A Community of Effort

TED 2009

Tara Whittle — Fri, 21 May 2010 15:22:46 +0000

TED (noun)
1. Technology, Entertainment and Design conference, held annually in Long Beach and Palm Springs, California. Includes approximately 50 short-format talks on myriad topics over 3.5 days. (see also, TEDActive, TED.com).
2. A fire hose.

Before I first attended TED, this is what I thought it meant, particularly that second definition. As my third conference approaches, I know better. TED is no fire hose. A fire hose is tame. It’s more like deep-sea diving, but without the scuba tank. The format of several 18-minute talks per session, interspersed with shorter 3-5 minute talks seems innocuous enough, digestible. Now that I’ve been through it, I realize the format it isn’t about making it bite-sized. It’s about making it survivable. The content is so rich, the intellectual, emotional and spiritual stimulation is so powerful, that those short talks are really all a person can take in.

The beauty and paradox of TED is, in part, that immersion. I use the word “immersion” specifically. As with immersion studies of French, for example, I do leave TED feeling as if I’m speaking a new language - a language of refreshed connection, of renewed speed, action, passion. The talks have powerful initial impact, but the aftershocks resonate for years. The talks are deftly arranged into 10 sessions, each of having a specific theme (such “Provocation,” “Boldness,” “Invention”). Unexpected connections from talk to talk and session to session bubble up in the days, months and even years following each conference.

Here’s just one example. In one of the shorter talks during TED2009, Renny Gleeson hilariously mused about how technology is impacting how we are present in the moment and how we capture and re-tell that moment.

I didn’t think too much of it at the time or for months afterward. Fast-forward to August when I read The New York Times’ article “At Louvre, Many Stop to Snap, but Few Stay to Focus,” http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/03/arts/design/03abroad.html?_r=1 which delved into how people experience art museums.

Cameras replaced sketching by the last century; convenience trumped engagement, the viewfinder afforded emotional distance and many people no longer felt the same urgency to look. It became possible to imagine that because a reproduction of an image was safely squirreled away in a camera or cell phone, or because it was eternally available on the Web, dawdling before an original was a waste of time, especially with so much ground to cover.

Having been to Paris earlier in the year, the journalist’s observations certainly seemed familiar. Not only had I observed the behavior, I had participated in it (along with sketching and long bouts of gazing). The article bothered me for two reasons, the clearer of which being centered around art appreciation itself. As an art lover, I’d long since observed that many people raced through galleries, even in the film camera era when the cost of film and processing was the great discourager of taking lots of photos, and photo-taking itself was banned in many museums. Frankly, many were already emotionally distant. Technology did nothing to change that.

After a couple of days (and one very spirited debate on the subject on Plurk, a social network similar to Twitter), I finally got clear about the other reason the article bothered me. I recalled Gleeson’s talk. He had asked TEDsters to consider how the ability to capture an experience impacts our shared narrative. While he didn’t apologize for or explain away distractions from the here and now; he encouraged a dialogue that acknowledges change, recognizes that people are being impacted by technology, and challenges us all to be thoughtful about that change. It was a striking contrast to reading the NYT piece, where the message seems to be, put simply, “You’re doing it wrong.”

Linking these two pieces, I took their thinking and my own a step further. I can’t help but believe that technology has only changed the semantics of a conversation that centers on a common refrain: “You should think and do like I think and do.” Art, religion, cultural norms, the workplace—it all adds up to the same, clear message that we should wedge our square selves back into the round holes carved out for us. Why are people so eager for me to experience something, but only in a certain way? I can’t help but wonder who is caring about my experience once I’m back in that hole.

