KathyJacobson

Jun 272016
 

“The Language of Systems Thinking – Links and Loops”

by Michael Goodman, Jennifer Kemeny, Charlotte Roberts (The Society for Organizational Learning)

    • In systems thinking, every picture tells a story. From any element in a situation (or “variable”), you can trace arrows (“links”) that represent influence on another element. These, in turn, reveal cycles that repeat themselves, time after time, making situations better or worse.
    • But links never exist in isolation. They always comprise a circle of causality, a feedback “loop,” in which every element is both “cause” and “effect” influenced by some, and influencing others, so that every one of its effects, sooner or later, comes back to roost.

“Wikipedia – Holistic Management (ag)”
Framework:  The holistic management decision-making framework uses six key steps to guide the management of resources

  • #6. Monitor proactively, before your managed system becomes more imbalanced. This way the manager can take adaptive corrective action quickly, before the ecosystem services are lost. Always assume your plan is less than perfect and use a feedback loop that includes monitoring for the earliest signs of failure, adjusting and re-planning as needed. In other words use a “canary in a coal mine” adaptive approach.

“Permaculture and Economics”  2015 by Nandor,  Permaculture in New Zealand website

  • A permaculture economy would self consciously build in feedback loops and pay attention to those already existing. One of the feedback loops that has been systematically removed from the current economic model is the true cost of doing business.
     
Jun 262016
 

6/26/16 Feedback

  • To: Halley Davidson (HD) regarding her Intern Log Entry #5 June 3 – Research
    • Constantine Faller (CF): AO IC – Operations Chief, (Basic Needs – Education), Internship Program Coordinator
  • From: K. Jacobson (kj): BWH IC/AO Liaison/Mentor

Homework: reviewed Intern Information Pages, developed a synopsis and a review checklist, the checklist is currently embedded in the draft Project Collaboration 1 document. The following feedback is linked to the concepts, key words identified in the guidance documents.

After conversations with both Constantine and Kathy about the importance of knowing your stuff before beginning an experience, they asked me to take the time to define research, and to elaborate on the importance of reading the possible materials presented to you.To define research, I first thought of the countless research projects that I have encountered during my time as a student. It typically begins with an unknown topic or question of interest and the research is the solution to these unknown factors. For example, you are given the prompt “What event(s) lead to the beginning of the Cold War?” Your research would then try to answer this question by using history and author based writings that could answer the question fully.I think that as I have grown, research has acquired a larger definition than simply academic research. Answering basic questions, like “What, why, how?” may simply better your personal or team growth. Though it is not a direct question, taking the time to research a new city you are going to can prove invaluable. Or when you are starting a new job or project, making sure that you are well acquainted with the factors of that work makes your job easier and clearer.In Harry Potter, Hermione was always teased for reading. She spent the majority of her free time in the library, and had read all of their coursework before even attending a single class at Hogwarts. However, time and time again, this proved to be an extremely useful way for her to spend her time, because she always had happened to have read the perfect spell or potion while pandering about the library. Specifically, the night she was paralyzed, she had been sitting waiting with a mirror, knowing it would keep her from dying when the Basilisk came to hunt her down.I think this is a great metaphor for research, because without the information about a situation you’re in, you can be left without the power to control your portion in that situation. I think in regards to Athens’s Own, and especially as a future marketing professional, knowing your customer or who you’re working for gives you a leg up and a chance for you to impress them with your knowledge of their past. It’s like the saying that says you can’t decide where you are going without knowing where you’ve been. For Athens’ Own, if I don’t understand their mission and holistic goal, how can I possibly help them move forward with their mission?I think that this plays very well in to Holistic Management, and how taking the time for each individual to write their holistic goal, and then for others to take the time to read and learn what they can about teammates means that people will be able to work together to the best of their ability. Knowing who you are working with and each other’s individual goals sets you up for the success because you can work together to create an achievable team goals, and support each other in individual endeavors.

Jun 262016
 

6/26/16 Feedback

  • To: Halley Davidson (HD) regarding her Intern Log Entry #4  June 2 – What is Local?
    • Constantine Faller (CF): AO IC – Operations Chief, (Basic Needs – Education), Internship Program Coordinator
  • From: K. Jacobson (kj): BWH IC/AO Liaison/Mentor

Homework: reviewed Intern Information Pages, developed a synopsis and a review checklist, the checklist is currently embedded in the draft Project Collaboration 1 document. The following feedback is linked to the concepts, key words identified in the guidance documents.

June 2 – Research

Con and I were chatting about the different things I think of when I think of Local. We created a list, which is as follows.

