![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
From a LinkedIn post by AYE host Don Gray, while the AYE Conference is long over and the original website is lost to expired domain registrations, some of the AYE content is back online:
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
... I heard the first spring peepers of the year [1]. This is a Good Thing.
I also signed up for the 2011 AYE Conference today. This is another Good Thing.
Too many other folk in my life have had Bad Things happen to them recently. The Good Things need to be celebrated.
[1] At least, the first ones that I've heard. They may have been out earlier and I just didn't hear them.
I also signed up for the 2011 AYE Conference today. This is another Good Thing.
Too many other folk in my life have had Bad Things happen to them recently. The Good Things need to be celebrated.
[1] At least, the first ones that I've heard. They may have been out earlier and I just didn't hear them.
... I heard the first spring peepers of the year [1]. This is a Good Thing.
I also signed up for the 2011 AYE Conference today. This is another Good Thing.
Too many other folk in my life have had Bad Things happen to them recently. The Good Things need to be celebrated.
[1] At least, the first ones that I've heard. They may have been out earlier and I just didn't hear them.
I also signed up for the 2011 AYE Conference today. This is another Good Thing.
Too many other folk in my life have had Bad Things happen to them recently. The Good Things need to be celebrated.
[1] At least, the first ones that I've heard. They may have been out earlier and I just didn't hear them.
Back from AYE 2010
Nov. 14th, 2010 07:37 pmLate last night (or early this morning, depending on how you look at it), I got home from the 2010 Amplifying Your Effectiveness conference in sunny Phoenix, Arizona. A quick recap of the events of the conference:
Monday AM: "You Are Here. You Want to Go There?" (Session 3, Johanna Rothman) This was a session about assessments - in particular, how an assessor (such as Johanna) might go about assessing an organization. A sample assessment report (250Kb PDF) is on her website. For me, the value was in learning ways to look at my own organization (at the Current Paying Gig).
Monday PM: "Reading the River: Using the Organizational Currents to Get You Where You Want to Go" (Session 5: Don Gray) This turned out to be more of an exercise in identifying what the organizational currents might be than ways to figure out what any particular organization's currents actually are. Still useful for me, although not quite what I'd hoped for.
Tuesday AM: I had planned to attend "Seeing How the Work Works" (Session 10, Esther Derby); however, I found myself having to work on issues back at the Current Paying Gig. Definitely not what I'd hoped for.
Tuesday PM: I had planned to attend "Don’t Worry, Be Happy: Managing Risks" (Session 16, Steve Smith); however, when I got to the room, I found it was cancelled. Instead, I attended "Agile Program Management: Another Approach to Large Projects" (Session 15, Johanna Rothman). This involved an exercise in which two project teams attempted to create unique greeting card designs, and created one of the funniest scenes of the conference. One of the requirements was that each card had to have at least six lines of verse inside the card, My team came up with a fair amount of English-language doggrel. The other team, however, was mostly comprised of folks from Sweden - and their verse was all in Swedish. (Well, it certainly sounded like Swedish.) Poor Johanna nearly died laughing, especially when the Fourth of July card was read aloud...
Wednesday AM: "The Budgeting Black Hole: Predicting the Unknowable" (Session 7, Johanna Rothman) Another simulation exercise, this time involving making paper flower baskets. Apart from seeing the communication difficulties involved when project teams are spread across multiple locations, the thing that struck me most about this session was how accounting principles can drive companies to waterfall-style lifecycles. Waterfall approaches can be easily treated as capital expenditures (since you're not getting any value until the project goes live), and capital expenditures get tax advantages that operating expenses don't.
Wednesday PM: "Move Over Big Boss, The Servant Leader Is Moving In: From Mandate and Monitor to Guide and Support" (Session 22: Esther Derby) This session was aimed more at managers (especially those with command-and-control styles) than folks in the trenches like me, but I still found it valuable. After all, I might find myself a manager some day...
Thursday all-day: "Know Your Options: Solve, Manage, Cope or Exit" (Esther Derby, Don Gray, Johanna Rothman, Steve Smith) I'd signed up for the all-day Thursday session before the topic had been announced, simply because I felt certain it would be worth my while regardless. As it turned out, this was a great session for me, given some of the more frustrating things going on at the Current Paying Gig. One point in particular was the seductiveness of the "if I just do this enough, it'll all work out" trap. Another was the remarkable effectiveness of reframing the initial problem statement in opening up new options.
