Cup of Good Intentions

Orchid

2012-01-29T12:29:00.000-08:00

I felt so inspired by the betterness of the lime tree, that I decided to pamper the orchid and see if it would bloom. Research suggested that I pot, place in a warm humid area (master bath), and near sun. Check, check, and check!

Please, oh please. Bloom!

Milestone 4...in progress

2012-01-29T12:02:00.000-08:00

Milestone 4 is getting committee approval of my dissertation topic. Remember, my mentor approved in early January. Then my second committee member approved. Then I had an hour long Skype with my third committee member this past week.

Steve brings up good points. He thinks I need to tweak a few things. Some as simple as saying "virtual team members" instead of "virtual teams"...use of the word "performance" when discussing a team. He believes in the proper HPT definition of individuals perform, teams are productive (to paraphrase). We also discussed that I made have some artifacts left from when I wanted to conquer the virtual team world! I agree.

So if I can stop playing with plants long enough today, I'm going to work-up a couple of simple changes. Then submit to Dr Petti (mentor) and chat with her this week. See if she likes B instead of A.

You put the lime in the coconut...

2012-01-29T11:48:00.000-08:00

Jan 29. A much happier lime tree!

I might just have limes this year! One of my 2012 Bucket List items is to make my lime tree thrive. I brought in from the patio which I thought offered a nice mix of morning sun and outdoors. A lime tree wants outdoors, right?

Apparently not the wind tunnel outdoors that is my patio. I read that it prefers hotter and longer sun that it got and hates wind. Wind that blows away its delicate flowers and future limes. That happened to me a lot last year!

I also had it in a moisture control potting mix that seems to have been a bad idea as well. It was repotted, brought inside to a full afternoon sun window in my kitchen. I spritz it, water it twice a week, and cheer it on!

It is aborting some buds but from what I've read that can be normal when the tree makes more buds than it can handle. It made about 50 so I would agree that would be too many.

Jan 16. Two weeks after repotting...first signs of betterness!

Crock Pot Spaghetti Bolognese

2012-01-08T20:43:00.000-08:00

The Feb issue of Real Simple mag has a slow cooker recipe for bolognese. I made it today with my own special twists, of course. I don't have the actual recipe, plus I didn't measure things, as normal for me.

The main substitution I made was using filet mignon instead of ground chuck. I know! A travesty! But a filet got lost in the freezer. I found it this weekend, January. It was packaged and bought in August. It had freezer burn on spots. So clearly not steak worthy. So I sliced it thin and then chopped. I used my new Rada knife. LOVE! I didn't chop the carrots finely so the slices were very evident in my bolognese.

The before: ingredients prepare to cook for 4+ hours in the crock pot.

It's such a rich sauce! Totally unlike my normal spaghetti sauce. This was complex and warm and I could still smell the Sterling Mertiage red wine I poured in it. I used whole wheat spaghetti. Totally delish!

The after: ready to be enjoyed!

It's a good thing I like it too. I have 4 more servings to eat!

Milestone 3 DONE!

2012-01-08T20:24:00.000-08:00

Thursday night, while eating dinner at Slidin' Thru, I got the official word from Dr Petti that she approved my dissertation proposal. YAY!

It was emotional. I was thrilled! I felt like a could see the light at the end of the tunnel! Dissertation felt do-able! I was all alone and wanted to scream and hug someone. I had no one to hug. That made me sad. Then the emotions really started. Don't cry in public! So happy! Such a relief! Sad that I can't share with my family!

So next two milestones require a lot of wait time from me. Milestone #4 is committee approval. They have until the end of January. Milestone #5 is SOE approval. I assume they will take most of February. Then Milestone #6 is IRB approval. I can start working on the paperwork but I can't submit yet.

It's easily going to be March before I get to start research.

Dissertation update

2012-01-04T21:15:00.000-08:00

I met my mid-December deadline of getting Ch 1-3 aka Proposal to my mentor for approval. She tentatively approved it! The edits were places where I missed using future tense. I used present. So I made those changes and sent it back to her.

Now it sits in her inbox, waiting for her to come back from holiday break.

If she still approves it...it will go to committee for approval! Milestones getting crossed off!

2012 Bucket List

2012-01-01T18:55:00.000-08:00

I've made many a resolution. Most are probably still waiting to be checked off. So this year, I made a bucket list. Plus this makes me feel like I can add exciting things and not just "lose weight, get healthy, be nice, make money".

In no particular order (despite being numbered):

1. Finish my dissertation
2. Become a PhD
3. Exercise 3 hours a week
4. Make work less of a priority outside work hours
5. Make work a priority inside work hours
6. Not let negative people take up space in my mind/life
7. Be strong in will and stance
8. Be physically strong
9. Eat less sugar
10. Visit the Grand Canyon
11. Ride the sand dune buggy
12. Save 20% of income
13. Challenge myself to not spend the 20% (this will need monitoring and adjusting but I'm not ready today. Clearly I could spend on emergencies and it's possible that some portion could be used for vacay. Not random crap tho.)
14. Get my dwarf lime tree to thrive!

I made these visualizes over on my Facebook page. Fun! I'll work on adding them here.

I am also still figuring out the plan for some. Perhaps #15 should be: accomplish 1-14!

2011 Reflection

2011-12-31T15:32:00.000-08:00

oops, I haven't been blogging!

So what have I been doing? It's time to reflect on the year that was 2011!

Before I start sharing my 2012 Bucket List, I think it is important to reflect on 2011. I had a fantastic 2011! Many firsts (boxing, Europe, holidays spent with people that I've never holidayed with before)! Major accomplishments (completing a major milestone in my dissertation, solo travel, some wonderful trips to see wonderful people)!

I've had some surprising changes in relationships, both good and bad. Found some long lost people. Found some really great new friends. Shed some friends that I didn't think I ever would. All and all, it's good tho.

I've had great experiences and said YES to lots of things. Lost and gained the same 10lbs. Got fit and got unfit the past few weeks. Oops! Made some decisions. Made some not-so good decisions. All and all I'm proud of what I have accomplished/seen/done and the changes I have experienced.

P1 goes to Europe

2011-10-16T13:10:00.000-07:00

I meant to blog each day of my 10 day trip to London and Belgium. However, internet was sketchy at times...I was exhausted at times...I preferred to relax and enjoy it at times.

So I just posted my pre-trip blog post. I also didn't want to advertise on the interwebs that I was far, far from my home. Call me silly. My logical brain knows I have a greater chance of being burgled in Las Vegas based on random chances than some blog stalker discovering my blog and then looking up my address (which I also know is totally accessible online despite my attempts to be quiet).

So now, I'll share some thoughts that I emailed along the way.

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Bonjour from the Eurostar Chunnel Train, Premiere Class. It’s quite nice here. Excellent way to travel! If it had wifi, I’d call it excellent.

So far I have arrived in Gatwick, taken the Gatwick Express to Victoria Station, then a bus to the area nearish the Bolsover St hostel. Then hostel was not that bad. It was far more modern and clean that I was afraid it wouldn’t be. The wifi was sketchy and you had to be in the lobby to use it. Everything is extra at the hostel so while cheap per night, it quickly adds up. For example, I think it was ~20£ per night, but it was 5£ per 24 hours for wifi, 2£ for a towel plus 5£ deposit, and 3,95£ for breakfast that we would call continental. Still the hostel experience is much better than anticipated. I could do again. I’d prefer not to. J

Now we’re in France! I can say I’ve been here.

For sightseeing in London, Wednesday we walked alllllllllllllllllllll over. And I mean all over. Up and down the Thames. I saw St Paul’s, Tower, Tower Bridge, Big Ben, The Eye, part of Westminster, 10 Downing Street, Trafalgar Square without any pigeons.

We took in two musicals: We Will Rock You and Priscilla Queen of the Desert. Both fun and energizing! I knew basically one day in London would be a whirlwind however, I really did nothing touristy other than walk in all the important areas. I was surprised at how much it costs to enter everything! For example, it was 14,50 to enter St Paul’s Cathedral, 27£ for 24 hours on the hop on/hop off bus, 12£ to enter something else we considered entering, and 22£ for the London Eye ride, which is 30 mins long! I certainly need to come back with time and some sort of tourist pass. Sitting in a 3 hour musical cost only 35£ which is why we did it twice.

We just passed cows in the French countryside—how cute!

One thing that surprised me about London, knowing how expense hotels were and how pricy the attractions are, is that food is fairly cheap! Fage yogurt in the store is 75p, or roughly $1.50. I pay $1.99 at Fresh & Easy and more than $2 elsewhere. Our fish and chips meal with Irish cider was just over 10£ each. My flights of ales were 2,70! With the wings it was 5£! Chef Ramsay’s Bread Street Kitchen was not as affordable but still far less than we would pay in Vegas for a celeb chef meal. It was extremely delicious. I started with a spicy carrot, endive, and pine nut salad. It was warm, rather Indian in spice, and included lentils. I liked it yet it was like nothing that I normally eat. Then I tried his short rib burger. It was good but I’m afraid Bachi Burger has spoiled me. The chips though! OMG! BEST EVER!!!! Those chicken wings I had were HOT. I think pure tabasco. Almost enough to make me cry on the first bite.

“On the continent,” the nice English couple seated with me says, “electricity comes in pylons.” Looks like out poles and big grids. The wife says, “They’re holding their skirts up, curtsying.” They are so stinking cute!!

Then I got off that train and on another and then walked 2 hours and now am exhausted.

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Writing you from the Kasteel teh Berge. It’s old, cold, and creaky and I love it! Today I wandered around Oostende. I learned it is pronounced oost-endy. It was gray and windy and like moisture just filled the air. Not rain drops. Just wet air, but cold. Winds straight off the North Sea! Brrrr! It gave me a touch of a sore throat. No tea in the kasteel to ward off the nasties so I am going to drink beers to chase it away!

Once again, the honor system is at play. My train from Oostende to Bruges, 3 euros, but no one checks! No machines to scan your ticket. At the kasteel there is a self-service bar with lots of wine, beers, and sodas. You just take the piece of paper and tally up what you use. Pay at checkout. It’s insane! I noticed at the concert, during intermission, people went to buy things and just left jackets and stuff at their seats. No one touches.

I’ve had my first marriage proposal! The divorced taxi driver in Bruges wants to come back to Vegas with me and get married by Elvis. I told him sure! We have no plans to reconnect. Teehee!

Off to work on my dissertation now. :)

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I thought Belgium was wonderful! Everyone was extremely friendly and kind. In Brussels, they were more polite than friendly. But in Antwerp, Bruges, and Oostende, I met some of the best people ever. Maria and I talked about it yesterday. You can get so jaded living in the US and especially in Vegas, so it's easy to assume the worst everywhere. I had to rely on the non-verbal cues of others sometimes to keep my inner protector calm and stay open to the friendliness that was happening. It's sad but true.

I was surprised at how quickly my brain switched to thinking Flemish. I picked up on several words easily (mostly food and travel/orientation words). I never really switched to French. London was the hardest time I had finding English speakers. I totally need to London all over again. But I'd like to hit the touristy stuff with a tour guide and then leave for the country. My time in Horley was far better than my time in London. One thing I reaffirmed is that I am not a big city girl. What else struck me? Mostly just the compassion of people for strangers and visitors to their country. I think having lived most of my life in touristy areas and experiencing the crankiness of the locals and the exhaustion of the tourists, mostly Americans, I guess I expected the same but I didn't find it

My final thought was on the plane ride home. Flying over Greenland made me cry. I took pics but they really don't do it justice. It was so beautiful! It just struck me how gorgeous the world is.

Then I got very emotional once we hit the mountain west region. I was sad the trip was over, happy to be going home, and the familiar landscape was just pushing the emotions out! I felt so proud of what I accomplished. People thought I was crazy to go to Belgium or to go alone to a non-English speaking country. I absolutely loved it! I'd recommend the trip to just about anyone. There's something very calming and centering too about being alone in a country having to rely on your basic grasp of linguistics and human kindness to navigate, survive, and thrive! I found it oddly relaxing. Powerful. Reassuring even. I'm not saying I'd do as well in an Asian country where I can't use my linguistic skills on characters.

less than 24 hours to go...

2011-10-16T13:04:00.000-07:00

I'm packed, save a few last minute items. I just remembered I need a coin purse!

Mr Milo hurt his leg today. It got better within 10 minutes. Then a few hours later, it was back. He wouldn't use it at all. Gave him a pain pill and he's zonked now. He did get up since, walked on his leg with quite the limp. So we may be off to the vet before the airport. Sigh. He does have the best timing.

I've mapped out two routes from the Gatwick Express to the hostel.

I have a plan for travel...shower before leaving for the airport, freshen up at Gatwick, perhaps even change clothes, eat some lunch. Then head out into London!

Practice Pack

2011-09-25T16:40:00.000-07:00

The time for the P1 Epic Adventure is near! So I did a practice pack.

All these items plus some electronics not pictured needed in the Sky Train with the help of the Space Bags.

All this plus electronics not show. Minus the zebra...

I sweated just a tad. Reconsidered somethings. That was before even finishing! I just knew it wasn't going to work. But it did! There are even spots where I can add souvenirs. I'm still at the point of anything big or heavy that I want to buy will have to be shipped home. Luckily, I don't anticipate that.

Ta-Da!

It's not even too heavy. I will have to carry my coat but I think I'll be wearing it anyways.

Sky Train & Space Bags

2011-09-02T18:53:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to pack lighter. Really. It's tough. Twice in my life, I've had to buy luggage to get off cruise ships or ship boxes of goodies back home. I'm notorious.

Imagine how I nearly hyperventilated when my Sky Train from Red Oxx arrived and I thought about actually traveling with JUST IT. I loved it tho! It's easy to get in the overhead (and I'm only 5'1). It's easy to wear. One thing that I didn't like about traditional REI hiking backpacks is they felt too long for my torso. Even the short/small ones. This does not feel that way.

After my first trip with Sky Train, I decided packing could be even better with Space Bags for Travel. This kind needs no vacuum to suck the air out. Just roll and press it out. I'm impressed! Checkout my before and after pics.

Clothes stacked around. Buddy supervising.

Actually more clothes than previously visible in 3 Space Bags.

I like too that I can keep dirty clothes in one Space Bag to prevent contamination of clean clothes.

combo Dear Photograph & Back to the Future/Irina Werning

2011-08-21T21:44:00.000-07:00

Last I did a P1 trip to Cleveland! I'd never been before. The trip was not to play tourist but to hangout with family and attend a Quinceanera. Great time! The family is the family of one of my "other mothers"--specifically mom's BFF Claudia.

Mom and Claudia met in 1984 (I was 13 for those of you doing math) when Claudia started working at the bank mom worked at. The single mothers of 12-13 year old girls became lasting friends! Mom died in December, you may recall. So going to see my other mother and sister was a bittersweet. I took some old photographs to re-enact. I did a combo Dear Photograph and Irina Werning setup. I would love to actually do real ones of either Dear Photograph or Irina but this trip did not allow. 1) who has time to shop and recreate the look that quick? and 2) we weren't in FL and not sure the places in the photographs still exist. So we did the best we could.

Sharon & Claudia still close after all these years.

The quince princess and mom!

His christening was a long time ago! Abuela can't hold him up anymore.

Missing mom but still hanging out at tables.

First a christening gown, now a quince gown!

Quote for Encouragement, Inspiration, Sympathy

2011-07-30T22:28:00.000-07:00

A friend lost her father last week. Given that I lost my mother in December, I'm in a unique place to support my friend. I found that Winnie the Pooh is too. What a great quote!

"If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together...there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think, but the most important thing is, even if we're apart...I'll always be with you."

-Winnie the Pooh

70 days

2011-07-24T18:38:00.000-07:00

In 70 days, or 1701 hours, I will embark on my greatest P1 adventure that involves trains, planes, and castles!