  1. “Community”:
  • Members
  • Geographic community: the people who live close to you (farmers market, neighborhood, school district.)
  • Relationships: The people with whom you interact within your geographic location. (Friends, family, classmates, coworkers)
  • Situational Community: Those you interact with by coincidence, or by necessity.
  1. Location:
  • County
  • State
  • Regional
  • Situational
  1. Groups
  • Political groups
  • Clubs
  • Sports
  • Culture/Religion
  1. Businesses:
  • Local Businesses with Local Products
  • Local Businesses with non-local Products

Our thoughts for this discussion were that while I start working on my graphics and any Athens’ Own project, making sure I have a good understanding of what Local is and how it plays in to everything I do. It’s also important that when you are working to share a message that you understand well enough that you can convey that message to others. That way if I am trying to get a conversation started with my community, like Ohio University Students, and they ask a question like “What is Local? How can I help?” I know exactly what to tell them to make the most impact and to give them correct information to pass on to the people in their community as well.

Jun 262016
 

Intern Log Review

6/26/16 kj draft contribution

Is the log presented as a business report with all the needed information?

  • specific: who, what, when, why
    • highly descriptive title
    • author, position
      • hotlink to bio post: cover letter, resume, application
        • holistic goal, training, achievements, certificates, etc.
    • dates related to activity, assignment, submission, revisions
      • needed to evaluate timeliness
    • assignment:  specific – measurable – attainable – related – time delineated
    • learning process: details about new info, how activities reinforcing concepts, etc.

Does the writer present project proposals in a well-thought out business format, including Holistic Management Decision-Making rationale?

Does there appear room for improvement in the arena of  basic writing skills

  • target audience, message, spelling & grammar, sequential thought development and organization

Does writer appear to understand the reasons for the logs?

  • learning log, business record, communication, education, marketing, etc.

Is the writer addressing the highly diverse target audience with marketing strategies to inform, inspire, empower and mobilize?

  • Did the writer provide adequate information, references, hotlinks?
  • Will the highly diverse target audience be able to understand the situation, activity, assignment, learning focus, project, etc.?
    • Supervisor, Mentors, Cohorts/peers, collaborative partners, other interested individuals
      • many at-distance, out-of-the loop readers
        • will they be able to thoroughly understand the situation, activity, assignment, learning focus?

Does the writer appear to understand the importance of demonstrating personal understanding of Athens’ Own, concepts, etc. when writing the log?

Does the intern identify and demonstrate active learning processes in the log?

Does it appear the intern understands that they are working for/with Athens’ Own?

  • employee in a real world business operation

Does it appear that they are listening and comprehending instructions and feedback offered by the supervisor and mentors?

Does the log entry help answer the question: “What does Athens’ Own do?”

Does it identify information that could be added to the FAQ?

Does every log entry identify particular learning objectives with descriptions of application, etc.?

Is the intern demonstrating that he/she sees the application of concepts, systems, practices via every log entry?

  • concepts, systems are manifested in all learning activities, conversations, tours, assignments
    • incident command system – business management structure, span of control/delegation
    • holistic management
      • concepts, applied decision-making, adaptive strategies
    • collaboration
      • Collaborative systems thinking
        • me to we
      • personal sphere, Athens’ Own work,  scalable applications
      • community building
      • networking
    • social, economic, environmental sustainability
    • resilience – positive adaptation to perceived adversity
    • planning, preparedness, mitigation, response, recovery
    • seven generation stewardship

Is the intern asking questions in their logs?

Is the intern demonstrating any of the following traits through their writing?

  • Here is what I know, here is what I can do, and I want to learn more. How can I help?
  • Life-long learning journey
    • be present every day, every task
  • desire to learn, ability to learn
  • openness
  • active participation
  • enthusiasm
  • group process, teamwork
  • initiative
  • self-motivation
  • research

Does the writer address and/or demonstrate proficiency in the following resilience worker certificate program categories?

  • Four Agreements
    • Be Impeccable with your word
    • Don’t take anything personally
    • Don’t make assumptions
    • Do your best
  • Creativity
  • Research
  • Writing skills
  • Computer skills
  • Professional business attitude, appropriate attire
  • Intra-inter personal communication skills
  • Follow through on projects
  • Self-direction
  • Networking
  • Organized
  • Holistic view
  • Present info from different perspectives
  • ability to discern why other people care about an issue
  • able to motivate other to take and interest and act
  • capable of organizing the actions of others
  • ability to function in a complex system

 

Jun 262016
 

6/26/16 Feedback

  • To: Halley Davidson (HD) regarding her Intern Log Entry #2
    • Constantine Faller (CF): AO IC – Operations Chief, (Basic Needs – Education), Internship Program Coordinator
  • From: K. Jacobson (kj): BWH IC/AO Liaison/Mentor

