Having effective decision makers within an organization can be the difference between an organization being static and dynamic. In the Blenko video, Maria states that making good decisions is similar to Goldilocks in that you can’t make too much or too little but instead it needs to be just the right amount (2013). In this video blog analysis I will be answering and addressing the following four (4) questions below.
Marcia Blenko argues that decision effectiveness correlates positively with employee engagement and organizational performance. How do you think that employee engagement relates to decision effectiveness?
When organizations make large and impactful decisions, those decisions can change the dynamics of workplace in both positive and negative manners. When leaders do not take into account how their decisions will affect their employees, they are being ineffective decision makers. I understand that not all decisions will have a grace period in which decision makers can communicate with those who will be affected by the decision but there should be a period of time when leaders review the overall impact of the decisions they are making. When decisions are made that positively change the working environment and help to create a feeling of culture and community, employee engagement will rise and people will feel as though they are receiving ROI for their hard work. Organizations best assets are their employees and you want them to be a part of the decision making process as they can add insight into areas and topics that can and often do have positive and lasting impacts on the organization as a whole.
What are some impediments to good decision making?
Hindrances and obstacles can be found in any decision making process; no one is exempt from it. Impediments such as making decisions too quickly (speed), not having all the information, leadership uncertainty, and not enough support from others can hinders a person’s ability to make strong decisions also trust can play a large role in how an organization accepts decision making. Leaders must be fully prepared before jumping in to make decisions that affect large groups of people or an organization as a whole.
Blenko suggests that there are four elements of good decisions: quality, speed, yield, and effort. In your opinion, is there anything missing from this list?
I think those are strong areas and elements and I also think that those elements are greatly affected by different levels regarding the decision maker such as educational experience and industry experience. People often think that elements work alone but they are not standalone items yet instead they are directly and indirectly affected by those making the decisions. I often use the example of my previous supervisor, although this person has strong elements working in their favor, they don’t have certain educational, or job experiences to be an effective decision maker and would often make rash and sometimes unethical decisions and would not think about how those decisions affected others. I think it another element to be added would be: strategy.
What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career?
This topic resonates high with me because my job is centered on making effective decisions every day. As an Instructional Designer I have to decision how the courses I build will look, feel, and function while at the same time ensuring the material flows for all students and instructions (effectiveness). I know that reach time I change something or make a certain decision I have to make sure that it work well for everyone involved in the making and taking of that course.
References
Blenko, M. (2010, October 13). How Companies Can make better decisions, faster [Video]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbxpg6D4Hk8&feature=player_embedded
Brown, D.R. (2011). An experiential approach to organization development (8th ed.).Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall
Monday, August 26, 2013
Saturday, August 24, 2013
A630.3.3.RB_A Day in the Life of the Culture Committee
Creating culture is so important to the success of an organization. Having a foundation with your employees creates not only a family-feel but also creates a feeling of pride. In the Southwest video, the Los Angeles team promoted a culture that they have created which helps and rewards both flight attendants and pilots. Below I will be answering four (4) additional questions regarding the video in more detail.
Is the Culture Committee at Southwest effective in establishing cultural norms?
I have found that after watching this video, which includes employee feedback and testimony that yes, Southwest is effective in establishing cultural norms. According to the Brown (2011) text, I have found that Southwest is creating strong corporate culture as well. People often ask what does it mean to be “effective” and how to measure “effectiveness” and I have found that the best way to establish effectiveness is by feedback and employee engagement. The only way to know if something is done right is to see how it stacks up with other people and also to see if you, the person creating the culture, would find these strategies effective.
From what you can tell, what is the purpose of the culture committee at Southwest?
The purpose of the culture committee at Southwest is to provide both pilots and flight attendants with a reward for all the hard work they put in day-after-day. When you create a culture within an established organization you have to make sure the purpose is clear and positive to promote a sense of community from within. Due to the large scale of employees Southwest has, it can be difficult to start a culture that affects everyone but from this video it is clear that this is just a part of the larger culture that spreads throughout each airport which in turn unifies the organization and the brand.
What would you see as a viable mission for a culture committee in your place of work (or your last place of work if you are not currently working)?