During that last trip to Paris, I took a picture of the Mona Lisa, but did that image focusing on the small portrait behind a bullet-proof glare capture the experience? I wanted to capture what she looks like in her context— not simply the painting itself, but the juxtaposition of a 500-year-old icon in its climate-controlled cocoon. But if I truly wanted to capture the experience, I’d have been better off turning my back to the painting so I could gaze at this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/photosydney/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

This crush is similar to what I experienced that day: people 20-30 deep, jostling, cameras raised. There is none of the normal museum hush in the Salle d’Etats housing the Da Vinci work. You’d be hard pressed to emotionally engage with the Mona Lisa, or any other painting in the room for that matter. In fact, it’s hard to even get a clear camera shot, let alone an unobstructed view.

So why go see the world’s most famous painting? If I apply the reporter’s message further, why would I even go to TED? After all, I’m not in the room with most of the speakers. I’m not in the same building or even the same city. I’m watching it (or most of it) on a screen at the Riviera Hotel in Palm Springs, in a ballroom the TEDActive team converts into a modern viewing lounge with rows of leather armchairs, couches, beanbags and blogging stations. And all you TED.com site fans—the millions upon millions around the world who have taken part in the TED experience—why even bother if you can’t be up-close and personal with the speakers, hearing the talks as they happen?

I’ll tell you why I’ll keep doing what I’m doing: because technology allows me to dole out my time and attention as I please, in ways that work for me and help me enhance my experience. I’m less often at the mercy of other arbitrary factors. It allows me to not just experience something, but often to share that experience with others in a richer way. (It takes me from “I saw this really cool painting” to “See how this part is in shadow and how light is treated here? This is why I really liked this painting.”) Most of all, it allows me to revisit an experience more fully, perhaps more accurately, without the veil of mis-remembering. It is in that revisiting that I often find the connections to other experiences flow, adding new meaning and impact. So I’ll continue to take my museum pictures and take part in the TED satellite conference. Sure, there will always be times when I simply experience without recording anything, and I’ll continue to cherish and honor those moments and memories. But in the meantime, that will be me snapping a picture of Venus de Milo on my iPhone. That will be me, cozily ensconced on a couch a the Palm Springs ballroom, watching and listening to the snippets of thought that will replay themselves in my mind, in my blog and in my conversations for years to come.

5 Practices to Save the World A look at the culture of a Sustainable MBA

Nina — Thu, 06 May 2010 19:21:17 +0000

On 11-14 March 2010, I had the honor of being the Change Agent in Residence for a weekend at Bainbridge Graduate Institute http://bgi.edu/ located on an island near Seattle Washington. It was a wonderful experience to be able to interaction with and sharing Inclusion as the HOW concepts with students, faculty and students. I walked away highly impressed with the Mission and the talent and thinking of the students. Sitting at a table at meal time with a cluster of students engaging in a dialogue about organizations and change was one of many highlights. I asked a few of the students to write a blog that we would post on the KJCG Website about anything that was on their mind…see Nina’s blog below:

By Nina Carduner
Bainbridge Grad Institute Class of 2011

The path to global environmental sustainability is a hard and immense journey, with the looming threat of worsening climate change ever on our shoulders. Fingers are pointing to developed and developing countries, to big business and obstinate governments. The world is full of problems with few visible solutions. Yet part of our collective struggle lies at the very heart of organizational dysfunction; our planet needs a culture of inclusion. The truth is, we all play a part in environmental destruction and we all play a part in dividing and conquering access to natural resources and human rights. We either destroy or once disempowered and afraid — we passively watch. The exclusionary nature of humans coupled with the capacity to exploit within our species is harming our continued existence on the planet. When I woke up to these realities, I began a personal quest to find the answers to my question, “how do we make the changes we need for sheer survival?”

These questions lead me to the Bainbridge Graduate Institute (BGI), to earn an MBA in Sustainable Business. The school is not even a decade old and is the first of its kind to offer a business degree that addresses our world’s need for environmental sustainability. Our school motto exclaims, “Changing business for good!”

Certainly, the school faces all the normal hurdles of a start-up on top of the pressures to confront climate change. Yet, within the school, rests a key foundation that supports the inter-personal skills I believe will lead us towards cooperative inclusive solutions in addressing the world’s problems. I’ve broken down this foundation into five core practices that BGI embodies and incorporates.

