It would hardly be fish who discovered the existence of water.
                                                                         ~ Clyde Kluckhohn


If we have been part of the same social groups (family, friends, faith community, political party, industry, organization, etc.), it is often difficult for us to even describe our culture until we are exposed to contrasting ways of being, social norms, values and beliefs.  And, when we are faced with new "cultures' or other peoples' ways, a very human response is to not notice the opportunity for change or to reject what seems different to us because it seems wrong, dangerous or inferior.

Today I'm in Texas for the start of the annual NACCE (National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship) conference where, certainly, the concept of organizational culture will be a topic of discussion.  And, there will also be questions and assertions surrounding, "how can traditional educational cultures become more entrepreneurial?"

The easy part is to talk about these things.  We can sit in a circle and agree about descriptions of "what is bureaucratic" and "what is entrepreneurial."  If we were to take a multiple choice test, we'd probably get lots of "correct" answers.  But, if it was that easy, all of our organizations would already have been transformed … 


My current favorite recipe for the infusion of entrepreneurial mindset/behaviors throughout a group/organization is:

1.  Establish a Leader 

* someone needs to facilitate/accept responsibility and be capable of influence toward meaningful results (ideally:  someone who lives/breaths intrapreneurship/entrepreneurship/social entrepreneurship)

2.  Learn/Experience an Interpersonal Model together (e.g., Social Styles)

* find a gentle way to build self-awareness in individuals while establishing new ways of interacting (break out of committee/meeting habits that get in the way but often remain invisible because the patterns are so well established that they are accepted as "normal" or "correct")

3.  Learn/Experience a Process to Results Model together (e.g., Design Thinking)

* follow a process/way of thinking and behaving that has "results" built in (people will remain engaged/become more engaged when they see their investments lead to success - word will spread and others will want to join in, too)

___________________________________________________________


This recipe creates a positive psychology/appreciative inquiry experience including new knowledge, new skills and a new culture without blame and without ever having to say what wasn't working before ~

______________________________________________________________

The NACCE conference is a highlight of every year for me … if you haven't considered attending, put it on your calendar for October 2019 … in California ~ www.NACCE.com

The Power of Story - are you listening to Congress?

Good news, bad news.  Stories are powerful.

As we watch Congress this week and consider contrasting descriptions of two individuals' pasts, which stories do we believe?

Is it the power of the story that makes us reach our conclusion or who the storyteller is?

The power of the facts?

And/or our life experiences and personal beliefs that inform our perception of what is "true"?

What is compassionate?

What is fair?

What is just?

What is wisdom?

What is the right thing to do?

The values of American micro-cultures are in full view right now.   Are we creating what we aspire to be?  Still hoping.

Why entrepreneurial mindset/behaviors are important to our students, faculty - all of us in higher education:

Why entrepreneurial mindset/behaviors are important to our students, faculty - all of us in higher education:

According to the Department of Labor, 65% of students who entered school in 2015 will work in jobs that have not yet been created.  With this in mind, we need to go far beyond delivery of course content and offer students experiences that prepare them for the dynamic global economy (not for the jobs of the past).

When some individuals hear terms like "entrepreneurship", they think of classes within the business department.  But, entrepreneurial mindset and behaviors are consistent with descriptions of 21st century work skills addressing attribute development such as self-efficacy, agency/proactive behavior, curiosity/creativity and solving problems/creating solutions in uncertain environments with limited resources.  It is not about knowing, it is a way of being and skills in doing.  

In the past, educators were valued primarily for their subject matter expertise but according to Joseph Aoun's book "Robot-Proof:  Higher education in the age of artificial intelligence", pedagogy will have to be innovated if we are going to provide relevant educational experiences for our 21st century learners.  To accomplish meaningful changes in cultures of higher education that will drive that innovation, we too need to develop our entrepreneurial capabilities. 

(Thank you, Rob, for sharing Aoun’s book with us!)

Litmus Tests: Supreme Court Justices and Leaders?

