Journal 7- 8/4/2012

Related to the Michelle Obama TED talk I want to further expound on the subject of education and what I might do in the future to help bring technology to education.

Steve Jobs and my beliefs are very much the same, that technology must be further utilized in the area of education. Education should be fun and technology can make it fun. I have fun learning everyday, so why can’t other folks? My fun in education heavily involves technology; from the music, podcasts and audio books that I listen to, to the videos that I watch. I actually learn the emotions of people in different land and circumstances.

I think that if learning were fun and immersive, then students would WANT to learn and not just do it because they are required. Through fully reactive, immersive, and engaging to senses a digital app or computer game like interface could teach students and engage them and not just preach to passive reactive students who are there, but daydreaming of not being there. The problem with our current model is that we sit students in front of an instructor who preaches from the pulpit and tells how it is and what’s what. Many are actually hostile to anyone who interrupts their sermon. However, there are rare occurrences of instructors actually working with the students and not just preaching at them, but as stated they are rare.

Covey, being university professor himself, site an example of this in his book; he tells of one class where he threw out the lesson plan and the students and Covey actually built a syllabus that ended up being a whole new book and lesson for others.

If the interactive lessons I described before were the standard, then the class could be constructed in such a way that the instructor was on the same quest as the students, but they have knowledge and privileges to aid and guide the students. The collaborative part could be how the lessons are approached and taught and this way the students have some ownership over what they are learning. I suspect that if this were the case, students would retain more of the lesson. The digital app or program could be built with a loose idea of what the lessons would be, but allow for the instructor and students input modifying of the lesson.

Now, I have no clue how most of this would be done, so this is all only a theory.

I’m posting these as I turned them in, so they don;t have links to anything I am describing. A Google search should find any of the TED Talks or anything else I mention.

The class was a leadership political science class that covered the Steven Covey 7 habits of highly effective People principles and such. Hopefully readers can get something out of them.

Video Brief 6- 8/2/2012

The TED Talk we watched in class on Monday, July 30, where Julian Treasure speaks about the five ways to listen better and filters that people listen through today made me realize how truly cut off from the world around us we can become. If we could use Treasure ‘s the five ways to listen better we could improve our ability to listen and not be so cut off from our world.

The “mixer” that Treasure describes as being able to channel each single sound while in a noisy place, I feel that I have been able to do for some time. I am a hobbyist musician and can usually listen songs and pick out the guitar, bass, or drums in song. Since I have learned do that, I have been able to pick out sounds when in noisy places.

Treasure’s savoring mundane sounds is something I have done since I was a child. Growing up in a house with fans and window A/C units running almost around the clock I, at times, can revel in mundane sounds. If I took the first of his ways to listen better and sat in three minutes of silence each day I might be able to quiet my mind and listen to the world and not just the distractions.

The listening positions that Treasure describes as changing the ways we listen; between active vs. passive, reductive vs. expansive, empathic vs. critical is interesting to me. The R.A.S.A. or Reactive, Appreciate, Summarize, and Ask acronym is a new concept, to me. To receive or pay attention to other people and appreciate the little sounds and summarize what the person says, and ask questions later sounds much like Covey’s principle to seek first to understand.

So, other than the three minutes of silence per day and the shifting of listening positions… I already utilize three of the methods Treasure speaks of, and I will try the two I don’t already practice and see if they help me listen better.

I’m posting these as I turned them in, so they don;t have links to anything I am describing. A Google search should find any of the TED Talks or anything else I mention.

The class was a leadership political science class that covered the Steven Covey 7 habits of highly effective People principles and such. Hopefully readers can get something out of them.

Journal 6- 8/1/2012

Covey as a part of his fifth principle of “seek first to understand” advocates empathic listening and this is no doubt the furthest reaching subject that we are covering in his book. The principle of seeking first to understand by utilizing empathic listening is basically: if we can take the time to just turn off our autobiographical retorts and listen to what people are actually saying and feeling. If we can listen empathically and seek to understand first, the affect it can have on our personal and professional relationships is immeasurable.

In our personal lives and professional if we practice empathic listening our relationships with our families and friends can become richer and more meaningful. We can learn from our cohorts and not just live with them. The ability to observe the people around us and learn from them is a given, but if we add the psychological aspects we can truly make earth shattering discoveries about ourselves and the people that we are surrounded by. In our professional lives, empathic listening will allow us to not only be a good co-worker but also elevate our businesses to a new level. With empathic listening we can truly live with and through the people we live and work with, and not just co-exist with them. The amassed knowledge of their and our lives is much greater than the singular person’s life.