In my department at ERAU Worldwide we have the Party Planning Committee also known as the PPC which is a trio of individuals who create culture by planning and developing team building activities each quarter. Because of the nature of our department we all often work different hours and can be swamped by the heavy workload so having a time when we can all get together and relax is very important. I think before this committee was enacted there was a lot of disconnects between employees and now are mission is to work as a team and utilize each other’s strengths.
What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career?
I love any organization that can showcase means in which they take to create culture in their organization as it helps to promote ideas I can use in my organization. The team I currently work for is always looking to find ways to bring the department closer together and any examples I can find only make it easier for the committee to build in new experiences as well as continue to build on the already established culture we have.
This video really struck home for me because I can relate to the video along with my fellow colleagues and I would love to see my department make something like this to showcase what we are doing to help other organizations create culture and community.
References
Brown, D.R. (2011). An experiential approach to organization development (8th ed.).Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall
NutsAboutSouthwest (2008). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7P0T9IbYKU&feature=player_embedded
Is the Culture Committee at Southwest effective in establishing cultural norms?
I have found that after watching this video, which includes employee feedback and testimony that yes, Southwest is effective in establishing cultural norms. According to the Brown (2011) text, I have found that Southwest is creating strong corporate culture as well. People often ask what does it mean to be “effective” and how to measure “effectiveness” and I have found that the best way to establish effectiveness is by feedback and employee engagement. The only way to know if something is done right is to see how it stacks up with other people and also to see if you, the person creating the culture, would find these strategies effective.
From what you can tell, what is the purpose of the culture committee at Southwest?
The purpose of the culture committee at Southwest is to provide both pilots and flight attendants with a reward for all the hard work they put in day-after-day. When you create a culture within an established organization you have to make sure the purpose is clear and positive to promote a sense of community from within. Due to the large scale of employees Southwest has, it can be difficult to start a culture that affects everyone but from this video it is clear that this is just a part of the larger culture that spreads throughout each airport which in turn unifies the organization and the brand.
What would you see as a viable mission for a culture committee in your place of work (or your last place of work if you are not currently working)?
In my department at ERAU Worldwide we have the Party Planning Committee also known as the PPC which is a trio of individuals who create culture by planning and developing team building activities each quarter. Because of the nature of our department we all often work different hours and can be swamped by the heavy workload so having a time when we can all get together and relax is very important. I think before this committee was enacted there was a lot of disconnects between employees and now are mission is to work as a team and utilize each other’s strengths.
What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career?
I love any organization that can showcase means in which they take to create culture in their organization as it helps to promote ideas I can use in my organization. The team I currently work for is always looking to find ways to bring the department closer together and any examples I can find only make it easier for the committee to build in new experiences as well as continue to build on the already established culture we have.
This video really struck home for me because I can relate to the video along with my fellow colleagues and I would love to see my department make something like this to showcase what we are doing to help other organizations create culture and community.
References
Brown, D.R. (2011). An experiential approach to organization development (8th ed.).Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall
NutsAboutSouthwest (2008). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7P0T9IbYKU&feature=player_embedded
Monday, August 19, 2013
A630.2.4.RB_21st Century Enlightenment
In this reflection blog entry I will be reflecting on six (6) questions which were proposed in order to analyze the RSA Animate – 21st Century Enlightenment video. Throughout this reflection I will synthesize with the text, the video content, and personal experiences.
Why do you think the talk is titled 21st Century Enlightenment?
I found that through watching this video multiple times, it is clear the reason for the title is because to be enlightened about the future we have to be enlightened about the past. They often say we learn from the past and I found that this video captured that message. Each day becomes a part of history and the best way to grow and learn is to take into consideration all the events that took place and how those situations can and have changed the path going forward. In the Brown (2011) text, it talks about systems and how systems move together and interdependently but what we if thought about the past a series of systems and each one affected the other and then the next and so on which equals the term enlightenment?
What does Matthew Taylor mean when he says "to live differently, you have to think differently"?
People often then to say one thing and do another but the only way to be true to oneself is to think differently and live that that way. I have a hard time locating a point in time in which we as a society stopped thinking for ourselves and in turn allowed others to live for us. We do not necessary want to live in the past but if we learn from the past and move towards the future we can only do so successfully if we think and live differently. Some of the best philosophers questioned the world which led to other thinking differently and then ultimately living differently.