I'd like to have Ch 1-3 of my dissertation written and off to Dr Petti for reading. Can I do it? I don't know. Based on how far I've made it in the past 6+ months, I'd say oh hell no!

I am going to go for it! I start tonight by spending an hour organizing existing content into the actual document that will become Ch 1-3. Exciting!

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Updated: I spent 45 minutes getting the template and pasting my bits and pieces into the document that will become my dissertation. Ahhhhh! Feels good.

Nourishment

2011-07-17T22:13:00.001-07:00

My SMR form came back. I am ready to begin Ch 1-3. Yippee, I think. :)

I nourished me this weekend. I picked fruits and veggies at the local orchard. I cooked. I did a lot of exercise. I hung out with friends, the boys, and myself. It fantastic!

I did not do any PhD work. Oops. I meant to.

Last weekend, I was busy nourishing others. My BFF had a baby. Her labor was 36 hours, the entire weekend. So I was busy keeping watch and sending updates. I also served dinner to homeless women and families at Shade Tree.

I didn't do any PhD then either.

It's time to get serious again!

SMR Form...draft 1 with holes...at Dr Petti's

2011-07-04T16:32:00.000-07:00

I pushed through today. Ignored SoMe...ignored my beloved nap...no Glee...no movies...no cooking. I did exercise and walk the dogs.

My accomplishment is handing in the proposal form (SMR = scientific merit review) to my mentor. The holes are two:

discussion of validity and normative data of the survey
discussion of credibility and transferability of findings

Big holes! Plus I thought of new additional questions for the survey that are not yet included in the appendix.

Right now, I'm getting out of this office chair and away from technology for a bit. Then I'll be back. to fill-in the holes.

Belgian Ales

2011-07-02T20:34:00.000-07:00

In preparation for my trip to Belgium, I am researching Belgian Ales beyond my beloved Lindeman's Lambics. Today I bought all the ales pictured above at Total Wine & Spirits. First up, the Kasteel Rouge.

YUM!!!!!!!!!

I'm not always a fan of cherry-flavored things, tho I adore fresh cherries. The cherry notes in here are fresh notes and just a subtle add. Nothing to make you pucker or think you're drinking a weird Shirley Temple.

A product description:

Castle Red is the fruit beer of the Castle range.
Its unique dark red colour is obtained by mixing Castle brown that has been left to mature for at least 6 months with sour cherries.
Kasteel Rouge is aptly named for it’s deep, dark red color brought on by the addition of sour cherries to a base of brown ale, which is then left in the barrel for a six month period. This ale will surprise many with the sour of the cherries and the 8% alcohol level.
This beer has gastronomic qualities and can be drunk as an aperitif, with a BBQ, to accompany a dessert or simply as an outstanding real ale.

Castle Brewery has a very cool website.

Kasteel Rouge is 8% ABV. I wasn't sure if that was strong or weak. I admit to having a nice buzz at the end of the bottle. Nice enough that it's good that I am at home! A little more research shows most ales between 3-6% so I guess that's why it's a surprise.

The castle is in Ingelmunster, not far from Bruges where I may visit and never leave. 37 mere minutes by train. I may need to visit them!

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dissertation includes facebook, facebook is ruining dissertation

2011-06-26T22:15:00.000-07:00

I tweeted something like that earlier today. I was asked to explain. My cryptic tweet (is that redundant?) was that one of the many collaborative technologies in my survey instrument is Facebook. Yet, as I worked earlier, I'd write a little, check Facebook a little. Ugh! NEED.MORE.FOCUS.

I am excited about this part of the process. I've been culling topics and questions from past research...essentially the attributes of team dynamics that they looked for in the lab. Their teams were collocated in lab environment. Mine are dispersed and must self-report. So I'm creating a survey and matching log to get the QUAN and lead me to the QUAL. And hopefully some interesting findings about the impact of collaborative technology on team performance.

I've written up the entire (I think) survey. I've got to get it into SurveyMonkey (meant to do that today...) and pre-pilot the survey--unofficially--with two friends of different mindsets. I want to use their feedback to see what wording is off and to see how the questions work in real life.

Maybe tomorrow for dissertation lunch monday!

my foodie weekend

2011-06-26T22:03:00.000-07:00

This is was GOOOOOOOOD weekend for food. Good doesn't even do it. Let's start...

Friday, I made Greek burgers using my Bar 10 Utah Beef. Lots of feta!

Greek Mini-Burger

Saturday was a prep day...I spent 30 mins in the 102 degree Vegas heat, full sun, high noon picking tomatoes, onion, and carrots at Gilcrease Orchard.

Salsa-to-be!

Sunday, I had fresh strawberries and croissants for breakfast. No picture, but really, do we need one? Yum! Then I made the salsa, my first time. Fairly labor intensive but so good that I can eat it with a spoon.

Chips & homemade salsa!

For dinner, I had food from several food trucks at Vegas Food Court! MMMMMM

Vegas Food Court

Chicken Stick from BBQ Boy. Want more!

Queso Diaz from Tasty Bunz! HOT!

Hanshik Tacos, Korean. My love!

Sticky Nanas from Tasty Bunz. Excellent!

P1 tries to her groove back...re-enacts Hollywood

2011-06-22T21:42:00.000-07:00

I had a date recently. It was 'eh' and then, went downhill from the ending through the 20 hours after the date. Let's just say he is a needy girl's BFF and that is not me.

I have some lessons learned and very humorous take on it.

So leaving work, heading home to take care of the 4-legged kids before that date, I was running late out of work...then traffic...yada yada. I get home and it's like the boys knew. Both were sick. Both were clingy. There were two messes to cleanup. Seriously??? I felt like the single mom who's trying to finally get her groove back only to have her kids come down with the flu on date night.

I manage to somewhat pull myself together and go on the date. Eh to ick.

Immediately after, it's now late. I've had no dinner (yep!). I head to grocery to buy cottage cheese for the sick kids and something for me. Go home. It's 8.30 or so at night. I'm making my dinner and drinking wine straight from the bottle! A 2009 Fume Blanc from Napa. I felt very Sex & the City at that moment.

I guess that's the dating life of the modern American woman. Sigh.

Bedroom Makeover on a Shoestring

2011-06-19T20:38:00.000-07:00

So what can I do with ~$100, a weekend, and re-purposing? Paint an accent wall, buy a new comforter set, spring clean my room (even if I do shrink the curtains in the process), and make my room more expansive!

What.A.Week.

2011-06-18T20:55:00.000-07:00

It's Sunday Eve. Last Sunday I woke up with a mosquito bite. How, in the desert, you ask? Good question.

Mom & Dad getting married 1964.

I scratched it a little. I know! But I haven't had a bite in 5 years! I'm out of practice. Then I went pole dancing (I kid you not! Stripper 101! Do it!). Then Sunday into Monday, I apparently scratched it raw in my sleep. Sleep that ended at 2am! Thank goodness I had a study day on Monday.

Up I was at 4am Monday, putting stuff on Freecycle and working on dissertation. The bite kept getting bigger, redder, uglier, worse. I iced it. I took Benadryl. I doctored. W.O.R.S.E. I have photos that I will not subject you to.

Tuesday, WORSE. Head to walk-in clinic on the way to work. $50, two types of antibiotics, stronger antihistamine, and a tetanus with pertussis booster later, I had an infected bite. Goodness, the next few days as my body was filled with chemicals and poison, it was a struggle to work and walk the dogs. I went to bed before sundown. Seriously.

When I finally started feeling better on Friday, I worked out with our personal trainer. I coughed and coughed and coughed. I think it was still a reaction to the vaccine and just all the chemicals. A side effect of tetanus with whooping cough is difficulty breathing! Which I said more than once during the week. Now, I feel fine as long as I don't get winded. Am taking decongestants to dry myself out.

Despite all this, I felt like starting my bedroom-on-a-shoestring-makeover! I painted an accent wall today, vacuumed seriously, and cleaned out excess furniture. More Freecycling! I felt the need to keep busy. Today is mom's 72nd birthday. Or as my aunt said, now the anniversary of her birth. (She died in December.) And tomorrow is Father's Day! Haven't had one of those since 1981 but it's still tough. So busy and exhausted it is for this orphan.

30 Day Song Challenge

2011-06-10T20:04:00.001-07:00

I recently participated with friends on Facebook in the 30 Day Song Challenge. Because I'm weird like that, I made a word cloud of mine.

ISPI, THE Performance Improvement Conference 2012...A CHAIR?!

2011-06-07T20:58:00.000-07:00

Today, in the continued loss of mind, I volunteered to chair the Unconference Committee to plan the Unconference for the 2012 ISPI Conference. Hosted in Toronto, Canada!

I keep using the word "Unconference" because I don't really know what this means yet. I love living by the seat of my pants!

The committee comes with a member so at least I'm not alone!

Losing my mind

2011-06-06T21:17:00.000-07:00

Last year, 2010, was quite the year for me. That's putting it mildly. Through a series of terrible events in my mom's life, I faced aging and decline. By the end of the year, mom had died. I was staring at 40 and being very unfit. I'm healthy for an unfit person but I don't have strength or stamina. So this year, I've set about to fix that!

One thing I've learned is even tho I don't have muscular strength, I am pretty tough and have way more stamina than I thought. Go me!

I started by working out at the company gym. We have a reformer machine! Then a couple of friends and I signed up at work to have a personal trainer put us through cardio yogallates bootcamp on Friday afternoons. One day I lost my mind.

I bought a Groupon for Round 1 Boxing in Summerlin. AAAHHHH! I nervously went to my first class last week: cardio boxing. Gloves. Bags. Roundhouse kicks. Hooks. Jabs. And a bunch of running and strange moves that I'm not really a fan of. I LOVE THE BOXING! I need my own gloves! Then I went back! I took On the Ball class. ZOMG! I never knew how long my ab muscles actually are. Ow.

It's fabulous tho. I'm still fat. Nothing has kicked into weight loss yet. I'm actually way hungrier than normal. My body is changing and feels alive. I like that! I definitely was sleep walking for 2010 and even some time before that.

And this, this feeling of being alive and trying new things and losing my mind, THIS is why I don't want to do my dissertation.

I am gonna get Freaked!

2011-06-03T19:04:00.000-07:00

Today, Freaker USA surpassed their funding goal on Kickstart.com. I'm a backer so I'm gonna get Freaked!

This is fun!

The Case Study Dissertation

2011-05-30T15:52:00.000-07:00

Same topic, just narrowing the collection field and focus to one organization. Bits & pieces from the Scientific Merit Review form that we use to obtain initial approval on our topic.

A Case Study on the Impact of Collaborative Technology on Virtual Team Performance

The topic studied is the impact of collaborative technology on the performance of virtual teams. Collaborative technologies are used by virtual teams to communicate and perform tasks. They include web meeting tools, standard corporate technologies such as email or SharePoint, and technologies considered social media. They can be synchronous or asynchronous. They can be sanctioned by the organization or used outside the organization’s network. They can be on personal computers, smartphones, or SMS-enabled phones. Virtual teams can be global, national, and spread over a large corporate campus.

The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of collaborative technology on virtual team performance. I will do this by looking at the use of technology-based tools in the framework of the following teamwork dimensions: 1) information exchange, 2) communication, 3) supportive behaviors, and 4) team initiative/leadership. The research will identify which collaborative technology tools were most effective for which dimension via quantitative usage data and qualitative usage rationale. The research will be richer by conducting a case study within one organization to fully examine the impact.

Decades of research on team performance for collocated, face-to-face teams exists. However, there is little research on a significant portion of the corporate population: virtual teams. The specific gap in the literature is in regard to how and to what extent collaborative technologies impacts team performance. Without this information, performance improvement consultants and organizations cannot successfully implement a collaborative technology. The quantitative data will show what is available versus what is used by teams. Data will also show if any repetition occurred due to a failure of the technology. Qualitative data will give insight into why the team or team member selected the technology.

Main question: What is the impact of collaborative technology on a virtual team’s performance? (Performance defined by ability to communicate successfully using the selected tool.)

Quantitative question #1: What collaborative technology tools were used? (Subquestion: Was the tool provided by the organization?)

Quantitative question #2: What was the usage frequency of each tool used?

Quantitative question #3: Which collaborative technology did not require the team to repeat the communication via a different method for each the four types of teamwork dimensions (information exchange, communication, supporting behavior, and team initiative/leadership)?

Qualitative question #1: Why did the team/team member select the collaborative technology used?

Qualitative question #2: Why does the team/team member feel the selected collaborative technology worked or did not work?

This research is based on the research conducted by Salas, Cannon-Bowers, and a team of researchers (1998). The team has spent years conducting research on collocated, high-stress teams performing as a cohesive unit, looking at effectiveness, cognition, and communication. Salas along with Cooke and Rosen published a 2008 update to a seminal study on team effectiveness. The authors identified several areas where further research is needed. One area is “better understanding of dynamic assembly of adaptive teams” (p. 544). Salas and colleagues continued by describing a team connected by collaborative technology, assembled on an ad-hoc basis, and primarily separated by space and time while performing. This research builds upon the knowledge and expands it to include the modern organization.

The existing teamwork dimensions discussed are: 1) information exchange, 2) communication, 3) supportive behaviors, and 4) team initiative/leadership.

In addition to conducting research in terms of team dimensions, the study will review human-computer interaction (HCI), shared mental models, and Gilbert’s Behavioral Engineering Model (BEM). The dimensions, HCI, and shared mental model fit into Gilbert’s model. The dimensions of information exchange and communication along with shared mental models fit into Gilbert’s data and knowledge under information. HCI, along with the technologies available to the team, fall under instruments and capacity in instrumentation. The available technologies will include those provided by the organization and those used by the team. Motivation in Gilbert would include incentives by team leaders and motivation brought on by the share mental model.

The research methodology will use a mixed methods design within a case study, combining quantitative and qualitative research. The procedure often uses one process, say quantitative, to build or explain the one other process, say qualitative (Creswell, 2009). Therefore a look at the quantitative and qualitative design is required. The mixed method design will be sequential with quantitative followed by qualitative. This leads to an embedded design with the qualitative data supporting the quantitative findings.

Given that this case study plans to further research conducted on team performance, a look at the design of previous studies is called for. Early studies (Volpe, Cannon-Bowers, Salas, & Spector, 1996; Dwyer, Oser, Salas, & Fowlkes, 2000) conducted laboratory-based experiments. For this study, the quantitative data will be collected with a cross-sectional survey instrument and a collaborative technology tool usage log. Both will be applied in the field.

The purpose of the survey is to collect data on what tools are used and how they are being used. Using a web-based survey will enable the study to collect data on the multitude of collaborative technologies used in the organization. The purpose of usage log is for participants to record what they used a tool, for which dimension, and if repetition via another tool was necessary. The log should support their survey answers. The numbers for both are expected to show a relationship, positive or negative, between a tool and effectiveness.

The qualitative data will be used to build upon the quantitative data in order to see a well-rounded description of the experience. The information will be collected via interviews after the initial quantitative data collection. The interviews will be conducted via a web-meeting tool that allows for recording. The interview will be transcribed and coded for themes based on the interviewees reported experience.

my old friend comes out of the closet

2011-05-30T15:26:00.000-07:00

sigh. the price I pay for having an accessory navicular and fun.

Kickerstarter.com & Freaker America

2011-05-30T14:36:00.000-07:00

Traveling the interwebs delivered me (via a tweet from @rww) to Kickstarter.com. What a great idea for industrious folk! And people like me, who like to dream up ideas and give $1s to the industrious.

Through a series of hops and skips, I actually ended up on Gluten Hates Me and was able to see an energizing video about Freaker America, one of the ideas on Kickstarter. It's a long video (I tend to avoid anything more than a few seconds, but I watched the entire 5:18!) And yes, I backed them on Kickstarter. Call me what you will but I want one. And I just love Zach!

