One last opportunity to post and share

If you have FINAL thoughts (or ideas about earlier topics), please post them here... Few of us are likely to go back to the earlier headings.

Addititionall, here are a few broad questions that you might like to consider-- and even share your (brief) thoughts on one or more of them. If you have indicated that you wanted a grade, but have not posted very often, this would be a good place to share a final thought. Have fun.

1. What do you see as your greatest block to bringing out your creativity? How can you move beyond that block? What commitment are you willing to make to yourself? What support will you need?

2. Take a few minutes to imagine what your work environment would be like IF all of your associates were practicing the same Live-Withs that you have been pursuing. Describe what this work place might be like and how you would feel about it.

3. What is a life goal that you will feel provide supreme satisfaction and joy? Has this course helped you better define your goals and values? Has this course provided insights regarding how you might go about achieving your goal(s)?

4. We have discussed the interplay of leadership, climate/culture and people as it impacts an organization’s ability to implement change. How do you see the challenge of managing and balancing these three items in your own situation?

5. Write your own question and then your answer to it.

Week #9- Comments on (1) Strength I See in You; (2) Be Ordinary Live-With; and (3) Mt Everest- Leadership Failures

Especially because we were running out of time, it would be great to get your comments and "learnings" from the Strength I See in You exercise. We can review these comments at the start of the last class.

Please post your comments about the work for our last class--
a) experiences with the Be Ordinary Live-With. Some find the word "ordinary" hard to deal with; we know we are all unique, one-of-a-kind and somewhat special... If this is the case, substitute the word "authentic"-- as in being true to yourself and valuing yourself forwho you are. Please share.

b) reactions to the Mt Everest case. Within our leadership discussions, we have talked about willingness to take risk and make mistakes. This case goes farther into disastrous results... However, we can learn from it and relate some of the "errors" to what we have covered. What do you think?

Week #8-- Balance, Gender Tendencies, Leading Change

This week and next, please share your experiences with balance-- what it means to you and how you try to achieve it. "Apply" the Live-With and record your successes as well as what did not help.

Also how are the live-withs helping you through the holiday? Any insights about how they have helped you with difficult relationships?

We felt that confronting gender differences was important. The key is seeking and bringing out your authentic self. Thoughts?

Leading Change-- We will start next class with more on this topic. If change is the only constant, then leading change becomes a major part of every leader's job. We have covered a number of frameworks regarding change-- and there are plenty of others around...

What has been your experience with either leading change or "being part" of a major change or turnaround effort. What did you experience? How did you cope to get through it?

Do you have thoughts about Nissan and Carlos Ghosn?

Have a great week and holiday...

Week #7: See With Your Heart; Whole Foods and Mackey's leadership

Very sorry that I have been late in opening this topic....

An intersting quote:
"And now here is my secret, a very simple secret; it is only with
the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible
to the eye." Antoine de Saint-Exupery

What a lovely week this is - a week of seeing with your heart, which allows you to see what is invisible to the eye.

It is only when you move past seeing with just the eyes and mind that you can really see another human being at all, and can begin to be in true relationship, whether it is with another or it is with your Self.

Make sure to practice this live-with both internally and externally. Once you begin to open your heart to yourself, and your Self, you will know your deepest capacity for love and compassion.

On a very practical note, use your precise observation to see what shifts at home and at work when you see with your heart. What changes in the dynamic of your relationships? How is the 'other', whom you are seeing with your heart, changed? How does is your creativity, and the creativity that comes from your relationship, changed? Reciprocity???

We discussed an interesting and successful company built by John Mackey. Do you have any reaction to what he did and especially how it might be useful for you in your organization.

See you on the 14th.

Week #6-- Just Do It! Facing Fears and Company Culture

You now have two new tools in your tool bag:

1) The Three Stressors: categorize for clarity and forward action.

2) Face your fear: speak it out loud, then re-frame it as a Hero's Journey. What would breakthrough on the journey look like? What is the vision you see ahead? What will it take to Leap?

Try using these two tools and following your live-with, JUST DO IT!, this week in order to take action on your course challenge. How can you get enough clarity, so that you can take appropriate action on your challenge and any other challenges you might be facing?

Regarding company culture and WestJet, please post any ideas that you have.

The Ray chapter introduces the Relationship Challenge. You can comment on this if you wish.

Also, if you are not familiar with Whole Foods, try to visit one... and read the case

Have a great week,
Hal & Julie

Week #5-- Do Only What You Love; Love What You Do and Leading Innovation (IDEO)

We hope you are having fun with this Live-With and will post your experiences below. Please also share your thoughts about matching how you spend your time with your values, goals and what you love to do. Go for progress, not perfection... Remember the “Love-to-Do Commitment” you have made. How is it progressing?

