23 Days Later...A quick update!

Well, I've taken a break from blogging. I'm not sure why. To begin with, work has taken me away from home and away from the routine that I had developed using Bev's non-negotiables. As a result, I haven't been stopping each night by 8:30 to write my blog. I have continued to think about it though and I will have to go back through my pictures to see what interesting photos I have taken over the last 23 days with blogging on my mind.

June 3, was my last post. That was the day before convocation. Convocation was good. It's always fun to see my students crossing that imaginary threshold and moving into a new life. It is SO exciting for them and therefore vicariously exciting for me, too.

Sandy and I at BU Convocation on June 4th! Photo compliments of Mike Nantais' Photo of the Day page.

@ home after the ceremony - need to redo my hair!!

Wa-la! A bit of hair technology magic and I'm ready for the banquet!!

The morning after convocation, I was off to Norway House, MB to begin work on a new research project. It was my first time in northern MB - So beautiful! Our meetings went smoothly and we left feeling like it was going to be the beginning of a great partnership between Brandon University and the northern community/school.

Here we are aboard Perimeter Airlines.

York Boats ready for the races!

For the rest of that week, I was back in Brandon preparing presentations for the following week - an afternoon session on classroom management for mini-university at BU, a presentation/discussion about social media in higher education with Mike via Skype in Saskatoon, and a Fish Philosophy workshop for Cypress Hills Eco Adventure Tours at Cypress Hills Provincial Park in Saskatchewan.

Additionally, I have attended the Manitoba Summer Fair, planted over 100 annuals and several perrenials into my yard, spent a weekend with my Mom, and played a round of golf with Sandy at Taurus Pines Golf Course in Brandon!

Wild Flowers from The Whitemud River Valley

This weekend, June 24-26, I went to Grenfell. As I was getting close to town, I saw a definite funnel cloud. The first picture was taken from my car and you can see the funnel at the bottom of the clouds along the left hand side. The second picture is taken from Deb's driveway and the funnel is higher in the cloud formation. I don't think I have ever seen a funnel cloud before. It was amazing because it was so active. It would get long and skinny like it is in picture number two and then it would gain width or it would get shorter. It was continually changing shape and size. I was fascinated.

Does Innovation Require Some Blindness?

Here is another thought that is directly connected to yesterday's post about decision making and whether or not you can have too many voices. As I was working on a reply to Mike's comments from yesterday, I started to think about the criteria that you would need to consider to build an environment for innovation within your organization. If indeed there is a tipping point when you have considered too many perspectives, does that mean that in order to take the risk and try something new that one needs to be at least partially blind to the possible consequences of the action?

Often when we try new approaches, we find that although our actions might have resolved a previous problem that new problems arise as a result of the new initiative. On the other hand, learning is a direct result of trying new things, inquiry. If rather than trying something out, we ask around enough, someone or many people will give us an extensive list of all of the reasons that we shouldn't experiment. I think a good example is the Toronto family who has made the news recently for not revealing the gender of their baby. In short, they caused public outrage. The critics are telling them all of the negative impacts that the action will have on the baby. Yet, we continue to accept a variety of discipline practices within our society that run a fine line between discipline and abuse because we are familiar with the outcomes. I, for one, support the family. I am interested in what they will learn. Although there might be some negative impact, I feel pretty confident that it won't be the only negative impact that this child or any other child will experience in life.

So perhaps, it does require a certain level of blindness to the possibilities to be truly innovative. And perhaps, the process that is utilized by universities of passing each and every decision through many layers of decision making not only serves to infuse wisdom but limits the possibility of having cutting edge innovations emerge from the institution. Maybe, if you truly want to be an innovator, you need to work independently or at least within a small group of like-minded people so that you can take risks without considering all of the possible pitfalls. 

As for me, for now, I plan to continue to support the practice of collaborative consensus building because I still believe that it helps us to make better decisions, to develop a greater sense of ownership, and to increase commitment to the organization. But, I will probably have to resign myself to not doing anything that is particularly innovative, eh?

Voices: Can there be too many?

I am home. Although I'm not really a 'home girl', it is good to be back to my own bed (Yes, I've already had a nap!) and to be able to have a steamy hot bubble bath (Yes, I've already done that, too!). The 2011 Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences in Fredericton, NB was a huge success in my opinion. I am SO glad that I decided to attend.

Speaking of opinions, I attended a session at the conference that has me thinking about opinions. For years, I have been a staunch supporter of the practice of consensus building in organizational decision making. I truly believe that it is important to hear and to listen to the dissonant voices in a conversation. I have argued vehemently with my colleagues that through the process of collaboration and consensus building we reach better decisions, create conditions for distributed leadership, and increase the level of commitment to the organization. The question that I was encouraged to consider during the session was, "Is there a point at which the cost of collaborative consensus outweighs the benefit?"

The answer is, of course. In decision making, as with all things, we need to find a balance. In this case, we are seeking a balance between discussion and action. Discussion without action is no more productive than action without discussion. The presentation that I attended was a presentation about change in higher education. The presenter, Vicky Squires from the University of Saskatchewan, had interviewed university leaders who were involved in developing a school of public policy. One of her participants explained that at least in one part of the process the decisions had to be filtered through eleven different layers or committees before they could move forward. The participant described the phenomenon as being "a thousand points of no."

The reaction in the room to this description was interesting. It was met with loud, friendly laughter from a large group of people who could obviously relate to the frustration of the research participant. Personally, it made me reflect on our own faculty and how it seems so difficult for anyone to be able to move any initiative forward. Dr. Squires concluded that segment of her presentation by leaving us with the question of innovation and whether a university could be truly innovative, if it took so long for decisions to be made within the system. Good question!

My Last Day in Fredericton.

Big sigh. I wish I could stay for one more day. I went downtown tonight for the first time all week. It's a cool place. I am always amazed at how much older the history is in the Maritimes than it is in western Canada.

My presentation was today. It went well. Someone came up to me afterwards and told me that she wished that she could just have a one on one full day workshop with me. She was so sure that there was SO much more that I could teach her. That was a great compliment considering that I was feeling a little anxious about my presentation. I enjoyed both of the other papers that were presented at the same time as mine. One was by Kyhm Goslin from University of Prince Edward Island and was entitled "An Instructional Leadership Constellation for 21st Century Changes." The other one was the dissertation research of Cindy Rottmann from University of Manitoba about the social justice movement within the BCTF. Mine was called "Stories of Change: Transformative Leaders Working toward Social Change through Curriculum Initiatives." Surprisingly, the three presentations did have a common thread and the discussion that followed was outstanding.

Other points of interest in my day:
1. I spent the remainder of the afternoon with Sherry from our faculty. We had a really good visit and then, we attended a round table discussion that featured Susan Aglukark, who is now at the University of Alberta mentoring Aboriginal students as they transition to university life.
2. I had supper at The Blue Door Restaurant downtown with a Philosophy scholar from Massachusetts.
3. I took a city bus downtown and it was quite a winding path from here to there past several points on the St. John's River and past many incredible old houses. The ones with a view of the water were especially luxurious.
4. I shopped in some of the stores downtown that were staying open late just for conference goers.

I am headed home bright and early tomorrow morning. My plane leaves Fredericton at 6:10 am. The shuttle at that time of day is doing a milk run around to all of the conference hotels to pick up passengers. It is leaving from the university at 3 am. Hmmm...I think I'll call a cab!!