May 26 Marketing Campaign Plan

  • timeliness
    • no reference dates except ‘past few days”
  • no assignment info, team up-date
    • appears to need additional exploration into the purpose of the log, target audience, etc.
  • Twitter account
    • it is not clear if it was/is an assignment or a self-directed activity
    • provides rationale for twitter as a social media vehicle
    • pursued activities to create twitter conduits with local businesses, fb & twitter, posts about dry aged beef
      • did not provide additional info for target audience
        • twitter address, instruction guidance, etc.
  • Constantine asked about project
    • what project?
      • other small businesses?
      • Athens’ Own graphic?
  • Local Foods and products campaign?
    • self assigned, self motivated and directed?
    • outlines brainstorming thoughts
      • nice potential linkage with a collaborative effort to help provide AO collaborative partners pr/marketing assistance
        • but sounds like a different sort of campaign that may already be in play
      • general concept – Eat Local
      • nice linkage with an aspect of Athens’ Own mission: community wellness and resilience
      • product considerations
      • campaign name considerations
        • what will it take for people to Get it? Get it? We Do?
          • subliminal messaging
            • not to imply stupidity… just to tug at their intelligence
          • group association, familiarity with product availability, excellent quality, sold customer
      • I do not what status of this proposal, project, campaign
        • is there an assignment in play, a working group, avenue for collaborative partners to submit input?
          • target audience – students? often do not have excess money for local, high quality products
          • what is the status of the investigation related to the Athens County Tourism 30 mile meal program and other buy local initiatives in this area
            • history, research, homework
      • Additional rationales for team to pursue a marketing campaign related to ‘buy local’
        • no linkage with Athens’ Own business marketing, collaborative efforts, priorities, etc.
          • Yes, there is good intent to provide graphics and advertising assistance to other businesses but doesn’t seem to make a linkage with the Athens’ Own team base.
      • Additional self-assignments? Is there a team project campaign in play here or is this just a manifestation of your own brainstorming?
        • self-direction and self-motivation are very commendable traits but an employee also has to listen very carefully to their supervisors, the ICS flow, process, teamwork, etc.
        • I am not in the loop and nor would many of our collaborative partners/mentors know what is being assigned, what is happening.
          • Remember, your target audience includes people who have no clue about Athens’ Own
          • It appears that a review of the internship information, how to write a log, etc., may be needed.
      • Additional campaign brainstorming
        • If it is a proposal it does not reflect what I am used to in terms of information format, thought progression and organized presentation.
          • good graphics for specific business
          • court street -business to business inquiries about putting literature up
            • did you ask Constantine about collaborative partners, liaisons, etc.?
          • social media to move campaign out of Athens
            • are you not familiar with the national/global buy local movement?
            • are you re-inventing the wheel, thinking an idea is new?
            • are you listening to team members?
      • I greatly appreciate your enthusiasm, motivation and brainstorming abilities but there may be some foundational concepts, processes and systems to investigate further.
      • I also like the way you are thinking
        • nice linkage to resilience, community wellness, big picture, etc.
      • But, it appears like we have some foundation concept, teamwork and instruction work to do before moving forward with campaigns, proposals, etc.
        • I could be wrong with this assessment as I did not, as a collaborative partner, feel I got necessary information to understand what was happening, what the assignment was/is, etc.
Jun 262016
 

Wikipedia:

  • Collaboration is the process of two or more people or organizations working together to realize shared goals. Collaboration is very similar to cooperation, and both are an opposite of competition. Most collaboration requires leadership, although the form of leadership can be social within a decentralized and egalitarian group. Teams that work collaboratively can obtain greater resources, recognition and reward when facing competition for finite resources.
  • Structured methods of collaboration encourage introspection of behavior and communication. These methods specifically aim to increase the success of teams as they engage in collaborative problem solving.
Jun 262016
 

June 24, 2016

Dear friends,

As you may know, Athens’ Own is a business building resilience with collaborative, seven generation stewardship activities.

The Athens’ Own Internship Program provides one of the avenues for win-win, mutually beneficial interactions toward shared goals.

This site serves as a hub of communication with transparent conduits connecting interns, mentors and other collaborative partners

Please feel free to explore the site and contact us if you want to participate in this Athens’ Own adventure toward collaborative solutions!

By the way, in addition to the internship program within the education sector, Athens’ Own is a networking hub for collaborative communications at state and federal levels via its organizational membership within the American Sustainable Business Council. Please let us know if you would like to collaborate at the local level to send a unified voice up the scales.

In the meantime, please explore this working internship site and let us know what you think!
I have posted my bulleted notes with keywords, concepts from the Internship Guidance Documents for quick review here, with hot links to the full documents.

We appreciate all that you do via your respective circles to manifest more sustainable and resilient communities.

Thank you!

We also give thanks for the rich collaborative soil in this region and look forward to deepening relationships.

Best Wishes to all of us!

 

Kind-heartedly,

Kathy

Kathy Mary Jacobson, RN Transition Midwife

Broadwell Hill Forest Sanctuary Steward & Athens’ Own Collaborating Liaison

 

Jun 262016
 

6/26/16 Feedback

  • To: Halley Davidson (HD) regarding her Intern Log Entry #2
    • Constantine Faller (CF): AO IC – Operations Chief, (Basic Needs – Education), Internship Program Coordinator
  • From: K. Jacobson (kj): BWH IC/AO Liaison/Mentor

The italicized excerpts are from Halley’s May 20th log #2 log.