1. Emphasize Co-Creation
Part of the learning curve at BGI comes when you realize, you’re not going to get all the answers from faculty. This was a rude awakening during my first two months after years in traditional academic institutions that emphasize pedagogy and regurgitation. Instead, curiosity and exploration within guided teamwork set the stage for finding the most profound and impactful answers. Hierarchy is not entrenched and all voices carry equal weight in the BGI circle. The faculty does not see students as empty vessels ready to receive their vast knowledge, but as partners in learning with value and experience to add to the class. Once I got used to this difference, I felt excited and passionate to share my voice and I feel I’ve become a more resourceful person throughout the course of my studies.

2. Protect and promote diversity awareness
Significant parts of the BGI curriculum are dedicated to personal development and social justice. In these courses, we sometimes experience discomfort, awkwardness, fear, and pain. Yet, these feelings are the simple result of doing the deep personal reflections that the coursework requires. Going through personal development and watching your classmates do the same leads to greater empathy and awareness of others. For myself, I experienced an extremely challenging awakening to the white privilege I have enjoyed my entire life. Doing so has enriched my life and my personal friendships in ways I could not have imagined. The simple understanding that other people experience the world differently than I do you can helps all of us serve one another in the ways we truly need. That awareness alone helps us engage people before we act without fully understanding who may be affected and if we are truly serving their interests.

3. Facilitate open conversations
Over the years, as BGI has expanded in size, the school has experienced numerous shifts in culture. Students and faculty keep an open dialogue going through some of the most difficult community conversations. When difficult issues come up at BGI, they are vocalized in our open circles when the whole student body is present. If we are not in session, these discussions are taken to our online forums where everyone is invited to weigh in. These conversations are often framed within the context of the first two practices mentioned above.

4. Make public appreciations
It’s funny how subtle differences in language can make a huge impact. You can say, “I would like to thank you” or you can be more direct and take full ownership of your gratitude by saying, “I thank you…” These are some of the interpersonal skills we learn at BGI. In our open circles, BGI creates space for people to express deep gratitude and appreciation for each other. These appreciations run the gamut, for small kindnesses to deep supportive friendships. Bearing witness and holding the positive energy of gratitude with the student body and faculty has been instrumental in building the supportive community at BGI.

5. Recognize all people’s skills and values
When BGI asked me in my admissions interview, “What talents and experience could you share with the rest of the school?” I immediately racked my brain for the most business-y things I could think of. With a background in performing arts, it didn’t occur to me that a business school would value my artistic side. Yet, that is exactly what I was told next when the dean of admissions offered, “Can we tell you what we think you can offer the BGI community?” It was quite a stunning experience to feel valued as an artist by a business school and it was the first time I felt openly appreciated as an artist. Part of diversity is recognizing that every person has vast untapped knowledge and skill sets. I didn’t even realize this about myself before attending BGI. I wonder how many of us are still in this boat? The world’s challenges will require more than “group think” to re-imagine a sustainable world.

Like all organizations that are trying to operate in a different more inclusive way, the school still has some ground to travel. Yet, the ability to traverse that ground is supported by the five practices. In many organizations, people are afraid to be singled out as the “gadfly” when bringing up concerns or problems. People are afraid to ask for help, or ask for what they need. At BGI, we are encouraged to bring our voices and express our needs. Doing so may not always get the immediate results we seek, but the administration and faculty are quick to listen and are supportive of the discussions that will lead to solutions.

In the big picture, I see the world edging toward these practices with every new generation. We are not helpless individuals. BGI has helped me see that everyone is part of the solution.

A different time ………A different way to respond………

Fred — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:45:37 +0000

Although the students arriving on campuses this year cross the starting line of both generations Y and Z, (having been born between 1990 and 2004), they are a generation of tech savvy, socially networked, communicative thinkers whose use of PDAs is as natural as their next breath. In fact, the majority of these thinkers sleep with them by their sides and sleepily text, post and tweet intermittently during the night.