Red Dragon English Cheddar Cheese with Whole Grain Mustard and Ale

2011-05-30T12:19:00.000-07:00

The cheese & the sandwich

Now that's a name for a cheese! I found this gem at Trader Joe's. It's everything I ever wanted in a cheese.

Disclaimer: I am such a mustard freak that I have been seen squirting mustard on regular old cheddar as a snack.

The mustard is the strongest taste, followed by the cheese. This English Cheddar is pretty mellow. I don't taste ale at all. I'm guessing the ale is performing some sort of balancing act between the cheddar and mustard.

I fully admit to being just a wanna-be foodie so there's probably something I should add about the cheese pairing well with wine, crackers, ale, salad, burgers. All I know is I did have it on a burger, which was heaven! And today, I am having it as the cheese part of a grilled cheese sandwich on a Bon Breads Feta Batard. Tremendously delicious!

The "official" description of the cheese:

Red Dragon - cow's milk cheese with mustard seed and ale, rindless, wrapped in wax, cut cheese - 1 lb/0.45 kg, Wales.
Also known as Y-Fenni, this smooth, firm tasty cheddar cheese is made with Welsh brown ale and mustard seeds. Red Dragon is a buttery and spicy cheese with plenty of bite, but is not too hot. Not only do the mustard seeds give Red Dragon its marvelous flavor, but also its texture. The brown ale makes the cheese moist and tangy.

P1: Single gal travel, concert edition

2011-05-29T22:41:00.000-07:00

(this is my first purely P1 post. woot!)

Perhaps I need to explain the P1 bits in a Twitter-esque way? (Seriously 139 characters. Count 'em.)

Divorced ~13yrs ago. Took break as 27yo to figure out "who I was" & oops! still single. Past 6yrs took care of mom who passed away Dec end..

So basically, here I am 40yo, single with freedom! What do I do with this? It's like being 22yo and fresh out of college all over again. Only I don't get married this time!

Concert Edition

My all-time most favorite public thing to do is go to concerts! I love live music. Music, in general, is a big part of my life, but live, with a bunch of strangers and friends-to-be is electric! The vibe of dozens, hundreds, thousands grooving to the same beat! Oh! LOVE! For a few hours, we all become one living organism.

I've been known to travel around for my favorite bands: Barenaked Ladies and Green Day. Last week, I flew to San Diego for Barenaked Ladies concert at Humphrey's. Here's where the party of one comes in...

I met up with my BNL Tuscon friends in SD. We did a Seal Tour (WW2 amphibious vehicle, my fifth tour!) and checked into the hotel. They spent $$$ for a package with a dinner, room, and front row seats. So I bid them a yummy dinner and headed to the lobby to ask where I could walk to and get yummy seafood! With a suggestion of The Brigantine, I set off for the half mile walk along the harbor.

I wore my "I (heart) Barenaked Ladies: the band, not nude women" tee shirt. This is great way to get strangers to chat with you! The staff at Brigantine were friendly and welcoming to the solo diner (I've found that some places frown upon solo diners). Even chatting with me about the concert, the band, and telling me that a band member had lunch at the very eatery!

After a fabulous seafood combo, I walked back to the hotel. Killed time before the concert by sitting on the balcony, waiting for the sunset, and reading Rob Lowe's autobiography. I sat alone at the concert. Chatting with the people next to me, trying not to freeze in the chilly SD bayside air, and texting friends.

The next day, my BNL Tucson friends and I drove back to Vegas. I introduced them to Alien Fresh Jerky in Baker Cali. A must stop! The next day was BNL concert #2! The same friends plus Vegas friends hung out at Red Rock Resorts' pool side BNL concert. The dry desert air was warmer but not as kind to me. I sounded like Joan Rivers the next day!

This is the third time that I traveled to see BNL. I drove to Cali a few years ago to see them perform at a Borders (it was free) and I went on Ships & Dips 1 (a cruise out of Ft Lauderdale). Next travel for the guys, I hope to see them in their native land! Canada!

More on new directions...

2011-05-29T22:25:00.000-07:00

And not just our favorite glee club! (I'll be here all week, folks. Okay, seriously I had too much green tea and sushi at dinner.)

So I've had the urge to write a book. One might think the dissertation would squash that but not so much. I think the urge is being fed by my desire to avoid my dissertation and writing a book would certainly be an act of avoidance. Now, I don't think that anyone wants to read my words so much as I just have thoughts and stories in my head that want out. Here's the shortened versions of those thoughts:

My story...dramatized of course. It would be an adoption story from the adoptees POV. My true adoption story illustrates what a small world we live in. I had a short time where I thought I was bio cousins by marriage to my adopted family cousins (my real cousins). So that would be the premise. Well, there'd have to be more than that story. Otherwise it's an essay or magazine column.
P1 life...single gal travel, for example. Really tho, have you googled "single gal travel"? It's been covered. I'd have to have a slant. Which I think I do. I was actually going to start a separate blog for this topic but all the names I could think of were taken (not used, but taken). I decided to just add it here. We'll see how my follow through is. :)
Adopting...I really want to do this. The adoptee adopts! Interesting set of feelings. I need to be in the place to begin the adoption process tho. I am not today. I've been chatting with a few people about spawn of me. I find that as an adoptee I have different views on parental awareness than regular old bio people.
My dad's story....my cousin realllllllllllllllllllllllllly wants me to do this. He wants me to write to the FBI/CIA/DEA/Government under the Freedom of Information Act and request my dad's files. My cousin worships my dad and think his crime fighting life and early misfit days are heroic and worthy of the great novel! True, could be true. He did start life in the dust bowl days of Oklahoma and literally acted out the Grapes of Wrath moving scene as a 5 year old. Of course, he didn't know and it didn't exist yet. But it was his truth.

Those are my screaming stories. Maybe this post will quiet them to a dull roar.

Changing directions

2011-05-29T15:05:00.000-07:00

Oh geeze, 10 days ago (didn't realize it had been that long!) I chatted with my mentor about the good dissertation. It's narrowing. It will be a case study. !!!!

I am both excited about the idea of a case study (really love the depth and intimacy) ... and I find that it just adds to the giant elephant that intimidates me into avoidance. Massive avoidance.

So, with that change of direction, I need to set a new deadline for me. Not just the due dates for various phases. A deadline that says: if I am not at point _______ by date _______, we call game over and I stay ABD. I just need to decide what that magic point and date are. I really want to attend the ISPI conference in April 2012 at the student rate. So leaning towards that. If I am not done with Ch 1-3 by February 2012 (registration time), then it's game over. Thanks for trying. Time to move on.

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In other changing direction news...
I want to start blogging here about other stuff again. I'm getting back into fun, travel, exercise, and my furbabies. These are all also the reasons why it's easy to avoid the first topic. :)

I've dusted off the blog. The long road ahead symbolizes the dissertation, the weight loss, and the journey of being party of one.

Questions from Review Board

2011-05-15T20:27:00.000-07:00

My mentor had the uni's dissertation review board look at my form for early feedback. This is me thinking about the questions/comments.

Strictly define the purpose of the study: Purpose is to see how teams are using collaborative technology so that we may begin to classify what technology works.

What would be the first step in beginning to study collaborative tools usage within teams? Find out what they are using (company provided or not) and for what purpose.

What survey tool will be used? Will one need to be created? Sadly, I'll have to make one. There are team communication instruments used by previous researchers to categorize the type of communication. I can start with that and add questions about which technology was used.
Narrow to one specific technology or one institution? I don't know about one technology. Then it would be like doing a dissertation on "what can you do with micro-blogging (a la Twitter or Yammer)?" While a dissertation titled "Building a team in 140 characters or less" would be uber cool to me, my concern is finding workplace teams who do that AND will let me study them. I would LOVE to do a case study but again, who? where? I would really really LOVE to do an auto-ethnography study.

I do realize that what I am proposing is big. I feel like, perhaps wrongly so, that in order to start tackling team use of collaborative technology, that we have to classify it first.

Trying on various focal points...

Purpose is to study one team over _(time)_ to discover how collaborative technology supports the team dimensions of (list the 4).
Purpose is to study the use of micro-blogging tools in teams to support the team dimensions of (list the 4).
Purpose is to study and experience how one organization learns to embrace collaborative technology and tear down silos. This idea leaves the team dimension plan and goes down an entirely different route.
Purpose is to study how teams are using collaborative technology and the impact to team dimensions. This is essentially what I have been proposing.

Summary of #PhDChat 11 May 2011

2011-05-11T20:13:00.000-07:00

I attempted to capture key points from today's #phdchat. I missed most of it and really wanted to thread everything back together. I hope my transcription and summaries of data collection and analysis make sense to you. Please provide feedback if I have made assumptions. This is a form of data collection and analysis! :)

Stars indicate each time an additional person liked/agreed/wanted to try. I left out the off-topic chatter. There were a few tweets that were on topic but I couldn't safely figure out what topic. Those too are left out.

Questions: At what point do we stop COLLECTING data and start ANALYZING?
How do you store the themes and concepts once data is analyzed? Tech or trad pen and paper? Mind mapping?
Once you have coded your data, how do you start pulling something meaningful?

Responses

Stop/Start

Overlap/Runs together *
Back and forth **
Complex relationship over time between data and theory
Mentions of back and forth to refine theory
Depends on methodology (summaries after transcription)
Transcribe as soon as possible, look for themes, make theoretical notes
Summarize transcripts when finished** (act as 1st level filter)

Storage

Nvivo to store codes etc @SueFolley
Mix pen/paper with spreadsheet/tech **
Scrivener for research notes
MAXQDA for memos and such directly related to data
Method of Inquiry Table

Analysis

Try inductive and start with data? Depends on field.
HYPERresearch to analyze QUAN? not Mac, price high?
Pulling something meaningful? Varies with methodology*. Thematic analysis and Template analysis mentioned.
SPSS/PAWS*
Data useful once categorized with mindmap (categories are themes for grounded theory methodology)
Framwork analysis (link to recommended book)
Analysis when transcribed, find conceptual framework sooner rather than later
Analyze after data collection
Excel with back copies showing changes to framework as you analyze
Andy Coverdale trying visual prompts with participants to verify/nego/contest analysis assumptions*
Visual mapping***** (linked lists suggested for those not visually attune to mind maps)
Summaries to word clouds*** (would it help with emerging themes?) (mention of it being confusing)

General

Unwritten rules to PhD Research, recommended
Patrick Dunleavey book about how to complete a phd, recommended***
Coding Manual for QUAL Researchers by Johnny Saldana**
Actor-Network article

Diss Project Plan

2011-05-07T21:34:00.000-07:00

I've been using ManyMoon for my project plan. It's no MS Project but it's free. Plus I've become accustomed to MS Project so nothing it like MS Project.

Hopefully this link will take you to the list of milestones and tasks.

I based it on my uni's 16 milestones and then broke into subtasks (which probably really need sub-subtasks). For timing I used a few things:

article by Perry shared in #phdchat
uni guidelines
experience to date with process
rumors from fellow doc students about process
wild guesses

Sadly, I can really see me not finishing until end of 2012 and I DO NOT LIKE IT! I'm going to have to crash my plan.

Planning for Writing

2011-05-07T17:55:00.000-07:00

Based on Jeffrey's blog post about The Clockwork Muse, I bought it. First, if you're thinking "more things to read for my dissertation??? who has the time to read something not research????", no worries because the book is short (roughly 100 pages) and it's a quick read (I read in one day during a roundtrip flight between SAN and LAS).

Zerubavel's suggestion to figure out the rest of your weekly life was a tough start for me. The point is to make a spreadsheet of your week based on waking hours, fill in times you cannot write (think work, driving, exercise, friend/family requirements), and then figure when you can write. Besides identifying the hours open for writing, you need to decide how long it takes you to write, are you alert enough to write, do you need some sort of writing ramp-up time? Some of the open time might be voided due to tiredness or not enough time to be effective. This is one of my problems! I really don't have time Mon-Fri where I am not tired or can be effective.

A disclaimer before my solution....I work full time, have 2 attention-seeking dogs, walk 30 mins a day, exercise, drive about 90 mins today, and require a good 8 for sleeping. I am single, living alone, so anything house is up to me. Very little time for dissertation remains during the week--writing or research.

My solution
Mon-Fri: once I filled in known busy times, I was left with the hour of 9-10pm. Not an effective hour for me. But Zerubavel points out if you find yourself tired/ineffective during a scheduled writing time, work on your references or something mindless. So! I have small lit review written from a previous class (20+ references over about 10 pages), I can begin to copy over that and remove ideas no longer applicable. I can also set up the Word doc with my APA styles and chapters. If I am feeling particularly "on", I can read an article. I will also do housework and weekly shopping after work to free up Saturdays.

Sat: I scheduled chunks of hours throughout the day and evening. I tend to run errands on Saturday morning or head to the orchard for fresh produce. These are errands that I can't run during the week. So I can get up do those, write in the late morning. Break for random stuff and nap (I love Saturday naps!). Then back at it.

Sun: Historically, I'm a Sunday School Warrior! Not a religious thing. :) Just mean, this is the day I go all day on coursework or dissertation. So that will continue, with a break to exercise. I do want to stop early enough to read for pleasure or watch a movie on Sunday.

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More coming about my actual project plan.

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The Clockwork Muse: A Practical Guide to Writing Theses, Dissertations & Books by Eviatar Zerubavel

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Overall, I think it is good for new writers to read this. Even tho I'm 40 and working on my dissertation, employed as a curriculum developer (think writing), I found the book helpful to think about this very different kind of writing. There are fabulous examples of project plans, or what you should be planning for your project.

Some quotes that struck me as I read.

p. 48 "In reality, writing is virtually inseparable from the process of developing our idea." Too many people I know think you sit down with the idea. I think it comes out as you sit and type.

p. 73 "If you are facing an inflexible external deadline, set a slightly earlier one to avoid unnecessary pressure later, as you begin to approach it." Seriously, who doesn't need a reminder to NOT wait until last minute.

View all my reviews

ISPI, THE Performance Improvement Conference 2011

2011-04-28T19:55:00.000-07:00

I went. I saw. I presented. I talked to peeps.

I wanted to blog daily but the wireless in my hotel room at The Swam was hideous! I tweeted incessantly from my Droid. That was all I could do.

Then I had this fabulous idea to come home, compile my tweets here, and expound. Yeah. That didn't happen.

So here's some takeaways....

Love that Harold Stolovitch chatted with me. I mean, he's famous!
Love that Dr Darlene Van Tiem, past ISPI president, author, famous person knows me now!
Love that I shook hands with Dr Holly Burkett who recognized by name that I was recently published in her magazine!
I chatted and geeked out with fabulous Capella learners and alums
I met up and coming performance heroes, like Marci Paino
I got to see oodles of US and Canadian Coast Guard men (and women) in their uniforms.

You can find my tweets on my stream. Look for #ispi11.

Draft 4 of Dissertation Proposal

2011-04-28T19:41:00.000-07:00

Here's where I am at...

I am working with mentor to get Scientific Review Form (first part) perfection so that it can go to the college chair for approval as well. This is a new process at Capella. I like it! I have a classmate further along than I am is dissertation and, from her account, has been going back and forth for months on Ch 1-3 to get uni approval so she can get IRB approval and then BEGIN. So I like getting the bulk of this approving out of the way early and on a form. Less writing and time gone.

So from my form...Research Questions and Methodology. These give you a good idea of where I am heading.

Main question: What is the impact of collaborative technology on a virtual team’s performance? (Performance defined by ability to communicate without rework.)
Quantitative question #1: What collaborative technology tools were used?
Quantitative question #2: What was the usage frequency of each tool used?
Quantitative question #3: Which collaborative technology resulted in the least amount of rework for each the four types of teamwork dimensions (information exchange, communication, supporting behavior, and team initiative/leadership)?
Qualitative question #1: Why did the team/team member select the collaborative technology used?
Qualitative question #2: Why does the team/team member feel the selected collaborative technology worked?