(6/27/16 Telephone voice meeting with Halley.  She reports that the bulleted feedback format is acceptable and clear to her.  I was in the process of adding the  italicized excerpts and adding softer narrative to the reviews already completed; but given her feedback will just post my bulleted format for the reviews already completed.  I will pick up with a hybridized version as I proceed through her log entries.  This post is half and half.)

HD: I began my day Friday by having a discussion with Kathy on the reflection I posted about my FEMA training test. I received my certification, and we were discussing the ways I applied it both to my life and to working with Athens’ Own. We talked about how you can look at the incident response guide not only as a way to handle chaos, but also how things should be universally managed. For example, if a larger business was set up this way, there wouldn’t be information lost between a CFO and CEO, and there would simply be one direct command that moved down from Incident Commander to the Section Chiefs. This would also make it easier for corporations to communicate amongst each other.

kj:  Halley is referring to her first “May 18th and FEMA Reflections” post.   Much of my feedback to that post applies here as well, especially in terms of a standardized business memo format, target audience, specific input, writing skills, etc.  Here is an article titled “Five tips to Writing Effective Email” by Christy Melby, an intern with the CommuniquePR firm; it contains some pertinent tips.

I created the following bulleted lists while reviewing the log the first time the other day.  I do not have the time to expand on everything with softer narrative but will do my best to clarify; please contact me if you have questions.
(See above for feedback loop adjustments per telephone consult with Halley.