They grew up in a world where everyone gets a trophy, where competition is no longer the main focus of group activities and sharing the win, sharing the loss, working as a team is the norm. They are in constant communication with many of the adults in their lives and consistently want their “friends” to know about everything they do and want to hear what they are doing, too!

This generation embodies and embraces the idea of impermanence. They will work, live, do what they want and they have little to no sense of failure if they have to move back home with their parents, and some just never move out at all. They seek support and encouragement from everyone in their lives. Their social networking abilities are constantly at their fingertips, and the exchange of information and connection is happening at lightening speed.

Here is a generation who has spent their whole lives thus far in a world that has been at war. This generation has been living and trying to play in a context of global unrest, from Desert Storm to 9/11 to the second Iraq War and Afghanistan; they have been here for all of it. They have not known life when the United States was not at war. As parents, relatives and neighbors, how do we release our children into this world? It is our natural instinct to protect and nurture them, to want to ensure their safety; yet we are living in a society that sensationalizes its violent acts and where conflict and personal tragedies ring out from TV and the Internet.

How will these young people be successful in college when they have no idea if there will be a job waiting for them when they get out? How will they repay their student loans? Support themselves? What industry will be left for them to work in? For this generation, the future is not a bright light. It is a daily headline of stocks crashing and major companies closing or going bankrupt. The opportunity to own a home, make a major purchase or live a better life than their parents is almost impossible to fathom. They have seen their parents and relatives losing their jobs. What possibilities do they have?

We want the next generation to be successful; we want them to grow into productive adults who have a passion for life. And we, as parents, relatives and neighbors, also want to make all of the transitions in their lives seamless, smooth and even a little bit easy. But we know we have to let them stumble; let them find their own way. How do we release them to find their way when the world seems so unsafe and uncertain?

As they enter the workforce, organization leaders will need to keep up and will need to change their style and approach to what is coming and how best to harness the energy and ideas of this new generation. Information and knowledge will need to be available and interesting. We—parents, leaders, supporters and society as a whole—will need to stimulate this group of thinkers or we will lose them.

Leaders in organizations will be faced with needing new ways of managing and engaging. This generation has been taught to not only seek out, but also to expect to receive feedback daily. They have lived in a social fluidity that has allowed them, and at times encouraged them, to change their mind, their major, their circumstance and their job based on how they feel and what will “work” for them. While they may have had the opportunity to see someone hold the same job for most of their lives, they do not aspire to do the same, nor does it seem to be an option even if they wanted it to be. This will be a generation of multiple careers and interests, and a confidence that celebrates that wide breadth of choices and experiences.
This generation is no doubt our fastest growing and changing element that will impact the success of not only our, but also future, organizations and our society. In order to gain as much as we can from them, we need to recognize this change and be prepared for it. The question to us all is—are we ready?

What happened to vacations?

Fred — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:55:39 +0000

…I didn’t get the memo…but I know something’s changed

When was the last time you took a vacation? I mean a real vacation, where you put aside your work, physically and mentally? Do you recall a time when you were able to unplug from your office, without feeling obligated to check in? A time when you could totally unwind, allowing your mind to rest? Let’s face it folks, in the United States, those vacations are a thing of the past.

We know that time to relax and refresh ourselves is critical to well-being and high performance, yet we continue to downplay the importance of “down time.” We live in the only economically “advanced” country that does not guarantee its workforce vacation time. Britain guarantees 20 days of vacation time, Germany 24, France 30 and Holland 50 days a year for government workers. For one of the richest countries in the world, this discrepancy is staggering. Yet, because it is “just vacation,” we treat it as a trivial matter to be ignored or brushed off.

As companies grow, so does the workplace culture that rewards individuals who continually work without taking time off, do not unplug when they get home and are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Profit or productivity may play a part in the development of the “accidental workaholic” as people work more hours not because they want to, but because they feel they have no choice. As companies place more and more value on those who rarely or never take a break, more people see no choice but to allow work to creep into many if not all areas of their lives. The boundaries between work and personal life continue to be blurred, crossed and swiftly eliminated.

