James Drogan

From TED Talks.

"Willard Wigan tells the story of how a difficult and lonely childhood drove him to discover his unique ability -- to create art so tiny that it can't be seen with the naked eye. His slideshow of figures, as seen through a microscope, can only be described as mind-boggling."

This talk is highly recommended.  The message is, "Yes you can."

In Work inProcess I commented that I was looking into the performance of teams in my graduate courses.  I drew your attention to Hackman, J.R. 2002. Leading Teams: Setting the Stage for Great Performances. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press.

I've just finished this book.  Well-written and chockablock full of insights, ideas, pertinent stories; those things that, to pick up from Pasteur, favor the prepared mind.  I have already made a change in how I will guide graduate student teams and expect that more changes will be forthcoming.

If you are concerned about teams and, for the matter, leadership in general, then Hackman ought to be on your must-read list.

I've discovered that comments have been made on entries in my blog to which I have not responded.

I apologize for this.

The mechanism I had set up for alerting me to comments has evidently failed.

I will fix and catch up.

Abstract

Oft times I have found that students come into a course that assumes they have knowledge of logistics and the supply chain, but, in fact, lack that knowledge.

This note helps to provide a bridge to those students and improve their chances of successfully completing the course.

Applicable to the Following Courses

TMGT 7200 MIS in Transportation

TMGT 7400 The Logistics Channel within the Supply Chain

TMGT 8510 System Design and Control

[1] TMGT 8510 System Design and Control

From Slashdot

'Hugh Pickens writes

"Andrew Revkin writes in the NY Times that since 1553, when Sir Hugh Willoughby led an expedition north in search of a sea passage over Russia to the Far East, mariners have dreamed of a Northern Sea Route through Russia's Arctic ocean that could cut thousands of miles compared with alternate routes. A voyage between Hamburg and Yokohama is only 6,600 nm. via the Northern Sea Route — less than 60% of the 11,400 nm. Suez route. Now in part because of warming and the retreat and thinning of Arctic sea ice in summer, this northern sea route is becoming a reality with the 12,700-ton 'Beluga Fraternity,' designed for a mix of ice and open seas, poised to make what appears to be the first such trip. The German ship picked up equipment in Ulsan, South Korea, on July 23 and arrived in Vladivostok on the 25th with a final destination at the docks in Novyy Port, a Siberian outpost. After that, if conditions permit, it will head to Antwerp or Rotterdam, marking what company officials say would be the first time a vessel has crossed from Asia to Europe through the Arctic on a commercial passage."'

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/07/29/0052242/Northern-Sea-Route-Through-Arctic-Becomes-a-Reality?from=rss

It seems to me the environmental, geopolitical, and commercial implications of this are significant. What writings has anyone seen that explore these matters?

I generally eschew political commentary on this blog (although I have a friend how would likely say all commentary contains some politics), but I want to draw your attention to Palestinians in kite record bid.  Scroll down and play the BBC video.

While watching this I was reminded of the Beatles song, "Let It Be."

At an age when many would be tending their tomato plants and taking afternoon naps, I’m drawn to enrolling in a formal education program. Not just any program, mind you, but a program that will assist me in delivering additional value to the students I teach and the institution I serve.

I have been thinking about this for some time. Self‑analysis leads me to the conclusion that, despite my best informal efforts at staying abreast of developments in my areas of expertise, I ought to undertake a more formal, structured program for developing relevant knowledge, skills, and expertise. I’ve looked at universities and colleges in the vicinity of Lower Fairfield County Connecticut, but found no program that seemed to align with my interests.

Then, a small advertisement for the Masters of Arts in Diplomacy at Norwich University appeared on one of the blogs I follow. Diplomacy suggests international affairs which, in turn, constitute a portion of the context that affects global business and transportation, the area in which I teach and have had considerable commercial experience. The core curriculum coupled with the concentration in International Commerce aligns well with my responsibilities within the Global Business and Transportation department at SUNY Maritime College.

I am also involved in Maritime in the area of online or distance learning. I am the Director of Online Programs. I understand that Norwich University is one of the leaders in the online education community. Hence, I expect involvement in the program to provide me with additional expertise in distance learning which should allow me to provide additional value to my institution.

Earlier this evening I was advised that I have been accepted into the program.  The start date is September 7 and the expected degree date is June 2011.  The curriculum for this program will be found here.

From the Harvard Business Review, July-August 2009, pp 62-69.

"The current economic crisis is not just another rough spell. Today’s mix of urgency, high stakes, and uncertainty will continue even after the recession ends. The immediate crisis—which we will get through with policy makers’ expert technical adjustments—sets the stage for a sustained, or even permanent, crisis, a relentless series of challenges no one has encountered before.

Instead of hunkering down and relying on their familiar expertise to deal with the sustained crisis, people in positions of authority—whether they are CEOs or managers heading up a company initiative—must practice what the authors call adaptive leadership. They must, of course, tackle the underlying causes of the crisis, but they must also simultaneously make the changes that will allow their organizations to thrive in turbulent environments.

Adaptive leadership is an improvisational and experimental art, requiring some new practices. Like Julie Gilbert, who overcame internal resistance to reorient Best Buy toward female purchasers, adaptive leaders get things done to meet today’s challenges and then modify those things to thrive in tomorrow’s world. They also embrace disequilibrium, using turbulence as an opportunity to build crucial new capacities, as Paul Levy did to rescue Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center from a profound financial crisis. Finally, adaptive leaders, such as Egon Zehnder, the founder of an executive search firm, draw out the leadership skills that reside deep in the organization, recognizing the interdependence of all employees and mobilizing everyone to generate solutions."

From John Mauldin's "Outside the Box" Volume 5 Special Edition July 23, 2009 comes this nugget.

"I've mentioned a couple of schools of thought before: those who look at the big picture and those who pore over the details. Often, the major product is the result of its minor pieces. If you use good meat, good buns, and good vegetables- you're going to turn out a pretty good hamburger. The same goes for cars, businesses and portfolios.

One industry in which this methodology really doesn't seem to work is information. Mainstream sources of information almost always fail to connect the world's events. They do a great job telling you that former Iranian president Rafsanjani addressed his supporters, that anti-Ahmadinejad protestors outside chanted "Death to Russia", and that Israel sent a submarine through the Suez Canal. But they don't show how the incidents fit together in the geopolitical landscape, nor what they mean for the relationships between global powers. They give you the meat, the buns and the vegetables, but there's no hamburger."

For those of you interested in this sort of thing, and especially for those of you who attend the courses I teach, I want to refer you to a very nice, short (5' 24") video by Michael McDermott by way of Inside Business Architecture.

In Michael's words, "This is an introductory exploration into the interactions between organizational structure and (market) dynamics."

See it here.