Tall drip, please

Grateful

2011-07-14T11:18:00.000-07:00

I am grateful for a well-paying job. I read today that more than 6 million Americans are out of work, many of whom are well qualified and have been searching for 1-2 years. I complain that I don't like my work, but in reality, I have great pay and benefits, I don't work overtime, and I generally enjoy my co-workers. Life is really not bad. I am building my safety net in case I become a statistic, but I doubt I will due to the company doing so well. I am lucky. No, fortunate. And blessed. And grateful today for all that I do have.

But this doesn't mean I will stop searching for something better, something more suitable to me. I would love to teach ESL. I would love to write human interest stories and business articles. Perhaps even write about travel. It's finding an editor that's the hard part. I have yet to get a response, but it's a numbers game and a research and focus game. I need to apply myself better. As for teaching, one application to one school won't cut it. I need to get certified this winter, and I need to refocus on a long-term game plan and apply for all opportunities, even if they are part-time at night with no benefits. That's okay. I will make it, and I am giving myself one year to make this change.

Next July, I really want to have moved on from supply chain and business analysis to teaching and writing.

Can I do it? If I truly focus, research, network, apply, and give it all I've got, I believe I can get freelance gigs and make connections in the academic world. Not sure I can land a job by then, given the tight job market and education cuts in Washington and elsewhere. But I sure will try, because I believe I was meant to help people, and language and writing are my passions.

Here I go!!

It's time to chase dreams

2011-07-03T14:11:00.000-07:00

Web content and digital media was a big focus in grad school, but I quickly realized I had no desire to make a career out of it. Search marketing, online content and web design do not strike me as interesting enough to spend time on, so I've moved on.

I am still forecasting sales for a big brand name (and thoroughly enjoying its consumables!) but this train has rolled into the station, and the engine is revving up to move on.

I'm searching slowly, methodically, attempting to not make the same mistakes as in the past - jumping from one job to another, thinking it will be better. I have to find the right fit for me, aside from pay, benefits, and other "responsible" reasons.

It is time to chase dreams.

While only an average student in school, I always excelled in writing and language learning. There was usually someone more talented than me, but I enjoyed those subjects so much so that I could write essays on the fly, and really do well.

I scored one of the highest possible points on the Graduate Record Exam's essay section. I wrote a grad school thesis on Indoesian telecom policy reform strong enough to be accepted to an academic conference, where I presented and defended in front of a seasoned academic audience. No PhD required:-)

I freelanced a handful of times for a local community paper, but somewhere along the path I lost momentum. Rarely had I felt that elated happiness I felt when seeing my name in print, even though I was paid very little. The money had almost nothing to do with it. So why am I stuck in a cube in an office doing something which bores me after one hour?

Honestly, why?

Time to scale that wall and chase what makes me feel more satisified day to day.

Where did the time go?

2005-12-11T21:29:00.000-08:00

What can I say to make up for 7 months? Summer came and went. I worked hard at my new forecasting position, traveled on 3 business trips, spent a week in Michigan, and then September hit. Turkey! It was awesome. I can't believe I finally got to see Istanbul. I even got to travel throughout western Turkey. I was so pleasantly surprised how beautiful it was, how friendly the people were, and how much history is there to explore. Two days after I got back, work and school started up. It has been non-stop ever since. Tonight I finally finished my final assignment for the quarter - a 25-page Ethics paper. Exhale...

Readability

2005-05-12T21:54:00.000-07:00

A firey sun set slowly beyond the Olympics tonight. The sky was a blue-grey blanket of clouds that reached just beyond the city and the sound. It was awesome.

Anyway, on with the reading.
Legibility, ease of reading, and ease of understanding are how George Klare described readability in 1963. True, his lack of mentioning usefulness is one way to differentiate Web readability from traditionally paper-read formats. The author of the assigned article translates "readability" into "audience analysis", an idea with which I agree. But I would not readily agree with Zibell's statement that the only path to success online is to make sites trivially easy to use. Yes, designers should focus on the audiences' exact goals and lead them directly to their specific desires. Yes, the only path to online success is to design for the users. We've discussed this at length already. But every site, every audience, every designer demands a different experience.