 

As the country moved toward Monday of this week and Brett Kavanaugh's nomination for Supreme Court Justice, there were many news reports about litmus tests.  As usual, depending on which news outlets you engage in, you heard a variety of viewpoints spoken as absolute truths.

………………………………………………………….

So, whether you believe that "people will die" or "the constitution will be honored as written and precedent will hold" should Kavanaugh serve on the High Court and … whether you like, or dislike, the idea of litmus tests being applied, IF you had to design a litmus test for leaders (this is an intellectual, critical/creative thinking, exercise on Friday the 13th), what would it be?

Well, if I HAD to choose one today, it would be:

The Leader believes conflict can be an opportunity (not only a problem) and the Leader has the skills to 1) create purposeful conflict and 2) successfully move through conflict (i.e., whether purposely engaging in conflict or responding to conflicts initiated by others).

IF you had to design a litmus test for leaders today, what would it be?

What does this say about your perspective on/beliefs about leadership?

………………………………………………………….

And, if Kavanaugh ends up as our next Supreme Court Justice, let's remember what was stated this week about litmus tests and absolute truths …

I hope we get better at handling conflict together so that we can move through important, purposeful conflicts together.



______________________________________________


Purposeful Conflict - 

* a conflict that, when resolved, can lead to a positive outcome (e.g., problem solved, better understanding, deeper relationships, collaboration, innovation etc.)

~ engaging in purposeful conflict represents entering into a social situation that others many find uncomfortable (or even hostile) based on an expectation that moving through the conflict successfully will lead to a positive outcome

~ Ideally, this leads to a positive outcome for all stakeholders.  For example:
When the customer first said, "No, I don't want to buy", the consultative sales person willingly entered purposeful conflict with the customer in order to meet the customers needs and close the sale.

Burqa Ban in Denmark

Yesterday Denmark banned women wearing the burqa and niqab.  

After August 1st, the fine for first time offenders will be approximately $156.  

An earlier version of the legislation included 

possible jail time, but that punishment was removed.

Who decides ... 

What is freedom?

What is empowerment?

How do we protect human rights around the world?

What if News Anchors and "Experts" consulted Hofstede as a first step?

Cultural Groupthink

As negotiations continue between the US and N Korea,

how insightful are the analyses we're watching on the news?

Are we being enlightened or indoctrinated 

into groupthink based on our own cultural lenses 

lulling us into submission 

(aka an absence of critical thinking)?

How well can anyone negotiate (or analyze negotiations)

without an understanding of self and others?


____________________
Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions - Country Comparison
(N Korea isn't available so included S Korea)
www.hofstede-insights.com

Hera Hub ... an inspired workplace for entrepreneurs

What is Hera Hub?

"Inspiration, collaboration, and resources 

to launch and grow your business"

herahub.com\phoenix

Shatha Barbour is using her passion and 
previous life/career experiences 

to create opportunities 
for entrepreneurs in this new coworking space.  

It's a convenient location 
right off of the 51/Highland 

and walking into the space 

feels like fresh air, light and an art gallery 
all at once.  

Visit and find out more!

Over Easy !

 

 

 

Over Easy

What a great place with excellent (large) English Muffins and outstanding service!

I haven't written about breakfast since Matt's Big Breakfast - 

it's SO much fun 

to be around people 

who are good at what they do!

And, Over Easy is more than breakfast 

in an 1) ideal location 

for 2) meeting with someone from anyone around the Valley … 

at 24th and Camelback.

See you there!

Repeating Ourselves ~

Do you find that you repeat yourself 

as if saying what you believe is possible again will make it so?  I do.  

So, to have something new to say I'm going to write about 

Over Easy 

and 

Hera Hub 

next !

Memorial Day 2018 - A quote from Patton

While Patton wasn't talking about creating organizational progress, entrepreneurship or positive social change, his quote may hold insights into how to make sure we are part of achieving results we aspire to or ... 

at least we aren't in the way of 

what we say we're working toward.

Lead Me, 

Follow Me, 

or Get out of My Way ~ 

George S Patton (1885-1945)

_______________

Another applicable quote attributed to Patton:  

If everyone is thinking alike, 

then somebody isn't thinking.