We covered a lot of material about IDEO and we encourage you to share any reactions or questions that were stimulated. Based on the video and the discussion, you can share some ideas and comments about this company? What are some of the concepts that might be useful for YOU in your own organization?

Have a great week.

Week #4-- Ask Dumb Questions and Leadership Concepts

Please share your experiences as you work with dumb or powerful questions.

Let us know about your feelings as you frame the questions-- for example, what is the role of the VOJ? How about the reaction? Did you get your answer and maybe more?

You can even try questions with strangers-- so long as you genuinely want to know the answer. Many of us REALLY like to share of knowledge if someone asks and is interested...

What have you found?

LEADERSHIP--
We covered a lot of material about leadership and we encourage you to share any reactions or questions that were stimulated.

Any thoughts and observations about:
++ Management Mindsets
++ Emotional Intelligence
++ Aesthetic Intelligence
++ Intergrative Thinking

Which of the ideas seem like they will be useful for you now and in the future?

Week #3 - Precise Observation: Pay Attention! and CoolBurst

So, now you are in week three of our class and, we imagine, getting the hang of these live-withs. You've had time to experiment with Have No Expectations and Psych(e) Out Your VOJ. Our new live-with, Pay Attention, builds on these first two.

You are becoming familiar with your own creative process and with your VOJ. When you have a deeper awareness of both, you begin to be more open to the world around you, and the world inside you. This week, we invite you to pay attention to both worlds.

Listen, see, taste, touch and smell with precise observation, as a young child filled with wonder, a scientist absorbed in research, or an alien who has just landed on earth and is seeing things for the first time.

Shake things up! Travel a different route, eat different foods, talk with strangers - do anything you can to have a foreign experience, as if you are a traveller in a new world, because in reality you are. In every moment, life is changing right before your eyes.

So, get out there, and in there, and Pay Attention. Then come back here to fill us in on all the wonder-filled moments you have experienced. You could share thoughts about the Crossing the Ravine exercise and whether/how it provided personal insight.

We discussed the CoolBurst case study in Monday's class, with three excellent presentations that covered the case. If you did not share your views, it is not too late. What do you think Luisa should do?

Please share with us here any questions, thoughts, etc. that will help us all to get more out of this interesting case study.

Week #2 - Tool #2-- Relax the VOJ and Leadership Style/ 7-S Model

Have fun this week with efforts to control the VOJ... Keeping a journal is especially helpful as you experience and observe judgments of all kinds with a new sense of understanding.

We promised you would be “changed” by week #2… What do you think? If you truly engage with your efforts in observing and “Relaxing the VOJ” you WILL see the world and your interactions in a new light. Let us know your experiences.

We also discussed Leadership Styles and the 7-S Model. Continue to notice what leadership style your boss/parent uses, its effectiveness, and whether a different combination of styles might work better. As a leader yourself, consider what your natural styles are and how they support your own internal values. Finally, how does the 7-S Model relate to your organization? Does this framework help you see how things operate?

Nothing is off-limits. Post any other thoughts that you feel would benefit your class mates.

Cheers,
Hal

Week #1- Trust your Creativity and our Conception of Leadership

Off and running. We hope you were stimulated by the first class... and are ready to dig in.

So, please post any comments, ideas or questions that you wish about this class and where we are headed.

Many thanks to those who posted Self-Intorductions under a different heading. slightly more than half of our group has NOT YET introducted themselves. PLEASE do so.

Between now and the next class on October 3rd, experiment with your assigned "Live-With": Have No Expectations. Record your experiences-- successful or less so-- with this concept. How did it work in meetings, in dealing with deadlines? What did you try? What did you notice about your own reactions? This is the most difficult tool and "wrestling" with it has a slow but definite payback.

You can also share any comments you have about the readings.
Good luck.
Julie & Hal

Introduce Yourself

To speed up the process of getting to know one another, would you please introduce yourself with a posting?
Who you are; what you do; what you would rather be doing?
Maybe a comment about why you are taking this course.

Have fun-- see you all on the 26th,
Hal

Welcome to Business-17

We've gone electronic-- not just this blog but also with the course assignments over on the Continuing Studies Moodle location:
http://csp-moodle.stanford.edu

You will login with: username: bus17
password: (to be given out at first class, I think)

On this blog, we hope you will share your experiences during the course and thereby enhance everybody's learning.

In fact, if you are interested in earning a grade, you are required to post during the period of the course.

See you in class on September 26th.