Updates from July, 2013 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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    Natalie 12:59 am on July 10, 2013 Permalink |  

    Does anyone have some ideas to help me out? After bootcamp tomorrow, I’m heading back to the office for a meeting in which the ED will present the Theory of Change to employees and interns, all of whom started after the document was created. After this presentation, I’m supposed to get people engaged in the material with interactive exercises of some sort. Note that they will not be given the opportunity to contribute to the Theory of Change, which is a done deal; they’re just supposed to grasp how their work feeds into it and get enthusiastic about it.

    This will be a meeting of about 12 people in a crowded conference room with a big table in the middle. Thanks in advance for any ideas!

     

    • Eugene Eric Kim 1:07 am on July 10, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      Ha! A very interesting request in light of last week’s workout. 🙂 How much time will you have? How long will your ED be speaking? Any chance you can share the Theory of Change with us here?

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        Natalie 3:17 am on July 10, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply

        I’m a little reluctant to post the document because it’s internal and this is a public space. Sorry for any frustrations around that.

    • rapetzel 1:22 am on July 10, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      One way to deal with people not being able to contribute to the theory of change (which I’m biting my tongue on for now) is to invite questions. From the little I know, I’d start off with a question harvest, similar to how Eugene kicked off bootcamp! It helps people get their criticisms — or whatever they might be holding — off their chest in a constructive format and allows you to move into deeper work. Whenever I’m struggling with a design I come back to the question. What are the questions folks might have, what are the questions at the heart of this process? Just put those front and center and people often take care of the rest.

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        Natalie 3:19 am on July 10, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply

        Hi, Rebecca! I understand the bitten tongue. Thanks for the idea around the question harvest; that might be a great start to the process. I do miss working with you.

        • rapetzel 7:57 pm on July 10, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply

          Me too! I’m travelling quite a bit for wedding season, but when I’m back late July I’m going to make you tell me all about your life and new job over a beer.

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      Natalie 3:41 am on July 12, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      Yea! Can’t wait.

  • Eugene Eric Kim 11:50 pm on July 9, 2013 Permalink |  

    Building on @renee’s thoughts from last week, I had two goals for last week’s workouts:

    1. Practice designing engagements
    2. Practice group physics

    I figured success would look like:

    • All of you walking away understanding that group engagements are not just about meetings.
    • All of you walking away understanding the importance of group physics.

    This goes back to my response to Renee below; I could have just told you both of the things above. And I did. But just hearing it doesn’t make the learning visceral.

    Based on these metrics, how well do you think I did?

     

    • Renee 3:29 pm on July 10, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      I think you hit goal number one but I don’t feel clear about number 2. Also, despite knowing goal 1 I don’t feel clear about what the alternatives really are and this is what I really want to know. I have a huge over-reliance on meetings and its actually a big issue in my work- people are way way over meeting-Ed

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    Renee Fazzari 11:20 pm on July 9, 2013 Permalink |  

    On a more Bootcamp related note, I can share with the team that Bootcamp last week was a little off for me. As I said in my check out last wednesday, I have generally found that Eugene has done a great job of letting us find our way to the wisdom and has structured exercises so that we learn some cool stuff but we don’t have to be lectured. That said, last week I felt a little like I was fishing for the lesson… I wasn’t sure how the exercise we were doing was leading us to a larger principle and I wished for a little more framework or teaching instead of such a discover-it-yourself approach.

    I’m really interested in others’ perspectives overall – are you like me in wishing for a little more “lecture” or framework from Eugene or do you love diving in and figuring out the lessons/learnings as you go? And for Eugene, what’s the theory behind figuring it out ourselves rather than providing a framework up-front (or even at the end of a session)?

     

    • Eugene Eric Kim 11:42 pm on July 9, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      I really appreciated this feedback, Renee. I’ve definitely had to rethink last week’s workouts.

      The theory behind how I’ve been approaching this is that I can tell you all sorts of stuff, but it’s not meaningful until you experience it. In general, I’m trying to create opportunities for all of you to learn by doing. My mentor in this space taught me all sorts of things that I thought I understood at the time, but every year, I find myself in a situation where I think to myself, “Aha, that’s what he meant!”

      Furthermore, I guarantee you that my way of thinking isn’t always right. I’ve had many conversations with folks with whom I respect, where they explain some principle of theirs that I completely disagree with. I’m quite sure the reverse is true. By focusing on the experiential and letting the learning trickle up, we all (including me) have the opportunity to learn from each other, as opposed to everyone learning mainly from me. It makes for a richer experience.

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      Natalie 12:49 am on July 10, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      I feel like I always do better when I have an idea of what I’m supposed to be learning or focused on before getting into the experiential aspect of it. I’m incredibly literal, and am often left scratching my head if things are too vague. Many years ago, a researcher snagged me in a mall and took me to a little room where I was asked to open several packages. When I was done, the researcher asked which package was the easiest to open. I had absolutely no idea, as I didn’t know what was being tested and had paid no attention to the ease of opening the packaging while I was engaged in it.

      This is not to criticize Eugene — I wasn’t even there last week — but just to state my learning style. I think you can still have rich experiential learning without the purpose or point being shrouded in mystery.

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    Renee Fazzari 11:13 pm on July 9, 2013 Permalink |  

    Parking Ticket Boo 

    I’m testing out the system with a note of sheepishness.  Upon leaving bootcamp last wednesday, I told Lauren not to worry about those 2-hour neighborhood tickets (her car had been parked for just over 2 hours) because I hadn’t gotten one in 10 years of living in SF.  Murphy’s law, I got to my car and had received a $74 ticket at about 2hr 10m mark. Arggh!!  Sure hope you didn’t get one Lauren!  And warning to all others parking around the Women’s Bldg!

     
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      rfazzari 11:14 pm on July 9, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      A friend said that Guerrero, Mission, Valencia area is watched very carefully!

    • Eugene Eric Kim 11:34 pm on July 9, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      Argh! Sorry to hear that, Renee. 🙁 I parked in the garage on Hoff near 16th last week (when we had the BART strike), but otherwise try to BART over.

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    Natalie 8:20 pm on July 9, 2013 Permalink |  

    Woo hoo! Success!

     

  • Eugene Eric Kim 5:02 pm on July 3, 2013 Permalink |  

    Welcome to the water cooler, bootcampers! Looking forward to seeing what the interaction is like here.

     
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      Natalie 2:31 am on July 9, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      Best. homework. ever. But can you remind me how to start a post? I’m also curious to see whether the ability to make short comments will make us more communicative. It’s hard to believe that we only have two more meetings!

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