__________________________

What do you believe about Patton?  

What will people think of us in 20, 50 or 100 years?

What are we honoring and celebrating today?

_______________________

Why doesn't anyone say anything?

Is it because they don't notice?

Is it because they think there will be punishment for speaking up?

The best way to puncture the power of the group is to speak up ... 

resist normative and informational conformity if you want to be part of meaningful work.

If you notice, speak up.

The best way to avoid criticism 

is to say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.

- variations of this quote are attributed to 
Aristotle and Elbert Hubbard

The Today Show today - Darius Rucker, too ~

School is out for summer and I'm having coffee and watching the Today Show 

for the first time in years.  

I just saw the story of Stacey Cunningham

 as the first female President of the New York Stock Exchange and 

now I'm watching Darius Rucker singing country music 

for a crowd of primarily white people.  

Next, Rose McGowan will be on the Megan Kelly show 

discussing the arrest of Harvey Weinstein. 

And, last week, Meghan Markle became the Duchess of Sussex. 

Today on the Today Show, I see individuals 

who did not accept boundaries 

that others may have told them 

were impossible to cross.   

There is injustice in our country 
and throughout the world ... 
we can see it.

There is opportunity in our country 
and in parts of the world ... 
we can see it.

What do we look for and focus on?

What messages do we send to each other about the existence of boundaries 
and how does that propel or inhibit individual accomplishments 
of people we care about?

How can we empower individuals to 

overcome injustice and create opportunities for themselves?

How can we reduce injustice and increase opportunity for everyone?

What role(s) will we take in our own lives and on behalf of others?

Who are 

WE 

and what do our methods for

creating positive social change

 say about 

US?

__________________

The great new song Darius Rucker is singing?  

For the First Time

Stacey Cunningham 2018 - what explains her success?

Stacey Cunningham

President of the NYSE

One of the last assignments in my face to face Psychology 132/Psychology and Culture classes is writing a Sociocultural Narrative where students share 

how culture has shaped them (sociocultural perspective) up until this moment in life and 

how they are choosing to move forward (cognitive perspective).

How would you explain Stacey Cunningham's success?

How does Stacey Cunningham explain her journey from her role as a 19 year old intern to the first female President of the New York Stock Exchange?

How many perspectives/lenses can we use to explain "success" and how can that inform experiences/influences we create to increase human thriving across endeavors?


* on the Today Show, Stacey said she hopes there comes a day when a female's success isn't newsworthy ~

Can the United States lead the world in celebrating and advancing diversity of thought?

My hope is that the United States - based on our freedoms and current role(s) in the world can increase our leadership in demonstrating potential benefits of diversity of thought.  I'm weary of "critical thinking" as a topic for current events, local and global, when much of what is labeled critical thinking seems to be "I'm critical of thinking that doesn't match my own culture/mental schema"; simpleton approaches that my students (aged 16 and up without Phds) work to overcome in Psychology 132/Psychology and Culture - a class with no prerequisites.

When our politicians and news media aren't even demonstrating basic levels of complexity in their thinking and Americans are inhaling puffs of information (propaganda) from their favorite sources, I believe (one of my broken record messages) we are becoming less sophisticated which makes us more and more vulnerable to us/them rigidity that undermines our ability to use our creative thinking to solve local through global issues.  My students in week 4 of the semester could do more thoughtful news analysis with Hofstede's cultural dimensions than many of our "experts" and senior news anchors accomplish with their years of education and experience.

If we cannot articulate the other person's perspective as well as they can, 

we are NOT nimble perspective takers/thinkers … 

we are not even close to being in the realm of critical thinking.  

In other words, if we can't say it as well as they do, this is evidence that we are evaluating another perspective through our own filters/lens/worldview rather than being able to enter into another person's logic/perception.  

How can we be critical of (simpleton), or think critically about (sophisticated), 

something we do not understand?

_________________________________________

News this week .... 

