Sniffing and Dogma

The weather in New Jersey this week is absolutely California-ish.
I've spent most of my days sitting outside, reading and surfing (the net).

This is my parents dog Pumpkin.
I'm not a huge fan of that name, so I call her 'Punk' and she responds. It's a workable solution.

She's been training me all week.
She's taught me to throw the ball, to scratch her behind her ear, and to put all food out of her reach.

She's a very good teacher.

She's also taught me a good deal about being curious. 

Punk is the sniffinest dog I've ever met. 

She spends about 80% of her time sniffing the air, sniffing the ground, sniffing my food, and sniffing my leg.

I haven't detected any payoff to all this sniffing, but maybe I'm missing the point.

Perhaps the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single sniff.

Application of a Personal Vision

Clarence Eddy and Heather Hinrichs-Andersen

This past March, I was attending a DISC training class at Ken Blanchard Corporation, in San Diego. The course was led by Drea Zigarmi, a great teacher and a wise man. One day, Drea asked me what my life's vision or purpose was.
I attempted to laugh him off, but he challenged me to live my life with intention. He must have struck a nerve, because since then, I've kept working on this vision of mine.

About one month ago, these words came out of me, "My vision is to live in a world where every human interaction results in a positive learning moment for both parties".

I like it. It captures what I've been trying to do in my life, as I've been living through my life.
Whether as a songwriter, a photographer, a traveler, an engineer, a manager, or as a facilitator - all I've really wanted to in my life is learn and share learnings 24 x 7.

Last week, I was having lunch with my friend Heather Hinrichs-Andersen of Brilliance, Inc. Heather and I were discussing coaching. Heather is very passionate about coaching.
I'm not.

Don't get me wrong... I enjoy coaching.
I view it as an essential part of any development plan. I do a lot of it.
But I don't get the same thrill from it that I get from facilitating a group session.
There's a difference between the reflective energy of one coachee vs. the active energy of a group.
While I enjoy coaching at the moment I'm doing it, I don't wake up thinking, "How can I get more coaching on my plate?"

As we talked, I tried to make sense of this. The fact is, I don't learn as much when I'm coaching as I do when I'm facilitating a group.
Coaching is about the coachee learning. It isn't about the coach learning.
Facilitating on the other hand is a full-time learning experience for the facilitator.
There may not be a 'next session'.
The facilitator has to learn, adapt, and get results within the time allotted.

It was interesting. Heather immediately caught it, "Facilitating is aligned with your vision. Coaching isn't."
Maybe I'm selfish... but helping isn't enough for me. I need to learn while I help.

That's the kind of thing that's good to know!

If You Need to Text Message, I'll Just Walk. Okay?

I flew from San Jose to Philadelphia today to visit my parents for the next 10 days.
My sister and dad picked me up at the airport. Shortly thereafter, I had a bit of a fight with my sister over her text messaging while driving on a highway.

My recent reading of "Brain Rules" (go here - slide 7 to see) has persuaded me that cell phone usage is worse than drunk driving, so I asked her to stop.
That didn't go too well...

I suppose I should have facilitated a discussion instead of lecturing her, but getting home alive was my priority at that moment. 

Anyway, it's good to be here and great to see my parents.
As I'm relaxing in the back yard - piggybacking on an internet signal from the neighbors - I'm reminded of my dad's best line about my work ethic, "Hard work doesn't bother Glenn at all. He can lay down right next to it and sleep all day."

That's about as close as I hope to get to hard work over the next 10 days!

The Interview as Learning Tool...

This is Martin Woodrow. He taught me much of what I know about teaching. Some of what he taught me was in words, but most of what he taught me came from watching him teach and facilitate.

It's a compliment to say that I've learned as much from his mistakes as from his successes. Martin takes chances, falls on his face, gets up, and is happy to discuss those mistakes. That's an admirable trait.

I had an assignment (for my Master's Program) to interview an adult educator, and Martin came immediately to mind.

I knew he would provide an interesting interview, but I was surprised how much I learned about him.