The research methodology will use a mixed methods design, combining quantitative and qualitative research. The procedure often uses one process, say quantitative, to build or explain the one other process, say qualitative (Creswell, 2009). Therefore a look at the quantitative and qualitative design is required. The mixed method design will be sequential with quantitative followed by qualitative. This leads to an embedded design with the qualitative data supporting the quantitative findings.

Given that this study plans to further research conducted on team performance, a look at the design of previous studies is called for. Early studies (Volpe, Cannon-Bowers, Salas, & Spector, 1996; Dwyer, Oser, Salas, & Fowlkes, 2000) conducted laboratory-based experiments. For this study, the quantitative data will be collected with a cross-sectional survey instrument and a collaborative technology tool usage log. Both will be applied in the field.

The purpose of the survey is to collect data on what tools are available and how they are being used. Using a web-based survey will enable the study to be inclusive of a wide-range of virtual teams in a variety of industries. The purpose of usage log is for participants to record what they used a tool, for which dimension, and if rework was necessary. The log should support their survey answers. The numbers for both are expected to show a relationship, positive or negative, between a tool and effectiveness, as defined by rework.

The qualitative data will be used to build upon the quantitative data in order to see a well-rounded description of the experience. The information will be collected via interviews after the initial quantitative data collection. The interviews will be conducted via a web-meeting tool that allows for recording. The interview will transcribed and coded for themes based on the interviewees reported experience.

My goodness

2011-04-28T19:36:00.000-07:00

I have been a terrible blogger. What can I say? I've just been busy, unwell, and living an offline life!

Okay so next post...in minutes...dissertation update...

Dissertation Topic in a Nutshell (edited)

2011-03-27T15:29:00.000-07:00

I am still working on making this make sense. The template we have to use for our pre-proposal stumps me. So I took to pen and paper this morning to focus. Now flushing that out more with this format.

New! Edited Sunday night, post Jeffrey's questions.

Title

Impact of Collaborative Technology on Virtual Team Performance

Abstract

TBD

Introduction

In progress...

Key Background Info
New! • This study builds on decades of established research by Cannon-Bowers, Salas, et al. Therefore some items are given.
New! • Framework for categories of team performance are based on the teamwork dimensions of 1) information exchange, 2) communication, 3) supportive behaviors, and 4) team initiative/leadership.
New! • Collaborative technology refers to synchronous and asynchronous tools. Some are considered social media. They can be public (Twitter, Facebook, Groups, Instant Messengers, web sites, Skype, personal email) or private behind the company firewall (Yammer, SharePoint, Intranets, Webinar tools like GoToMeeting and Webex, Instant Messengers, company email). Collaborative technology would also include text messages and any other forms of technology-based communication completed on smartphones, in particular.
New! • Obviously some team performance will revolve around old fashioned phone calls or actual meetings. So those instances will be recorded as well. Particularly when rework or failure of technology requires analog communication.

Research Problem

• Decades of research on team performance for collocated, face-to-face teams exists. Today's workplace is filled with teams that are ad-hoc and dispersed. Ad-hoc because the team members change for projects, or coworkers gather on-demand to tackle an issue. Dispersed because members may be national, global, or just in a giant building. (Virtual is chosen word to describe team state.)
New! • I'm just going to talk here, not try to speak dissertation...

Organizations are implementing or banning various collaborative technologies (particularly ones known more commonly as social media) based on "cool factor" for the former and "fear" for the latter. What we don't know is which ones are effective in enabling communication and getting a project done faster or better? Which ones result in rework? How many times have you tried to problem solve or relay information via some form of technology and then had a mistake due to misunderstadning or technology failure? How many times have you given up on IM and just called the person or walked over to her desk? How many technologies do you have to juggle at work to talk to team members?

I personally could communicate with teams via the following: Yammer, email, SharePoint site for team, SharePoint site for company, Communicator, Webex, and good old fashioned meetings/phone/go see (when physically possible). Even for phone I have choices: Netmeeting, regular phone call, or Verizon conference call number. If I were an executive or an actual remote employee, I could add teleconference (execs) and webcam (remotes). Whew! How do I manage? As a performance improvement "expert" how do I recommend technologies to teams to increase performance? Do we train everyone on all of it? Do we support only some? I haven't even mentioned the number of Facebook, Twitter, and text message conversations I have with coworkers about work, work-related items (let's call it professional development), and background noise of teams (did you see that movie? nice shoes! what's for lunch?).
New! • Collaborative technologies (mostly social media) are being used all over the world for a variety of reasons that impact organizations: professional development, network building, talking about organizations (more than just customer reviews), most importantly to rise up against governments and overthrow leaders. Millennials are entering the workforce. To generalize them, they communicate mainly through text-based technology channels. How do older workers know when to let them communicate this way and when to force them into more traditional channels?

Purpose

• The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of collaborative technology on virtual team performance by looking at the use of tools in the framework of teamwork dimensions: 1) information exchange, 2) communication, 3) supportive behaviors, and 4) team initiative/leadership. (These were established in the original research.)

• The research will discuss which collaborative technology tools were most effective for which dimension.

• An outcome for T&PI professionals will be guidelines for organizations implementing technologies or wishing to foster aspects of virtual team performance.

Literature Review

Articles, studies, and books to be reviewed look at team performance and effectiveness, human-computer interaction, naturalistic decision making, shared mental models, team cognition, automaticity, goal orientation, and stress inoculation. (Most are standard elements of team performance research.)

Research Design

• Mixed Methods
New! • Why mixed? The T&PI part of me feels that the numbers don't tell enough of the story. Okay so a team used IM 10 times, email 50, and held 2 webinars. And they were effective. I need to know why? Personal preference? Company rules?

Examples from my life: (1) I email out questions/items for review to the adhoc team. Two members invariably respond by visiting (the one in my building) or calling (the one not in my building). (2) My director's team of local and remote workers (including me). Team starts off dispersed and comes together on customer site for end of project. Facebook walls are common area to discuss travel or social aspects of project with team members and other coworkers (think eating or travel delays). Email handles the project documents. Kick off webinar is held. Text messages and phone calls while on-site. (3) I nominated a remote coworker for a tribute award via a SharePoint site. He gets the notification via email. He sends me a private message on Facebook thanking me.

• Quantitative: number of times/teams/individuals who used collaborative technology X for team dimension Y. Additionally, success measures of project/team to show organization found it effective.

• Qualitative: descriptive data about why the team/member selected the technology tool for that purpose. Team's story in their words.

• Theory: TBD

• Hypothesis: TBD

Research Questions

1. What is the impact of collaborative technology on virtual team performance?

2. What collaborative technology was used for each teamwork dimension?
New! • My point with #2 is to itemize/list the technologies used in terms of what happened (example: email to share project files, Webex for kickoff meetings). Perhaps that is just a function of data collection and implicit in #1?

3. Which collaborative technology was most effective for each teamwork dimension?

4. Why did the team/team member select a collaborative technology tool?

Data Collection

• Quantitative: Statistics can be collected via survey or interview with close-ended questions. Observation is difficult since the teams are not collocated. A log for participants to record when they used a tool for what dimension would support their survey answers.

• Qualitative: Their own words can be collected via open-ended survey questions or interviews using synchronous collaborative technology.

Analysis and Interpretation

TBD

Next steps/Publish/Complete research

Get approval!

Do it!

Conclusion

TBD

Garden Complete...Pre-proposal not!

2011-03-27T14:26:00.000-07:00

I am really good at avoiding dissertation work. Feeling incredibly optimistic, I am growing oodles of things this year: lemon tree, asparagus, lettuces! Wish me luck!

Garden2011

Future Spaghetti Sauce

2011-03-19T22:33:00.000-07:00

I started my first garden of 2011! The earthbox is filled with what I call, "future spaghetti sauce". Garlic, basil, tomatoes, thyme, oregano...even some rosemary (tho I don't anticipate putting that in my sauce).

Let the growing begin!

From Drop Box

The right path or scope creep?

2011-03-18T21:11:00.000-07:00

Previously I discussed my proposed dissertation topic of...Effective Use of Collaborative Technology for Virtual Team Performance. The concept is to build upon previous research on teams by studying them 1) in the wild and 2) using collaborative technology because they are dispersed.

I've been reading the original research by teams the usually feature Salas or Cannon-Bowers. I wanted to submerse myself in their theories since those will likely be mine too.

So my question...

I've been looking at communication but I really think I need to research all aspects of the team's performance and just look at it in the wild and as they use collab tech. I feel like this someone takes me a step larger. I can't decide if that makes it more thorough and accurate...or messy.

Basically it means this:

Old Way	New Way
Monitor communication using categories already established in research Monitor what technology was used	Monitor the following... Decision making Team performance Individual performance Shared mental model Automaticity Goal orientation Stressors

So, I'm not sure. The new way is also the theories that Salas, Cannon-Bowers, et al based their research on. In the studies, they break down everything into criteria so I can easily replicate. I'd be looking for various trigger or responses. Easy enough. It's just SO MUCH. I went from looking at 2 things to dozens (depending on how you count subcategories).

You can see the mindmap I've been working on. So many branches!

What have I been doing?

2011-03-18T20:46:00.000-07:00

Not much on my dissertation!

Secured the committee. Started reading literature. Particularly the previous research that I am building upon. That sometimes feels like a combination of trying to find the center of the universe and scope creep.

Then I had a 2 week interruption. The first part was CLEANING the house. Now, I don't mean the regular cleaning. I mean shampooing the carpets, getting the dogs freshly groomed, and scrubbing things clean. Another one of my many "mothers" came to visit me after the death of my mother in December. Sonoe came from Japan, leaving just before the disaster. She is my parents' friend, since I was just a child. She taught me, as a 9 year old, to eat rice balls (sushi) and make wontons from scratch (I still can and do. MMM). Sonoe had been in my parents' house many times. She had never been in MY house (she moved back to Japan in the 80s).

Then she was here. We explored Vegas. As a former resident, she was amazed by the growth and even the things that were exactly the same. We ate $1.99 shrimp cocktails, Arbys, and popcorn (among other "modern" food). We saw Viva Elvis. We called Japan and watched Japanese news on the computer. I love living in this time where that is possible!!!

So now, I am back baby!

Next post...my question...

I made a Wordle

2011-03-07T20:54:00.001-08:00

Updated Reading List...there in the side bar

2011-03-06T21:08:00.001-08:00

I think it makes me look fairly insane! But that's my life in a nutshell.

Dissertation Committee....APPROVED!

2011-03-06T21:00:00.000-08:00

I have a committee! YAY!

Dr Petti Van Rekom (mentor)
Dr Steve Hobbs
Dr Thomas Sheppard

Good team I think! I am excited.

1st published article!

2011-02-23T21:58:00.000-08:00

Came home to stacks of packages today: amazon diss research books and 25 copies of the article I wrote....just published in Performance Improvement!

Dissertation Committee - Redux

2011-02-23T21:50:00.000-08:00

Imagine my surprise to find out the uni denied my T&PI faculty that I just *knew* was a shoe-in! Famous last words!

So I've searched the list. Sent another request. This time to Dr Hobbs. He actually had a better on-paper match to my topic than Dr Freer had. So even tho I am bummed, perhaps it is for the best.

Now the really sad part, I am supposed to have my committee finalized by the 28th. Monday! That's not happening. So here I am...milestone #1...asking for an extension. Epic fail.

I do have milestone #2 completed! CITI modules.

Dissertation Committee

2011-02-21T21:37:00.000-08:00

I might have a dissertation committee. I've a had a mentor (chair of committee) for sometime. The guidelines for my school state the remaining members, 2, should be another T&PI person (check) and PhD from another area or visiting scholar.

I've submitted the visiting scholar route. We are not certain he will get approved since it has not been 3 years since graduation. He would be a really good fit tho! I hope it works out.

So Jeffrey asked me how I came to these people. So here's how it went:

Mentor, Dr Van Rekom: Not to diminish her, but I did have a short list of T&PI faculty who were available to me. I read all of their bios. Thought about the ones I had in classes (not her) and then picked her mostly based on her vast real corporate life experience. We chatted via email about how we'd match. I've been pleased with her as my mentor.
Other T&PI faculty: I am waiting for approval on this one. Dr Freer, I selected him because of his vast corporate experience as well as his experience working with teams at a distance. I had him as a professor many times, including for the Coaching class. He and I have an excellent working relationship. I feel like he is real and kind. I value his feedback. He has been my unofficial mentor throughout my program.
Visiting Scholar, or outsider as I call this role: Also awaiting approval and at risk. Dr Sheppard, it started off feeling more like a dart game. I truly had no idea other than asking Dr Salas from UCF to do it or recommend someone from his team (one of the seminal researchers in team performance). I've emailed with him about the dissertation topic and he liked the idea but didn't give any sign of interest. So I was really ready to head to the Business school and throw a dart at the list of available faculty. Then I saw Dr Sheppard's post in the ISPI chapter. I thought this could work...then we emailed in-depth. It was kismet! He is military and works with people who worked with Dr Salas on the original research. He also is a mixed methods guy. So now we wait to see what the uni says since he graduated less than 3 years ago.

Fingers crossed!

I might have a dissertation.

2011-02-13T15:35:00.001-08:00

The proposal part. Seriously.

Here's the nutshell version of the topic and plan:

Starter title: Effective Use of Collaborative Technology for Virtual Team Performance

Methodology: Mixed

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of collaborative technology on a virtual team’s performance. The study hopes to uncover which tools are most effective in the team performance. This will result in a set of guidelines for organizational adoption of tools.

1. What collaborative technology tools were used?

2. What is the impact of collaborative technology on a virtual team’s performance?

3. What is the impact to the team’s performance as evaluated by team members and the organization?

4. What collaborative technology tools were most effective?

Must focus

2011-01-30T21:32:00.000-08:00

Wow, I still haven't really done anything in terms of my dissertation.

Here's what I need to do...tiny elephant bites:

pre-proposal/outline like NOW
finish CITI modules by Feb 28
secure committee by Feb 28

That's as far out as I am going for now. I did set-up the PC in the office and have my kick-off meeting with my mentor. That's some kind of progress!

FOCUS. DO.

It's Been 6 Days

2011-01-23T19:45:00.000-08:00

Can you hear my title to the tune of Barenaked Ladies' One Week? I hope so!

It's been 6 days since I said I needed to let things simmer. Those things are still simmering. But here's a list of what I have done.

My dumbphone died and I upgraded to a Droid X! That's so cool. I've already dreamt up 2 apps and sent them to my radical idea friends.
I adoped a rescue dog from Foreclosed Upon Pets. Yes, that is how bad the economy and the foreclosure crisis is in Las Vegas. Picture below. Buddy is the white maltipoo rescue. Milo is the black pugoodle chilling like normal.
I attended Rock-n-Roll Wine. My 2 favs were: 2007 Apothic Red Blend and 2009 Risata Moscato D'Asti.

Now this week, this week I must really track on things.

Food for Thought

2011-01-17T22:01:00.000-08:00

I just read a post on Thesis Whisperer blog about why I might be stuck. Wow. I have thinking to do!

The post ends with, "Is there anything you need to unlearn?" I probably do. Must let this simmer.

Art of Non-Conformity + Dissertation = Radical Idea?

2011-01-16T21:04:00.000-08:00

I mentioned that I finished AONC about a week ago and have been working on acting on it. Now I just read Journal of Workplace Learning's last update to my Reader. Article titled: AFFECTIONS IN LEARNING SITUATIONS: A STUDY OF AN ENTREPRENEURSHIP SKILLS DEVELOPMENT COURSE.

Then I had a thought. Ran to MindMeister to map it out and remembered that in the height of my personal issues my subscription needed renewing. So I can't make a map...yet.

