Today's discussion: "The Great Eight" (Organizational Disciplines) and the Peer-to-Peer Communication connection.
Also--rethinking education:
Today's quote:
"Give a student a text, lecture and test and you teach them for a semester. Get a student into "google"ing, case preparation and blogging, and they teach each other for a lifetime!"
--Brad A. Adams, a student taught by students!
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Optimize the whole company. All Individual parts can’t be optimized at the same time, thus parts must be sub-optimized.
The Divine Circle: is what Stephen R. Covey wrote about in one of his first books, it teaches that we have a divine circle. In the center of this circle we must center our lives toward God and Jesus Christ. From there are several pieces of cut out that make up our lives. For example one piece can be Money, another church, another education, job, spouse, children, or hobbies. Each circle varies depending upon who you are. Each person must make a choice that fits there life best, but by having God and Christ in the center create the DIVINE CENTER and keeps all your priorities correct.
The Great 8 and the Great Practice 8
This refers the matrix which has the 8 different categories the top is the five engines/categories, of Organizations (People, Organization, Market, Technology – Service, & Capital and within the five engines exist in 3 other engines/categories; Strategy, Opportunities, & Change. Having these 8 parts on the top and to the left create the GREAT 8, having these topics on the bottom and to the right create GREAT PRACTICE 8, which is the leaders in training.
Stewardship Delegation is:
Desire
Resources
Guidelines
Accountability
Consequence
Results
Optimize the Whole
In order to see the reason for the principle of optimizing the whole we have to exept the fact that most resources are limited. Many times because we know resources are limited we want to be the first to use them ie musical chairs.
Remember what happened in musical chairs? When we acted on our basic impulse to take we eliminated one another from completing the goal. However, when we thought of the needs of the group we devised a system that enabled all of us to succeed.
An example of a limited resource is time. Specifically time of people. In class Brother Adams used the example of President Clark. In our case it's Brother Adams' time that's limited. Hence the need for us to schedule appointments outside of class for additional questions that I'm sure we all have about our individual assignments.
In our last class we discussed how stakeholders can affect work performance. Through out the class we brainstormed and found out there are many stakeholders in our lives. Whether it is a religious affiliation someone belong to. Or if it was the accountant in the accounting office that makes sure that the company did not go over their budget.
There are a lot of different areas of life that helps us determine what and who our stakeholders are; at work, at home and with friends. I think if we learn to know what stakeholders are important to us in those areas, then we could assert ourselves to be effective and active in those roles. This is how we can optimize each sub groups in our lives.
In our last class I went through two different thoughts...so I went and posted them into two different bogs.
Optimize the whole. the parts can not all be optimized, parts must be sub-optimized.
What is it that this statement is really saying? Well, lets us think about this. Let us say there is a single parent which has two children. Now these two children both have a lot of homework. Now let us say that the parent spends all of his available time helping one of the children understand the homework perfectly. Well what happens to the other child? That child, is stuck with out any help and will eventually will fail. Is this best for the family? No, it will cause contention among all the members. The only solution is to help one child for an amount of time, and then help the other child.
It is the same with businesses. Say there is one valuable resource for the whole company, but one department uses it exclusively. The other departments, may start getting jealous, causing problems. Or the other departments, will fall behind, the one getting the help, causing a breakdown, in the foundation.
We have to remember that to build the whole to become stronger one has to build the whole together.
So how many people have stakes into you, and into what you do? This was the essential question in class. We used the questions with businesses but, I want to take a little deeper step into it and use myself with the question.
People that have a stake in what I do include, My Parents. They raised me to be the person that I am today. What I go on to do with my life will reflect on them. Whatever I decide to do, ultimately, I will be doing it using their name. BEMIS.
Another set of people that have stakes in what I do, is my teachers past, present, and future. In most colleges and universities, the students are recognized by the teacher. "Oh you had, so-a-so for a professor. You must be a pretty smart person." But here at BYUI, the only real recognition that the teachers will ever really get is through us, the students. We do well to help them.