AYE may or may not be held in Phoenix next year, depending on the fate of Arizona's new anti-immigration laws. It'll be held somewhere, though, and I plan on going.
Monday AM: "You Are Here. You Want to Go There?" (Session 3, Johanna Rothman) This was a session about assessments - in particular, how an assessor (such as Johanna) might go about assessing an organization. A sample assessment report (250Kb PDF) is on her website. For me, the value was in learning ways to look at my own organization (at the Current Paying Gig).
Monday PM: "Reading the River: Using the Organizational Currents to Get You Where You Want to Go" (Session 5: Don Gray) This turned out to be more of an exercise in identifying what the organizational currents might be than ways to figure out what any particular organization's currents actually are. Still useful for me, although not quite what I'd hoped for.
Tuesday AM: I had planned to attend "Seeing How the Work Works" (Session 10, Esther Derby); however, I found myself having to work on issues back at the Current Paying Gig. Definitely not what I'd hoped for.
Tuesday PM: I had planned to attend "Don’t Worry, Be Happy: Managing Risks" (Session 16, Steve Smith); however, when I got to the room, I found it was cancelled. Instead, I attended "Agile Program Management: Another Approach to Large Projects" (Session 15, Johanna Rothman). This involved an exercise in which two project teams attempted to create unique greeting card designs, and created one of the funniest scenes of the conference. One of the requirements was that each card had to have at least six lines of verse inside the card, My team came up with a fair amount of English-language doggrel. The other team, however, was mostly comprised of folks from Sweden - and their verse was all in Swedish. (Well, it certainly sounded like Swedish.) Poor Johanna nearly died laughing, especially when the Fourth of July card was read aloud...
Wednesday AM: "The Budgeting Black Hole: Predicting the Unknowable" (Session 7, Johanna Rothman) Another simulation exercise, this time involving making paper flower baskets. Apart from seeing the communication difficulties involved when project teams are spread across multiple locations, the thing that struck me most about this session was how accounting principles can drive companies to waterfall-style lifecycles. Waterfall approaches can be easily treated as capital expenditures (since you're not getting any value until the project goes live), and capital expenditures get tax advantages that operating expenses don't.
Wednesday PM: "Move Over Big Boss, The Servant Leader Is Moving In: From Mandate and Monitor to Guide and Support" (Session 22: Esther Derby) This session was aimed more at managers (especially those with command-and-control styles) than folks in the trenches like me, but I still found it valuable. After all, I might find myself a manager some day...
Thursday all-day: "Know Your Options: Solve, Manage, Cope or Exit" (Esther Derby, Don Gray, Johanna Rothman, Steve Smith) I'd signed up for the all-day Thursday session before the topic had been announced, simply because I felt certain it would be worth my while regardless. As it turned out, this was a great session for me, given some of the more frustrating things going on at the Current Paying Gig. One point in particular was the seductiveness of the "if I just do this enough, it'll all work out" trap. Another was the remarkable effectiveness of reframing the initial problem statement in opening up new options.
AYE may or may not be held in Phoenix next year, depending on the fate of Arizona's new anti-immigration laws. It'll be held somewhere, though, and I plan on going.
Back from AYE 2010
Nov. 14th, 2010 07:37 pmLate last night (or early this morning, depending on how you look at it), I got home from the 2010 Amplifying Your Effectiveness conference in sunny Phoenix, Arizona. A quick recap of the events of the conference:
Monday AM: "You Are Here. You Want to Go There?" (Session 3, Johanna Rothman) This was a session about assessments - in particular, how an assessor (such as Johanna) might go about assessing an organization. A sample assessment report (250Kb PDF) is on her website. For me, the value was in learning ways to look at my own organization (at the Current Paying Gig).
Monday PM: "Reading the River: Using the Organizational Currents to Get You Where You Want to Go" (Session 5: Don Gray) This turned out to be more of an exercise in identifying what the organizational currents might be than ways to figure out what any particular organization's currents actually are. Still useful for me, although not quite what I'd hoped for.
Tuesday AM: I had planned to attend "Seeing How the Work Works" (Session 10, Esther Derby); however, I found myself having to work on issues back at the Current Paying Gig. Definitely not what I'd hoped for.
