Week 4 Reading: The value of Dreams

The Value of Dreams
Dreams allow us to escape the bonds of reality and create a world of our own. Dreams awaken the possibility of changing the world and creating something beyond the constraints of the past. Without the dream that we could fly we would not have planes, with out the fantasy of magic and all its problem solvers we won't have science. Today's dreams are the reality of our future.
As the book the Art of Possibility states the famous " I have a Dream" speech by Martin Luther King does appeal to everyone of us. As dreams represent our inner wishes; they are a manifestation of our true self. The self that dreams of climbing mount everest in spite of the odds against that ever happening. They push us to want and achieve more.
I totally agree with the implication that to be a true leader one must have a dream, a vision/mission statement and objectives. How else can a leader influence and be an agent of change if they don't know where they wish to take us. It is the dreams of a leader and our desperate desire for something better that changes the world that we live in.
I want to an agent of change, source of inspiration for others particularly my son. This book the art of possibility has allowed me to reconnect with my inner five year old that believes that anything is possible.
I truly enjoyed this book and I am very glad that it is part of this Masters program! So I leave you the picture that began my journey to understanding the art of possibility; a picture of my son.....

Maritza,
You seem to have embraced the essence of the book! You appear to be totally understand the concept of the being the board. I enjoyed your insightful comment












Please find Maritzas blog post below:
When "the way things are" inhibits you from progress, motivation, or seemingly any accomplishment, you can tell yourself you are the board on which this game is being played. It is possible to transform the rules of your world into opportunities to take challenges and breakdowns and realize that you have made the choice of your own free will to allow these things to victimize you. I choose to allow the situation to ground me and clip my wings. Now I can choose to rethink and transform the design of the game to work in my favor. How did I get here? I have been telling myself I am the victim. I really can make a difference by designing my conversation and actions to effectively repair breakdowns. I am not to blame; I have just not removed the barriers in my thinking. I have made some incorrect assumptions, and that is the source of my difficulty. I myself am the tool and the means by which I control the relationships and actions within them. In this manner I begin to make a difference and change the persons and circumstances that I viewed as stifling into partnerships working toward the same goal in the larger picture. 

Response to Nathalie Hills week 4 reading post

Nahtalie,
Your absolutely right Mission statements are key to an organizations financial health but it is also key to the individual's overall well being. They help when making critical decisions as a mission statement guides us along our path.
















Please find Natalies post below:

As I read the chapter entitled, Creating Frameworks for Possibility, I didn’t really understand what it meant. As I continued to read I saw the term “mission statement” but, before reading what it was I thought about seeing that term on the wall of the church never really read it though. Now that I know the purpose of a mission statement I said I was actually going to read the mission statement of the church one-day. 

Not only did I find a mission statement important for the church to follow but also for my future. My mission statement is to continue to do well in school, after finishing school my goal is to continue to take every opportunity for granted and try to stop getting mad when I feel I should receive better money or recognition. If I stay focused on my mission the vision will come to pass. I have learned to write the vision and make it plain, we see and hear things but really don’t pay attention but as I sat back and thought about it I think I can give it a try. My vision is the start of articulating the possibility

Response to William Boswell: week 4 reading

William,
I really enjoyed reading your post, your perspective is refreshing! I think the reason why Children learn the blame game is because they learn quick the one who is at fault gets in trouble. Maybe if we refocus the consequences as something positive we may reduce the number of players in that "blame game".
















Please find William Boswell:

“Being the board” is a revelation in perspective for most people.  Instinctively, we are all interested in self-preservation.   This does not only apply to basic needs, but also applies to one’s self-esteem.   Children start the “blame game” at a very early age.   Being “right” bolsters belief in oneself; however, the “blame game” simply propagates an endless cycle.  Placing blame only provides a short-term solution to a problem that could very likely be encountered again.  Each new occurrence requires that fault be found with someone.  Where is one left if blame has nowhere to fall?  Accepting life for a series of events in which you are just a part creates an entirely new environment.  Things will go my way sometimes, and sometimes they will not.  One is not solely responsible for either outcome.  Sure, each decision one makes can produce a certain degree of certainty as to what may result, but never entirely.   Limiting risks in decision-making does not eliminate ALL risks, as the world is full of far too many variables.