  • Timeliness theme:
    • The internship log instructions includes “How to Write a Log” with a section on timeliness.  As a reviewer, I therefore feel responsible to include it in my assessment evaluation toward collaborative learning and improvement, including celebration when the system is rocking and the intern is excelling with various assignments.
    • Constantine has informed me that an intern may submit a post on one day but it may take him a little while to publish it on the website.   So, how would I know when an activity took place, when it was written about and when it was submitted?  There are cues here and there, I can surmise but I’m busy and prefer not to have to go looking for stuff.  I therefore believe we need to make it as easy as possible for collaborative business partners to see all the info they need in a clearly formatted communique.
      • I would appreciate it if the logs could start out with a standard memo format with all the needed info, including:
        • date of activity with the learning objectives, assignment in SMART format (including the identified measures) etc.
        • date of submission
  • I would also appreciate a more professional presentation given the highly diverse target audience and marketing strategies in mind.
    • Who is Kathy?
    • What FEMA training test?
      • I would appreciate specific long entries for such activities, titles with hotlinks and a focused presentation with your feedback.
      • The news of your completion and certification, perhaps with a picture could be added to your profile log entry as well.
        • Congratulations!
    • Communication with Collaborative Partner: Kathy
      • FEMA training test
        • confirmed receipt of certification
          • no reference to which training
            • no linkage with broader outreach
        • nice reference to conversation about applications in personal life/Athens’ Own
          • no linkage with describing such applications for other people
        • feedback related to the conversation
          • additional information is needed in log and exploration may be needed:
            • incident response guide
            • handling chaos
            • universal management
          • linkage to other business
            • additional exploration may be needed:
              • larger business reference
                • value of and within small, decentralized business network?
              • management system that can function horizontally
                • not just a top down, command and control system
                • no linkage with number of projects, responsibilities, etc.
                  • no mention of ‘span of control’ basic principle: 5-7 hats
              • Information loss is always a potential risk
                • back-up systems needed
              • nice linkage with value within communication systems
                • focused on corporations
                  • what about small business, committees, groups, event planning?
                • no reference to Unified Command System
                  • Liaison docking points
  • Con entered our conversation and mentioned to Kathy that I had been given the Sustainability RA job for the coming year, and so we talked a bit about the kind of work I would be able to do with that. We drifted to the topic of how history is important when you start any new project. For example, as a sustainability RA, it would be beneficial to think about the past actions the university has taken to achieve sustainability, and the ways I can use these programs to my advantage. I also can look for weak links in the programs and try to find ways to make these better.The Eco House, a great program started by the university, has a weak link of having low visibility. For example, if marketed well, this house could gain popularity and possibly lead to a second one being built, something that over time could provide a really great off campus sustainable living area that could have a positive long term influence on the students who participate. Now seeing this weak link, I know that if I am able to market my attempts as a sustainability RA well, I could enhance the program and potentially grow it.This idea, of looking for the weakest links, especially in the history of a program, is applicable to the project I proposed in February. The idea is creating a food source that is provided by the University to both prevent food waste, and to help families in need. First looking at the history, I was able to asses that a past weak link was that people were attempting for the food to be donated, which can cause issues of freshness. The school wouldn’t want to do this because they could be liable for food poisoning or other occurrences with donating already cooked perishable food.That’s why I tried to think a way around it; to try to create a program that kept the university from being held liable, but also wouldn’t cost them a great deal extra to put in place. So trying to kill two birds with one stone, I thought about all of the left over meal swipes there must be at the end of the week, and also needing to keep the food in the dining hall. I decided that providing a swipe system where community members could use these swipes would be the most effective.Now Kathy brought up an interesting point. How would these community members reach the campus? Some people can live as far as 40 minutes away from campus, and there isn’t public transit from that far. Is the cost of gas really worth it for these family members? She also brought up a term I hadn’t heard before. The “Town-Gown” Gap is a gap that represents the lack of understanding between campus members and with the community they live in. This is something I know I have talked with Con about as well, about how students are either oblivious of the problems in the community they live in, or even that if they do know, they attempt to “fix” it, which just alienates them from their community even more.An example of this is that if we were to set up a type of “soup kitchen” form of food service, community members may be unlikely to attend because they see it as us handing down food scraps. For my proposal to work, I need to close this town-gown gap and find a way these two groups can work together as one community. This is why I think using Kathy’s mantra of “Inform; Empower; Mobilize” will be the most effective way to get progress in this areas.In the few weeks I have worked with Con and Kathy, I feel like I have learned a great deal. We have talked on so many different levels, about Athens’ Own, about the Athens community, and about the big picture of how to start teaching out so that everyone has an opportunity to learn in this hands-on and passionate way. I am so grateful that they have been so kind and generous to me, making my first summer away from home a learning opportunity and not just another summer consumed by part time employment.I am excited to start using some of the knowledge that has been passed down to me to start working on this program to my best ability. In situations like this, I turn to my favorite wisdom quote. “There is no try. There is simply do or do not.” And yes, it’s quoted from Yoda.
    • Communication with IC/Internship Chief – Constantine
      • OU Sustainability RA job, exploration of work potential
        • no links, no information
        • ways the programs could be used to ‘my’ advantage
          • no linkage with broader collaborative efforts toward shared goals
        • nice linkage with Holistic Management assessment, weak links, improvement process potential
          • no reference or link to Holistic Management info
      • Education provided about AO/BWH involvement in OU Sustainability Program growth
        • encouragement to do homework, research about the history as it links both
          • but no indication of grasping that concept
      • Eco House topic
        • no descriptive info, links, etc.
          • One can’t assume the target audience knows anything about anything
        • Eco House not started by the university
          • a collaborative town-gown effort, including with AO/BWH
            • group process introduced: natural capital and Holistic Management
        • Weak link: low visibility
          • no background info, rationale
        • Great brainstorming vision – self-centered language
          • great linkage between Sustainability RA and Eco-house overlap
          • still seems inclined to growth paradigm
            • no linkage with value of historical reference research
              • directly associated with Athens’ Own, notes/minutes are probably available in binders
          • no linkage with Athens’ Own marketing internship, sustainability RA, Eco-house investigations
        • Appears addition investigation and exploration may be needed
          • homework, history, the Holistic Management Whole, community dynamics, stakeholders
          • win-win, mutually beneficial collaboration
          • no linkage with possible project proposal & development
      • February project – proposal
        • overview info provided: food source provided by University to both prevent food waste & help families in need
          • what food source provided by university?
          • would have been nice to see additional info and/or link to proposal document/info
        • Very nice linkages with
          • weak links concept
            • no linkage with Holistic Management (HM)
              • seems focused on growth and weak links
                • looking for weak links in the history of the program
        • what about assessing the history for the very strong links and the flow of process?
          • solid connections, collaboration, stakeholders who could help provide info about the strengths
          • the elders, the history, the fact that such things are in movement here; not new ideas
        • identified weak link related to donated food
          • less freshness
            • how does freshness relate to food poisoning?
          • school wouldn’t want to be liable for illness
            • no link with safe public health principles, resilience
          • no reference rationale to back-up claimed weak link
        • no reference to linkage with Athens’ Own, history and food security specialty, basic need food sector
          • no reference to marketing internship
        • no up-date on status of proposal, plan, strategies, tactics
        • nice linkage with overlapping, cascading effects
          • focused on university liability weak link and need to reduce costs
            • left over meal swipes at end of week
            • food storage in the dining haul
            • community members provided with left over swipes
          • collaborative brainstorming:
            • She describes it as Kathy bringing up interesting point, how would community members reach campus
              • but did not appear to link with concepts
                • access, isolation, community building, travel, fuel costs, greenhouse gases
                • cost of gas worth it?
                  • community members in need of food, do not usually have the luxury of a decision-making process related to whether the cost is worth it…they simply do not have the money to cover the cost
            • It appears the conversation was dropped, no additional info, plans, follow-up
      • Town-Gown Gap topic
        • interpreted as a lack of understanding between campus members and community
          • may have missed the concept of developing the collaborative conduits to increase reciprocal flow of resources while helping to address educational needs, overlap between academic studies and situational business internship program and system
          • also came off as a rather judgmental, negative synopsis of students
          • no linkage with how Athens’ Own is and has been actively working to developing networking pipelines
      • Back to a food proposal brain storm
        • soup kitchen
          • handing down food scraps
            • people unlikely to attend
              • people are very hungry, there are some who may not want to accept assistance but again people without basic resources don’t usually have the option to look down their nose at the prospect of assistance
            • however, the marketing terminology would probably not want to include the term “food scraps” as that carries with it a vision of compost, with related challenges.
              • you really wouldn’t want to be taking food scraps out of a compost to feed people
            • another term you may not be familiar with is ‘dumpster diving’
              • many people are highly proficient at dumpster diving, regulations are improving
              • many stores are developing ways to divert food to feed people
      • back to town-gown gap and an unclear description of a proposal, swipe giveaway, soup kitchen?
      • Reference to “inform, empower, mobilize” phrase as “using” Kathy’s mantra as the most effective way to proceed
        • In addition, my supposed mantra is “inform, inspire, empower, mobilize”
          • inspire is the biggest challenge, related to strategies associated with motivation
        • no linkages with collaborative efforts
        • seem to keep picking up a ‘me’, ‘my’, ‘I’, ‘them’, negative judgements flavor
      • again, may need additional introspection, investigation and exploration of the “we” collaborative paradigm
  • Reflection on educational internship processes
    • learned a great deal
    • talked on different levels
      • Athens’ Own
      • Athens Community
      • Mentions Big picture in terms of informing people about the hands-on, passionate learning opportunity
        • but no direct linkages with marketing, internship, collaboration, shared goals, resilience
  • Expression of appreciation for kindness, generosity, providing a learning opportunity during her first summer away from home.
  • Expression of excitement about using knowledge and beginning work on this program to the best of my ability
    • nice linkage with excitement, learning, applications, to the best of ability
    • no info about what program, unclear
      • proposals mentioned above?
      • internship program in general?
  • Nice linkage
  • with life-long learning adventure concepts, be present, etc.,
    • Nice quote – Yoda: “There is no try. There is simply do or do not.”
      • may be a good one for the FAQ, marketing materials, etc.
  • Very nice to see Constantine’s participatory feedback on the page!
    • I will also include a comment with a link to this feedback page.
Jun 262016
 