Tuesday PM: I had planned to attend "Don’t Worry, Be Happy: Managing Risks" (Session 16, Steve Smith); however, when I got to the room, I found it was cancelled. Instead, I attended "Agile Program Management: Another Approach to Large Projects" (Session 15, Johanna Rothman). This involved an exercise in which two project teams attempted to create unique greeting card designs, and created one of the funniest scenes of the conference. One of the requirements was that each card had to have at least six lines of verse inside the card, My team came up with a fair amount of English-language doggrel. The other team, however, was mostly comprised of folks from Sweden - and their verse was all in Swedish. (Well, it certainly sounded like Swedish.) Poor Johanna nearly died laughing, especially when the Fourth of July card was read aloud...
Wednesday AM: "The Budgeting Black Hole: Predicting the Unknowable" (Session 7, Johanna Rothman) Another simulation exercise, this time involving making paper flower baskets. Apart from seeing the communication difficulties involved when project teams are spread across multiple locations, the thing that struck me most about this session was how accounting principles can drive companies to waterfall-style lifecycles. Waterfall approaches can be easily treated as capital expenditures (since you're not getting any value until the project goes live), and capital expenditures get tax advantages that operating expenses don't.
Wednesday PM: "Move Over Big Boss, The Servant Leader Is Moving In: From Mandate and Monitor to Guide and Support" (Session 22: Esther Derby) This session was aimed more at managers (especially those with command-and-control styles) than folks in the trenches like me, but I still found it valuable. After all, I might find myself a manager some day...
Thursday all-day: "Know Your Options: Solve, Manage, Cope or Exit" (Esther Derby, Don Gray, Johanna Rothman, Steve Smith) I'd signed up for the all-day Thursday session before the topic had been announced, simply because I felt certain it would be worth my while regardless. As it turned out, this was a great session for me, given some of the more frustrating things going on at the Current Paying Gig. One point in particular was the seductiveness of the "if I just do this enough, it'll all work out" trap. Another was the remarkable effectiveness of reframing the initial problem statement in opening up new options.
AYE may or may not be held in Phoenix next year, depending on the fate of Arizona's new anti-immigration laws. It'll be held somewhere, though, and I plan on going.
Monday AM: "You Are Here. You Want to Go There?" (Session 3, Johanna Rothman) This was a session about assessments - in particular, how an assessor (such as Johanna) might go about assessing an organization. A sample assessment report (250Kb PDF) is on her website. For me, the value was in learning ways to look at my own organization (at the Current Paying Gig).
Monday PM: "Reading the River: Using the Organizational Currents to Get You Where You Want to Go" (Session 5: Don Gray) This turned out to be more of an exercise in identifying what the organizational currents might be than ways to figure out what any particular organization's currents actually are. Still useful for me, although not quite what I'd hoped for.
Tuesday AM: I had planned to attend "Seeing How the Work Works" (Session 10, Esther Derby); however, I found myself having to work on issues back at the Current Paying Gig. Definitely not what I'd hoped for.
Tuesday PM: I had planned to attend "Don’t Worry, Be Happy: Managing Risks" (Session 16, Steve Smith); however, when I got to the room, I found it was cancelled. Instead, I attended "Agile Program Management: Another Approach to Large Projects" (Session 15, Johanna Rothman). This involved an exercise in which two project teams attempted to create unique greeting card designs, and created one of the funniest scenes of the conference. One of the requirements was that each card had to have at least six lines of verse inside the card, My team came up with a fair amount of English-language doggrel. The other team, however, was mostly comprised of folks from Sweden - and their verse was all in Swedish. (Well, it certainly sounded like Swedish.) Poor Johanna nearly died laughing, especially when the Fourth of July card was read aloud...
Wednesday AM: "The Budgeting Black Hole: Predicting the Unknowable" (Session 7, Johanna Rothman) Another simulation exercise, this time involving making paper flower baskets. Apart from seeing the communication difficulties involved when project teams are spread across multiple locations, the thing that struck me most about this session was how accounting principles can drive companies to waterfall-style lifecycles. Waterfall approaches can be easily treated as capital expenditures (since you're not getting any value until the project goes live), and capital expenditures get tax advantages that operating expenses don't.
Wednesday PM: "Move Over Big Boss, The Servant Leader Is Moving In: From Mandate and Monitor to Guide and Support" (Session 22: Esther Derby) This session was aimed more at managers (especially those with command-and-control styles) than folks in the trenches like me, but I still found it valuable. After all, I might find myself a manager some day...