So here I am. Thinking. Mapping in paragraphs.

How could I do a diss about...

becoming an entrepreneur
personal learning networks
informal learning (we're back to this!)
coaching-related
radical learning and growth
transformational learning via topics related to AONC

Now, I think I have to be careful...for lots of reasons...but since I am in EDU, I can totally do these types of topics but I am in Training & Performance Improvement, meaning that I need organizational change. Hmmmmm....must think.

Think. Think. Think.

Project Plan for Dissertation

2011-01-16T19:33:00.000-08:00

Okay, I laid out my project plan in ManyMoon for the good ole diss. I hope to finish by Dec 1. Yes, this year. We shall see.

I embedded the calendar it made. Let's see if this works!

Dissertation Topic

2011-01-16T18:31:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to get back to it. Seriously tho, ABD looks pretty good most days. Actually moments. I'm on a moment-by-moment motivational fluctuation.

Here's what I wrote in my pre-proposal for the big problem statement paragraph.

With this study, the researcher seeks to narrow the gap identified by Salas et al., namely that teams communicate more using collaborative technology while completing tasks in spatially- and temporally-separated, natural environments. Technology and social media are expanding the capabilities of virtual communication without regard to the impact to a team’s cognition and effectiveness. The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of collaborative technology on the performance of virtual cross-trained teams.

I like this idea. Mixing SoMe, technology, teams, remoteness. It's something I'd like to be an "expert" in and it's something I do think is important to the business world. What collaborative technologies help? Which should be fostered in the workworld? I mean, really I like open workworlds but that isn't going to happen across the board. So what can we find out that will encourage adoption?

This could fun! I feel somewhat more motivated.

Legacy, from AONC (updated--twice!)

2011-01-14T06:04:00.000-08:00

I've finished reading Art of Non-Conformity (AONC). Actually did a few days ago, but I've returned to work FT and man, just man, lots of work to work FT. So I am behind on blogging about AONC.

Chris G wrote a chapter on Legacy Planning. The first thought that ran through my head in this chapter? "I don't want a legacy, I just want to enjoy myself!" Previously, I wanted a legacy so this thought is probably a result of my current circumstance (end of caregiving) instead of some sort of anti-legacy movement. Chris did list a couple of legacy, radical ideas that I could participate in incessantly: making school, college in particular, project-based and not stupid; and a place for the homeless.

So in an effort to figure out where I stand on legacies, I am answering the questions on page 214, based on yesterday and today. Back, on the 15th I answered the Qs again, based on Saturday! I love Saturdays!

PM Qs

Who did I help today? The business, me, Rachel, PB, and AF. Me and Milo!
How much time did I spend creating today? Not much. Technically the only things I created were a few emails (yuck) and annual performance review (boring). Still pretty low. I created a healthier me and a more stable puppy.
Did I move closer to one of my big goals today? I did spend time with friends and make a new friends. I also said yes to things. I didn't buy anything that I didn't really want and even that was sensible (lunch). So yes!! Yes! I did this a lot: exercise, farmer's market, own schedule, freedom, good food.
How much exercise did I do today? I woke up at 5am-ish with a massive charlie horse so I did yoga instead of steps. LOTSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How much sugar, caffeine, etc did I have today? Sugar, yes. Caffeine, normal cup of tea. Tea and cupcake...and cookies. Bad!
What do I want for tomorrow? Not what I am getting. Figure out my dissertation, more exercise, more good food, more relaxing.

AM Qs

How am I feeling? Tired. My dog needs to stop waking me up before 5am. I don't need to get up that early. Otherwise, glad I am doing this and not super thrilled about spending the day in the office. "In the office" being the point. A touch tired but mostly looking forward to the day.
What do I want right now? Take a nap. Enjoy the day!
What is the single, most important thing I can do today? Stay awake while driving. Exercise!

Here it is Jan 18 and news reports about a study on college value. Now this is one area that I am always passionate about: being apart of an overhaul of our edu system. Particularly college. All projects, all pass/fail, all REAL. Yes, still a well-rounded education. I just truly believe that on the college level we have far too many random required classes that are meant for rounding out and yet become the class you register for, never go to, and buy the exams or Christmas tree it and still pass. I know, I've been there. Tho I failed and had to take it again. Sigh. Not the brightest attempt at failure. My legacy???

I need how much?

2011-01-09T16:08:00.000-08:00

One of the concepts in Art of Non-Conformity is Chris G's, what are you willing to pay for?

So many money gurus like to tell you to pack a lunch, never go to Starbucks, cut out everything. And sometimes that is important. AONC and Chris (as I interpret it) are more about what do you HAVE to pay for to live (recurring bills like mortgage and utilities) and what are you WILLING to pay for to live (is Starbucks important to you?).

I figured mine out. To about 95% accuracy. My life has been really abnormal for the past year so somethings are in flux. I need about $3200 a month. WOW. I thought that was a lot for a single person, no kids, 1 dog, and only debts are mortgage and car.

Now my house is too big not that mom died and I live alone. However, I can't sell. So there is that. Still it's only $1200 a month. Where does the other $2000 go???

I have an HOA and plenty of utilities.
I dumped cable already for an antenna and Hulu. I don't value all those channels at $60 a month.
It does include my car pymt at $600 a month to meet my radical goal of paying it off by end of 2011.
It also includes a waste of an aircard that I need to turn off. That will cost me an ETF (as VZW likes to call it) but $155 is much less than the ~$900 left on my contract.
Includes Massage Envy membership which is one of the things I am willing to pay for.
Also includes car insurance on mom's car that I will be able to dump once I take care of her car.

So wow. Really wow.

This translate into $38,400 a year. So luckily, before taxes, I make a lot more. I need to work on this when I can move.

working on 5-year & lifetime radical goals

2011-01-05T21:05:00.000-08:00

As previously mentioned, a radical goal for 2011 is create my 5-year and lifetime radical goals. This is a lot of thinking! I do have some early definites for the lists.

5-year

obtain a location-independent job
move out of Vegas to a place with slow food, ability to walk for daily transport, near a friend
travel to Bsquared for sure, Blackpool & Belgium...Ireland too...Yosemite...drive to Canadian Rockies via I-15...Roatan

lifetime

live in a place where cars are not needed
run a smoothie stand (or something that floats my boat) on a resort island area
live abroad
go to Japan
travel to Northern Europe
raise a child
rescue a dog

That's what I have so far. Still thinking.

waking from sleepwalking, redux (edited)

2010-12-31T21:46:00.000-08:00

So posted my original 2011 radical goals list on Christmas. I mentioned my mom's healing. She passed away on the 29th. I am sad for me and my family and friends, but after 6wks and 1 day in ICU on life support, I feel relief for mom who can finally rest.

So I have a slightly altered 2011 radical goals list. And still need to do my 5-year and lifetime radical goals.

Still in no particular order...

Pay extra on my car payment in order to payoff by end of 2011 (already calculated what it takes)
Visit City Center and The Cosmopolitan (staycation #1)
Check out Springs Preserve (staycation #2)
Present at conference (I am scheduled for ISPI in April and have registered...will I make it? Yes!)
Celebrate the 40th with Rachel in Napa (not required to happen on the actual day)
Create a routine and stick to it for mind/body health (still needs developing but I did get a Kinect so I can workout with a pal or 5)
Participate in 4 charity events (drives or activities)
Follow Rachel to her conference in Orlando for professional growth and relaxation (this one could be getting riskier)
See the Grand Canyon (this may become a girlfriends' RV trip and memorial to my parents)
Work to make everything else possible (still means the job)
Complete PhD
Create radical goals for 5-year and lifetime!
(added 1/6) Membership to Springs Preserve AND USE IT
(added 1/6) Attend 1 or more classes at Springs Preserve
(added 1/6) Begin looking for location-independent job (Q4)

That's my plan!

my ideal day

2010-12-26T23:29:00.000-08:00

I'm having a hard time deciphering what my ideal day looks like.

I know it involves my own schedule, not someone else's. Obviously there are always appointments, meetings, and deadlines...but that's not sitting in a cube from 8-5 each day. Or even having to be at a home office from 8-5 each day.

I know it involves fresh fruits and veggies. So there's a farmer's market near...perhaps I even grow them.

I know I do meaningful things. Does that mean create training? Teach class online? Charity? Coach homeless and battered women? Yes. Do I run my own biz or charity? Maybe. Do I work for someone else but have a timeclock-less life? Maybe.

I have friends near. Perhaps more doggies. Perhaps a child or three. Not sure what country or state I am in. Tho to be near friends, I will most likely need to be in the States. Am I in small but cool town like Berkley or Asheville? Am I out in the country?

I am willing to trade bit and pieces. Especially at first. Right now, work is not meaningful (no offense bosses), I am not near anyone, I cannot grow fruits and veggies, and technically I am supposed to be in the office 8-5 each day in my cube. So next time, if I could be by someone in a better climate, would I still do meaningless work? Perhaps. It's about balance, right?

Added at almost midnight: Time would be flexible so when I can't sleep, like now, I could work and not worry that in 6 hrs I have to be up and performing when I really will want to sleep then.

This post totally counts as Monday the 27th's post. BTW. Sleep, please come soon!

waking from sleepwalking

2010-12-25T22:41:00.000-08:00

Only 43 pages into Art of Non-Conformity and I've ordered 4 copies to share abundantly with friends and I am doing an assignment.

Chris G proposes that we do "radical goal-setting" (p. 32). So I am starting with the 1 year goals. He suggests December to do this, and check it, it's December! The next 2 steps of radical goal-setting are 5 year and lifetime goals. That will take some thinking.

I decided to do 12 1-year radical goals--1 per month. These are also incredibly simple since, as I previously mentioned, I have a couple of catalyst situations that make me find it hard to see next week, let alone 365 days from now.

In no particular order...

Pay extra on my car payment in order to payoff by end of 2011 (already calculated what it takes)
Visit City Center and The Cosmopolitan (staycation #1)
Check out Springs Preserve (staycation #2)
Present at conference (I am scheduled for ISPI in April and have registered...will I make it? Yes!)
Celebrate the 40th with Rachel in Napa (not required to happen on the actual day)
Create a routine and stick to it for mind/body health as mom continues to heal (need to flush this out)
Participate in 4 charity events (drives or activities)
Follow Rachel to her conference in Orlando for professional growth and relaxation
See the Grand Canyon
Work to make everything else possible
Complete PhD
Create radical goals for 5-year and lifetime!

That's my plan!

And on Day 38, I rested.

2010-12-25T11:29:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Christmas Eve, was my mother's 38th day in the hospital. Today marks 5 weeks in ICU. So for 38 days, I had gotten up and trekked to the hospital to sit. She's not awake and only recently even became aware of anything, like pinches. She's in a metabolic coma that was preceded by a medically-induced coma. All from a hernia surgery (that was abnormally risky based on her) with all the complications.

So I've been in limbo. I felt it a minor miracle that I managed to pass comps and complete the semester! Now tho, I took a day off to recharge, make myself an Italian Christmas Eve eating extravaganza! I opened my presents from dear friends. Found a book: The Art of Non-Conformity: Set Your Own Rules, Live the Life You Want, and Change the World. Starting reading immediately!

So let's begin this journey together. My 2011 is about change, new chapters.

If my mother lives or dies, she will not come home for months, maybe never. There's a good chance she will need care/support for the rest of her life. This is hard b/c my mother at 71 was still young at heart and traveling. The odds of that mom coming back are extremely slim.
I should graduate in 2011 with my PhD. So big changes ahead!

My blog is going to change from infrequent posts about school and work to daily (that's the plan) posts about improvement and change...both personal and professional.

Happy Christmas! Rest up for a fantabulous 2011!

Passed Comps!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-12-05T08:37:00.000-08:00

Yes I did. Wow. I am torn between "I rock!" and "Is my degree for real?" Kidding.

But I did pass all 3 questions. Which I will now share (see below). I really loved the messages I developed for each. I don't think the writing was a fab as I could have had not spent the last week (editing week) in the hospital watching mom fight for life. During the writing phase for each, I found myself thinking: this would be a great article! Now I need to go back and try that out.

QUESTION_1: "The term ethnography literally means 'writing about groups of people'," according to Creswell (2005, p.435). Identify the key characteristics of a good ethnographic research study. From a scholarly journal, select one ethnographic research study situated in a business or organizational setting. Evaluate the strengths and weakness of ethnography as a research method as applied in this selected study. Recommend and justify at least one methodological change that might have strengthened the research.

Creswell, J.W. (2005). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research.Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson

QUESTION_2: Malcolm Knowles popularized the term andragogy as the "art and science of helping adults learn" (1975). According to Knowles, the principles and practices of andragogy enable the creation of an effective learning environment through self-directed learning. Compare and contrast the key elements of andragogy with two other theories of adult learning that are often relevant to achieving the successful implementation of T&PI interventions. Critically review recent T&PI literature on adult learning theory and write a comprehensive update of what scholars are saying about current day relevance of the three adult learning theories you reviewed. Assess how you might apply what you have learned from your literature review in your own work as a T&PI consultant-practitioner.

Knowles, M. (1975). Self-directed learning: A guide for learners and teachers. Chicago: Follett

QUESTION_3: Swanson (1995) describes the basic theories that have contributed to the human performance improvement body of knowledge as a "three-legged stool." Describe how Swanson's three-legged stool could be used as a framework for determining at least two appropriate interventions to support a priority performance improvement objective in your current organization. Evaluate the greatest challenges you might face in the phases of design, implementation and evaluation. Suggest ways for overcoming these challenges.

Swanson, R. A. (1995). Human resource development: Performance is the key. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 6(2), 207-213.

post-comps

2010-11-27T13:54:00.000-08:00

It's been almost 1 week since I handed in my comprehensive exam questions (comps). That mean it's about 1 week until I find out what I scored.

If you recall, I had 28 days to complete them. About 20 days in, my 71 yr old mother had a hernia repair surgery. That was 11 days ago and she is currently on what they call "life support" fighting septic shock. I managed to hand in my comps anyway. Not as refined as I would have liked and not thorough. Only about 44 pages when 50 were required. My comps mentor suggested that if I get any Revise & Resubmits that I ask for an extension.

I am torn about that. I certainly have a hard time concentrating lately but I also really need something to not be in limbo.

chocolate & salt

2010-10-31T15:30:00.000-07:00

oh-so yummy! I didn't need to discover this.

Taleo/Learn.com Bay Area Users Group...featuring me!

2010-10-31T15:27:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it's not that big. I am presenting at the Nov 4 Bay Area Users Group. I admit that I didn't realize the Bay Area extended to Las Vegas, but that's okay! I get to visit San Jose and hang with fellow Learn Center users.

I will speak on Rapid Intake's Unison, elearning authoring tool. I am by no means an expert but I am a user and have a good story. Because I HATED IT at first. I mean seriously, didn't use, ignored, la-la-la we don't have it, hated it. Technically, my relationship with Unison did not begin that way, it happened after my first attempt at use. It was all downhill from login. However, we spent some time apart and we approached each other with fresh POVs. Now we like each other.

It has also influenced my ideas of elearning and approach to ID for elearning.

If you are going to the meeting, I am presenting right before lunch. I'd better be quick and fun. :)

one week...in

2010-10-31T15:20:00.000-07:00

Taking a break from my comprehensive exams to do utilitarian things like vacuum and wash the floors. Goodness, I hate that. Also to update my very quiet blog. That I like!

I'd love to tell you all about my 3 comps questions. That is a no-no. At least for now! I am one week into the four week writing process. I've enjoyed Q1 so much that I can see it becoming a journal article. Even a small book! No telling.

Q2 is up next. I like it with a small reservation: it acts about the future of the topic....well, I believe the future of the topic is really being discussed in blogs and some 2010 books...not peer-reviewed journals. Le sigh. What to do?

