  ;- )

This type of setup has been institutionalized into companies all over the world. It has only been in the last 20 years or so that this situation has changed. I have been lucky enough to be part of this revolutionary but oh-so-necessary change in  work styles. I have worked remotely for most of the last 15 years. Having this autonomy to complete my work relieves me of so many draining burdens that so many people still endure: having to sit through rush-hour traffic each day, dressing up for work, not being in the comfort of their own homes surrounded by pets and not being able to eat a lunch of their own choosing, whenever they decide to do so.  I start each day by either going to the gym before work or watering plants in the back yard with my dog, and maybe taking him for a walk before I begin. I would never have time to do any of this if I had to slog through Chicago’s horrendous traffic (second only to Los Angeles in severity and time spent on the road). In addition I’m happier knowing I work for people who trust my judgment of time to get my projects done in my own time.

This doesn’t mean I’m as autonomous as the people in Pink’s book. I have to work a normal day, more or less, and be available to people on a loose 9-to-5 schedule. But if I need to run off and get a quick task done during the day, I can tack time on to the end of the day, or the next day, to make up for it. It’s not ideal, but it’s closer than I could get elsewhere. As Pink alludes to, I have turned down jobs that paid more because they did not offer this level of autonomy. It’s worth it to me to find the more exclusive projects that allow for humane treatment.  ;- )

So who is impacted by change in my situation? Of course I am, but I’ve already described the positive ways in which I interpret this change. My employers, who change several times a year, are also impacted positively. They don’t have to worry about me coming into their building and taking up space, parking lot space and their time as they try to manage other projects like mine. In addition we can all be happy knowing the environment is constructively impacted. The environment gets a break since I’m not driving anywhere to meet an unrealistic time schedule that benefits no one.

I can help myself implement the change by knowing my own shortcomings and meeting them head-on to avoid disaster. I take notes each day so that I have goals to meet, aside from my project goals. This helps a great deal, as I might otherwise screw around too much and not accomplish what I need to do.

I help my project managers by keeping them informed of my progress, and letting them know if I hit any roadblocks, such as not being able to communicate with my subject matter experts (with whom I work in most projects). They’re aware that I am making headway, relieving them of the burden of having to hunt me down or keep track of my due dates. Knowing the personality traits of my project managers (Type I or X, for instance) can also be beneficial. If I have a skittish Type X, I can deliver news in a different way than if I have a mild-mannered Type I as a project manager. Knowing personalities  is just as important as knowing due dates and other expected goals.

The way we learn can impact what learning is necessary for ourselves. We try to formulate our ideas of learning around what affects us the most; what we want to learn, what it is cost-efficient to learn, what employers want us to learn. Daniel Pink’s Drive discusses the three reasons people become motivated (Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose). Although his point is directed at the employer-employee relationship, it can be applied to why people learn. After all why else do we learn unless we’re motivated?

To go back to the more pointed question though, we usually know what is necessary within ourselves by using our ‘gut’ to tell us. If it’s something we really don’t want to know about, we usually ask someone else to validate our decision. As Erica Jong once said, “Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn’t.”  ;- ) (Hence my photo) Therefore,  if we follow our own internal advice we most often know what it is we really want to do.

What if that desire is thwarted by an outside force, such as an employer? As I once found, it may be time to get out of that environment. I worked in a department of a company where intimidation and veiled threats were the norm. Although high praise was given, it was often followed by intense scorn, often at inappropriate times such as division meetings. At one point in my see-saw of job roles (four within a year) I was told to get training for a new position, only to be told the very night of the last day of class that I was not going to be able to work in the new position I had just been trained to do. Looking back, I realize that my employer had one or two screws, well…not in the correct places! I was not the only one who had felt the effects of the manager’s split personality syndrome. Literally everyone in this team had experienced the same treatment.  The impact of this change in behavior caused many to leave the company sooner or later, as I eventually also did.  This bizarre code of ‘conduct’ caused me to resolve never to be put in this vulnerable type of position again. It also made me realize that coersion and / or negative feedback from employers, or really anyone in the position to influence us – spouses, parents, ‘well-meaning’ friends – is only going to sour the motivation we feel for learning something new. Which brings me to another timely quote, this time from Ayn Rand:
A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.

Note that beating does not have to be physical! Any manner of beating down one’s enthusiasm for a subject, a job role, a class or anything else, has the same end result; it dampens the person’s motivation level, often to a point where it cannot be resurrected to the original state. Don’t let this happen to you.