Thursday all-day: "Know Your Options: Solve, Manage, Cope or Exit" (Esther Derby, Don Gray, Johanna Rothman, Steve Smith) I'd signed up for the all-day Thursday session before the topic had been announced, simply because I felt certain it would be worth my while regardless. As it turned out, this was a great session for me, given some of the more frustrating things going on at the Current Paying Gig. One point in particular was the seductiveness of the "if I just do this enough, it'll all work out" trap. Another was the remarkable effectiveness of reframing the initial problem statement in opening up new options.
AYE may or may not be held in Phoenix next year, depending on the fate of Arizona's new anti-immigration laws. It'll be held somewhere, though, and I plan on going.
How many things make a post?
Feb. 17th, 2010 10:14 pmWell, let's see:
1) We finally got a snowstorm to leave some of the white stuff around here (instead of continuing to dump on Baltimore and DC). Much prettier looking than the combination of grimy plow leavings and bare patches that I've had for the last few weeks.
2) Season 3 of Shadow Unit is underway.
3) I've put in my request for this year's Amplifying Your Effectiveness conference. I missed last year's conference due to the unhappy timing of certain events at the Current Paying Gig; however, those events are not going to recur this year. The Great And Powerful Oz Has Spoken.
4) I've also mailed off my registration for the All-Star II conference on Star Island. Between Star and 4th Street Fantasy, the summer should get started with a bang.
...
Hmm. Looks like four things make a post. Or at least this post. Works for me!
1) We finally got a snowstorm to leave some of the white stuff around here (instead of continuing to dump on Baltimore and DC). Much prettier looking than the combination of grimy plow leavings and bare patches that I've had for the last few weeks.
2) Season 3 of Shadow Unit is underway.
3) I've put in my request for this year's Amplifying Your Effectiveness conference. I missed last year's conference due to the unhappy timing of certain events at the Current Paying Gig; however, those events are not going to recur this year. The Great And Powerful Oz Has Spoken.
4) I've also mailed off my registration for the All-Star II conference on Star Island. Between Star and 4th Street Fantasy, the summer should get started with a bang.
...
Hmm. Looks like four things make a post. Or at least this post. Works for me!
How many things make a post?
Feb. 17th, 2010 10:14 pmWell, let's see:
1) We finally got a snowstorm to leave some of the white stuff around here (instead of continuing to dump on Baltimore and DC). Much prettier looking than the combination of grimy plow leavings and bare patches that I've had for the last few weeks.
2) Season 3 of Shadow Unit is underway.
3) I've put in my request for this year's Amplifying Your Effectiveness conference. I missed last year's conference due to the unhappy timing of certain events at the Current Paying Gig; however, those events are not going to recur this year. The Great And Powerful Oz Has Spoken.
4) I've also mailed off my registration for the All-Star II conference on Star Island. Between Star and 4th Street Fantasy, the summer should get started with a bang.
...
Hmm. Looks like four things make a post. Or at least this post. Works for me!
1) We finally got a snowstorm to leave some of the white stuff around here (instead of continuing to dump on Baltimore and DC). Much prettier looking than the combination of grimy plow leavings and bare patches that I've had for the last few weeks.
2) Season 3 of Shadow Unit is underway.
3) I've put in my request for this year's Amplifying Your Effectiveness conference. I missed last year's conference due to the unhappy timing of certain events at the Current Paying Gig; however, those events are not going to recur this year. The Great And Powerful Oz Has Spoken.
4) I've also mailed off my registration for the All-Star II conference on Star Island. Between Star and 4th Street Fantasy, the summer should get started with a bang.
...
Hmm. Looks like four things make a post. Or at least this post. Works for me!
Random travel thought
Nov. 10th, 2006 11:38 pmIf one must lay over in a airport for several hours between flights ... the Lindberg Terminal at Minneapolis-St. Paul isn't a half-bad place to do so.
This is the first time I've seen an airport laid out with a full-blown shopping mall inside the so-called "sterile area".
This is the first time I've seen an airport laid out with a full-blown shopping mall inside the so-called "sterile area".
Random travel thought
Nov. 10th, 2006 11:38 pmIf one must lay over in a airport for several hours between flights ... the Lindberg Terminal at Minneapolis-St. Paul isn't a half-bad place to do so.
This is the first time I've seen an airport laid out with a full-blown shopping mall inside the so-called "sterile area".
This is the first time I've seen an airport laid out with a full-blown shopping mall inside the so-called "sterile area".