Q3 has a risk involved...it acts me to talk about how I would do something...which I going to make me want to use first person! EEK! Must control myself.

The good thing is that I am actually learning and gaining my voice as a scholar-practitioner!

The Energy Project Webinar with Schwartz and Allen

2010-10-19T13:59:00.000-07:00

I am live blogging!

Session info:
The Energy Project is proud to present a unique and powerful collaboration between the foremost authorities on productivity, Tony Schwartz, bestselling author of The Way We're Working Isn't Working, and David Allen, bestselling author of Getting Things Done.

You'll leave this recorded webinar with a framework for how to:

Bring the multiple demands you're facing under control
Increase performance and effectiveness at work and at home
Achieve greater levels of personal and professional satisfaction
Better integrate, balance, and reclaim control of your life as a whole

My notes:

You have OS too: think like an OS, when something pulls your attention, focus on it, answer what's the outcome, the next action, and where do these go (project management)? So your mind can let go and move on. Then you can be fully engaged in what you need to be at that moment. Don't just make a list and think you are putting aside the item.

Maximizing is not optimizing: more about sustainability, GenY tenet. How much fuel is in your tank? Need sleep! Eat a healthy breakfast! Need exercise! Need breaks! Lunch at desk or skipped = bad! Need time for family and be with them! Need time to do what you love! Reflect! Strategize! Think creatively! Email-free vacays! Quiet brain time! Feel passion about work! Close the gap between what you say is important and how you live! Be a positive influence in the world! Get a system to keep track of the "gestalt of your life," don't keep using your "psyche." Respect renewal and reflection.

Willpower is highly overrated: world is too complex for our brains (frontal cortex) to manage it all. Commitment and desire are not enough for change. Change management happens in reptilian part of brain (where habits are formed). Build rituals. You draw down your inventory of willpower on items that don't mean as much--like ignoring a task or email--and then don't have enough willpower to resist meaningful things--like chocolate.

Their so-what's:

You can't change what you don't notice.
There's a systematic way to clear your mind.
You are designed to make waves.
The power of reflection.
What sticks is what you make automatic.
Small things done consistently produce big results.

Comps time

2010-10-17T21:22:00.000-07:00

It's here! I get my comprehensive exam questions on 10/25. This week I've been doing the pre-work: interest worksheet, goal statement, application of rubric on a (bad) example. I found the interest worksheet the most difficult. Pick 2 fav HPT theorists and authors? That's like pouring the past 3 years into a thimble!

For theory/theorists, I picked Swanson's Three Legged Stool because it encompasses systems thinking and is holistic. I thought that was my best bet for covering everything I like. From a learning POV, I picked Constructivism. I felt like I needed something decidedly learning since most of my life revolves around that.

For authors, I did a big cheat! I listed 2 that we study as primary and 2 that we don't as secondary. See what I did? I listed 4. I know, I couldn't help myself. I picked Judith Hale and Darlene Van Tiem for performance consulting application and Appreciative Inquiry, respectively. The other 2 are Daniel Pink and Malcolm Gladwell. Because, regardless of actual HPT theory or foundation in their works, I think they are writing about today's workers and organization. Their works fascinate me.

My primary research interest, I listed team performance. So far sticking to the idea of a diss on collaborative tech use on remote teams. Based on that, I listed ethnography as my primary methodology.

Finally, there was a section on other HPT-related interests, I said this: The other dissertation topics I have in mind are related to informal learning and performance support of doctoral students. Beyond these topics, I like needs analysis, Lean, motivation, coaching, and instructional design. Somewhat related, I like Social Media and generational influences on the workforce.

Now, the wait for my questions.

Book Reflection: Social Media for Trainers by Jane Bozarth

2010-10-10T22:24:00.000-07:00

Reflection: Yes, it's that kind of book. The kind you read, perhaps even skim the chapter on Twitter/microblogging because today you are feeling over tweets, then something clicks in you later and you think, "oh! Jane had a great idea about using tweets in training!" Then, there you are with the dog-eared book, making notes in the margin about another great idea.

On page 21, Jane encourages the reader to "walk the talk" and make strides towards being The Networked Trainer. She includes a graphic that I think really shows what the book and social media are all about. It's about you. It's about the whole you. (Edited post to include Jane's link to the book image. Thanks Jane!)

This image, it shows you as the hub in wheel of social media. What I like most about it is that various spokes several multiple purposes. There's spokes on Twitter, LinkedIn, Videos, Images, Conferences, Resources. Let's look at this wheel.

These spokes can be for your learners. As in, this is your class: "here class go watch this video...connect to each other on LinkedIn...meet me in the conference room Tuesday at 3pm."
These spokes can be for you. As in, this is your informal learning and professional development plan: "I need feedback on my wild ice breaker idea...I need to store resources on my fav topic...I need to see what others are doing!"

Social Media for Trainers can fit you where you are now. Ready to bring it into class? Great! There are techniques. Ready to build yourself? Great! It can help you with that too. Too scared of Twitter? No worries, the book is segmented so you can read just the chapters that you are ready for. Best of all, Jane offers practical, real world examples with pictures!

I thought I was networked. I've got Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Delicious, WebEx, IM, Flickr & Picassa, and this blog. I learned about Google Wave, wikis, mashups, slide share, and ways to host an online classroom without Blackboard. Wow. So much to learn!

Overall: Recommend buying, reading, referring to over and over

dissertation topics...

2010-09-18T22:49:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about changing diss topics.

In the semester that ended yesterday, the practicum class had us go through the diss proposal process. So easy money at this point is to continue on. After all, I have a proposal ready to format in proper proposal-ness. But I don't know.

It's not a sexy topic but it is a good topic. Even Dr Salas, a lead researcher in team communication and cognition, thinks so. It might involve SoMe, which I like. It's adaptable: I can study a virtual team at work, from Twitter, my doc student friend at Vandy with her cohort (not that I've asked, just technically they would fit the bill), I could even go all risky with auto-ethno and study my CD partner-in-crime and myself. See, it's a good topic.

Some things happened at work last week. Not like bad, end of work things. Not like that. Just what I think might be the new workplace in the new economy. The request from a leader to work longer to get product out. Product, in my case, being elearning. So, given this new push to work longer, how am I to also create a cross-training program for work and then study the collab tech tools used by the cross-trained virtual teams? Whew. It's a lot. A diss is a lot. Working more than 40 hrs a week is a lot. It's all a lot.

I will also need to travel for this diss topic. There are times the virtual team will be under one roof but not necessarily in the same room, and I can observe their communications. Work had said that I could travel, even on their dime, to do this. I have doubts. I could travel on my own dime or pick a different team.

There's thinking to be done.

wine: Archeo Nero D'Avola

2010-09-12T17:29:00.000-07:00

I don't normally talk wine on my blog. My partner in ID crime tho has moved to Napa and blogs almost daily about wine. I'm no Rachel. But she is inspiring me to post about the bottle I just opened.

I am cooking a different tomato sauce...no garlic!...butter!...a variation of the recipe since I have this fab mix of locally-grown, organic, fresh dried herbs that I am dying to try. So variation b/c I put some in the sauce. I also have fresh pasta. MMMM smells good!

So I thought I'd open the bottle of red in the fridge. It's from Sicily! Don't be shocked that my red is in the fridge. I live in the middle of the Mojave Desert. It's hot here. Wine doesn't survive the day out.

Here's the description:

Nero D' Avola is imported from Sicily. Archeo is the brand name and Ruggero Di Tasso is the winemaker. This wine is produced in Southwestern Sicily. It is very much reminisicent of a Chianti or Valpocella.

I like it! It is very soft as the bottle promised. Even chilled the berries are lovely and I am a happy buttery tomato sauce cooker!

Bought at Trader Joe's for CHEAP.

:P

2010-09-12T14:08:00.000-07:00

I'd really like to talk to the instructional designer who designed this instructional design class.

just wanted to put that out there

last assignment is gonna take the longest

What is instructional design?

2010-09-11T21:29:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow begins the final week of the semester. YAY! Happy dance!

I've mentioned the instructional design class. I started out loving it since it was all about theory chatter. I love to geek out about theory and concepts. I'm an idea girl. Then the class went all application. Sigh. Imagine my joy in "learning" how to write SMART objectives. Double sigh. (Aren't SMART objectives passé?)

We are ending the class as we began...by defining instructional design. I am enamored with the word "holistic" tonight...apparently.

Instructional design is a systematic method of analyzing an identified need or gap to generate a holistic learning and performance improvement session. The holistic elements include understanding the learners, environment, available tools, outcomes, and assessment. The assessment leads to an evaluation of the other parts and their effectiveness, which, in turn, may lead the instructional designer to return to the various elements to improve the session. Smith and Ragan (2005) describe to instructional design as systematic process combined with reflection (p. 4). It is the reflection—during each element—that creates the uniqueness of instructional design as a holistic system.

It differs from curriculum, teaching, and lesson planning as those three are narrower in scope. Curriculum is a subset of instructional design. Curriculum is what is the system develops. Lesson planning and teaching are by-products of the system. Teaching, like training, could be the delivery aspect of instructional design, depending on the intervention planned. Lesson planning supports the act of teaching by looking at how to present content, typically in a pedagogical environment. While instructional design applies to pedagogy and andragogy, it is utilized more outside the K-12 classroom.

The purpose of instructional design is to add value to the learner and the organization. It is the holistic system that seeks to uncover all issues and fully define the learning session in order to maximize the outcomes and improve the learner and organization.

I could say more. It's more opinion tho. I wanted to keep it fairly legit. As a reformed K-12 teacher, some time trainer, one time professor, and creator of curriculum, instruction, elearning, lesson plans, and handouts. I have opinions!

And because I am a geek, I made a Wordle! I think it is perfect!

week 6 research journal

2010-08-22T21:26:00.001-07:00

This one seems really random and disjointed here. Maybe it's just me. :)

For Quantitative Research:

Validity: 'The measure that an instrument measures what it is supposed to' -- Black and Champion (1976, pp. 232-234) http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR4-3/winter.html

Reliability: 'An agreement between two efforts to measure the same thing with the same methods' -- Campbell and Fisk (as cited in Hammersley, 1987) http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR4-3/winter.html

Measurement Error: two parts – random and systematic http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/measerr.php

“Random error is caused by any factors that randomly affect measurement of the variable across the sample. For instance, each person's mood can inflate or deflate their performance on any occasion.”

“Systematic error is caused by any factors that systematically affect measurement of the variable across the sample. For instance, if there is loud traffic going by just outside of a classroom where students are taking a test, this noise is liable to affect all of the children's scores -- in this case, systematically lowering them.“ AKA Bias

Reduce by testing instrument, training observers, double check/enter data twice, use stats to adjust for error, and (best) use multiple measures of same construct.

Sampling Error: “Sampling error gives us some idea of the precision of our statistical estimate. A low sampling error means that we had relatively less variability or range in the sampling distribution. We base our calculation on the standard deviation of our sample. The greater the sample standard deviation, the greater the standard error (and the sampling error). The standard error is also related to the sample size. The greater your sample size, the smaller the standard error. “http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/sampstat.php

For Qualitative Research:

Dependability: accounting for the changes to the research collection environment http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/qualval.php

Trustworthiness: the rigor for qual, showing research is relevant http://www.okstate.edu/ag/agedcm4h/academic/aged5980a/5980/newpage21.htm

Credibility: establishing that results are believable from the perspective of participant http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/qualval.php

Information from other people, from surveys, interviews, or focus groups.

Find out which collaborative technology they used and what was communicated via it.

Why they chose that CT

Information from direct observations of behavior or testing.

Which CT was used for what communication.

Was there re-communication involved? (sent email, didn’t work, had to call, etc)

Information from official records or documents, excluding literature.

Customer advocacy scores

Project completion data

Project notes

Customer notes

How will you assure the reliability and validity or trustworthiness of the information?

The study will include organizational data on project performance and direct observation of what collaborative technology is utilized. Project performance includes project completion documents containing time spent and accounting of activities and issues, and customer advocacy scores. The observation is noting which form of technology was used and for what type of communication based on the established TARGETs criteria, as well as did that technology work for delivering the communication or was there rework to deliver it.

Both sets of data are quantitative. Therefore, reliability and validity must be established in order to have acceptable data (Creswell, 2009). Validity refers to showing that the instrument measures what it is supposed to (Winter, 2000). Creswell explains that there are three types: content, predictive, and construct. Content validity refers to showing that the instruments to collect data collect what is intended. For example, do the project documents actually reflect the performance of the project? I can compare the information in the documents to established criteria used to measure team effectiveness. To ensure the data is correct, I can observe the project or even ask team members to vouch for the information. As in, did the project really take X days? For predictive, it would mean administering the instruments again later on the same team to see if the results related. I am not sure this would work, as too many outside influences could impact the team’s future performance or technology choices. This is real world, not a lab. Construct validity is about the level of inferences that can be made. Therefore, I’d need to show that the instruments and data are useful.

Reliability shows that in multiple uses of the instrument, the results are in agreement. The agreement allows the researcher to draw conclusions. I can show reliability by using the same instruments on multiple teams and projects.

Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approaches (3rd.). Los Angeles: Sage.

Vegas-grown produce: a foodie post

2010-08-19T19:43:00.001-07:00

It has been FOREVER since I did a foodie post. My current foodie craze is finding and LOVING local produce. It's much easier than you might think in Vegas. Shocking, I know.

We have Gilcrease Orchards and U of NV Cooperative Exchange. I bought squashes, melons, potatoes, grapes, peaches, and almonds. ALMONDS! I had never seen almonds au natural.

Today, I checked out Mario B's (the famous chef) Molto Market. It was a tad pricier but in the city and tremendous variety. I bought tomatoes (DELISH), lemons, and a white chocolate batard that made even the men I work with moan.

You can see more photos in my Food P0rn stream.

Word Cloud of Lit Review

2010-08-15T15:09:00.001-07:00

Because, this is how I roll, I uploaded the text of my mini-lit review to Wordle. Check out my cloud.

draft of mini-lit review

2010-08-15T15:00:00.000-07:00

I am not sure why class is calling this a lit review plan. To me that would mean I say stuff like, I plan to read....and synthesize...and you know planning words. NOT actually write a baby lit review. Which is what the rubric called for. (Mind map of lit review) So here is my draft:

The literature on cross-trained teams focuses on three areas: team performance, team cognition, and team communication. Within each realm, variables exist regarding the type of cross-training, the stress level of the task and environment, and the status of the team in terms of time, space, and membership. Several studies have supported the idea of cross-training as a means to increase team performance, cognition, and communication (Fowlkes, Lane, Salas, Franz, & Oser, 1994; Volpe et al, 1996; McCann, Baranski, Thompson, & Pigeau, 2000; Dwyer, Oser, Salas, & Fowlkes, 2000). These well-established and documented studies are in need of updating to reflect the changing nature of teams to include spatially dispersed and technologically advanced.

To begin a discussion on what is known about cross-trained teams, establishment of terms is necessary. Teams are considered two or more people with specific roles working towards a common goal by performing interdependent tasks (Fowlkes et al, 1994; Baker, Day, & Salas, 2006). It is this shared path to reach a goal that defines a team as opposed to the actual taskwork or static membership. Therefore, teams can be ad hoc or historical with an established performance record (Baker et al, 2006; Rosen, Fiore, Salas, Letsky, & Warner, 2008). Teams tend to be studied in high-stress, high-pressure environments: military and healthcare; thus, the team’s environment is an important variable to the study (McCann et al, 2000; Baker et al, 2006; Rosen et al, 2008).