To that end, design will channel users' wants and needs in endless directions; some audiences will not gravitate toward trivially easy-to-use Web sites. They will demand the opposite. Or they will demand a mix. Albeit Zibell's article is five years old and Web design has since metamorphosed into more sophisticated, intriguing designs and more savvy audiences. But I think her idea about simplicity is too, well, simple. She makes a good point, but to a certain extent, I disagree. (In several articles we've read, authors have made blanket statements that don't always apply to every situation. This is another example.)

Breaking down Web site design to its most fundamental forms, and funneling all attention to the most specific areas is good design. But the relative meanings of fundamental and specific vary from audience to audience. All Web sites and all audiences require similar attention and end results, but they also vary in form and content. And they should vary. Designers and writers should continuously strive for creative, thoughtful approaches to their crafts in the online world, but not be so obsessed with keeping users' attention that they omit useful information. Sometimes more information is better. Even online. Even to the extent of causing some clutter sometimes. It all circles back to the audience and the goals of the Web site.

No ideas should be left behind yet. Simplicity definitely matters in design, but it can also kill potentially great work. The more ideas and new approaches to Web design and online writing that are implemented, the better off we'll all be. I guess what scares me about the simplicity concept is the idea that so many designers and writers focus too much on dumbing down their work for the least savvy users. I say we should strive more for the middle of the road, so online writing and designing doesn't end up like mainstream American broadcast journalism in the past 15 years; we don't want to simplify to the point of simply trying to keep people's attention with trivial, useless crap. Whatever content we add to our Web sites, it should be meaningful to the audience; that doesn't always translate into trivial and easy to read.

Digital Asset Management

2005-05-08T20:30:00.000-07:00

Digital Asset Management is an important topic for organizations trying to keep control of the flow and organization of their digital media assets. And if they aren't spending time thinking about it now, they will need to do so very soon. Most content, including files, emails, records, correspondance, memos, financial documents and many other types of content need to be stored appropriately so the data is not lost. Employees need to be able to easily access archived or filed information without taking all day to do so. Legal departments need to track who can access which digital content, when, and how. Companies today are concerned with who is able to access their confidential information. They are concerned with losing valuable digital documents. In fact, an entire industry is now in place to support both large and small organizations in tracking their hard and soft files, organizing and archiving them, supporting privacy, and knowing when to let go of old files.

The problem now is keeping pace with technology. Many companies are not up to speed in terms of understanding available archiving systems and digital content rights and restrictions. Organizations also need to maintain control and understanding of the legal aspects of sharing or restricting digital content.

Fixity versus Fluidity

2005-04-28T20:57:00.000-07:00

David M. Levy's paper on Document Stability and New Media is yet another unique take on the rapid transitions happening within digital media. He argues that the commonly accepted notion of all communicative documentation moving from fixity to fluidity is false. He says the claim arises from a misperception of the nature of documents, both on paper and in digital form. Paper (books, papers, manuscripts) is not necessarily stable, permanent, or inactive. Digital documents are not necessarily unstable, fluid, or changeable. The more I read, the more interesting the topic became.

Levy says fixity is not forever, and the speed and the ways in which documents change are governed by the purposes they serve. Documents provide variable fixity for a purpose. In terms of hypertext documents, we as a culture need to work out what is fixed, why, for whom, and when and how it can be changed. For those who believe we are completely transitioning from fixed to fluid, their argument is based more on the increase in the rate of change than on a loss of fixity. Everything is just happening faster. To that end, it is imperative that we come up with creative alternatives to our current archiving systems. The Library of Congress, universities, and other organizations need to focus now on preservation of digital photos, papers, books, hypertexts and other formats.

I like the author's example of Joyce's Ulysses. The novel was written over the course of seven years, with hand-written notes; it was typeset by non-English speaking printers; at least 18 editions have been published; but the average reader may believe Ulysses is, and always has been, one fixed document. Fixity and fluidity are relative. They can either conflict with or complement each other.

In terms of hypertext, no two readers need follow the same path. In comes fluidity. We have to consider that the readers and visitors of our Web sites may not start of the same page; but we are responsible for keeping them fully informed, regardless of which pages within the site they visit.

