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Anne Adrian's Stories, Perceptions, Observations, and Thoughts (on People, Behavior, and Change)
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- Reflection of 2008: What did I learn?January 4
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This is a good time as any to reflect on what I learned in the last year. While I didn't answer The Learning Circuit's a "Big question" of the month, "What did you learn about learning in 2008?" directly, I did answered the question, but in a more general sense.
Learning can happen anywhere. This isn't a new thought, but I realized more than ever that I--or anyone else--cannot rely on only one or a few sources for information, education, new relationships, and new opportunities. We have to be ready and available for learning anywhere and anytime. If we are not subjecting ourselves of the opportunities for learning--we simply are not learning enough. Kevin Gamble says that this is being the ball. Some say this is the equivalent to "getting in the game".
Though the traditional ways of learning are still very important, being ready, able, and available to learn in other ways is imperative to surviving in our organization and in our competitive environments. This seems like such an obvious statement, but many people still don't get it well enough to effectively expand their knowledge resources.
Distance communications don't mirror our physical communications--they are all be the same (or they should be all the same). Some of my best learning occurs during one-to-one conversations. Of co
- Tips for helping those who are new to the InternetDecember 29 2008
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Believe or not, there are still some people who are new to the Internet. For those folks who have been left behind the technology wave, Amit Agarwal of Digital Inspiration provides some tips and good examples in "The Essential Guide to Internet & Software for First-Time Computer Users".
Though I doubt beginning computer users could read the post and understand why they need to install and use the programs, the guide does provide some good examples to us who are still teaching new computer users .
Among the programs that Amit sees essential for new computer users, my favorites are:
PC Decrapifier - will detect and remove all the unwanted trial programs that came pre-installed with your machine.
Firefox - is a web browser. Some think it’s better than Internet Explorer.
delicious add-on - to save favorite websites.
Two different email accounts on Gmail.com - The primary email address is to be shared with friends and family. The second one is to be used for everything
- PowerPoint Ribbon on SlideshareDecember 24 2008
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A new Slideshare.net application allows you to publish and manage presentations from MS PowerPoint 2007.
Before installing the ribbon, I had to install Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 (my machine was using .NET 2.0).
The PowerPoint plug-in is explained in the presentation below.
The plug-in can be downloaded here http://www.slideshare.net/developers/apps/pptribbon .
del.icio.us Tags: Slideshare,Presentations - Don't be just a passerby this next yearDecember 22 2008
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The purposeful slow Sunday morning jogs allow me to think. Yesterday morning, I started out like normal, but did not feel very motivated so I stopped after two miles and started walking. While I walked, I thought of more solutions, ideas, and future conversations.
On this very familiar path, I also noticed things that I not seen before. In particular, there was a bird's nest in a tree next to the sidewalk on Samford Avenue at the top of the hill. I haven't seen it before. Usually at this point of my jog, I start mentally congratulating myself because I did not let the hill defeat me. I am usually so "full" of my accomplishment of topping the hill that I do not notice this bird's nest sitting on a branch, just a few inches from the sidewalk where I jog.
The nest reminds me that I don't want to be so busy running to the next thing that I miss opportunities right in front of me. It also reminds me that focusing on my own accomplishments--large or small--keeps me from seeing and hearing others.
Scott Fillmer in his post, Lack of Dead Poets Society Copy, asked the question "Why don't we challenge each other more?"
Why don't we, more often, challenge ourselves and others to see life and opportunities from different perspectives?
One of my favorite questions is: What is it that we need to know that we don't already know?
Learning new thi
- ConversationsDecember 14 2008
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Having conversations is something we enjoy and is an integral part of who we are. We have conversations almost anytime and anywhere.
To progress on projects, organizational and technology changes, and family decisions, having effective conversations is absolutely necessary. Practically anything that we want to achieve is dependent on having one or several conversations.
However, if the topics are important, there are differences of opinions, we have past experiences crafting our thoughts, and we are emotional, having conversations with people we work with, live with, and care for can be very tough, taxing, emotional, and stressful. When we are passionate, emotional, and pressured about some topics, we often don't listen well, nor do we communicate our own objectives well. By improving our individual and group conversations we hope to achieve personal, professional, and organizational goals.
Last week I discussed some of the approaches given in the two books, Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler and Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott via a web conference. My present