I will only do two more people who have stakes in what I am and become, the first of the last two is my future family. My wife, and children to be, have not only stakes in what I do, but they have an incredible investment into what I become. If I fail. They will suffering incredibly.
The last person who has stakes in me, is God. We believe in our church that he has given us everything. Now if I go and fail, with all the stuff that he has given me. I am not only selfish, but I am going against his entire plan. In which he wants everyone of us to return to him.
There are so many other people that have stakes in what I do, with my life. It is really an incredible idea to think upon.
http://blog.myspace.com/xaq123
I think one of the biggest factors in maximizing the whole is the fact that everyone needs to know their personal duties and contributions. Not only knowing them but being proactive. Proactivity is one of the greatest lessons in life to be learned, in my opinion. Being able to see a need before it is mentioned is a great attribute and would help with the concept of stakeholders' needs and the companies results. Organization is key in this as well. What is an organization if it doesn't have any organization. It would sink! If org charts, job descriptions and responsibilities, scheduling, etc didn't play a role in any company, most likely that company would struggle and ultimately go bankrupt. Written on the board as we entered class was, "organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing..." I think this is huge!
For more visit my blog at:
http://kamillamillamarshmello.blogspot.com/
Marketing NASA
The primary reason for NASA's mistakes were that they felt pressure to produce results in order to maintain their funding. This pressure comes from the Department of Defense, the President, the congress and finally from the American tax payer.
The average American is not very interested in space travel. Most Americans feel like we're spending too much money in Iraq. They think we ought to be rebuilding New Orleans, paying off the national debt, fixing public schools the list goes on and on. So when it comes time to spend money on space travel most people think why are we doing this again?
That's where a solid ad campaign comes in. NASA needs to take some of the a few million out of it's multi billion dollar budget and put it into a national ad campaign. This may seem like a waste to them but the truth is a successful campaign will pay them back 10 fold.
The focus of the campaign should be looking at what great inventions have come about because of the space program. A couple of simple examples would be Tang, and the space pen. More important inventions would include modern airplanes. Equally as important as what has been done in the past is what will come about in the future. For example airplanes are being developed that will enter the earth's orbit and a flight of 17 hours from Los Angeles to Australia will now take less than two hours. None of this would be possible without without the space program. NASA needs a tagline to remind people what they've done and what they will do. Some like NASA part of our past and shaping our future.
Another part of the campaign should be aimed at children. After all children are the future astronauts and tax payers. They should be producing or sponsoring cartoons about space.
The main idea is to show that money spent on the space exploration is money well spent. Once this happens and NASA has regained the publics interest and support they won't be so concerned about losing their funding. Which means employees won't be so worried about losing their jobs and that will result in greater productivity and less accidents.
Marketing NASA
The primary reason for NASA's mistakes were that they felt pressure to produce results in order to maintain their funding. This pressure comes from the Department of Defense, the President, the congress and finally from the American tax payer.
The average American is not very interested in space travel. Most Americans feel like we're spending too much money in Iraq. They think we ought to be rebuilding New Orleans, paying off the national debt, fixing public schools the list goes on and on. So when it comes time to spend money on space travel most people think why are we doing this again?
That's where a solid ad campaign comes in. NASA needs to take some of the a few million out of it's multi billion dollar budget and put it into a national ad campaign. This may seem like a waste to them but the truth is a successful campaign will pay them back 10 fold.
The focus of the campaign should be looking at what great inventions have come about because of the space program. A couple of simple examples would be Tang, and the space pen. More important inventions would include modern airplanes. Equally as important as what has been done in the past is what will come about in the future. For example airplanes are being developed that will enter the earth's orbit and a flight of 17 hours from Los Angeles to Australia will now take less than two hours. None of this would be possible without without the space program. NASA needs a tagline to remind people what they've done and what they will do. Some like NASA part of our past and shaping our future.
Another part of the campaign should be aimed at children. After all children are the future astronauts and tax payers. They should be producing or sponsoring cartoons about space.