At one point in the video (4:10), Taylor argues that we need "to resist our tendencies to make right or true that which is merely familiar and wrong or false that which is only strange". What is he talking about? Can you think of an example within your company or your life that supports this point?
In this part of the video, Taylor is expressing to the audience that just because sometime is familiar to you doesn’t make it true or a fact and that you should question and or test what you know to give more validity to the situation and or you rationale. In addition, what is strange or unknown doesn’t mean it is false and untrue. There are many things I don’t know but that doesn’t make them wrong or less important than what I claim to be fact. An example I can provide is that before I worked for ERAU I worked for a community college in Tampa and I always thought I would work for a public college because private universities were strange to me and therefore I thought would come with more regulations which couldn’t have been farther from the true. In conjunction with that statement, because I had worked for community college and that was what was familiar to me, I always thought that was the right place for students to start their college experience for a multitude of different reasons but it came to fruition that changing organizations I was able to learn the good, bad, and different of two different types of organizations within the same industry.
Taylor argues that our society should eschew elements of pop culture that degrade people and that we should spend more time looking into what develops empathetic citizens. Would this be possible?
Anything is possible as long as you can get people to buy into what you are selling. If people feel as though what they are doing and how they are changing is impacting the world in a positive way then more people will join in and begin to revolutionize society. Nothing is impossible and large changes can be done if you can gather enough people to start a movement. I know that my parents were semi-nontraditional and instead of letting pop culture raise me, they raised me with their flower-power which I have found enables me to be more empathic, kind, and open-minded where as some people I know are closed off from anything that isn’t “right here right now.” I find society and the world is so different now and to me, it’s too cold, what happened to people understanding and relating to others? Why are we less likely to engage with our neighbors or coworkers? When did our culture being dominated by one (ourselves) and not many (as a unified group)?
At the end of the video, Taylor talks about atomizing people from collaborative environments and the destructive effect on their growth. What is the implication of these comments for organizational change efforts?Organizational change cannot only affect one or be led by one, in order to be effective it has to affect many (positively) and have the following of others. If everyone in an organization was solely out for themselves, where would that leave the organization, would it be a system of many “1’s”? I know that when change is taking place in my organization we have discussions and people have to brought into to change the minds and hearts of others so that things can go smoothly, we have to move together as one if not, organizations begin to look like opposing magnets, always trying to go together but never quite connecting.
What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career?
There are many things I can take away from this exercise starting with the idea that I need to think of the past as a point of reference as I move forward and remember it is not always about me but about others.
References
Brown, D.R. (2011). An experiential approach to organization development (8th ed.).Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall
Taylor, M. (2010). RSA animate - 21st century enlightenment [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC7ANGMy0yo&feature=youtu.be
Why do you think the talk is titled 21st Century Enlightenment?
I found that through watching this video multiple times, it is clear the reason for the title is because to be enlightened about the future we have to be enlightened about the past. They often say we learn from the past and I found that this video captured that message. Each day becomes a part of history and the best way to grow and learn is to take into consideration all the events that took place and how those situations can and have changed the path going forward. In the Brown (2011) text, it talks about systems and how systems move together and interdependently but what we if thought about the past a series of systems and each one affected the other and then the next and so on which equals the term enlightenment?
What does Matthew Taylor mean when he says "to live differently, you have to think differently"?
People often then to say one thing and do another but the only way to be true to oneself is to think differently and live that that way. I have a hard time locating a point in time in which we as a society stopped thinking for ourselves and in turn allowed others to live for us. We do not necessary want to live in the past but if we learn from the past and move towards the future we can only do so successfully if we think and live differently. Some of the best philosophers questioned the world which led to other thinking differently and then ultimately living differently.
At one point in the video (4:10), Taylor argues that we need "to resist our tendencies to make right or true that which is merely familiar and wrong or false that which is only strange". What is he talking about? Can you think of an example within your company or your life that supports this point?