The author argues that the desire for versioning comes from the desire to keep something fixed. And the presence of and need for versioning is sufficient in itself to challenge the claim that fixity has disappeared from hypertext. Interesting.

Ultimately the hypertext developer, the author, and the reader all have choices. They can decide what is fluid and what is fixed. The two are interchangeable; I agree with the Levy's premise. I think one's view on fluidity versus fixity depends on purpose and on point of view.

Aesthetic Design

2005-04-24T21:10:00.000-07:00

Aesthetic design affects every aspect of our lives, from our homes to our personal style to our judgments to our choice of retailer to our trust in a Web site. In Emotion Design, Don Norman raises interesting and legitimate points from research studies conducted on the connection between affect, emotion and cognition. My question is this: What is the definition of attractive? Sure, studies found attractive things make people feel good, which makes them relaxed and creative, which makes it easier for people to find solutions to problems they encounter because they're less focused on something that frustrates them, and more open to ideas. But stating that attractive things work better still seems false. Attractive things can sometimes seem to work better because of people's positive perceptions. And attractive is a relative term. In Web design, it's more important to fully research and speak to the audience in whatever style they want, rather than focus on making it easy or attractive. It is too loosely defined that way.

The article referred to the Japanese study on ATM machine interfaces, which reminds me of an anecdote. When I first arrived to teach English in Japan, the school's American manager took me to the bank to set up an account, and introduced me to an outdoor Japanese ATM machine. I could not read all the Japanese kanji on the keys, so I asked him how to check my balance. He told me, "Just keep hitting buttons until money comes out." I looked at him, and he was completely serious. I eventually figured it out, but I wonder how he survived. Some people.

Rhetoric as a skill

2005-04-14T21:22:00.000-07:00

People generally communicate to persuade, entertain, instruct, sell, spread awareness, argue, or simply be part of a group. This was true in Aristotle's time and it remains so today. Rhetoric in Aristotle's time meant communicating through speech or writing and persuading a crowd to accept an argument. Today's rhetoric means communicating through various channels or media with a particular audience and particular purpose(s). It is a skill with measurable objectives; it is functional, yet intuitive and imaginative. There is both art and science in rhetoric, as in many other skills, such as architecture or business forecasting.

Aristotle defined speech as composed in two parts: state your case, and then prove it. Before digital media took over our lives, we defined communication in a similar way. We arranged our thoughts into large documents or books. We thought of communication as a chance to persuade someone, and we still do. But now we fit our thoughts into smaller, separate pieces to disseminate online as needed, depending on our audience. This is a simiplified statement, but it bares some truth. The WOW team has to carefully consider integrating smaller pieces of information into our visual design as our site design depends on a broad, yet finicky audience. We have focused on three particular personas to help us cope with such a vast audience. We are considering how they prefer to interact and communicate online, as each persona has drastically different technical/digital media experience.

Today's audiences proactively participate in rhetoric. Audiences in Aristotle's time may have done the same by composing their own speeches or writings in reciprocation. Nowadays, audiences often start conversations and drive discussions online. Communication is more of a two-way street where digital media creators must listen, answer questions, resolve dilemmas and assist the audience in finding whatever knowledge they seek, rather than tell them what we think they should know, and sell them on our talking points. This type of communication between companies and customers has changed completely within the past two decades. Twenty-somethings today view the forces behind communication very differently than their peers in their 40s and even in their 30s. Twenty years ago (even 10 years ago), companies dictated what they wanted their customers to believe. There was no two-way communication. Today, if we want to win our audiences' trust, interaction means we are driven to honesty and integrity online. This is not necessarily the case with the audience, whose contribution to conversation may be more opinionated or emotion-driven than fact-based. Regardless of how our audiences respond to us, as digital media creators, all our doors have to be open to our audiences, or they will find what they seek elsewhere (this includes providing information on our competitors).