6/26/16 Log Feedback- #1  May 18th and FEMA Reflections

  • From: K. Jacobson (kj), BWH IC – AO Liaison/Intern Mentor
  • To:  H. Davidson (hd), AO Intern
    • C. Faller (cf), AO IC – BWH Liaison/ Intern Coordinator

The italicized excerpts are from the  May 18th and FEMA Reflections log entry by Halley Davidson, Athens’ Own Intern

I took a minute to think about the impact of the FEMA Incident Response Training, and how it could apply to a business. It reminded me a lot of how my job at Chipotle was ran, with different managers for different employees to respond to, and a type of horizontal and precise lineage of command. During the busiest dinner hours, we had to remain at our stations, no exception, and those who were prepping had to do so according to the most recent shortage.

It appears that we may need to delve further into the following:

  • Internship Log guidance materials
    • I am not getting the impression from this log entry that you have read the instructions thoroughly.  I may be incorrect, you may need assistance understanding the material and/or assistance in demonstrating comprehension via your writing.
  • Writing skills:
    • I do not see any spelling errors!
      • Yay!  A positive performance measure, improvement indicator!
    • Constantine is very good at catching spelling errors/typos and has a very good grasp on punctuation, grammar, syntax.
      • I am wondering if we should create a writing skills page with links to basic information like this one: “Wikipedia – Grammar” .  There is already a resume guidance page and it would be good to see what it contains with regards to basic writing skills.  The Resilience Worker Criteria currently states: strong writing ability which I might interpret as advanced; but we have to start somewhere.
      • I would also benefit personally in this arena as it is not my strong suit.  I welcome feedback regarding my contributions, especially since I am focused on the feedback and am not investing limited time resources on proofing/editing.
      • I am more attentive to the crafting of the log entries to help facilitate communication and at-distance collaborative partner business communications: purpose/theme, target audience, organization of thought, structure and format.
    • As a collaborative partner, I might not have any idea of what training you are talking about, what impact it had on you.  I am assuming that you are referring to the required Introduction to Incident Command IS-100b on-line training.
    • Remember, that you are writing to a diverse target audience within a business communication/education feedback system that also serves as a social marketing avenue.
  • Incident Command System
    • I appreciate your considerations related to how it could apply to a business and your correlation with your personal experience.  Here are some additional questions to consider:
    • It is true that most businesses utilize a human resource organizational chart with a management structure.
      • How are such organizational charts different from the ICS management system?
    • Why and how does Athens’ Own utilize ICS and why are interns required to complete the IS-100b course?
      • Have you reviewed the Athens’ Own ICS Chart and related documents?
        • Where is the Internship Program in the chart?
        • Where are you positioned within the system?
          • If/when you are successful with Athens’ Own intern team marketing efforts, where will your team be positioned, what will the tree look like?