For Melissa’s class, our first blog addresses the following:

Identifying opportunities for change. How do you know when change is needed? How do people become passionate about change?

How do I know when change is needed? Not to split hairs, but it depends on the situation. When meeting with a friend , going into work or starting a task brings a sense of dread, it’s time to reassess. On the other hand, sometimes change is a positive adventure. When I began this program, I felt both emotions.  ;- ) I was looking forward to the challenge of achieving a new degree. I was also a little apprehensive about starting a program at this point in my life.  I guess the passion overcame the dread, because here I am, getting ready for finals and graduation.

People are passionate about change when they sense it’s going to bring about something positive. If you know you’re going to achieve something, and not necessarily something monetary or materialistic, you are determined to make it happen. Before my husband and I were married, we lived together for about a year and a half. Before we moved in together, I had already been divorced for years and hadn’t lived with anyone for almost a decade. He had been single and living alone for about three years. We were both ensconced in a lifestyle that did not require living with another person.

It didn’t matter though, because by the time we discussed moving in together we were both psyched and could tell that it was a positive change in our lives. So we made plans, looked for a new place – we agreed we didn’t want to move into either person’s ‘existing’ home – and made decisions on how we would handle our new living situation. Naturally, we haven’t regretted this move! We’re still going strong almost ten years later; no signs of abating, ha ha.

But the real point is that even though we were both sure we didn’t want to trade in our formerly happily single lives, we found out the change was very positive, and changed the entire course of our lives for the better. Anticipating this, we looked forward to it, and we worked to ensure it stayed a positive thing! This is also a good example that if you’re really passionate about a change, you’re willing to work extra hard to make sure it works for you.

mentor as corrosive

It finally worked! My friend Mike called Jason and they talked about a variety of things, but primarily SharePoint. I think I mentioned that Jason is about to use SP for the first time in a project. Mike is THE SP go-to guy I know of; he has worked extensively in it for the last 3+ years, so he’s well versed in what works well and what will be a futile effort. It was a most positive meeting on both sides. They both liked and respected each other, and plan to keep in touch. My work here is done.  ;- ) Well, as far as that goes.

I was a little apprehensive last week since they didn’t get to meet. I wasn’t sure if I should have suggested the meeting, as Mike is really busy, and it was starting to look as though he wouldn’t have time for Jason. I shot off a couple of reminder calls and emails, so I guess I irritated Mike into talking to Jason last Thursday, ha ha. But it worked out well. Jason and I ended up talking afterwards, and he had nothing but positive things to say about it. He agreed that Mike is a great person to know. I’m betting Jason can help Mike out at some point too. He knows a lot more about video streaming techniques, and you never know when Mike may need someone like him to help out in a project. This power mentoring thing was a superb idea! I have complained about having too many books in this program (and I stand by that! They really need to refine these lists), but I was glad to have read about that. It may not have occurred to me otherwise to contact Mike and put those two together. But I’m glad I did. I feel as though I did a good deed or something, as silly as that may sound.  I know this will be a good relationship for them, which of course only helps everyone.

The graphic is just a joke. I couldn’t find any better ‘mentor’ images, and when I looked at power mentor it was all Microsoft clip art type of photos. Yechhh. I mean, they’re fine for a PPT presentation, but not this blog!  ;- ) So somehow ‘corrosive mentor’ seemed to fit. Maybe my skewed view before it happened is illustrated here.

It’s really too bad because I felt everything was going along at a decent clip. Now we have to detour a bit, and then chug back up to speed. Also we need to hurry the pace because classes end in a few weeks! There are a few more things we should cover, plus I want to get more of Jason’s ‘take’ on all things Instructional Design, as well as some insights about his attitude toward this so far.

So I’ll report back after he and I meet, after he and Mike meet, in a few days. In the meantime work is suddenly quite busy for me. Lots of new projects, to the point where I’m not sure who I’m supposed to meet with anymore! Also we just got back from Boston, which was loads of fun. We got to see Dirk’s brother and his family, including our 8-year-old niece. The last time we saw her she was not quite 5. Time flies. We went to the beach one day, met with a couple of cadre mates for dinner one night, and I worked in a hotel room on one of my projects It was worth it just to be out of the Midwest for a few days!