My summary of the direction of digital rhetoric is this:
There is less black and white, and more grey today than ever before. The infusion of ideas, the broad scope of personalities and the speed of online communication have decentralized not only who controls communication and information, but have also decentralized thinking and opinions. More subtle design and softer language are becoming the norm as designers try to appease the masses as well as speak to individuals. Communication is a pyramid in which people connect online as a larger community, then they connect as smaller groups, then as individuals; it becomes increasingly diversified at each step. Writers and designers must learn to speak to mass audiences and individuals in their preferred language or line of thought. The entire process of who communicates with whom, how often, and in what way has changed online. The power is shifting back to individuals.

Traditional Narrative Elements

2005-04-09T12:08:00.000-07:00

Feature writing in journalism can take on many forms, but such stories commonly embody traditional narrative elements of storytelling: setting, character, plot, backstory and detail. These elements also work in news writing, broadcasting, photojournalism, marketing, advertising, textbooks, and technical how-to's; they can all communicate with narrative elements. Some are mundane, some creative, but the basic ideas exist in many writing formats. No matter what genre or medium in which you write, context is important in developing and implementing an idea or theme. All five elements don't have to be used in all writing; the point is they are potentially helpful to keep in mind when developing content for nearly any style of writing, no matter how long or short the piece is intended to be.

Three Tips for Visual Design

#1 Newcomers should quickly gain an understanding of your target audience
#2 Omit clutter; only add design that contributes to meaning
#3 Create consistency throughout the site

Content Creation Styles

2005-04-02T12:20:00.000-08:00

The Wounded http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/27/magazine/27WOUNDED.html
"As of March 18, 11,344 American soldiers had been injured in the war in Iraq. Starting with the first tourniquet or I.V. applied at the scene of the trauma, today's war wounded experience a rapid sequence of carefully choreographed medical treatments. From the battlefield, an injured soldier is carried to a nearby combat medical facility, where doctors try to stop the bleeding, sanitize the wounds and begin treatment. If the injuries require further care, the patient is evacuated by cargo plane to a military hospital at Landstuhl, Germany, and finally transferred to a long-term-care facility in the United States. During the Vietnam War, a comparable journey took 45 days; today, it takes less than 4. The speed of the process, combined with improvements in body armor and surgical care, has made a lifesaving difference: the current survival rate among wounded soldiers is 87 percent -- up from about 75 percent in Vietnam."

I gravitate toward journalism with a top-down, broad view of a topic. I like learning; I enjoy reading long, well-researched stories.

Small World Stories http://photomediagroup.com/archive/2005-spring/coverStory.html
"If you run into Blaine Harrington — maybe in an airport — do him a favor and ask him where he’s been lately. He says he comes back from globetrotting photo shoots excited to share his experiences. That exuberance comes through the lens into award-winning photographs that have kept him happily in the business of travel photography for many years. It’s a career that’s equal parts adventure, good planning and desire to tell a story." “It’s all part of the richness of it,” he explains, “just wanting to experience everything, and if I get a feeling for a place, wanting to get it on film too.”

The descriptive story-telling power of a single photo, or photo essay, can either compliment or replace words. Whether it's a photo of a person or a place, it can add emotional appeal, enhance a theme, create a setting, and provide satisfaction to the audience.

You Are So Beautiful http://www.thislife.org/
"Two stories about love, and what people mean when they use the word love. Or, looked at differently, two modern day re-interpretations of the Frog Prince story. One concerns a pretty man falling in love with an unlikely woman. Another story involves an unlikely woman falling in love with a pretty bird.Prologue. Ira explains how you can get away with anything, if you claim you did it for love."

The radio show "This American Life" represents powerful storytelling; descriptive, entertaining, intriguing, insightful in an abstract way. I think it's very interesting to tell a story by focusing on one person, one small event; it can represent the big picture without having to actually explain that big picture. For example, you can explain the impact of the Vietnam War on society by telling a short story about a Vietnam Veteran who learns how to live life in a wheelchair. You get the idea.

After having completed this little exercise, I realize I place a lot of importance of storytelling about people; about events that transform them. Does that make sense?