 

Week 4 Leadership and Publishing Project

I would like to present at Society for Exploration Geologist 2011, The Society for Petroleum Engineers annual exhibition and conference and Schlumberger Forum. At all three events I would like to present in conjunction with more established the industry professional, Training in the oil and gas industry the road forward. This presentation will be focusing on a new type of course that combines scenario based learning, software training and domain knowledge. It is expected that this new type of course will provide industries profession with the skills necessary to operation successfully in the oil and gas industry. Please find click here to view a copy of my presentation.

Writing up my Astract

After writing up cycle 1 and cycle to I found it easy to write up the abstract. Particularly since the instructions given were so clear, once you followed the instructions it was easy to arrive at 130 words. All it required was a little word-smithing and voila 119 words!.
The key to a good abstract truly understanding the essence of your project once you have done that its pretty simple!

Response to Klauer's post

Elizabeth,
I agree with the book allows you to be you. They ask you to accept your feeling and a situations not to be unrealistically optimistic about the fact it is raining on your vacation. They simply ask you to look beyond it! I really enjoyed reading your post


















Please find Elizabeths blog post below:

The honesty of the authors is truly a breath of fresh air. We are merely human, and it is natural to feel emotions of anger, grief, disillusionment, frustration, etc. There are many philosophies that teach to one end of the spectrum to the other. We are to embrace suffering by realizing that we deserve it and must wallow in it and beat our bodies down to train them. Or we are to completely deny our feelings and transcend beyond that to another elevated state of peace or nirvana or whatever. The Zanders make it clear that we are to allow our feelings to run their course and come to a place where we can move forward. In life we have never reached an impasse. Our creativity and resilience are just challenged a bit... sometimes a lot. I love the rabbi story. There are always reasons to be thankful. “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (Paul the Apostle, 1 Thessalonians 5:18).

“Give Way to Passion.” Must I ruin this chapter title by writing more? Yes. I think what might often happen, based on my observations, is that people end up married with children before they fully realize their dreams and passions and gifts. A job becomes necessary for providing the basic needs of the family. The job is just that-- a job, not a joy, or a delight, or a passion. However I suppose a passion for life and living can turn any job into a passion. If your family’s comfort and happiness are your passions, your job will be a joy because it is the means to provide that. I see many parallels between this chapter and the 4th, “Being a Contribution.” Of course the BTFI moment stands out to me the most! Love it! We make so many excuses for why we can’t pursue something. I usually hate this word so I apologize, but, fuck it! And go for the seemingly impossible!!! God gave us passions and gifts for a reason. So we need to let go of our pride and our half-empty glasses and invest in our passions to bless and be blessed by others. So, self-application... Within two years I will move out of state or preferably out of the country to pursue either foreign languages and/or film school and/or dance and/or soccer. I like the “and” better than the “or” so I say... all of the above! It sounds impossible.

The Eastlea School story - inspiring! I especially love Anthony’s 15-minutes of fame! I’m trying to get my students to have their moments of fame by recording their skits and rap songs that they create based on our current chapter in History. They love watching each other. And I love when they compliment each other, which unfortunately, is not that often. Working on that... Trying to help fan their sparks into flames and to be inspired by the sparks my students have.

My response to Natalie Hills blog

Natalie,
Good luck with the job hunt! Your blog reminds me of what my father always says that when your receive your first No, it natures way of determining who really wants to prize!
























Please find Natalie's blog post below:

 I gained two life long lessons from the reading this week. One was after calling someone for something you want and you don’t receive the response you like go face to face and talk to that person. Another lesson was when you are told “no” don’t take it as a failure but take it as a lesson.

I am now in search of a job and I have sent resumes after resumes but haven’t gotten any response from anyone. I now no that I am going to stop sending resumes but put on my suit and go to their office to talk to them face to face. Perhaps if they see the spark of interest that I have in wanting the job will persuade them to give me a chance and hire me. If I still get rejected that will only make me stronger. I am going to continue to keeping trying until I get the answer “yes”. In life we are easily to become discourage from things but it takes us being strong minded to continue to press on.

As I was working on this blog I heard the actress Raven Samone state that while she was trying to become successful she had been told “no” more than she was told “yes”. But look at her now, she is being presented awards for continuing to keep the spark of her dream and now one of the youngest producers, directors and actresses in today’s time. If she can do it I know that I can too, I just have to keep the spark and hope that it becomes contagious to others.