Though this is not and identical concept to using ICS for disasters, it did help me put in to context how FEMA is so efficient. If everyone reports to their job and their manager, then things will move much more smoothly and there will not be as many accidents as people know their specific job and how to do it. And often when people are faced with disaster they can be freaked out or may not function as well without a specific plan or chain of command to follow.

Again, I appreciate your thoughtful reflections.

    • It is true that the Chipotle organizational chart may not be very similar to the ICS structure.  However, many more businesses are switching to ICS for everyday operations.
    • FEMA is not an efficient system; there are numerous bureaucratic challenges, including difficulties streamlining efforts with state, local government entities as well as the citizenry.
      • 2014 Senate Hearing: The Path to Efficiency: Making FEMA More Effective for Streamlined Disaster Operations
        • agenda: The hearing discussed long-standing challenges to FEMA efficiency and performance, as well as recent FEMA efforts to find cost efficiencies and program improvements.
    • Is it possible that Athens’ Own is capitalizing on the strengths while addressing the weak links with systems building that include ICS?
    • It is true that any type of operation runs more effectively with  clear communication, organizational process and teamwork.
      • What do you think are the barriers to more widespread utilization of the ICS management structure?
      • What type of community-based social marketing strategy might be effective at increasing the utilization of ICS?

I would like to explore ICS with you further.  What core ICS concepts and components surfaced for you during the course?

  • Many people step up to the plate in times of disaster; they show up to volunteer without any understanding of the management system at play.  Such errant volunteers may not be freaked out and may be quite functional but they often place more stress and cause more chaos for the responders.  If such people had a greater understanding of the system they would know where they fit into the response plans, who to contact, etc., and will be much more helpful in the overall response effort.

For Athens’ Own, this could mean responding to local incidents or product issues quickly by having a commander give distinct directions. If thinking about Resilience, this could be even more useful because sometimes the actions put forward to promote sustainability are not executed to their full ability because no one has a distinct job or goal.

  • ICS is simply a very good management tool; it is not just about responding to local incidents or product issues.  However, you are correct that it helps to  have one clearly designated person with the authority to make decisions during time sensitive situations.
  • ICS does not have to be a strictly top-down, command and control hierarchical flow.  One of its many strengths include adaptability, including scalability.  It can be incorporated into consensus-based group process with a horizontal structure; only scaling up to an authoritarian command system when there is a need for immediate, definitive action.
  • But, ICS is not something that one just pulls off a shelf during times of emergency, it needs to be practiced.
  • As you indicate, ICS offers groups, organizations, etc., with a management structure emphasizing sustainable span of control with clear delegation. A streamlined collaborative system, linked via the liaisons, is blossoming as more groups, clubs, organizations, churches, businesses, etc., learn and practice ICS.  It is a very positive, solution oriented movement toward greater resilience now while building a system foundation on behalf of future generations.
  • We need to load up our tool belts with communication and management skills to maximize our efforts toward greater happiness, efficiency and effectiveness.
  • It is not just about being able to response to acute disasters, we need to recognize that we are experiencing a chronic disaster and use this time between incidents to learn new skills, develop more robust collaborative networks.

If there were to be more direct actions and committees that were working to create a more resilient community, like how Athens’ Own is, and they were to use the leadership patterns described in FEMA, there would be much more progress. Community leaders would be able to designate assistance to certain areas of need, and there wouldn’t be efforts lost in translation. In order for there to be real change or progress there needs to be clear goals and there needs to be people working towards that goal. I think that FEMA’s ICS training could be an invaluable asset for organizations and businesses.

  • It makes me happy to hear that you think ICS is an invaluable asset for organizations and businesses.  And, it is an invaluable asset for all of us as we need to come together, learn how to communicate and how to work together better under all circumstances.
  • I may not be able to change the course we are on but I feel the least I can do is to identify robust systems and tools, practice them and therefore have something to pass onto your generation, and future ones who may be living through some very stressful times.
  • I do agree that there might be more progress if everyone utilized the same management systems, but that is not necessarily the case given the complex and dynamic nature of the challenges that we face in this era of great change.  However, I do know with great confidence that communication is improved, conflicts are reduced and managed better and the clarity helps people feel more secure about what is happening, happier and with greater joy through cohesive clarity.
  • Many community leaders, mayors, etc., are now required to receive ICS training if they want to be eligible for certain grants.  All of our emergency management teams, including hospital staff, on the local, state and federal level are now required to have ICS training.  And, many corollary groups like the Red Cross, Amateur radio teams are also learning about it.  But the problem is that not everyone is practicing it.  (I worked as an ICS trainer at our local health department so have quite a bit of on-the-ground experience and perspective.)
    • So, we agree that the ICS approach offers great potential.