Pyramids, Writing, Design

The more you practice the inverted pyramid style of writing, the more succinct and focused your writing may become. If you zero in on the 5 Ws as the most important story elements, you'll eventually cut out unnecessary words, phrases and redundancies. The goal in web writing should be similar but the writer also has a responsibility to keep architecture in mind. Mixing precisely worded sentences with an aesthetically pleasing architecture culminates in well developed design that will attract visitors to your website, and keep them intrigued. The writer must incorporate design into the writing process so the outcome makes sense to the website visitor. I am picturing websites whose aim is to pursuade or to sell something. Most people I know want short descriptions, pictures, audio, video, and whatever else attracts them. The goal would be different of course for an online newspaper, magazine, e-book or discussion forum, where people expect to read more, and enjoy it. For our storytelling assignments, the shorter the writing, the better in most cases. But the 5 Ws alone are boring. Mixing it up with fiction and creative writing will entice the visitor to read and explore more of the site. As of this moment I have no experience in web design; I hope that 10 weeks from now I'll be able to speak more to this topic.

Risk

2005-03-06T10:10:00.000-08:00

To laugh is to risk appearing foolish
To cry is to risk appearing sentimental
To reach out to someone is to risk involvement
To expose your feelings is to risk exposing your true self
To place your ideas and dreams before a crowd is to risk loss
But the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing

Anonymous

Week 7

2005-02-27T10:02:00.000-08:00

http://harleydavidson.com
Harley Davidson's web site starts with the big picture and helps the user quickly narrow down what they want to know and see. The site allows users of all demographics within the audience to share in a fun, informative, exciting experience. The site reveals a clear grid structure, it's very easy to navigate, and novice users can find answers without getting too lost in the site. The juxtaposition of color and use of space are very easy on the eyes. The intention of the site is to educate potential customers, inform current Harley owners of their maintenance and other options, and excite everyone about the Harley experience.

http://ohayosensei.com
Ohayo Sensei (good morning, teacher) needs help. Columns are shoved to the left, words are cramped together, and extensive blank space occupies the right and bottom of the site. It could be better written. Better color, type, and overall communication concept would help make it a more succinct and focused web site.

2005-02-20T10:26:00.000-08:00

Is it summer yet?

Week 6

2005-02-19T11:19:00.000-08:00

I attended a science forum on Friday (it was sunny; don't ask me what I was thinking). A Computer Science prof gave a talk on Google and the future of web search. His slide show consisted of intellectual opinion, scientific analysis, mathematical equations, and jokes about the chemistry dept; I think I was the only one not laughing. (By the way, this science forum also re-enforced what I read for my book review - that programmers and designers think differently, and programmers should not be the ones to design the software.) The auditorium was filled mostly with computer science students and scholars, and their questions were heavier than what I wanted to hear on a Friday afternoon, but luckily I was able to pick up a few points about web search.

For example, current web search helps us find info on cancer, right? Well, future web search may help us find a cure. Future web search should be smarter than it is now; that would require more complex algorithms, and a pooling of more in-depth "what ifs" from computer scientists. Currently, separating fact from opinion is challenging to web search engines. But the benefit of continuing to create smarter search engines is aggregating data so we can receive less, rather than more, sources of information. (We don't want to filter so much that we only see what we personally want to see and become narrow-minded thinkers, though.) Very generally, we are now bound by info overload, an addiction to technology rather than books, and a desire to receive more info, more quickly and easily. We should be careful to create technology that saves us time and helps us become smarter. We want to filter out the junk and the redundancies; not different viewpoints or eye-opening info. It would be dangerous to allow computers or search engines to do all the thinking for us, unless they were so carefully constructed that they'd know how to teach us what we don't know and what we should know. Make sense?

RSS saves us time and allows us to view all information in which we're personally interested. This is great, but in doing so, we may miss valid news, articles or opinions from other sources that would also benefit us. Just as marketing and advertising becomes more individualistic as we've recently discussed, so does our ability to filter information via technology. If we only receive certain articles from certain publications, and we don't see the other articles on other subjects because we don't directly view the publications themselves, we could miss a lot.

As technology further developes during the next decade, I think we will see even more individualized, aggregated info. We will create portfolios of info which interest us, and filter out the rest. But we will also participate in online discussion such as blogs, thus mixing our views, talking to people who think differently from us, hearing about different news and different cultures, and enforcing societal change (i.e. the firing of media execs, or the push for a certain political candidate, etc). Blogging and podcasting will become mainstream. We as individuals will control information and content flow. I think this is good. But we have to be careful to still be open to learning from others instead of always being in control in our own universe.