The main idea is to show that money spent on the space exploration is money well spent. Once this happens and NASA has regained the publics interest and support they won't be so concerned about losing their funding. Which means employees won't be so worried about losing their jobs and that will result in greater productivity and less accidents.
Insights from 1/30/07
I really liked the concept of optimizing the whole. All the parts of a organization or company have to sub-optimized to be able to optimize the whole of the company or organization. If one of the parts is being optimized more than the rest, then the rest of the company will fall. It is important that all of the parts are sub-optimized. Bro. Adams talked about how this is going to be important as we begin to work in different areas within our classroom. If one of our groups becomes more optimized then the rest and utilizes Bro. Adams time, then the rest of us will not be able to get the help we need from him which will adversely affect the rest of the class.
Ian's Insights from class Jan 30th, 2007
1. A God and Christ Centered People
In class we talked about having God and Christ as the center of our lives. Brad taught that if we do this then God and Christ will have an effect on every other aspect of our lives. It’s as if all aspects of our lives go through a God and Christ filter. I think although many people may not have God as what they focus on most in their lives, many people still have God as their center even though it may not be the correct god. In devotional today the speaker mentioned that the majority of people in the world are religious. So God must play a major role in most peoples lives. I think that whether or not we consciously think about it, our beliefs still affect our actions, values and ways of doing things. Therefore in an unconscious way God is still the center of people’s lives.
2. You Are the Stakeholder
We discussed in our class who the theoretical stakeholders were in regards to any business. As we discussed this in class I realized that, when all things are considered, anyone and everyone can be or is a stakeholder in all organizations. Whether affected directly or indirectly we all at some point are stakeholders in every business. As stakeholders we should be concerned about the way things are done in business. We should promote ethics and safe practices in the workplace, no matter what place that may be.
3. Optimize the Whole
In any organization there are multiple groups, teams, quorums, presidencies, boards, departments, crews, divisions, branches and agencies. Each one of these components of an organization has its own strengths, weaknesses, needs, abilities and services it can perform. Sometimes each of these components of an organization may need the same thing. If they all try to get what they need from the same source, that source will run dry and fail to provide what is needed. There should be methods in place, usually some sort of chain of information, which allows each component access to their needs. Each component does not need direct access. There could be a new component created that handles the needs of each component by going to the source on behalf of all the components and then relaying the information down the chain.
Visit Ian’s blog at http://g-skian.blogspot.com
Today was cool. I really liked the divine center idea - if we focus on what's truly important, which is our relationship with God - everything else will fall into place. The Spirit can direct us on which areas we can improve later, be it our children, spouses, jobs, etc. The Spirit will give us guidance and will give us the security of knowing we've made correct decisions, meanwhile providing us with spiritual power and later the wisdom to know to always follow the Spirit. Great circle huh?
I also think it's cool that we get to run the class now. It's a daunting task, especially for the "people group" because we have to make sure everybody is trained and working, but we can do it! We have a great group and good people that already have ideas to benefit the class. I can't wait for everything o start.
And finally, the "optimize the whole" idea was nifty. When I think about it, I realize that to be as effective as possible, delegation is needed. If everybody did everything, things would be way too hectic. Instead, we delegate ideas down, we empower sub groups to finish projects, and we optimize (make better) the individual groups so that the whole is complete. A whole is only as good as its parts.
Insights from February 1
Wow - today we really got a lot put on our plate, but I think this class experience is going to be awesome. We get the chance to be our own educators and DO something! I think it's great. I would rather apply what I've learned into a real-world situation than keep reading about Columbia's mishap any day!
Also, I think our groups will function together. It's gonna be tough at first, but once we get used to what we should be doing, I think the process will start flowing. I'm kind of bummed that we're not going to be working with American Family Entertainment or the school, but I guess we can only do so much at first. Maybe the rest of you can take the 455 class next semester and do it for real again!
Finally, as a side note: modern dance is the most expressive dance form. . .
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