In this part of the video, Taylor is expressing to the audience that just because sometime is familiar to you doesn’t make it true or a fact and that you should question and or test what you know to give more validity to the situation and or you rationale. In addition, what is strange or unknown doesn’t mean it is false and untrue. There are many things I don’t know but that doesn’t make them wrong or less important than what I claim to be fact. An example I can provide is that before I worked for ERAU I worked for a community college in Tampa and I always thought I would work for a public college because private universities were strange to me and therefore I thought would come with more regulations which couldn’t have been farther from the true. In conjunction with that statement, because I had worked for community college and that was what was familiar to me, I always thought that was the right place for students to start their college experience for a multitude of different reasons but it came to fruition that changing organizations I was able to learn the good, bad, and different of two different types of organizations within the same industry.
Taylor argues that our society should eschew elements of pop culture that degrade people and that we should spend more time looking into what develops empathetic citizens. Would this be possible?
Anything is possible as long as you can get people to buy into what you are selling. If people feel as though what they are doing and how they are changing is impacting the world in a positive way then more people will join in and begin to revolutionize society. Nothing is impossible and large changes can be done if you can gather enough people to start a movement. I know that my parents were semi-nontraditional and instead of letting pop culture raise me, they raised me with their flower-power which I have found enables me to be more empathic, kind, and open-minded where as some people I know are closed off from anything that isn’t “right here right now.” I find society and the world is so different now and to me, it’s too cold, what happened to people understanding and relating to others? Why are we less likely to engage with our neighbors or coworkers? When did our culture being dominated by one (ourselves) and not many (as a unified group)?
At the end of the video, Taylor talks about atomizing people from collaborative environments and the destructive effect on their growth. What is the implication of these comments for organizational change efforts?Organizational change cannot only affect one or be led by one, in order to be effective it has to affect many (positively) and have the following of others. If everyone in an organization was solely out for themselves, where would that leave the organization, would it be a system of many “1’s”? I know that when change is taking place in my organization we have discussions and people have to brought into to change the minds and hearts of others so that things can go smoothly, we have to move together as one if not, organizations begin to look like opposing magnets, always trying to go together but never quite connecting.
What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career?
There are many things I can take away from this exercise starting with the idea that I need to think of the past as a point of reference as I move forward and remember it is not always about me but about others.
References
Brown, D.R. (2011). An experiential approach to organization development (8th ed.).Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall
Taylor, M. (2010). RSA animate - 21st century enlightenment [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC7ANGMy0yo&feature=youtu.be
Monday, August 12, 2013
A630.1.4.RB_Board of Directors
In any organization there will be periods of time where a “gap” forms between the present and the future and it is key to build a bridge in order to “bridge” both sides together. This can also happen when an individual is looking to bridge the gap in their career within a particular organization. In this blog I will be discussing my journey from where I started to where I am not and how the YouTube video depicts exactly what I was going through in order to get to where I am today.
In 2010 I graduated the University of South Florida with a BA in Communications and was ready to embark on what has been tokened, “The Real World.” Prior to graduating with my BA I had a few years of experience working in higher education and I knew that was where I wanted to be; I was ready to give up what I knew just yet for something different. Luckily after college I was offered a job with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Worldwide (ERAU) and moved to Daytona Beach, FL which is a far cry from the hustle and bustle of Tampa, Florida. The job I took at ERAU was not a position I planned to keep for long, I was offered an administrative position working directly for the Chief Technology Officer and although I loved my team I started to feel over qualified rather quickly. Within 12 to 18 months I was ready to do something different but I wasn’t ready to give up ERAU. I suppose this is where the two characters from the video sit down and give up because although I saw my future ahead, I didn’t know how to get there. The gap in my story was the uneasy feeling I got when I tried to look for other positions within the university. I often felt that my current supervisor wasn’t helping me to get to where I wanted go and I felt trapped; I needed a job but at what cost? Was being unhappy enough to stay?
Bridging the gap between my present and my future was a hard leap I had to make. I can remember vivid conversations between my mother and I regarding how I would make the transition. The first step was to start my MS degree in Leadership; obtaining another degree would make me more marketable and would help to begin building my bridge to my new future. After start my MS everything began to fall into place. Throughout my program I picked up on errors, typos, and other grammatical mistakes within the course which lead me to have many conversations with the Executive Director of the Instructional Design and Development Team. Those conversations are what finished the bridge for me. I was able to start marketing myself and my skills to a potential supervisor. I didn’t go into my MS program looking for these results but I am happy that this is what I ended up with.