Until next time….change and more change. And health care reform. Finally.  Well, at least a start. ;- )

We next worked together at another company where we weren’t in the same department, but we managed to work on some projects together. We both left for the same reason but at different times, and now we just keep in touch across a few state lines. Mike was an ID who was always more interested in the programming side of things. He branched into SharePoint (SP) as an architect / admin for several groups. He now holds a similar position for a new company. They work in SP for educational purposes as well as team uses (storing files, meeting info, etc.). I thought Mike could give Jason a great perspective on how to look at corporate training from another angle, a more peripheral role. Jason does this now with video, but the SP perspective will help him consider new ways to integrate into an ID position (or maybe another one close to it).

The really cool thing about this is that Jason was recently approached by someone at work to use SharePoint as a place to link video files, among other things. His introduction to SP is so timely! I love it. Mike is a bloody SP expert by now, so he can make Jason look awesome the first time he uses SP at work.   ;- )  I can’t wait to hear about how this goes. I’m sure he and Mike will get along well. They both have some commonalities from which they can develop a rapport, so I’m not concerned about that.

I finally talked about our mentorship in Jenith’s class last week. I felt a little strange about it. It’s kind of awkward to talk about someone who is on the call. Mentorship discussions are more of a luxury for everyone else in class, since they can say anything about their mentee and know it will ‘stay in the group’. Luckily there is absolutely nothing I have to censor out of the conversation when discussing Jason. Still, I felt a little strange, and I know I made a couple of dopey jokes while reflecting about it. Oh well, I need to get used to that. This is part of what Jenith warned us about when we first entered into the mentor relationship. There are times that it will be odd to discuss! I’m sure it was a bit odd for him also, having to listen to me talk about him, ha ha.  I’m sure he’ll get over it too.

So next week when he and I meet, I’ll have another angle from which to approach. Looking at this goofy but still helpful diagram I posted for today’s blog, I’m glad to know that I’ve already hit on many of the tips mentioned in this diagram. I’d like to encourage Jason to reflect a little more, and I’d like to discuss educational options for him. Not so much getting another ( or – yet another! or another damn!) degree, but maybe a couple of classes here and there that would help him round out his comprehension of instructional design and development. So next week, once we review his session with Mike, I will branch into that a little further. I just noticed by looking at a preview that the text is difficult to read in the diagram. So here are the tips. The green circle in the middle says ‘What a mentor should do for a mentee’. The red circles say:

• Identify their strengths and weaknesses
• Explore options with mentee
• Act as a challenger
• Encourage reflection
• Provide motivation
• Address their educational needs

Cheerio and ciao – - -

Another reason was that I saw that participation was threatening to die on the vine, so I offered a more personal time capsule to the cadre. Although I was too young to really grasp all of the issues at that time I remember some things about that era, especially because my oldest brother was growing into adulthood right about then. It was an intense back-and-forth posting frenzy for me, and I felt really good about being able to contribute more than speculation (as I had with the Ned Kelly thread).  It was odd that I ended up being more of an authority of the C7 trial, especially since I don’t normally identify myself with the whole hippie generation. I grew up the following decade, when Saturday Night Live started, the Sex Pistols and the Clash came out and other crazy stuff. However I was the closest the cadre had to this era. Actually, there is someone else older than I am in the cadre who didn’t seem to have a lot to say about the C7 trial. I hope it wasn’t a really painful era for him. That could be why he was strangely silent on a subject he surely knows better than I do.

From there we worked on Learning Adventure #2, which was a godsend for me – music composing! We were handed a trial version of Sibelius which is similar to Finale, a composing software I use (mostly for classical music).  I found Sibelius a little clunky but workable, so I set to work creating a piano quartet with violin, viola and cello. I could do this assignment for the rest of the semester. I probably should! I could finish my whole next CD on Sibelius – or Finale. I felt bad for the people who struggled with Sibelius. I read that someone was intimidated by hearing my piece. It was odd; I felt a mixture of dejected and proud. Dejected because my piece affected someone negatively; proud because my piece must have turned out better than I thought! It’s kind of funny in a ridiculous way…

Today we were given Learning Adventure #3, which is to take a piece of software called Celestia (I have to tell my sister Celeste about this), and learn how to manipulate it. So far I was able to install it (whoo-hoo), open it and jump around to some different planets. I can see that moving about in this application will take a little getting used to, but it seems plausible enough. I’m wondering if this is deliberately paired with our new Second Life experience in another class. Both are new ‘worlds’ (or ‘galaxies’?) in which we need to polish up some new skills in order to be successful in them. It would make sense.