James Drogan

Periodically I look atthe traffic on this site.  This morning's view brought the following summary.

 

The traffic has increased by almost tenfold in the space of a year.  What's going on?

Here is a list of the most popular pages for the previous month.

Why the apparent interest in Gelernter? 

My PDA  clicked on this morning to reveal nothing on the schedule.  I was struck by the seeming rarity of this, nothing scheduled.

I will, of course do things today (e-mail, blogging, checking in on my students), but to have nothing scheduled...

Maybe I need more days like this to reflect and recharge. 

I regularly graze a number of blogs, one of which is by Bob Sutton, Professor of Management Science and Engineering in the Stanford Engineering School.

I noticed for the first time today that on the left side of his blog he has "15 Things I Believe."  I commend this list to your attention.

 

This is from an exchange with a student.

The student wrote:

"I was reading one of your lectures from an earlier module. Scott and Beckner playe into this project as you wrote in your summary.

I plan to keep their insights in mind while adding my own effort.

Any advice to avoid in thinking under their concepts?"

I replied:

Interesting, most interesting question.

I'm not so sure that the objective is to avoid group think or to become a contrarian, but rather to satisfy oneself that the thinking of others, and of ourselves, proceeds from a base of facts and uses a rational approach at arriving at conclusions and recommendations.

The rational approach I have offered is fact-based hypothesis-driven thinking (see A Note on Fact-Based Hypothesis-Driven Thinking).  This is a widely accepted framework for critical thinking that has been in my kit-bag forever.  Complementing this are the concepts of systems thinking.  I've offered examples of this in the series of lecture notes accompanying this course.

I keep in mind some short, pithy phrases as reminders against arbitrarily falling into group think without individually thinking.

1. "You cannot solve a problem with the same type of thinking that is creating it."  Albert Einstein
   
   
2. "If stated reasons don't sit well with your conscience or stand the test of logic, look for deeper motivations."  Docent Glax OthnSee Herbert, Brian, and Kevin J. Anderson. Dune: The Butlerian Jihad. 1st Edition ed: Tor Books, 2002, 0-765-30157-1
   
   
3. Drogan's Fifth Law: If you continue to think what you have always thought you will get less and less of what you always got.  See Drogan's Laws for more.

Reading widely and having a personal network crossing disciplines and subjects is, in my view, very useful.  I've often gotten ideas for solving problems in one discipline from another discipline.  My range of interests is fairly captured in Research Interests.  Curiosity may kill the cat, but not necessarily.

Communications skills are critical to acquisition and dissemination of ideas.  One could be proficient in all I have said above and fail to survive, thrive, and make a difference because of poor communications skills.

Let me close this with the following diagram.

Without integrity much of everything else about a person is lost.  Without imagination we can't really progress.

Oops, one more final point.

"If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."  Isaac Newton

One builds upon the work of others.  The work of Gould and Beckner needs to be examined with some care and not be summarily discarded because of either their affiliation, the length of their work, or  because we don't believe we can learn from them.  I believe you can learn something from everyone and every situation.

 

For several years I have used the following diagram to represent the essentials of the mind of the consultant.

This morning, courtesy of Ziff Davis CIO Insight Update, comes this reference to the book Minds for Modern Times by Harvard Professor Howard Gardner.  What struck me about the abstract is Gardner's Five Minds:

1. Disciplined
2. Synthesizing
3. Creating
4. Respectful
5. Ethical

It seems to me there is some alignment between the views that Gardner and I hold.  I take some satisfaction with what I consider a degree of confirmation of my thinking.

I expect to read Gardner's book, but also suggest that, even without the benefit of Gardner's complete words, it's useful to think about his Five Minds.  In what ways are the concepts relevant to the way we lead our lives?  What specific actions are we taking to develop our capabilities and capacities in these areas?

Here is a two minute video of Dennis Ross talking about what he considers to be important for a successful career.

It's worth a look. 

Thanks go to Dave for the lead. 

On July 23rd I attended a presentation entitled The Impact of Gaming on Society and Learning at the Westport Public Library.  John Fanton, President of The MacArthur Foundation, and Suzanne Seggerman, a MacArthur Fellow, and President and Co-Founder of Games for Change, were co-presenters and jointly moderated the subsequent questions and answers portion of the program.

The focus of the evening it seems to me was on improving the ability of the young to learn.  And not, in seemed to me, just any young, but rather those that had the required support structure (i.e., technology, time, family and friends). 

Now I don't begrudge this for the young are the most important assets we have.   However, what about those young who lack the required support structure?  Is gaming, this opportunity to learn, to survive, thrive, and make a difference in the world, simply adding to the hurdles they already need to overcome?  Is a cultural divide being created that may lead to alienation?

Then there is a second part of this divide that concerns me; the divide between the young and the old.  I'm prompted to raise this question because I recently became eligible for Medicare, the preponderance of the audience at this event was around my age (unscientific, at-a-glance survey), and our granddaughter has been teaching us the finer points of texting.

There was no discussion of the impact of gaming on the older members of the population.  In fact, the one searching question on this issue was avoided.

So, could gaming, as explained on that evening, be creating an archipelago of subcultures based upon one's combination of age and resource availability?  I'm inclined to think so and to further conclude that this would be unhealthy.

Now it seems to me there are three choices that face us.

1. We let things develop along the path suggested by the presenters, invoking the Pirate's Code (see Pirates of the Caribbean).
   
   
2. We recognize that there is a role for gaming in support of older citizens and, subsequently, overcoming the digital divide.
   
   Also see Suzuki, David T., and Peter Knudtson. Wisdom of the Elders : Honoring Sacred Native Visions of Nature. New York: Bantam Books, 1992, 0-553-08862-9 for some additional reasons for closing this particular divide.
   
   
3. We recognize that there may be a substantial number of the young who will be on the wrong side of the divide and that we need to work to close this gap.

The Westport Public Library is a significant institution.  Under the direction of Maxine Bleiweis, it plays an increasingly important role as a center for critical thinking in the community.  It can become a focal point for the sensing and interpretation of critical trends and issues, and support for finding resolution.  It provides a forum for the presentation of provocative ideas and needs to find a way to continue important conversations.

One of my students, who recently graduated and has a bit of real world experience under his belt, wrote asking for some perspective on selecting a career.   I penned this note, disguising, of course, the identity of the student.  Inasmuch as this is a perspective I've given others, I thought is might be of wider interest.

Gill Corkindale has posted a provocative article on Harvard Business Online to which I call your attention.  The first paragraph of which is:

"Why am I doing this job? Why am I working for this company? How did I end up here? What’s it all about? Is there something else I should be doing with my life?"

Over the last several months I've been trying to help some of my students (and maybe myself) deal with questions like these.   The difficult part is not asking the questions, but in dealing with the truths revealed by the questions.

So take out a piece of paper, read the article, think, answer, and decide what to do next. 

This morning, Businesspundit has brought me to a posting by Rob titled "From a 'C' to an 'A' - Can Your Managers Do What This Professor Did?"

I am very much taken by Rob's view and its implications with respect to a number of issues including education, values, globalization, and culture.  I recommend a read and a think about what Rob has said.