Also, more importantly, the caring and companionship that comes with empathic listening means that not only do we learn life lessons and what makes other people tick from one another we also build a relationship where people actually care about each other like families should. A strong bond where people will throw themselves into situations to aid a family member or a friend in every way possible follows. If we can build strong family relationships and add our working relationships as an extended family our lives will be greatly improved.

Personally, I struggle with seeking first to understand through empathic listening more than any other principle we have covered so far. Like most people I can’t just shut up listen and let people talk and explain themselves to the point that I understand them. I fall into the autobiographical and probing questioning pit falls. However, now I will try and practice empathic listening and strengthen the relationships around me.

I’m posting these as I turned them in, so they don;t have links to anything I am describing. A Google search should find any of the TED Talks or anything else I mention.

The class was a leadership political science class that covered the Steven Covey 7 habits of highly effective People principles and such. Hopefully readers can get something out of them.

Note to readers: Sorry I missed a few days. Things are kinda crazy with the start of the semester.

Video Brief 5- 7/29/2012

The TED Talk of Four-star general Stanley McChrystal and his military lessons of listening goes hand-in-hand with the concept Covey writes of about understanding before you speak and empathic listening. If there is one thing I wish I could impart to people from this class and Covey’s book, this idea is it.

The world would be a much different world today where people understand each other and misunderstandings are a thing of the past. Maybe even mass killings like the one in Colorado could be avoided if people took the time to listen and learn from each other. Like McChrystal says to the audience leaders learn and trust and are not always right.

One of the biggest things I learned form Covey’s book is that being a true leader is not always being right, but being willing to learn from your followers and incorporate in into what you believe and do. True leaders are confident and secure enough to learn from those who they are leading and make it part of what they believe and make the group or situation they are leading a cohesive and collaborative effort.

The act of empathic listening is one of the hardest things that the 7 Habits and Covey tries to teach us, and possibly one the most profound. If we could all learn to listen to one another and have the confidence and security in who we are to incorporate it into our selves, then we would be better as a society.

I’m posting these as I turned them in, so they don;t have links to anything I am describing. A Google search should find any of the TED Talks or anything else I mention.

The class was a leadership political science class that covered the Steven Covey 7 habits of highly effective People principles and such. Hopefully readers can get something out of them.

Journal 5- 7/28/2012

The more I delve into the Covey concepts and the 7 Habits the more I realize how today’s political climate is the exact opposite of what the 7 Habits teach. There is no such thing as a win/win situation, and there is only a fight to the death where win/loose, and the closest thing to win/win is the weakest form in an extreme compromise where no one is truly happy. In some occasions even loose/loose is the only option were no one wins. The over arching idea of the 7 Habits is that cooperation and the idea that whole is greater then the sum total of its parts.

The win/loose is the most common were one party or politician decimates the other, and then the compromise were no one is happy always results in a weak solution that is so crippled with compromise that the result is almost worthless. The loose/loose is the rare occasion were the politicians involved almost say screw it lets burn this mother to the ground. This is usually a result of when a community is forced together across party or other line of demarcation and no one wants to really cooperate and a worthless destructive product result is the product.

If the ideas of Covey and the 7 Habits can creep into the political atmosphere and the concept of a win/win situation can take hold and actually be applied, I can only fantasize about how the country as a whole and we all could benefit from the results.

I’m posting these as I turned them in, so they don;t have links to anything I am describing. A Google search should find any of the TED Talks or anything else I mention.

The class was a leadership political science class that covered the Steven Covey 7 habits of highly effective People principles and such. Hopefully readers can get something out of them.

Video Brief 4- 7/25/2012

Simon Sinek’s presentation on how great leaders inspire action really speaks to my current ideas of what my future may be. The idea that in order to really inspire people is to start with your modus operandi is quite profound, and gives me hope for my future of trying to be an advocate for access to a quality education for all and my idea on trying to rethink and integrate technology into the education of the masses.

Sinek’s example of how MLK’s speech was “I have a dream” and not “I have a plan” is very telling and gets the point across better than anything other example he could have given. Also, as he mentions, how many politicians today get caught up in the minutia of the plan of how they are going to change their country, state, or city for the better instead of talking about their reason, or dream, of why they want to do what they plan. A recent example I would cite would be the “Hope” campaign for the 2008 presidential election where President Obama didn’t really delve into every detail of what he wanted to do, and sold the idea of changing the way Bush did things.