Worthwhile things

2005-02-16T22:10:00.000-08:00

a camp fire
laughing uncontrollably
getting to know new friends
one success after much failure
standing up for yourself in tough times
sitting on a mountain strapped to a snowboard
helping someone who has less than you
stretching after a workout
countless stars in the sky
hearing from an old friend
watching an early sunrise
pizza and a movie
a glass of red wine
baking cookies
friday nights
a good book
family
realizing how lucky you are

Week 5

2005-02-13T20:06:00.000-08:00

Gestalt Principles of Perception

Similarity, Proximity, Continuity: Swirling space dust

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/starsgalaxies/spitzer-020705.html

Symmetry: Background lines depicting a globe outline

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/02/0211_050211_babyrhino.html

Figure and Ground: Camel in the desert

http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/exploration/wallpaper02.html

2005-02-05T11:03:00.000-08:00

Standing under the Eiffel Tower, Paris.

Week 4

2005-02-05T10:03:00.000-08:00

I accepted a job offer on Friday! I'm still at my company, but in a new role in a more exciting department. There are three of us on a newly created team within the greater Sales group. Our job is to forecast how much product needs to be ordered from Japan, and to collaborate/communicate/visit our accounts nationwide to keep the business relationship going strong. It's a wise move for me; I'll be more visible, more accountable, and more excited about what I do from 8 to 5. I'm grateful to have found something new; sometimes it takes a while to get what you want. But eventually, what comes around goes around.

I picked up a few points from the WOW team reading that will apply to my new role at work, as well as our WOW team project: walk a mile in the customers' shoes, analyze the interaction of basic system components, and reduce uncertainty and confusion.

It's vital to understand how each account views its own business. Every account analyzes itself differently, for better or worse. It will be my job to understand their methods of forecasting, how accurate their orders are compared to their actual sales, and how well they plan their business. Then I will determine what works best. I will communicate and collaborate with them to reduce any uncertainty or confusion. We have to understand our customers inside-out, analyze their business, compare their systems to ours, and keep everyone in the communication loop. That's the plan, anyway. And according to the reading, following the research-analysis-design process can greatly impact such a project's outcome. The more in-depth one understands the pros, cons and impacts of a project, the more accurate and potentially successful the outcome will be. I guess that sounds obvious, but it's surprising how often we assume we know what we're doing without really considering all the pros and cons. It will make a difference if each of our teams closely researches and analyzes each step of our Content Creation projects.

2005-01-31T20:19:00.000-08:00

This guy is definitely in charge.

Week 3

2005-01-30T16:03:00.000-08:00

Standards of some form are necessary to create order in society. Figuring out when to use standards, and how strict they should be, come later. When programming languages have standards, it’s easy for anyone to contribute to online authoring. There are times, though, that Web sites should not be standardized, such as sites for personal finance and other private information. Standardization should be an ongoing process which enables people to adapt to the changes in society; nothing is static these days. Computer hacking, terrorism and other societal threats should be cause enough for us to re-think standards currently in place, and whether changes, limitations or more freedoms are necessary.

As for the Group Think question, I feel that as long as a group stays open and honest with each other, group-think almost becomes a non-issue. It’s not a bad idea for one or two people to play devil’s advocate either. That helps keep everyone on point.

2005-01-23T10:03:00.000-08:00

Sunset in Yellowstone, Sept 04

Week 2

2005-01-22T13:37:00.000-08:00

When I taught English in Japan, I learned a lot about myself. I drove on the left, bought hot coffee and cold beer from road-side vending machines, spend lots of time in subways, on crowded streets, in incense-filled Buddhist temples (I am a practicing Catholic), and regularly ate unagi with chopsticks like it was a PB&J sandwich (unagi is eel, which I didn't know for a good two months). I am more of an introvert by nature, but I am social, too.

I enjoyed teaching because it challenged me and I was able to use my strengths: facilitate communication, help people understand language concepts, listen, and so on. Interacting with my Japanese students fascinated me. But some days it was pretty hard to get up and go into a class of 20 people expecting you to entertain their minds and hold their attention. But it was an awesome experience and I'd do it all over again.