Additionally, the classification of the type of situation the team performs needs to be defined (Cannon-Bowers, Salas, & Converse, 1993). Teams share mental models in order to perform. Mental models are a person’s ideas as related to interacting with his or her environment; it helps the person to understand and predict situations. Cannon-Bowers et al. described team mental models as 1) equipment model, relating to equipment functioning and operating; 2) task model, relating to procedures, contingencies, strategies, and constraints; 3) team interaction model, relating to roles and responsibilities, communication, and interdependencies; and, 4) team model, relating to assessment of team member knowledge, skills, and abilities (Cannon-Bowers et al, 1993, p. 233).

Cross-training was originally conceived as an informational training, or interpositional knowledge (Volpe et al, 1996). Interpositional knowledge is defined as “the body of knowledge that a team member holds about the tasks, roles, and appropriate behavioral responses required of his or her teammates” (p. 88). It was meant to develop knowledge of each other’s tasks and to create a shared mental model of the team’s goal and tasks to accomplish (Rosen et al, 2008). The shared mental model improves communication by enabling members to anticipate needs and offer information before it is requested. In the studies, data indicated that implicit communication is what drives overall team performance (Rosen et al, 2008). Even in times of high workload or stress, when explicit communication decreases, team performance was not impacted (Volpe et al, 1996).

In building upon the research, McCann and colleagues (2000) further studied cross-training as experiential, or members actually being able to fully perform all roles on a team. The experiential cross-training was not shown to increase overall team performance in a military setting. Thus leaving the authors to wonder if the resources required to properly train team members to perform each team role is worth the effort in certain situations. Specifically, the experiential cross-training showed a slowing of decision-making. The authors theorize that the increase in team interaction model by being trained to perform all roles may have lead to a decrease in task model and equipment model, thus leading the slower decision-making.

Much of the early research on team cognition focused on what is now referred to as individual behavior perspective (Rosen et al, 2008). This perspective looked at how members interact on the individual levels to complete the team processes and form the shared understanding in controlled environments. A more recent perspective based on actual events is macrocognition, which looks at how the team creates new knowledge during real-life problem solving (Rosen et al, 2008). Macrocognition includes several team characteristics including integration of individual knowledge into the team cognition, team problem solving, and outcome evaluation. It is this post mortem of the teamwork that sets macrocognition apart from earlier research and provides real world applicability.

Macrocognition relates to one of the areas Salas and colleagues (2008) listed as needing further research. That is real world teams, ‘in the wild,’ as Salas et al. termed it. The Rosen et al. article on macrocognition discussed theory and proposed research questions for further study. The questions include ones related to how members share information and maintain understanding of the environment to solve a problem or reach the common goal as the situation changes. It is this concept that impacts spatially-dispersed team more than collocated teams. Rosen and colleagues acknowledge that remote teams “pose several challenges for building and maintaining shared awareness” (p. 16). The authors further describe macrocognition as partly visual in nature. This leaves a gap that this research plans to explore the primary research question: what is the effect of collaborative technology on a virtual, dynamic team?

Much of the research on teams was conducted prior to the dawn of collaborative technology, applications the fall under the popular terms: Web 2.0 or social media. The performance improvement and training industry contains a number of books and articles on the use and seemingly endless positive rewards of social media. This research plans to fill the gap by examining the impact of collaborative technology on team performance.

References
Baker, D. P., Day, R., & Salas, E. (2006). Teamwork as an essential component of high-reliability organizations. Health Services Research, 41(4), 1-19. doi: 10.1111/j.1475-6773.2006.00566.

Cannon-Bowers, J. A., Salas, E., & Converse, S. (1993). Shared mental models in expert team decision making. In N.J. Castellan Jr (Ed.), Individual and Group Decision Making: Current Issues (pp. 221-246). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Dwyer, D. J., Oser, R., Salas, E., & Fowlkes, J. E. (2000). Performance measurement in distributed environments: Initial results and implications for training. Military Psychology, 11(2), 189-215. Retrieved from Academic Search Premiere database.

Fowlkes, J. E., Lane, N. E., Salas, E., Franz, T., & Oser, R. (1994). Improving the measurement of team performance: The TARGETs Methodology. Military Psychology, 6(1), 47-61. Retrieved from Academic Search Premiere database.

McCann, C., Baranski, J. V., Thompson, M. M., & Pigeau, R. A. (2000). On the utility of experiential cross-training for team decision-making under time stress. Ergonomics, 43(8), 1095-110. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10975175.

Rosen, M. A., Fiore, S. M., Salas, E., Letsky, M., & Warner, N. (2008). Tightly coupling cognition: Understanding how communication and awareness drive coordination in teams. The International C2 Journal, 2(1), 1-30. Retrieved from http://www.dodccrp.org/files/IC2J_v2n1_01_Rosen.pdf.

Salas, E., Cooke, N. J., & Rosen, M. A. (2008). On teams, teamwork, and team performance: Discoveries and developments. Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 50(3), 540-547. doi: 10.1518/001872008X288457.

Volpe, C. E., Cannon-Bowers, J. A., & Salas, E. (1996). The impact of cross-training of team functioning: An empirical investigation. Human Factors, 38(1), 87-100. Retrieved from Academic Search Premiere database.

lit review plan

2010-08-15T14:57:00.000-07:00

This week's journal for research class was to make an outline of the major topics in your lit review. Then write a little lit review. Naturally my outline was a mind map!

research class journaling

2010-08-01T10:06:00.000-07:00

oops week 4 and I just remembered to do this.

Instructions
List the Research Questions that you formulated for your Unit 3 assignment.
For each question, explain how it is appropriate to your specialization, and how it will address the problem you stated.
For each question, describe the variables that you will gather information about and explain what kinds of information will be needed to answer the research question.
Explain and justify your choice of data collection strategies

Proposed title is: “Group think and collaborative technology: The impact to team performance.”

The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of collaborative technology on the performance of virtual cross-trained teams.
Research Questions with prompts
1. What is the effect of collaborative technology on a virtual, dynamic team?
Appropriate: T&PI is about change & performance of organizations, teams, and individuals.
Addresses: Gap in lit about collaborative tech and virtual teams, gap in lit about teams "in the wild", supports purpose directly.
Variables: dependent = team, independent = collab tech
Data to answer: surveys, field observation, usage counts, customer advocacy scores by project team, time spent on task, progress reports, project completion statistics, interviews, count of times collocated vs. not, technology used at each situation (collocated vs. not)

2. What is the impact to the team’s effectiveness as evaluated by team members and the organization?
Appropriate: T&PI is about change & performance of organizations, teams, and individuals. Need to measure both statistical change and perception change.
Addresses: Effectiveness, perception, comfort levels, individual performance in relation to team
Variables: dependent = team's effectiveness, independent = collab tech
Data to answer: surveys, field observation, usage counts, customer advocacy scores by project team, time spent on task, progress reports, project completion statistics, management ratings, peer team ratings, interviews

3. How is the team’s cognition affected by the use of technology?
Appropriate: Teams is expected to perform as a single unit.
Addresses: Group think, team performance, problem solving/cognitive skills
Variables: dependent = team cognition, independent = collab tech
Data to answer: surveys, field observation, usage counts, customer advocacy scores by project team, time spent on task, progress reports, project completion statistics

4. What is the impact of social media tools on team performance?
Appropriate: Collab tech includes social media tools
Addresses: Gap in lit about collaborative tech and virtual teams, gap in lit about teams "in the wild", supports purpose directly.
Variables: dependent = team performance, independent = social media tools
Data to answer: surveys, field observation, usage counts, customer advocacy scores by project team, time spent on task, progress reports, project completion statistics

5. What technology tools were most effective?
Appropriate: Looks for best practices, continuous improvement, performance
Addresses: organizations need to know which tools can support teams best
Variables: dependent = team, independent = tech tools
Data to answer: surveys, field observation, usage counts

Data collection strategies: to analyze...
Quantitative: close-ended survey questions, usage counts, project stats, customer advocacy scores, collocation counts, usage by location counts
Qualitative: open-ended survey questions, field observations, ratings, interviews
Sounds like I am going Mixed Methods for now...

geeking out on ID

2010-07-24T21:35:00.000-07:00

My last semester of coursework has begun! YAY! This term includes a "required elective" which sounds like a oxymoron, but whatever. I selected Instructional Design!

Now, I've been one for nearly a decade and was pedagogically trained in curriculum & instruction more than 15 years ago. So, I thought taking ID would be a waste but less annoying than another outdated trends class. It's only week 2 of 10 but I am loving it!

Why? Let me share!

I get to geek out about ID! I never get to do that. My partner-in-crime and I are so busy at work that we sometimes discuss application of old theory to our new curriculum. We just don't get to sit around, read new theory, discuss, and create new schema for ourselves. This class is making me do it! I like it!

Example from this week...

Question asked: what mental models (such as schemata or meaningful mental representations of something real that aids in understanding) did you construct to help you remember the differences between these important instructional design concepts?

My reply:

Previously, I had not specifically thought about how instructional theory, ISD theory, and learning theory relate before. I have considered adult learning theory and learning styles when designing curriculum. I even think about how to deliver an activity. In my current role, I do not deliver the curriculum so I tend to rely on the trainers to tell me if something works or doesn’t or if they have an even better idea. That is instructional theory; we just don’t talk about it those terms.

Coming out of a K-12 background and then going into higher education, I really thought myself to be a constructivist. I still believe that "knowledge is constructed from experience" (Smith & Ragan, 2005, p.19) and it is framed by the learner's interpretation. Not sure if it is the work I do now, the PhD program, or age/wisdom, I am starting to lean more pragmatic. Smith & Ragan discuss the concept of "truth for now" (p. 22). It's really how it works in my world right now: at work the slot machines change frequently and what you think is the truth about them won't be soon; in research, what I think is the truth about an issue is changing, evolving. Perhaps it is as Smith & Ragan believe most instructional designers are pragmatists.

For my mental model, I created a cyclical diagram centered around ISD theory. Learning theory and instructional theory feed into and out of ISD. ID is on the loop to learning theory and instruction is on the loop to instructional theory. (See the attached JPEG.) I suppose this in & out loop could support the pragmatist in me. The truth is evolving. You learn theory to do ISD, then you do it and you reflect and change your theory.

Smith, P. L., & Ragan, T. J. (2005). Instructional Design (3rd.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

organic & emergent process of research

2010-07-05T12:12:00.000-07:00

Organic & emergent...what a spot-on set of words to describe the research process: topic, questions, instruments, all of it.

Organic: forming an integral element of the whole
Emergent: arising unexpectedly; arising as natural or logical consequence; newly formed.
(both found in m-w.com)

I have completed the pre-work for my Track 2 PhD residency program. In about a week, I fly off to Orlando for the "weekend experience" part of residency. It's not a 2-day weekend. The main topics seem to be IRB, Comps, and building the concepts and framework for the dissertation process. I am excited to learn more, even tho I found Track 1 to be quite overwhelming mentally.

The phrase "organic and emergent" was spoken in one of the pre-work tutorials on writing research questions in a Scholar-Practitioner Model. That's how we frame our research: less on the theory (tho it is in there) but more on the real-world application of the theory. I like the idea of organic and emergent because it truly describes what has happened in my research so far. Something arises, at work usually, and I want to see how others handle it. There's the emergent. Of course, during the research mining stage, all sorts of side-topics, sub-topics, new-topics, and ideas emerge! Organic, because, somehow, it always forms a new, big picture. New concept. New plan of attack.

Organic and emergent...that's also us as students.

research writing

2010-06-19T22:44:00.000-07:00

I've taken two writing classes during my PhD program. Pure, research writing classes. The first one was the typical research kind, like a mini-dissertation. The second (and most recent) was writing for publication. Not just any publication, peer-reviewed journals!

I discovered that I really like research writing when I cut loose from the standard research format. It was tough in the beginning. Despite Performance Improvement Quarterly's author guidelines, I could shake the dissertation-like writing style. Once I did--once I embraced first person, telling a story, and alternative subheadings--I had such a good time. I actually LIKE the article.

As part of the class, we had to develop a completion plan for actually submitting the article for publication. I gave myself the weekend off...then I draft again (particularly after seeing prof feedback), beg my friends to review it for me, draft a fourth and final time...then OFF SHE GOES!

Perhaps, I will actually be a peer-reviewed published doc student later this year.

Reflection on Writing Class

2010-06-13T13:44:00.000-07:00

Writing for publishing has been a tougher road. I felt comfortable with the standard academic research paper. However, my chosen publication wants research and APA mixed with first person. Accomplishing that more personal writing style is a work in progress. While I am good at blogging and tweeting (the ultimate in personal writing), I do so as a stream of consciousness. Performance Improvement Quarterly doesn’t want stream of consciousness. They just want readers to feel the story of the research while not enjoying the cure of insomnia that many research papers are.

My first draft was still very research paper-esque. I enjoyed reading one of our classmates’ paper that was truly written in an academic yet personal style. It inspired me to chuck my current paper and start over. This of course makes my completion plan longer, but I think it will be my best writer growth.

As for the mechanics of the writing process, I fell more in-love with mindmapping during the research phase. It really does help the lit review write itself. I enjoyed sharing our writing and giving feedback. The mechanics this time were less eye-opening and more reinforcing of techniques to help me make it through the dissertation phase. It’s good to leave a class with a plan and set of tools that you know will help you accomplish the next phase.

excerpt from final week of Writing Class journal

2010-06-13T12:21:00.000-07:00

I am not at all happy with my article.

For one, reading the others and seeing just lit reviews, I wonder if I should dump the research idea and go with just a lit review. I might have to switch to my #2 journal but that’s okay. I am also concerned, since I will be out of the office most of the time the experiment group will be in the office, that my captive survey takers will not get the survey because I most rely on other to hand them out. Then I am concerned that if that works out okay, that the control group, who I have survey electronically, will have a horribly low response rate. Essentially, the logistics of data collection are sucking.

Another reason is that I feel stuck in writing an argument because I don’t have the data collection. I don’t know what the argument will be since I don’t know what the data will show. In a sense, I think this is showing me to be a good researcher; I have a hypothesis but no formed opinion yet. I am waiting for the data to form me.

I am thinking about completely scraping the article and the research plan. Doing a total re-write. Probably not for June 18, but for actual submission. I really do want to submit.

A dissertation in defense of results orientated work enviros

2010-06-05T20:48:00.000-07:00

I have another research idea. It’s a loaded one meant to do get me something I want. Nothing going to happen. Still I feel compelled to think it through.

I watched Daniel Pink discuss on TED what motivates knowledge workers. The concept of org psych…motivations…group think…innovation…all that jazz…excites me to no end. He mentioned ROWE companies, meaning Results Oriented Work Environments. WOW! This is me! So no set time or place for work. You have a job to do and you do it. Total autonomy! Yes requirements, yes deadlines, no 9-to-5 M-F office. Meetings are optional. This is essentially how Capella or any online degree works. So my research idea…here’s the pitch:

An action research case study on the effects of a results oriented work environment on curriculum developers.

Yes! That’s me. HAHAHAHAHA

Let’s do a SWOT analysis.

S=my fellow CD and I would actually perform in a ROWE; reflection and change management are our fortes; both have PMP; both highly intrinsically motivated knowledge workers; both have higher ed degrees from online programs (hence experience)

W=getting mgmt to go for it; inability of our company to strongly support remote workers

O=could help build a better remote worker system; innovation-wise could develop better products; productivity increase

T=out of sight, out of mind disease at work; other knowledge workers looking for same ROWE

In the research plan, we would spend 1 yr trying out the ROWE while reflecting weekly on progress, obstacles, and outcomes. Action research would allow for us to track and adjust the plan as needed. It would work within the HPT lifecycle as well. And I would be immensely happy.

Now for a research idea…

2010-05-22T22:28:00.000-07:00

Reading a courseroom discussion, I had an idea for a dissertation topic: applying HPT processes to creating Level 3 program at work with a BEM lens.

What does this mean?

