Restroom Iconography XII: Santa Clara, CA

Yes, it's time for another addition to my ongoing collection of restroom icons.

This one comes from "La Paloma", our favorite neighborhood Mexican restaurant: home of amazing chorizo con huevos, excellent flan, a dozen camarone dishes, and my favorite long island iced tea.

Oh yeah, and a very, very cool staff.

Anyway... we've been going there for over 6 years now, but I hadn't shot the restroom icons until tonight.

This, of course, is the restroom for senoras and senoritas.

Everytime I shoot one of these, I worry that a woman will open the door and scream, just as I'm shooting the photo.

It hasn't happened yet, but it's inevitable, isn't it?

On the other hand, it might actually be worse if I caught a photo of some dude exiting the mens room, while I'm shooting the horn-tootin' hombre here!

I guess that's just proof that to be an artist is to take risks?

Ah, yes... We must all suffer for our art...

Masters Update - Is it worth it?

Since July, I've been working on my Masters Degree in Adult Education and Training from the University of Phoenix. It's an online degree, which was important to me, given my travel and work schedules.

Three months and three classes have passed, so here's a status report.

I'm going to use Edward de Bono's PMI tool (Plus, Minus, and Interesting) for this report.

Pluses

• Convenience - I don't have to drive to school. All participation is online. The schedule is extremely flexible. I can attend anywhere, anytime.
• Learning becomes a habit. You know the '21 days theory'? Do anything for 21 straight days and it will become a habit. I find online learning to be like that. Participation is required four days a week, but it's easier to log in for about 30 minutes everyday. It then becomes a habit.
• Course Content - The content has been extremely interesting. I'm reading books I would never read (Action Learning), learning concepts I would never learn (ontological humility) and having discussions (text messaging in the classroom) thatI would never have.
• Diversity - I'm getting to interface with a diverse audience of school teachers from all over the US. It's been very interesting to hear their challenges and passions.
• Virtual Teams - I'm learning how to work on a virtual team - a critical skill.
• Forums - I love answering questions in a forum. You have time to think, everyone participates, and you can go back to reread interesting questions and answers.
• Access - to the University online library.

Minuses

• Not Business Focused - While I enjoy the presence of so many school teachers, there are not enough corporate students for my taste. The discussions often end up focusing on school issues.
• Virtual Teams - It can be hard to work on the teams remotely. There have been a couple of frustrating moments when classmates dropped out or didn't do their work. But hey... that's just like 'real life'.

Interesting

• The Teaching Portfolio - We haven't used it yet, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it is applied.
• Adaptation -Seeing how I've adapted to an online environment.
• Presentations? Doing Power Points in an online environment. I'm very close to listing this as a negative, but I'll wait. It seems to be reinforcing the idea that Power Point is a suitable vehicle for emailing communication (hint: It's not!!).
  That idea isn't just wrong... it's dangerous... to business, anyway.

So, do I believe that spending time on this degree is worth it? So far... you bet!!

Drinking from the Well - Redefining Leadership Development

Hanging Out with Barry Posner (front right) and the Gang

Today, I attended the "Redefining Leadership Development" Forum at Santa Clara University.

The event was organized by my friends at Sonoma Learning Systems, and they did a great job. Kudos to Daren Blonski (who has a new twitter blog listed below) and Jeni Nichols!
I enjoyed seeing a number of old friends and making a few new ones.

The morning opened with Barry Posner (co-author of The Leadership Challenge and Dean of the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University) speaking about Sustainable Leadership.
I've been aware of The Leadership Challenge for about 10 years, first from reading the book, second from attending the class, and then by getting certified as a facilitator of the workshop. 

Despite my familiarity with the material (or maybe because of?) watching Barry was like drinking water straight from the source - fresh and energizing.

I'll share three notes I took from Barry's talk:

1. Commenting on the research that shows that our role models come from those who are closest to us - "The Question is not 'Do I matter?', but 'How do I matter?'."
2. "Leaders are always present, even when they're not... because they're always in the followers mind..."
3. Barry drew a correlation between personal values and scuba diving - "When a scuba diver gets disoriented, the advice is to release some oxygen and follow the bubbles. The bubbles provide direction to overcome the disorientation. Our personal values do the same thing. They provide direction during times of disorientation."
   I love that analogy.

Next up was Andrew Jefferson (President of Fort Hill company and co-author of The Six Disciplines of Breakthrough Learning). Andrew spoke about the road map for optimizing the impact of leadership training.

Here are three notes I took from Andrew's talk (I recommend getting his book, listed below):

1. "Learning program objectives should be expressed in business outcomes."
2. Quoting research from Ninth House, "The true impact of a Learning program is best predicted by the climate the participant returns to..."
3. "When the manager is actively involved, we see significant improvement in the learner. When the manager is not involved, we see no or minimal improvement."