I've often seen interviewing exercises in books and on the web (Center for Digital Storytelling is one such place). There are suggestions to interview strangers, family members, etc.
I've never done that, but based on my experience with interviewing Martin, I just might take it up. And if Martin approves, I'll post the interview later.

So, today's learning tip? Interview someone.
You might learn something!

Learning, Unlearning, Re-learning

Angie and I were hiking yesterday at Alum Rock Park, in San Jose, and I had carried my camera for more than half the hike without taking a picture. This was annoying me, as I have a fairly heavy camera.

I justified that there was nothing to shoot, as we hadn't 'seen anything interesting'. When I say that, it usually means that I haven't spotted any wildlife - my primary objective when hiking.

I continued walking, and for some reason started thinking about how photography = 'light writing' in latin. I always tell beginners that the lesson in the word photography is that there is no 'writing' - or photography - without light.

That reminded me to look for interesting light for the rest of the hike. I took the above photo about 30 minutes later.

The lesson this photo taught me wasn't about photography. It was about the value of reflection and re-learning the lessons that we've learned before.

There's no 'I' in team...

But as Michael Jordon pointed out, "There is in WIN"...

I stayed up late last night for the exciting (too much so, in fact) gold medal basketball game between Team USA and Spain. The closing of the game reminded me of Jordon's quote.

With the USA clinging to a late two-point lead, the Spanish team increasing in confidence and energy, and Team USA's supposed dominance on the verge of collapse, Kobe Bryant - the 'me first' NBA star who had suppressed his ego to become the defensive specialist on this team -
imposed his will and talent on the Spanish to almost single-handedly win the game.

There had been many questions about how Team USA would handle pressure, if and when it arrived. Could they handle it? Who would stand up and be the leader on this 'team of equals'? No one? Anyone?

Kobe stood up, willing to shoulder the weight of 'hero' or 'goat'. And won the game... for the team.

Who on your team is willing to take the toughest shots?

What I'll soon be reading... well, someday...

Okay... I'm officially a bookaholic.
I knew that, but the stack of books that make it impossible for Angie to see me has confirmed it.

This week, between Monday and Friday, I've bought the following books:

On Monday, from Bookman's Used Books in Phoenix, Arizona

• The Craft of Research by Booth, Colomb, and Williams
• Love 'em or Lose 'em by Kay & Jordan-Evans
• Wonder Woman - The Complete History by Les Daniels
• Picture This - How Pictures Work by Molly Bang

Arriving all week from Amazon

• The Breakthrough Company by Keith R. McFarland
• slide:ology by Nancy Duarte
• E-Learning by Design by William Horton
• the Online Learning idea book by Patti Shank
• Better Than Bullet Points by Jan Bozarth
• Plato and a Playtypus Walk into a Bar... by Cathcart and Klein
• Lads before the Wind by Pryor
• The Five Most Important Questions by Peter Drucker
• The Extreme Future by James Canton
• Kicked, Bitten, and Scratched by Amy Sutherland
• The Change Handbook by Holman, Devane, and Cady
• How to Think Like a Behavioral Analyst by Bailey and Burch

On Friday, from Stanford Bookstore in Palo Alto, California

• The Science & Psychology of Doodles by Emma Steiger
• John Dewey on Education
• Hard Optimism by Price Pritchett
• The Plenitude by Gold

On Friday, from Borders in Palo Alto, California

• Anthropology for Dummies

On Friday, from Bookbuyers Used Books in Mountain View, California

• Field Guide to Gestures by Armstrong & Wagner
• No One Cares What You Had for Lunch - 100 Ideas for Your Blog - Margaret Mason
• The Leadership Challenge (1st Edition) by Kouzes and Posner
• Doing Psychology Experiments by David W. Martin
• The Clustered World by Michael J. Weiss
• Sway by Brafman and Brafman

It's a safe bet that I won't get through these books in the next week or so.
I haven't even finished Authenticity yet!

Any recommendations where I start?