For my purposes of trying to apply to my future is my over arching dream of trying to integrate technology into the way we educate the youth of America. Today’s youth are not adept at learning the way the system is set-up now. If we could use technology to make the youth of today feel some ownership of the lessons they are learning I believe that they would retain the information better. It’s simple; if they have a reason to care about the lessons then they will remember it.

Sinek’s “Golden Circle” that starts with why and not what or how should serve as a model for today’s leaders. However, today the “what” focused bottom line approach, were the net profit dictates every action. In this mind-set the feeling is to be if that result is not 100% sure to happen, then the effort is not worth it.

Along with the “what” approach the “how” or micromanagement style of getting things done is the norm in a lot of businesses. The how style usually involves a manager who doles out goals in a “gofer” style of management, where the manager dictates every facet of a business, which results in a very stilted and uncreative sterile work environment. This usually results in resentment from co-workers for his lack of trust and ultimate lack luster results.

The “why” approach Sinek describes is an approach were the idea motivates and moves people to want to support the cause along with the leader, business, or movement that embodies the idea. This is a better overall leadership style and produces a better ran more cohesive and creative group where ideas and not profit drive the group. In the end the simple “why” can build bridges where the “what” or “how” cannot.

I’m posting these as I turned them in, so they don;t have links to anything I am describing. A Google search should find any of the TED Talks or anything else I mention.

The class was a leadership political science class that covered the Steven Covey 7 habits of highly effective People principles and such. Hopefully readers can get something out of them.

Journal 4- 7/23/2012

The current Republican thread of “Obama hates business because he says they didn’t build their businesses on their own” is a great example of the interdependence of us all. The idea that businesses are built by the owners themselves without any help is just asinine, because unless the business owners educated their employees, built the roads, cleared the land, and from the dirt up financed their business without money from a federally protected bank they did benefit from government spending.

Despite interdependence being a huge part of the 7 Habits and the maturity continuum, it seems that the current Republican Party’s message is planted firmly in the independent stage of the continuum where “I” dominates and drives their thoughts and ambitions. The party seems to only care about themselves and if you are not privileged like the leaders, then have fun living off the leaving of the carcasses when they are done. Trickle-down economics is the whole platform of the party.

Also, the TED USC video of David Logan and his theory on tribal leadership can apply to the current Republican Party, and they are stuck in the third stage of “I’m great” and the inference they exude is “you’re not.” However if you want to be great like us, just join us and blindly accept out rhetoric. This cloning of people into their ideas and ways is all part of the zero sum, dog eat dog, relationships that make the stage 3 tribes so divisive.

The Republican Party needs to wake-up and smell what they’re shoveling and embrace the ideas of the 7 Habits and the idea of interdependence, because thought they can’t see it, we are all on the same team.

I’m posting these as I turned them in, so they don;t have links to anything I am describing. A Google search should find any of the TED Talks or anything else I mention.

The class was a leadership political science class that covered the Steven Covey 7 habits of highly effective People principles and such. Hopefully readers can get something out of them.

Video Brief 3- 7/22/2012

In the TED USC video of David Logan on tribal leadership and the stages that he speaks of, the progression of the stages made me think of layers of Hell that lead to salvation as the stages go up.

Stage 1 tribes, where the thought is “life sucks,” is like purgatory. In Stage 2 tribes, the system basically makes life suck, or is a layer of Hell where the system makes people think, “my life sucks.” Stage 3 tribes is where everyone thinks, “I’m great” and they are better than everyone else; or where Hell is contained within the people themselves and they fight for a zero sum, dog eat dog, relationship with others inside and outside of the tribe. However, in stage 4, or the salvation, is where individuals become self-aware and use their individual talents to make the tribe the best they can be and believe that, “we are great” and not just “I’m great.” In stage 5, people think that, “life is great” and values help guide a community of tribes for the better.

As a leader of a tribe, we are supposed to help push people along the stages, and I hope that I can aid the people of the tribes that I’m a part of lead a happier life. This seems to be the whole goal that Logan is pushing for.

This leads me to try to step back and evaluate the tribes that I belong to and decide what stage they are in. The first tribe and most important tribe I’m part of has to be my immediate family. Truthfully, I have to say that we are in the fourth stage, which from my experience and observation, most families are in. My family and the families I have observed over time seem to be stuck in the “we are great” frame of mind.