Sources: Book entitled The Art of Possibility

 

Response to William Boswell: week 3 reading

William,
I could not agree with you more! The author is asking us to always keep thinking to always try and solve the problem!




















Williams Post:

The reality of it all...

“Accepting things as they are” is not intended to be an exercise in complacency.  As presented, it is simply intended for one to focus on what is real, rather than ignoring the truth of a given situation.  Also, Zander does not intend for one to infer that the facts should dictate any particular course of action.  One should not feel defeated simply because of his circumstances, but one also should not create an “alternate reality” in which his actions contradict his situation to the point of insanity.  Choose the cliche you prefer:  “play the cards you’re dealt,” “when life hands you lemons, make lemonade,” “you can’t make chicken salad out of chicken s%@t.”  Our world is full of success stories that exist primarily because someone did not allow circumstances to prevent them from achieving their dreams.  Don’t live with your head in the clouds, but don’t stuff it in the sand and ignore the possibilities.

 

Week 3 Reading: I want to be a pig!

I don’t want to be Ferdinand the duck and I certainly don’t wan to be the cow! So what do I want to be?

When I was in high school I had to take a class called General paper.  In General Paper you were given topics and you are required to argue either for or against the topic.  You quickly learned how to structure your paragraphs IF, THEN, THEREFORE.

 IF x then y therefore one can conclude z. IF THEN THEREFORE is another take on being in the present without resistance. You have taken the problem or challenge and made it an equation or a puzzle, something to be solved or to be figured out. We have engaged the analytical and logical parts of our mind. Allowing us to discover options and possibilities that are not readily apparent. 

I want to be Babe! I want to be able to solve the problem.

Picture is courtesy of Microsoft Clip Art

Wimba 2

So I was able to get a babysitter on Tuesday night so that I could participate in the wimba session to find out that it was rescheduled! ah well such is life!
So this week the professor spent quite a bit of time discussing the leadership project. He suggested that we sign up for the either the Tuesday or Thursday session to present a run through of our project including our Action research website. Prof Bustillos also mentioned that we have submit proof that  we submitted our project to a conference. I am a bit nervous but I am going for gold with this leadership project.
The class then switched to the action research website and then finally the action research abstract.

Media Asset Leadership Project

After doing some research I have come up with three potential places where I could do my presentation. The first would be my companies internal conference every year, this is an international oil & gas industry conference. This conference is scheduled for May 2011. The other option is the SEG or the Society for Exploration Geologist in San Antonio in September 2011. My Final option is the SPE conference in Brazil on the big crew change.
I will be presenting on the result of my action research project which is the creation of a new training product for my company.  The great thing about this new training product is that it is currently being developed in conjunction with our biggest client. So in order to present I would have to get permission and possibly a partnership to discuss the success of this new product.  I have reached out to the client to see if we could write a paper and present at one or all three of these conferences. I hope to get some feedback soon.

Response to Sally Lanius

 I will have to disagree with you. I think that everyone is a gift by virtue of his or her existence.  The reality is that our existence is only temporary. It has a beginning and an end, so life however how long or fleeting, is a gift. I think that it is when people don't see themselves as a gift, or valuable by virtue of their own existence is when they stop valuing others.  

According the World Bank there are 6.69 billion people on this planet, it is easy to start think that it is only when you do something you become worth something.  This type of thinking is fundamentally dangerous because you no longer live in the present or enjoy the present you keep thinking about the next big thing you have to do. For most people this just leads to general unhappiness and worry but for others, their moral code or the difference between right and wrong can get blurred in the pursuit of their next success because, with out it they are worth nothing….

Just a thought!

Sarah Rudder-Chulhan



Please find Sally's post below:

While reading chapter 4 in the Zanders book I found myself becoming uncomfortable with the way the Zanders present some of their philosophies.  I understand that the Zanders intention is for the reader to begin inventing his or her own world with an optimistic viewpoint.  To do this, the reader pretends to play the game of contribution where he wakes up every morning and basks in the notion that he is a gift to others.  This philosophy seems a bit arrogant.  I do not believe a person can be a gift just by virtue of existing.  I believe that gifts are strengths or kindnesses that a person chooses to share with others.  I question how a person can grow and see the possibilities in his life if he already believes himself to be “a gift to the world?” I do however like the Zanders’ purpose for describing life as a game in order to shift thinking from one of survival to one of possibilities for growth.  Seeing each day as a fun challenge is a great way to be open to the possibilities headed your way. 