I do not enjoy being the center of attention, normally. I like the sidelines, I like to observe. I re-fuel by being alone. I enjoyed Japan because I was able to get to know myself better without a lot of noise in my life. It's hard to describe. I wanted to live in another country and do my own thing for a while. I lived in Wakayama, a rural town 30 minutes south of Osaka. Some locals had never seen a caucasian foreigner, so they would stare a lot. I mean a lot. This was not Tokyo which is similar to New York, where people are too rushed to care who you are. In Tokyo you only get the occasional "where are you from?" question in the subway. I eventually made friends and lived with a Japanese family. When I lived with the family, the mailman came one day and I went out front to get the mail from him. I think I really scared him because his eyes got really big and he didn't say a word. I remember one day, after living there for 8 months, I saw a white guy on the street and I literally could not stop staring at him. I thought, oh my God, this is how they stare at me...am I turning Japanese?

Overall I loved living there because I was able to observe all I wanted, write, travel, and soak in the culture.

What does this have to do with the team role question? I'm trying to say I am a collaborator, communicator, facilitator of conversation; I am good at pulling the pieces together. I enjoy writing, researching, suggesting ideas. I do not want to be a manager. That's a whole different ball game. I have no desire to manage people, to be responsible for their actions and results in a corporate environment. When I go home at night, I leave work at work. Truly good managers have both great people skills AND THE DESIRE to see everyone succeed; that requires significant time and energy away from your own work, among other things. I do very well independently, and I do very well on teams. But I don't have a desire to control all aspects of other people and projects or add more and more and more to my workload. I'd rather express myself through my work, learn, and help my teammates along the way. So Brian and Suzanne (if you've read this far), I guess I fill the role you resist the most! Maybe it wasn't a trick question. We will make a great team;-)

Team effectiveness

2005-01-15T17:25:00.000-08:00

What makes a team effective?

First, set a goal.

If the goal is to monitor product flow, measure sales growth and forecast the company's potential, I'd say my example of a team is highly effective. If the goal, however, includes professional satisfaction, learning, and a sense of moving forward, then my example fails miserably.

Team members at a major corporation:

VP of Finance/Sales Planning: Goal-driven, respected by peers, uncommunicative
Manager of Planning: Goal-driven, respected by peers, socially dominant
5 underdogs: All goal-driven, respected by peers, flexible, accomodating

The team accomplishes weekly goals set by the company president. Their projects consistently satisfy top management, and no more work need be done to change the outcome in the eyes of management. Everyone is on the same page regarding how much product was sold after the launch, how much needs to be re-ordered, and how well the company has done this quarter compared to past quarters. Great.

But there is a deep level of dissatisfaction among the 5 underdogs. They feel their work is like a egg rolling toward the edge of the kitchen counter. Are they doing everything they can to secure their positions and satisfy management? Will their work be good enough tomorrow? Should they be learning and growing to anticipate change in the market and increased competition? Will the VP and Manager support their desire to learn and grow? Everyone in this group is on their own because communication is virtually non-existent. Creativity is nowhere in sight.

Leadership starts at the top, and if the VP is respected by peers (the president, other VPs and managers), he has no ambition to change or to help the underdogs. He remains uncommunicative with his staff, and no change is aloud into the group. The weekly goals will continue to be accomplished, but just barely. The underdogs will not progress unless they continue to learn and grow. They need leadership. If the VP doesn't communicate well, and the Manager dominates all communication, regardless of whether the effect is positive or negative on the rest of the group, it's up to the underdogs to take control and enforce change for their own good. But without good leadership, new goals will be very difficult to accomplish. A good leader makes all the difference when it comes to communication and team progress.

My preferred method of communication with team members is email. It's the fastest way to ask questions, provide answers and keep accomplishing everything you want to in a given time frame. But often I end up walking down the hall to someone's office to make sure we're thinking the same thoughts. As we all know, email is often misunderstood by the recipient. In a professional setting, communication is the key to all success, and talking in person is probably the best approach. But email is faster, and I fall back on email probably a lot more than I should.