Another set of tribes stuck here are definitely political parties. With how politicized our culture is today, to question a thought that a political party has is tantamount to treason where the offender should be shot on site. It is infuriating to me that people can’t speak rationally about issues without almost getting into fistfights with each other.

I think that if we apply some of the Covey teachings, like empathic listening and the idea of trying to listen and understand each other fully and truthfully, we as a society could move into the fifth stage.

I’m posting these as I turned them in, so they don;t have links to anything I am describing. A Google search should find any of the TED Talks or anything else I mention.

The class was a leadership political science class that covered the Steven Covey 7 habits of highly effective People principles and such. Hopefully readers can get something out of them.

Journal 3- 7/20/2012

On the night of July 19 while at the mid-night premiere of The Dark Knight Rises I got to look into a mirror of what I was like in my early 20’s. I was with 3 people in their early 20’s that are like I was when I was their age, and it was an eye opening experience.

The three people I was with were very much in the independent stage of the maturity continuum where “I” dominates all their thinking. We participated in some friendly banter about many things, from comic books to tech news to baseball standings, and after learning some the 7 Habits from Covey’s teaching and my natural maturity I was stuck with how myopic and petulant they were in their opinions and beliefs on many issues.

When bantering with them I defended my opinions on facts and research that I had heard or read, or more of a “we” paradigm; however, a majority of their opinions were based purely on that’s just the way “I” think it is or should be.

One of the things that struck me as clear sign of how immature they were acting was a running argument with one of their friends via text message on whether or not Batman is a super hero since he has no “real” powers. However, instead of pointing out with all of his training and dedication to his craft of being a hero, they just retorted to name calling and other logically flawed immature tactics that resulted in one of them getting really angry and greatly heightening level of stress.

My only thought was, well that’s his point of view, I shrugged it off and left it at that. I thought logically that no one is going to convince the other they are right, so agree to disagree and let the issue drop. While I was calm they were stressed almost to a comical degree. I can look back on their actions with and reflect on my early 20’s and marvel at how immature I must have looked then.

I’m posting these as I turned them in, so they don;t have links to anything I am describing. A Google search should find any of the TED Talks or anything else I mention.

The class was a leadership political science class that covered the Steven Covey 7 habits of highly effective People principles and such. Hopefully readers can get something out of them.

Video Brief 2 7/13/2012-

J.K. Rowling’s two lessons, failure can breed success and empathy is important, are two lessons that I regularly apply in my life. I have personal experience in what most would call failure.

I was at Kilgore College in late 2001 and was slowly but surely succumbing to the effects of being an undiagnosed diabetic. I was losing weight at an alarming rate and got down to 140 pounds, I was constantly dehydrated, had no energy, and slowly losing my vision. I didn’t know what was going on with me, and had no money to see a doctor or health insurance to aid in paying to see one. So, after not re-enrolling in at KC and essentially dropping out the last semester, I had no energy to do much beyond lay on the couch. In that state, I had no job, no prospects of getting one, and looked to be slowly dying. In late 2005, I finally got to see a doctor and discovered I was diabetic. This knowledge of what was wrong with me started me down the long road to recovery.

Now I am a senior in college, am going to graduate in Spring 2013, and hope to get into grad school at UT Tyler. This may not be the same level of success from “failure’ as Rowling, but I like to think I am on the way to achieving a level of success I had no chance of conceiving of at my worst.

The empathy lesson is something that I think today’s young generation could learn from. Young people today seem to be so selfish and self-absorbed that what effect their actions may have on others never seems to enter their minds. If it does not benefit them in some way, right now, then effort of any kind is wasteful. The current fascination with instant gratification and the approval of others is way more important to young people now. Asking them to do without something to benefit others or even themselves seems to be an instant turn-off. This leads to poorly thought out decisions: weird tattoos that they will regret later, odd piercings that deform their ears, premarital-unprotected sex that produces children and destructive habits like smoking, drinking, or drugs.

The ability to step outside ones self and look at things that others have experienced and empathize with the others is greatly needed in today’s young generation. 

I’m posting these as I turned them in, so they don;t have links to anything I am describing. A Google search should find any of the TED Talks or anything else I mention.

The class was a leadership political science class that covered the Steven Covey 7 habits of highly effective People principles and such. Hopefully readers can get something out of them.