I will openly admit that there was a point where I was the pessimist in the story. After being in a position I was unhappy with, I tried to find ways to voice my concerns and research other avenues in order to gain grasp on what I wanted to do with the organization. My previous supervisor, although talented, lacks the ability to help others when they are looking to move up and out of her department. For a period of 6 months I felt like I was just sitting at the end of the present and my only future opinion would be to leave the university and move back to Tampa. This is where the little “power players” and “visionary” came in and changed everything. I will say that I don’t regret who I worked for nor did the job tasks I performed because I feel as though that job is what open the doors for my current job. It was hard to leave my old team but I am much happier now which is a direct result of bridging my professional gap between what was my present and what was to become my future. I was lucky to have a large crowd pushing me to get out of my old job and into my new which helped me but it was nonetheless scary and nerve racking.
In this blog I spoke of an individual tale of power and vision but this often happens in organizations as well. Most organizations find themselves in situations like these when they are trying to grow, change, and create a new sense of organizational development. I believe that in order for organizations to be successful in journeys like these, they have to have “crowds” supporting them and when their supports (aka employees) are not satisfied in their jobs, they will not likely be on board for these types of changes. Leaders must remember to continuously work on their organizations from the inside out. I believe I am a better employee now and I am more invested in the organization as a whole.
In 2010 I graduated the University of South Florida with a BA in Communications and was ready to embark on what has been tokened, “The Real World.” Prior to graduating with my BA I had a few years of experience working in higher education and I knew that was where I wanted to be; I was ready to give up what I knew just yet for something different. Luckily after college I was offered a job with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Worldwide (ERAU) and moved to Daytona Beach, FL which is a far cry from the hustle and bustle of Tampa, Florida. The job I took at ERAU was not a position I planned to keep for long, I was offered an administrative position working directly for the Chief Technology Officer and although I loved my team I started to feel over qualified rather quickly. Within 12 to 18 months I was ready to do something different but I wasn’t ready to give up ERAU. I suppose this is where the two characters from the video sit down and give up because although I saw my future ahead, I didn’t know how to get there. The gap in my story was the uneasy feeling I got when I tried to look for other positions within the university. I often felt that my current supervisor wasn’t helping me to get to where I wanted go and I felt trapped; I needed a job but at what cost? Was being unhappy enough to stay?
Bridging the gap between my present and my future was a hard leap I had to make. I can remember vivid conversations between my mother and I regarding how I would make the transition. The first step was to start my MS degree in Leadership; obtaining another degree would make me more marketable and would help to begin building my bridge to my new future. After start my MS everything began to fall into place. Throughout my program I picked up on errors, typos, and other grammatical mistakes within the course which lead me to have many conversations with the Executive Director of the Instructional Design and Development Team. Those conversations are what finished the bridge for me. I was able to start marketing myself and my skills to a potential supervisor. I didn’t go into my MS program looking for these results but I am happy that this is what I ended up with.
I will openly admit that there was a point where I was the pessimist in the story. After being in a position I was unhappy with, I tried to find ways to voice my concerns and research other avenues in order to gain grasp on what I wanted to do with the organization. My previous supervisor, although talented, lacks the ability to help others when they are looking to move up and out of her department. For a period of 6 months I felt like I was just sitting at the end of the present and my only future opinion would be to leave the university and move back to Tampa. This is where the little “power players” and “visionary” came in and changed everything. I will say that I don’t regret who I worked for nor did the job tasks I performed because I feel as though that job is what open the doors for my current job. It was hard to leave my old team but I am much happier now which is a direct result of bridging my professional gap between what was my present and what was to become my future. I was lucky to have a large crowd pushing me to get out of my old job and into my new which helped me but it was nonetheless scary and nerve racking.
In this blog I spoke of an individual tale of power and vision but this often happens in organizations as well. Most organizations find themselves in situations like these when they are trying to grow, change, and create a new sense of organizational development. I believe that in order for organizations to be successful in journeys like these, they have to have “crowds” supporting them and when their supports (aka employees) are not satisfied in their jobs, they will not likely be on board for these types of changes. Leaders must remember to continuously work on their organizations from the inside out. I believe I am a better employee now and I am more invested in the organization as a whole.
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