Image courtesy Sarah Chulhan

Respones to Katie Nemelka week 2 reading

Katie,
Reading your blog reminded me of Kung Fu Panda, where the Kung Fu Master Oogway says "Quit, don't quit? Noodles, don't noodles? You are too concerned about what was and what will be. There is a saying: yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.
What you were able to do with your class is amazing it is because you let go of the past and decided to live in the moment! I am sure your student are really appreciating this change as you are now better prepared to guide them to reach their potential.


Image courtesy Sarah Chulhan


Please find Katie's post below:

My thoughts about reading The Art of Possibility Chapters 4 - 6:
Wow! I am sure thousands of people can relate to the feeling of being a “success” or being a failure to ‘society’. I like how Ben changed the ‘being a success’ to “how will I be a contribution today?” I am a queen of figuring out if I am a success/failure. I LOAD myself up with a zillion things to do so that I can be a ‘success’ where in reality I am just setting myself up for failure due to lack of time. Everybody wants approval from others. If we could train our minds to just focus on what we do contribute on a day to day basis we would be so much happier. We all do need to remember we are leaders. Many of us who are teachers can be HUGE leaders in our students lives for motivating them into positive passions instead of negative things such as gangs and poor school performance.
I am in love with “rule number 6 – Don’t take yourself too seriously”. I have a perfect example in my own life about ‘don’t take yourself too seriously. This year my kindergarten class is a very ‘tricky’ class. Usually I have the ‘perfect’ classroom with a quiet working environment. This year I have a class with many different ADHD problems, challenged learners, and many broken homes. I was getting so frustrated with myself that I wasn’t making as much progress with MY students as I had in past years. And MY class wasn’t the perfect class to look at and watch. I took a step back and decided to ‘lighten up’ (even before I read this book) and decided to go with the flow. I am now FALLING in love with this group of kids. I kicked back and now I can focus on the STUDENTS instead of MY ‘perfect’ classroom. We have fun and I am now getting to them. We still have a lot of academic progress to make, but we are making progress!
I also enjoy the way this author writes this book with stories. It makes the book more personal and it touches me emotionally as I read them. It motivates me to want to change.

Response to William Boswell

William,
You are so right, we are so focused on our goals that we forget to live in the moment and enjoy the journey. Rarely do we appreciate the journey and it is only upon reflection we recognize the value of the lessons learned. It is the journey that makes us who we are rather than than the achievement.







Image courtesy Sarah Chulhan

Week 2 Reading: Your Central- Self

Just another random side thought, have you noticed, that when you look at babies and children, we tend to think that the whole world is open to them. They can be anything do any thing, there is a whole world of possibilities open to them. But as we grow older the world of possibility grows smaller, we start to think well if we have not done it by now then we probably ever will. In our minds possibilities and time seem to inextricably linked but what amount of time makes the difference? Seconds, minutes, days, years decades? Just something to think about.

This was my closing paragraph last week but now after reading the next three chapters in the Art of Possibility, I am forced to consider the role of our calculating self.  The calculating self that develops as a result of time and life experiences, particularly the negative experiences. It’s the self that keeps us from getting hurt it protects us and allows us to defend our turf.  The central self, is our true self, it is our spring of creativity and potential. I think this is what we see when we look at small children cause they have not developed their calculating self. They have not learned to be guarded or mistrustful, all they are is their central self. They are not afraid to put themselves out there, try new things and learn. Children learn fast that they need a calculating self, because they learn quick that they are constantly being compared and measured.

So many of us only live as our calculating self, that we stifle our creativity, that we sabotage our opportunities. So then how do we nurture our central self, how do we learn to harness its power and be free to let it shine through? I think all of the games and models used in the book (the art of possibility) are exercises that help use move beyond the self that protects and hinders us. Giving yourself an A, have the best _ ever are all devices to help the real us shine through.

Just some random thoughts