While companies play a major role in the elimination of true down time, we as consumers are a contributing force. The U.S. culture relies on the market that is open 24 hours a day and expects businesses to be open every day. We need to have access to everything at all times. Could our culture support a month long shut down the way they do in Europe? Could we accept not having access to the places we shop every day and could they handle the possible financial shortfall?

We are a technologically equipped society in constant contact with many organizations. We can be reached by a multitude of devices. With cell phones, BlackBerry® and the iPhone, we are vibrating and ringing along lake sides, while we are on the water, at dining tables, bed side and even in the bathroom. We can and do conduct business anywhere, anytime and we are suffering from it far more than we realize. The time that is spent working 12-15 hour days and through our weekends, and our activity formerly known as “vacations” is keeping us from fully engaging with our families, our friends and ultimately ourselves.

What is the ultimate price we are paying for eliminating rest — one of our basic survival needs? If we don’t rest, how do we protect our health? Our well-being? Our personal lives? How do we not only maintain business, but also move forward? We are not Energizer Bunnies®, we cannot continue to go on and on without refreshing and replenishing our energies. There is no easy way out of this culture that we have created.

As organizational leaders and team members we are faced with this challenge and we must find a way to incorporate down time into our plans and our lives. We must look at the benefits that well-rested, refreshed members bring to the table. And we must also recognize within ourselves that our goal is not to just survive, but to thrive. In order to do that, unplugging and refreshing are as necessary as the air we breathe and the cell phones that are affixed to our ears.

New York’s New Mindset

Mickey — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:51:15 +0000

We often talk about inclusion as a means of creating higher performance, how tapping into the diverse experiences, ideas, and skills of people can transform and elevate organizational effectiveness. A great example is seen in Christopher Dickey’s book Securing the City, which chronicles how the New York City Police Department became one of the world’s premier terrorist-fighting agencies in the aftermath of the 2001 World Trade Center attacks.

Post 9-11, the NYPD faced a daunting reality: limited resources, a monumental task before them, and no time to waste. Many believed that the city’s sprawling diversity compounded the problem; with so many cultures at play (40% of the city’s population was born outside the United States), it was hard to see how the police department could effectively connect with all the neighborhoods and populations it needed to protect.

But Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and new Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence David Cohen saw it differently. Recognizing that the force itself included officers of many different backgrounds, they asked members of the department to come forward if they were interested in anti-terrorism work and spoke another language fluently. Approximately 1,800 officers responded. Kelly and Cohen had the officers tested and found that 700 of them were native speakers in languages considered important to combating terrorism—languages like Farsi, Pashtu, Bengali, Urdu, and Arabic, among others. (By point of comparison, the total number of students graduating U.S. colleges and universities in 2002 with degrees in Arabic was 6!)

The department immediately began training these officers for their new duties. Some were sent into deep cover in NYC communities and neighborhoods; others joined online intelligence gathering efforts. Dickey’s book cites plots foiled, conspirators apprehended, and devious activities interrupted as a direct result of this culturally savvy police force’s ability to reach into new communities. By 2003, the FBI and CIA were contacting the NYPD for assistance in counterterrorism operations.

The force has also recognized the need for a global approach. The NYPD now has officers stationed in Paris, Tel Aviv, London—cities that, like New York, are susceptible to terrorist attack. These officers learn new methods and tactics and communicate them back to their colleagues in the United States. When the Mumbai attacks occurred in November 2008, three NYPD investigators were on site before the siege ended.

There were many aspects of the NYPD’s efforts that made their work successful, but a key component was tapping into the diversity of its workforce in new ways that spurred high performance, and adopting a mindset that saw cultural differences as additive. When leaders began to widen their perspective about what skills were valuable, they discovered a huge reserve of potential in its members that wasn’t being tapped.