Con and I spent the day driving from business to business collecting payments as well. Aside from having the opportunity to get a full tour of the Jackie O’s Brewery, Con also gave me some insight to how he keeps track of sales invoices and how he keeps record of Accounts Receivable. Though we have spent plenty of time in Accounting class talking about accounts receivable, it was interesting to see the documentation at work for an actual business. It was also great to meet the people and businesses that are affected positively by Athens’ Own, and in general meet some of the lovely people in Athens.

  • The paragraph provides a good opportunity to consider how a little more focused attention to your writing syntax, organization, etc. would improve your writing skills.   I see it jumping around topics, scattering some great fodder that could be used to satisfy the hunger many people feel for more information about Athens’ Own.
    • What themes can you pull out of it?  How could they be organized and fleshed out to provide more info while demonstrating a perception and comprehension of some of the concepts and learning exercises you have experienced so far within this internship?
  • I appreciate the brief report about your activities but would like to receive more information and see greater association between such activities and the concepts you are learning about via your Athens’ Own internship.
    • Did you observe any manifestations of ICS during your jaunt from business to business?
    • How about anything that manifested community networking, collaboration, etc.?
    • Was there any discussion about the ‘driving’ and how it impacts our collective efforts toward sustainability and resilience ?
      • Fossil fuel consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, etc.?
  • It is also great to see that you are actively connecting what you learn in class with what you see in the real world of business.
    • Feedback loops, performance measurements, indicators of improvement!  Yay!
  • And, I am glad that you were able to meet some of the members of the Athens’ Own collaborative family.
    • Many people are attracted to such social interactions, tours, feeling a part of community, etc.  The social components of the Athens’ Own Internship are very appealing to many people, especially students.
    • How could you organize and beef up such social marketing strategies in your writing?
  • In addition, many people are asking “what does Athens’ Own do?”
    • I would like to see your writing serve as more than a diary between you and Constantine.  These writing exercises are a prime opportunity to practice your marketing skills.
    • You share that there are people and businesses who are positively affected by Athens’ Own but you don’t provide any information to help others understand the nature of these relationships.

I really appreciate your participation, desire to learn and your reflective, creative writing.  But, remember, Athens’ Own is a real world business and you are a marketing intern.  It is your opportunity to show off your professional marketing writing skills.

I think you should be thinking about a very diverse target audience, including folks like me who are not involved in the day-to-day operations of Athens, Own and/or your learning experience.  Your log entries need to bring me and others up to speed on the themes, assignments, etc.

I am also a RN business owner so I am particularly keen on systems of documentation that maximize efficiency, communications,  systems and improvement processes.

Here are some additional thoughts on such a collaboration:

  • Perhaps interns should be directed to post their bio, cover, resume and subsequent materials like the HM holistic goal in their first log entry. It would allow our at-distance collaborative partners know a little more about the writer while also helping to strengthen a sense of team; the Athens’ Own Internship Family.
    • Many people have come through our program, finished school and gone on in their lives to do great things on behalf of the good of the order.  I would like to have a place for them on this website; a way to honor, remember and stay in touch.  It would also augment our marketing campaign as old-timers could contribute testimonials as to the impact the internship had on their lives, communities and our collective efforts on behalf of future generations.

And, I would also like to see more  specific information, reference hotlinks, etc.  Remember, you want to demonstrate your dedication to life-long learning, your interest, thoroughness and research abilities.  In additin, you are writing to a very diverse target audience who knows very little about Athens’ Own and nothing about what you are writing about in your logs, unless you provide a cohesive, well-thought out presentation with background information.

And, remember this website and the intern blogs are major component of Athens’ Own marketing strategies.  I enjoy reading free form written expressions but as a collaborative business partner with limited time, I would like succinct, focused log entries and think that a professional business memo approach would also reinforce that the internship program is indeed a real world work experience.

  • I would like to personally see a standardized, well-organized, log entry format come into existence that includes:
    • specific: who, what, when, why
      • highly descriptive, focused title – reflective of themes: learning topic, project, proposal
      • From:  author, position tile, intern supervisor – with ICS application
      • running dates to better track and assess timeliness, activities, assignment, submission, revisions
      • SMART assignment info: specific – measurable – attainable – related – time delineated
      • activity report
      • learning objectives
      • project proposals
      • etc
  •  And, I would personally like to see the Athens’ Own seeds of knowledge pop up all over the log entries as a way to demonstrate comprehension via clearly drafted writings that make the connections between your life, the concepts, the learning objectives, the various activities and your work as a marketing specialist with Athens’ Own.    There are some very consistent themes running within the Athens’ Own internship program. Perhaps we should create a game with theme cards.  What concepts, systems, tools are at play during the various conversations, projects and activities?

In closing, many thanks to you, Constantine and the entire Athens’ Own team for this outrageously fun opportunity.  I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Kathy