10.7 Chorus of Diversity

I read Box 13.10 Voices from the Field, p. 401 regarding Susan Hafen’s idea that allowing all voices on and off key, should be allowed to “sing”, would take a lot of patience. My own experience with diversity in the workplace went something like this: new members were hired and they were trained in voice lessons. The ones that had natural vocal talents were allowed to move to the front of the chorus line while the ones that were off key were given extra lessons and kept way in the back. We could all see that we were different and we had different voices, but we were all reading the same sheet and when we had a note to hit, we hit it and we made beautiful music together.

10.6 Why Ethical Reflections Matter

Box 14.2, Ethical Reflection and Pedagogy, G. Cheney
After reading Mr. Cheney’s experience about reflections and the need for more ethical reflections in corporate America, I found myself reflecting back on my recent semesters. The Instructional Design classes offered a great deal of challenges in learning new concepts and applying them to the development of projects. What I always found useful near the end of the course was the time for reflection on the “process”.

There was no need to adhere to the APA style, nor comment in so many words. It was pure and honest reflection on what you experienced and what you wanted to say to the entire class. Most of the time it was a debriefing about the project. And then every once in awhile there was an “aha” moment. And that’s when I knew I was learning. Taking the time to reflect with your peers, (even in this electronic medium) without the constraints of words counts and time intervals, is worth every thought.

10.5 Why Ethics?

In Chapter 14, Speaking of Ethics and Values in Organizations, p. 411, the authors discuss the reasons why we need ethics in our lives. We obviously need ethics in the communications we engage in. If we can't trust the other individual, then we will eventually come to a stand-still and stop the conversation. We need ethics in business so that consumers can feel confident that they are dealing with individuals that have the greater concern for the community in mind. We need ethics in our government. We need to have the belief that our representatives and those whom have chosen to protect us are held to a higher standard. These public sector employees need to be mindful of the responsibility they have taken upon themselves to represent their communities.

In the end it all comes down to one thing: be a good citizen. If you are a good citizen you'll be respectful of the laws, you'll be tolerant of your neighbors, and you'll make choices that will further the well being of the community at large.

10.4 Ethnicity and a New Type of Identity

After reading Box 13.9, p.400, the concept of "a la carte ethnicity" reminded me of the struggles I had gone through over the last 30 years. In retrospect I agree with the "a la carte" concept and that we (I) choose to identify with certain aspects of my Mexican heritage. Growing up in East San Jose allowed me the opportunity to experience the freedom of diversity and engage with authority figures (teachers) that were tolerant of the bigotry that resonated around the area in the late 1970’s.

My parents, first generation Mexicans, demonstrated to me that hard work and a pursuit of your dream could bring about success. In order to pursue my dreams of success I felt that I needed to distance myself from the common identifications of my culture: music, hairstyles, names,etc.

Now that I have matured I find myself identifying more with my heritage and letting the youth around me (I speak at local high schools and colleges) know that it’s not a rarity to be Mexican and be a leader in your community. What’s interesting about these thoughts I have about my cultural identity is that they (students) have moved past my cultural struggle--I think I’m getting more out of this "cultural awakening" than they are.

10.3 Threat to Communities and the Environment

After reading the Critics of Globalization (p.390), I recall the arguments about the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and how it was going to lift the Mexican economy and create new jobs for Americans. Well, it's been 14 years and the Mexican economy hasn't broken any records and American workers have lost more jobs to corporations going global. The NAFTA experiment worked to give corporations more profits and paved the way for companies to continue to drive the cost of production down to boost profits. The thought of globalization threatening our communities has been around for years.

Our country has been addicted to the oil of third world countries for more than 30 years. We have watched our economy fluctuate with threat of reducing production of oil in the Middle East. We've watched our favorite vehicles go from Ford to Toyota in less than 20 years. And we've watched our brand name appliances and entertainment being assembled in plants all around the globe.

The only threat globalization would have on our communities would be if we stood by comfortably on our past accomplishments. We need to continue to invest in innovation and research. We need to create new markets and let the most efficient entity be a part of manufacturing the goods. In the end we all benefit if the products we purchase are reasonable in cost.

10.2 Institutional Isomorphism

Public safety organizations have long been examples of organizational isomorphism. Community Policing has been at the forefront of change for many agencies as they look for ways to do more with less. Even though the concept is over 20 years old, the philosophy keeps coming up as agencies look to new ideas that will help to curb crime in their communities. Larger agencies are usually pushed to make this new change in philosophy from political pressures driven by unforeseen acts in the cities. Smaller agencies follow closely as their communities border these larger cities and look to service their citizens and appear progressive.

10.1 Making the Invisible visible

I agree that we are still "trying to figure out appropriate contexts and means for the new way of interacting."
For instance, the online class (web-based instruction) has not yet become transparent to the educational process. We still aren't comfortable with the customs and haven't taken their success for granted. Our instructors are not yet integrating their lessons to access all of the learning domains. They are still adding the web to their reading assignments. Where are the video shorts offering a visual representation of the chapters? How about some audio segments in the professor's voice? And where are the pre-tests to demonstrate retention of new knowledge?

The web technology in use today has a long way to go before it becomes transparent to the learning process. Let's hope it survives the novelty and becomes integrated in the delivery of curriculums throughout education.

9.5 Keys to Creative Ideas

I wrote this blog earlier in the day (Saturday, 11AM). I couldn't post it because it didn't fall into the 12 hour time frame. So I had to wait to make sure I adhered to the rules. Needless to say, I had a long night of work and "life" and I failed to post in time. I was going to forgo the posting to communicate my protest of the "letter of the law": turning the blog on time. But I decided to rise above that and that it was the learning process that mattered. I'm not going to document the circumstances for not posting the comments within the 12 hour period. I'll just post them here and move past the policy and gain the knowledge of "process". I don't know if the rest of you have experienced this uneasiness over the structure of the posting within a specific time period, but since we don't meet in class I can't gauge the issues by asking my neighbor in class. So, here is my post, I thought it stimulated some interesting thoughts regarding some experiences I've had in creating ideas. The post may not have been added to my grade, but it still came from the motivation to gain knowledge and participate...

After reading Box 11.8, Keys to Creative Ideas Generation, p. 335 I recalled the last two brainstorming sessions I facilitated at work. One involved a group where I was brought in to evaluate the direction of the recruiting campaign. The other involved the creation of a theme for the annual report. In the recruiting campaign scenario I was asked by the groups supervisor to come in evaluate the ideas that were being proposed. After sitting quietly for about an hour listening to the new ideas that were being brought forth, I had my turn at the floor and offered my praise for all of the work that had been presented. I then shifted gears and moved into “brainstorming” mode. I tried to connect to the affective domain and create some buy-in. Within a few minutes the room was buzzing with smiles, new ideas, and not so great ideas. I busy writing the ideas down on the white board.

I was striving for quality, jotting down whatever came through, improved on some ideas, and I offered no evaluation. In the end we came up with a new strategy and a slogan: “A Career of Opportunities”. From then on, we were the creative team with a mission and a mindset to promote the idea of a Career of Opportunities in all communications. The original meeting was a chance to display the ideas for Recruiting; the meeting ended as a brainstorm session for the new Recruiting Campaign!