We have zero Level 3 evaluation at work. We have no idea if our training makes internals or externals better workers. Now, in reality, we do sometimes get comments in the form of thanks back. And we get repeat customers. So there’s a hint. If someone asked for tangible metrics tomorrow, we are up a creek. So one thing I could do going through the HPT process to create a Level 3 program. Each class would need to have a desired performance state created, then someone (who?) would rate the learner on his/her current performance state, therefore you get the gap. Then take the class (which what if that isn’t the cause??). Then Level 1-2 evaluation at training end like now. Follow-up with Level 3 by re-doing current state evaluation and hoping the gap has closed. Now looking at this with a BEM (Gilbert’s Behavorial Engineering Model). The BEM would require including environmental and individual reasons for growth (or lack thereof). It could be case study/Action Research. It would be hard to look at BEM for the externals.

The bonus about this idea is that I could do at work. I don’t have to look for an organization. I have access to a lot of data on our internal learners. I could do it “locally” to our department so I wouldn’t have to worry about higher-ups mucking with my diss topic. (There’s a real risk that if I attempted an intervention that changed something about the organization that higher-ups would mess with it at some point, thus perhaps skewing data.) Level 3 program, while it is something changing our ways, is changing how we measure things. That would be okay. They would probably even eat it up!

Daniel Pink on Motivation

2010-05-16T20:49:00.000-07:00

DP is tomorrow's keynote at ASTD10. I am not there. I am sad about this! Instead, watch this video about DP's work.

Side note: I TOTALLY want to make whiteboard videos.

Argument for arguments

2010-05-15T20:44:00.000-07:00

So one of my biggest weaknesses with research study writing is my lack of argument. I can synthesize prior research, write solid questions, do the research, report the outcomes all day long...I just forget to argue a side.

I'm a natural-born pacifistic. With tendencies to passive-aggressive. I know! The worst, the passive aggressive person who thinks everyone should just get along. I'm working on it. Anyways, top that with decades of imparting facts and knowledge without leading the audience one way or another (or at least not strongly)...and I just forget to argue a side in my scholarly research studies. They are more like news reports...book reports...let's face it curriculum. I want to write curriculum and let the reader decide.

Sigh.

I have to stop this.

So here I am starting to think about the argument side of my generations/mentoring/virtual teams research. I've had someone tweet me and I've read about how generational differences really don't exist. I think that is true from the standpoint of work ethic. Like, the GenY kids from the ISPI session...they had if-y work ethic. Not that they won't work hard but they require a lot of oversight. Geeze. You'd have to hire someone just to manage them and nothing else. Is this real now? Yes. Will it change after a few months/years on the job? Probably. Another point, older people always look at younger people and think some combo of what are they thinking/they know nothing/foolish child/wish I were still that young. Younger people always look at older people and think some combo of out of touch/cranky/why are they telling me what to do. That's life! It repeats with each generation.

However--here comes my argument--the technology and communication and what I am thinking about calling work boundaries are vastly different. I am not even sure that we can understand what they will bring to the workplace. Think back...when was the first PC brought into your workplace? Was it just a monitor that connected to something somewhere in the building? Was it black with ugly green letters? Mine was. I had no idea nor enough imagination to guess back then we'd be here. So since GenY was a kid when I wasn't even thinking about where that monitor at Sears went to...since I got my undergrad degree while owning just a Brother word processor....I don't think we can truly imagine what bringing the digital natives into the workplace will do.

Not immediately, organizations are so systematic that it will take a few years to change. What technologies will GenY workers demand? iPhones and Droids for all? What kind of Web access will they demand? Social networking to call in sick? Already happening. No such thing as calling in sick anymore? In some places. No F2F meetings? Yep. Work boundaries--that 9-to-5, work/life balance stuff--that goes away. GenY is always on. Digital natives, right? They could be doing work or personal things at any given moment. The boundaries between the two are blurred.

Now, you are probably thinking, this movement started with the technology not the kids. True! Yes, the constant access, the desire for new tech...it can be generation-less. My thought is...this is the first gen who does not know any different. Us GenXers love the latest from Apple or Google. We want it all. We don't want to sit in meetings. We want to check our Facebook. But we remember a time when we were not wired. And sometimes we go back there. GenY, as a whole, don't have that.

So when it comes to mentoring...comes to virtual teams...I DO think there is a difference between gens. GenY will want to text/IM while doing other things. Boomers will want to sit and talk F2F or on the phone. Good chance GenX will want no part of it. GenY is going to expect more technology in mentoring and virtual communication than the others. So you need to prepare your mentoring program for this. Suggest communication techniques to cross-gen mentoring partners. Make Boomers understand that GenY might just google what you say to check it out...not to be disrespectful.

Now, just to make this work with my research and sound all scholarly.

from the Writing Journal...interest? expose? word choice hell

2010-05-09T17:25:00.000-07:00

This week I discussed the word “interest” way more than I ever thought I would. I used the phrase “interested in” when analyzing the audience for my research. In my head, it meant that the reader was interested…curious…attracted…liked…wanted to know more about…the topics of the article. It did not mean that they were already fans of the topics—just why would someone read something they have no interest in? Whether that interest is internal for growth or desire to perform in such a situation, or out of workplace necessity.

I wrote to a lifelong friend who is a PhD student at Vanderbilt. She suggested that if there is concern about interest meaning stacking the deck, I could state that I am going to educate readers on the dependent issues, such as generational conflict. So the readers could be pro-mentoring and yet need research to educate them on how generational conflict effects mentoring or how e-mentoring happens.

I found it fascinating to think about how others interpret what should be a plain word. I considered changing “interest”, then I considered not changing “interest”. Just before I handed in the assignment, I switched to “exposed”. “Exposed” means to make known…cause to be visible. Certainly that is also what I am going for with the article. Overall, it is good as a student to be forced to confront your own word choice. While the choice is about the meaning I want to impart, I would be foolish to not consider what meaning might be implied.

excerpt from Writing Journal

2010-05-02T12:32:00.000-07:00

Writing class requires us to keep a weekly writing journal. Here's my entry for this week:

The investigation into which journal we would submit to really opened my eyes. Sure, I’ve read articles and looked at the journals but I had never looked at the author guidelines. I was overwhelmed by the list of focus areas and the language used to describe them in my fourth choice, Journal of Workplace Learning. It read intimidating to this novice.

PIQ, my first choice, feels much more at reasonable. Perhaps it is because I met the editor two weeks ago at a Capella function at the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) conference. Perhaps, because I reached out to the head of research at ISPI to offer grad student assistance. Besides explaining APA, length, and graphic requirements, the PIQ’s author guidelines provide the scope of articles:

“PIQ emphasizes original work from the following communities of research and practice: process improvement; organizational design and alignment; analysis, evaluation, and measurement; performance management; instructional systems; and management of organizational performance. PIQ will consider literature reviews, experimental studies, survey research, and case studies with a scholarly base.” (Retrieved May 2, 2010 from http://www.ispi.org/uploadedFiles/ISPI_Site/Resource_Center/PIQ_AuthorGuidelines.pdf)

Literature reviews! I have that. I could rework any number of my research proposals to fit these guidelines. All of our projects in T&PI focus on an element listed in the research and practice. Now for the time!

Besides looking at journals this week, I continued to read research articles and add to my mind map. Right now, I am light on the technology aspect. I need to find more information on technology use in virtual teams…or I need to reconsider narrowing the focus of generational differences at this point. I wonder if this makes for a need in this research area. Or, if it means I am on to nothing?

Mind map and future Lit Review for Mentoring Research

2010-04-26T20:02:00.000-07:00

I've started creating the mind map of the research for my mentoring project. Only one source in so far. It's huge already!

Take a peek!

ISPI 2010: my thoughts

2010-04-24T16:02:00.000-07:00

Back from San Fran and my very first ISPI conference. It was a series of new things for me: San Fran, ISPI, meeting some new Capella learners and faculty, and flying on Virgin Atlantic.

Keynote: Marshall Goldsmith

WOW WOW WOW! So energizing! He should kick off every conference. I should warn you that I tend to love all keynotes...MG's I really loved! I bought his Mojo book. I sent several texts to a friend during his keynote. With the final one being, we must quit our jobs, MG says so. LOL! She loved that. He really inspired me to get back into building my coaching skills and to think about what my 95 yr old self would tell me. I think my 95 yr old self would tell me to finish my PhD and then get the heck out of a corp box.

Session: Gary DePaul's Orgs/KMS

Gary had some great ideas and points to make to XLT (extended leadership team) about KMS (knowledge management systems). He got me thinking about ways we could use our soon-to-be implemented Learn.com for actual Level 3 job transfer. Notes included:

Have SMEs categorize content by nice to know, should know, and need to know. Like what do you do everyday? Weekly? Monthly? Yearly? Rarely? Document it all for KMS but train on need to know.

Does Learn have rating system for contributions? Rate quality and usefulness of trainer/SME stories/classes/advice.

8wk survey to learner and sup on objectives of trng and how it is being used Level 3.

Master Session: Thiagi's Simulations

My big takeaway from this was the convo on who's gap is it? Thiagi and some attendees discussed gap analysis and who's gap? Which made me realize that the gap we aim to close with training is the director's gap and the SME's gap. Mostly the director's. I have a new hardware training to start scoping. What would happen if I asked a learner what he would like to know???

Bagel Barrels

Capella CPT requirements: Good info shared. I really need to do this!

Project Management Made Easy: Belia Nel has a FAB tool she made. She should turn it into a book. I really must contact her about getting a copy.

Team Perf Meets Web 2.0: Interesting to see how other PhD students are working on real life projects.

Session: Generation M & HPT

This session I tweeted the most about. Now that I've had more time to reflect. I wonder if 20 yrs from now we will look at HPT differently. Now, we talk about internal motivators. You cannot motivate from the outside. Motivation all internal. What I heard over and over from the GenM-ers was: you need to keep me from being bored at work; you need to not give me too many assignments at once so I don't multi-task and lose quality; you need to (insert all sorts of work things) me. Struck me as if they do not have internal motivators related to work. So will they get them when work becomes real life? Or am I really looking at a lifetime of entertaining the next gen? Keep in mind, I am a GenXer....the great slacker gen. Aside from that, I heard and saw a lot of push back from Boomers about GenM needs/wants in the workplace.

Research Roundtable: Dissertation 101

Helpful tips and thoughts about HPT diss. Also good to see a glimpse into other T&PI programs and their focus. Heard about a FSU program heavy into Kaufmann (for obvious reasons).

Books bought:

Mojo by Goldsmith

The Power of Appreciative Inquiry by Whitney & Trosten-Bloom

Beyond the Myths and Magic of Mentoring by Murray

Things to look up:

Mega-planning/Kauffman articles

Diss of Research Roundtable presenters

Theory Construction & Model Building Skills (book)

HPTSupport.com

It's Not Magic, It's Science Stupid (article, in PIQ?)

Research committee of ISPI

Research Proposal

2010-04-17T22:43:00.000-07:00

It's the end of week 1 of yet another term. For my writing class, we are again going through the research proposal process. Again, the first assignment is research question with field impact and data collection plan.

I have problems with this. I always feel like this stage is prof saying to me:

I know you have only a little knowledge but look at the universe and pick a question to ask.

Seriously? I know prof says think about unresolved issues from past research. It's just such a HUGE task to my brain. Then I need to write a paper with the following subheads:

Original Research Question
Area for Development
Related Articles and Books
Proposed Data Collection
Impact on Field

Again, seriously? Ugh.

This time, I took matters into my own hands. I remembered reading on Jeffrey Keefer's blog an outline he was developing months ago for a research project. I decided to follow his pattern to start. Turns out my brain feels more confident starting with the research problem, not question.

Big picture. Then little picture.

With apologies for copying his format...here's my starter so that I can write the paper with the subheads.

Title
TBD

Abstract
TBD

Introduction
In progress...

Research Problem
• Both mentoring and the differences between the generations are popular topics for research. The concept of generations and mentoring from a childhood or pedagogy view has been studied. Little research exists on how generational differences influence workplace mentoring particularly with virtual teams. With more employees working remotely from their peers and the greater mix of generational differences in the workplace, performance consultants need to know how generational attitudes will influence mentoring interventions.

Purpose
• The purpose of this research is to understand how generational attitudes shape the mentoring relationships on virtual teams in the workplace. In particular, how the employees in the mentoring relationship will communicate with technology and what pairing of generations works best.

Literature Review
Articles to be reviewed look at generational studies on attitudes and tendencies. Additionally, studies on workplace mentoring will be reviewed with special attention paid to mentoring on virtual teams. Articles on technology for virtual teams may need to be referenced as well.

Research Design
• Pre-Experimental Design: Static Group Comparison with Nonequivalent Groups
• Independent variable: generational attitudes
• Dependent variables: mentoring relationship, virtual team, communication, technology
• Theory: TBD
• Hypothesis: TBD

Research Questions
1. How successful is cross-generational mentoring on virtual teams?
2. What is the optimal generational pairing in a virtual workplace mentoring intervention?
3. How do mentors and mentees use technology based on generational placement?

Data Collection
TBD

Analysis and Interpretation
TBD

Next steps/Publish/Complete research
TBD

Conclusion
TBD

So there is my VERY rough draft...what I am thinking today. Thoughts? Comments? Smack upside the head? :-)

archiving a thought from an email

2010-04-08T17:19:00.000-07:00

It's nothing secretive. So since I often review my blog to see what I was thinking, I thought I'd archive a recent email exchange here.

I said:

http://blog.cathy-moore.com/2010/03/how-to-convert-the-toughest-sme/

my fav line might be: They’ll be happy to correct you, and that might be all the momentum they need to begin offering their own ideas.

I am thinking some of the questions under #2 & 3 don't apply so much since no one often a) knows the answer b) doesn't matter just make it on this topic anyway and c) do a&b over again. But I do like this plan in general. I often feel that I work too much in isolation but that is often b/c I must move on and the trainer SME does not respond.

I really like the Qs under #4:
If a person doesn’t know that fact, what do they do wrong on the job? How would that affect our goal?
How could you tell by watching me do my job that I know that bit of information?
What mistakes do new people make?
What mistakes do people make when they get over-confident?
But I am also not sure that our trainers are the SMEs to know these things.

My partner-in-crime said:

I like this, too. Though it is much easier to think about these things happening than to actually get them to happen in our work enviro. I think you are on to something when you say that our trainers might not be the SMEs to know these things...I'm not sure we've got the right blend of SME. We've got the SME that wrote the code, the SME that tested it, the SME that consulted with customers, the SME that uses it all the time and the SME that teaches it. The problem is- none of those roles overlap. We need to catch some of these things in that elusive overlap area. That is why that time the T3s were in the KT with a trainer and the developers it was genius. Not that the right things came out of it- but more of that = gold.

Must think about how to improve this system...while in our system. It's not a simple as it sounds.

THE Performance Improvement Conference

2010-04-05T21:59:00.000-07:00

YAY! I get to go!

In two weeks, I head to San Fran for my very 1st ISPI conference. I am beyond excited! I am going with school. So I get to meet classmates, mentors, professors too. I've never been to San Fran and hope to steal away for at least a Duck Tour and of course tons of good food.

I've scouted out session already. Right now I am thinking about...

Keynotes of course
Organizations Should Not Regard Training Materials as a Knowledge Management System
The Reality of Simulations: Handling Complexity by Reconciling Paradoxes
The Heart of Coaching: Creating High-Performance Cultures Through Coaching
Stop! Don't Chase that Training ROI Wild Goose
Bagel Barrel for Capella Learners
Research Roundtable: Dissertation 101

The keynotes:

What Got You Here Won't Get You There
Marshall Goldsmith, PhD

The Wisdom of Positive Performance
Diana Whitney, PhD

We are the Right People at the Right Time, But Who Knows That? A Call to Action
Deb Page, Georgia Leadership Institute for School Improvement

And today, I officially became an ISPI member! CPT next!