North Korea and what happened with negotiations?  

Who should be trusted and who should be investigated from the
left and/or the right - 

campaigns, DOJ, FBI, White House?

What do our political ad campaigns say about us
beyond what we think might win an election?

The City of Philadelphia and Catholic Charities' approaches
to foster care and adoption?

The NFL and the National Anthem policies for the 2018-2019 season ?  

Who should have won The Voice?

________________________________________________

The world is watching and listening to 
our politicians and our media.  Who are WE?

Who can we learn from and what can we figure out together
as sophisticated thinkers?

I hope that we'll do better together next week.

Is that expensive swirl of activity going to work? GP +/- CRM?

Got CRM with your GP?

Millions of dollars are being spent around the country on 
Guided Pathways programs.  
Of the campuses/systems that have been successful, how much of the implementation has been based on effective use of CRM?  

How well are the rest of us reading between the lines of the "success" data and how that "success" was actually achieved?

For those colleges who are not up and running 
within this movement yet, 
what if we spent our money on effective use of CRM rather than creating our own customized mammoth that lacks the wisdom of implementation and adaptability/customization for individual student and advisor strategic conversations?  

What if higher education learned from consultative sales organizations on how to help specific customers, our students, achieve their goals ? 

Hope we all have the minimum equation of:
GP + CRM = Effective Implementation for Individual Students

What type of leader are you looking for?

Need a specific style of leader right now?

How adaptable are the leaders among you?

Some Preliminary Vocabulary ... 

Leadership

A social process where an individual purposely influences others' behaviors and relationships

Effective Leadership

Typically a measure of outcomes/performance of a leader's team/group/organization

Power

A person's potential influence over others' thoughts and behaviors

Types of Leadership to Discuss ... 

Transactional Leadership

A form of leadership where the relationship between leader and follower(s) is largely based on exchanges that reinforce the pattern's continuation

Transformational Leadership

A form of leadership that causes positive emotions and positive change in social systems and leads to value creation that is more than would be expected from additive human resource metrics (i.e, synergy/better than expected results

Authentic Leadership

Styles vary dramatically but what is common to authentic leadership relates to transparent and honest sharing of who the leader is allowing for trust and positive relationships to build.  

Servant Leadership

Adhering to internal values with a drive to serve followers and other stakeholders.

Bureaucratic Leadership
Often found in highly regulated environments, government and/or healthcare where following rules is  the norm.   Good at preventing lawsuits, not typically very good at innovation.

Charismatic Leadership
Personality and charm may seem to overlap with Transformational Leadership, but charismatic leadership tends to be seen as less impressive (e.g., not as associated with results and sometimes associated with lack of developed teams where things fall apart when the charismatic leader is no longer present).

Situational Leadership
A theory that asserts leaders adapt their style based on the current situation.  It is difficult to assess leadership adaptability.

Is that a program?

Good Stewards protect public funding from these 3 types of "Programs"

Check the Box Program

Activity that meets superficial goals, but does not create meaningful impact (think of statistical significance without clinical relevance or jumping through accreditation hoops without relevant student impact)

Smoke and Mirrors Program

Activity that is so superficial (or just a brochure without any activity at all?) ... this borders on or exemplifies fraud. 

A La Carte Program

Activity that occurs without anything leading up to it or occurring after it ~ perhaps a one day speaker program or a workshop that doesn't connect with any pre/post strategy or impact.  

Again ... where are we getting our news?

And, when do we do our critical thinking?

We are at great risk of not understanding what is happening around us and wasting our time on us-them arguments that prevent us from finding a better/the actual truth together.

A good question to ask ...

What's in it For My Students ?

What is a hostile workplace?

Perspective:  Hostile ?

Hostile Workplace  

"Harassment becomes unlawful where 1) enduring the offensive conduct becomes a condition of continued employment, or 2) the conduct is severe or pervasive enough to create a work environment that a reasonable person would consider intimidating, hostile, or abusive"  (US Equal Opportunity Commission)

For more information on protecting your organization and/or yourself:
US Department of Labor