After the session, Barry Posner offered us a tour of Lucas Hall, the beautiful new (opened Sept 14th) home of the Leavey School of Business. In the short time that we were with Barry, he modeled the Five Practices of The Leadership Challenge

1. Model The Way - Prima donna author? No way... 
   I caught Barry cleaning coffee cups and bagel plates from all the tables during a break and made a joke about it. He humbly deferred and changed the subject.
   Seen many CEO's engage like that lately?
   Didn't think so...
2. Inspire a Shared Vision - As Barry walked us through the rooms, he painted a picture of Hall in full use. He described paintings and full classrooms. He was clearly jazzed about this place. His enthusiasm was contagious.
3. Challenge The Process - One member of our group commented on the color scheme - another topic close to Barry's heart.
   He stated that the common color of Santa Clara is 'drab brown' and how he pushed for bursts of color to be splashed through the hall.
   "Not everyone likes it, but I thought it was important", he said.
4. Enable Others to Act - Barry used first names at every opportunity, gave credit to others, thanked sponsors, and pointed out how the lobby was designed to promote the Jesuit value of 'service to others'.
5. Encourage The Heart - He showed us the 'Kouzes and Posner Terrace', where every Thursday at Three, the staff goes to the Terrace for Thirty minutes of communing in the (usually) spectacular California weather.
   It's an event that builds relationships, shows appreciation and energizes the team.
   *the photo above is from this terrace*

These behaviors shouldn't be a surprise from a co-author of The Leadership Challenge, but... 

it's nice to see someone practice what they preach!

Links of Interest

• Santa Clara University
• Leadership Challenge.com
• The Leadership Challenge (book)
• Leadership 10 (Twitter)
• Sonoma Learning Systems
• Fort Hill Company
• The Six Disciplines of Breakthrough Learning
• Ninth House, Inc

Back to School...

On Tuesday, I'll be back to school.

I've spent the last three years 'cherry-picking' my learning from various seminars, books, and workshops; but that well has run a little dry.

This week I start my Master of Arts in Adult Education and Training at the University of Phoenix. It meets all my needs, because:
a) it's an online learning program (easier with my travel commitments)
b) the focus is very tight (every course revolves around training - no fat)

I'll be looking at this program from two perspectives.
First, from a content perspective, I hope to learn a lot about adult learning.
Second, from a delivery perspective, I hope to learn a lot about online learning.

Online learning has its' advantages and disadvantages.
I'm a very social creature, so I'm not sure that online learning is the best path for me.
On the other hand, I like to learn at my own pace, so online might be perfect.

This dichotomy is one I hope to explore here over the next year or so - starting Tuesday...

Should I Get An MBA?

This is a question I get in almost every management/leadership session I facilitate - "Should I get an MBA"?

The question is often meant as, "To get ahead in this company, should I get my MBA?".

My response to the question is another question - "Do you read management books on the weekend for fun?"

If they say, "Yes", and enthusiastically tell me about the last book they read, then I reply "Take that MBA! You're already doing the work, and you'll enjoy the process.
Get your company to fund a piece of paper that furthers your interests."

Of course, you should consider your opportunity costs.
Is there anything you could be doing with your time that would give a better return than an MBA?
Tom Peters once wrote that your time would be better spent doing business in Asia than studying in a classroom.
As a guy who discontinued his MBA studies at Santa Clara to take an assignment in Japan, I would have to agree.
But your optimal path is assuredly different from mine...

And if you don't read management books for fun?
"Then why," I ask, "do you want an MBA?"

It usually comes down to promotion concerns. MBA's have a better chance of promotion, they think.

Well, 20 years of experience in interviewing and hiring tells me that's not true - at least at this company.
Sure, if two candidates are dead even, I'd take the MBA candidate. Putting your blood, sweat, and tears into an MBA proves you want the management path - you're not just talking about it.
But, you know what? Candidates are never dead even (unless your job definition and interviewing process sucks).
When I choose between an MBA and someone who's been kicking ass, well, the ass-kicker wins every time...

In fact, if I met a manager who insisted that every manager must have an MBA, I wouldn't work for him or her. Evolution and growth come from diversity, and a room full of MBA's is the opposite of diversity.

One other question I ask is what I call the 'tennis-ball test'.
If I throw a tennis ball down the hall, how far will it bounce before it hits an MBA?

In our company, the correct answer is between 20-75 feet.
Having an MBA is not a differentiator here.
And if it's not a differentiator, it's not adding value.
And if it's not adding value, well, neither are you, probably.

I'd sooner hire someone with a Psychology, Architecture, or Anthropology degree to work in my group than an MBA.
Not because MBA degrees are bad (they're not), but because that turf is covered.

We're past the point where 'checkboxes' get you ahead. Happily.
Passion is the biggest differentiator now.
You'll get ahead when you outwork everyone else. And you'll outwork everyone else on things you're passionate about.

So, go get that MBA - if you're passionate about business.