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out & about
You can find me teaching online and in Chicago in DePaul University’s
School for New Learning through the rest of this year.
You will also find me teaching in the Graduate School of Business of
Assumption University in Bangkok, Thailand in late November/December of
this year. I am pleased to have had a proposal accepted for a course on
Organization Language and Change in the organization development program
of the school.
And you will find me in my garden. This is the first summer I have the
opportunity to fulfill a dream of raising much of my own food thanks to
a generous friend who gave me the space, the tools and the support to do
this. It will be a joy to bite into the fruits of my labors!
If your organization or group needs a presenter on improving workplace
interactions through more effective communication, collaboration or
conflict resolution, or on related topics, please contact Paula at
paula@parallax-perspectives.com.
Click HERE to subscribe to
A New Perspective.
"I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do
something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can
do."
~Edward Everett Hale (1822-1909) American author and Unitarian minister.
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In the last issue of A New Perspective I laid out an idea that I’d had for
a long time and asked for comments. There was a deafening silence from
all but one person who was excited by the possibility. Although I’d
hoped for an enthusiastic response I’m glad I finally shared the idea.
How many ideas never get heard because we are concerned with how they
will be accepted; or perhaps because we fear not having “answers” at the
ready to respond to doubters? Whatever the reason our ideas and
questions don’t see the light of day those reasons need to be
challenged. Taking the risk of occasionally sharing what may be a “wild
idea” or a “stupid question” is at the heart of learning. And learning
collaboratively - with and from others – is a skill that is fundamental
and desperately needed in organizations and the world at large.
This issue of A New Perspective reflects on collaborative
learning through the lens of technology (Yearning to Learn) in a brief
reflection on one person’s commitment to an ideal (Kindness).
Yearning to Learn
 A news story on NPR today talked about an extension of a program to get
inexpensive laptops into the hands of school children. The story updated a story
from the previous week about a company that brought the technology to Africa so
that students would have access to the same learning tools as in developed
countries. This sounds like a good idea, right?
The update story then talked about how a city in South in the US saw an
opportunity to use this program to get technology inexpensively for their
students too. The reporter gave an example of how the laptops would be used in
the US classroom; two students could use music software to create
(collaboratively) a tune. And then opined that this was a learning “opportunity
that could never have happened before.” Wasn’t this grand? Huh?
My head snapped up from what I was doing. Was he saying that we require
mediating technology to collaborate? Surely not.
Like over-thinking a problem, I think we are over-technology-ing our world.
Certainly technology is crucial for collaborating when people are remote from
each other. And if technology can engage students to work together, then that is
good. However technology is a means to an end, not an end in and of itself.
People have to want to collaborate. They need to see that there is something in
it for them. And they need more than good intent; they need to know how to work
through conflict, ask good questions, listen and be adept in a host of other
soft skills. Why? Because the collaboration occurs between the people (at least
for now) not the computers. Being proficient in the newest collaborative
technology does not mean that you can collaborate effectively.
And just because you can collaborate does not mean you are learning. Learning is
about being open to the possibility that everything you know about something can
change. My experience is that people are far more interested in persuading than
learning. Yet learning is what is really the desired goal in the classroom as
well as in organizations with a goal of sustainability. Learn or die.
The technology that the reporter waxed rhapsodic about can just as easily
facilitate individual efforts. Nose in the computer immediate responses to
emails or IMs. Quick posts to threaded discussions. Smiling in front of a web
cam may bring you “closer” to others, but unless you are willing to let go of
positions in the service of learning, you aren’t collaborative.
In face-to-face situations with people who really know how to learn with and
from others the result can be exciting, yeasty conversations, breakthroughs and
innovation. If technology can help bring together people with such skills,
humility enough to change and a thirst for pursuing the “what if…” proposition
wherever it goes, we have collaboration and learning.
Learning as a product of collaboration isn’t guaranteed. Long ago when faced
with something that looked like a great idea I started asking the question:
“Just because you can, should you?” In other words, stop and consider your
intention as well as your goal. In this case, my question would be “Just because
you can add technology to a classroom or an organization, should you?” And two
additional questions: “What do the humans need in order to be successful in that
environment?” “What is success?”
Rather than automatically looking at technology as a silver bullet to address
collaboration, step back to the basics. Are the people who are expected to use
the technology equipped with the knowledge, skills and values that will maximize
its impact and create those yeasty conversations that people find so stimulating
or will it just be another class… or meeting.
Kindness
Recently I attended a friend’s trunk show in an upscale hotel in Chicago. My
friend has a “wearable art” gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico (www.fiberbydesign.com)
and periodically takes on the road the lovely clothing and accessories she finds
and commissions in the US and around the world. As part of this business, she
also hosts a conference
“Design With
Heart” . While I’ve never attended the conference, it feels exactly
like the kind of environment where collaborative learning occurs naturally,
building the knowledge and skills of the group as a result of the knowledge and
skills in the group. Imaging the energy when questions spark ideas which spark
conversations about “how to” which lead to plans to execute what previously may
never have been contemplated.
When I saw my friend this month, she said she had a gift for me and handed me a
small package. Inside was a black elastic bracelet with lettering on the inside
and outside. Before I could look closely at it, she said it was the word
“kindness” in 17 languages. This small item was the idea of Mary Lou Cook, a
woman she new in New Mexico who had formed the MLC Creativity Center. Now you
may have never heard of Mary Lou Cook, I hadn’t. But I was intrigued by the
little slip of paper that accompanied the bracelet and with a little online
research learned that she was considered
“Santa Fe’s Living
Treasure”.
By pursuing the twin goals of healing and peace and engaging with the world, it
seems this woman’s efforts had resulted in generating a global project whereby
at noon every day, millions of wearers of the bracelet look at it for a minute to
remind themselves of their commitment to kindness. It occurred to me that by
simply taking one minute wherever I am to look at that bracelet, I may be able
to find a question for that moment that leads to an idea which sparks a
conversation about “how to” create a better outcome right now. For me and for
whomever is around. Being open to the learning that can occur from a single
moment of reflection leading to a single question posed to another person is
powerful.
Now there may be those who say that all this is wishful thinking. I agree. But
it also offers the opportunity for intentional acting which seems to have so
much more potential than acting without thought. To see the bracelet and read a
few “kindness stories”, go to www.worldbracelet.org I get nothing for referring
you there. After looking at my bracelet today and asking how I could help
further learning about the benefits of kindness, I thought I would try to engage
you personally in thinking about my question: How can we help further learning
about the benefits of kindness? It just seemed like the thing to do.
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