Serenity

I had planned to write on topics like how not to turn a course into a content dump, about rapid authoring tools, and how performance outcome is related to course design, and other such matters of import to an instructional designer. But today afternoon has wiped the last vestige of all such thoughts from my mind…I can no longer pull out from my memory the careful outlines I had made for such posts…

Currently, I have no idea what I am going to write in this post. Or even why I have started this one…All I know is that I am attempting to capture something so elusive, so fleeting yet so very deeply felt that I am probably going to fail miserably…it requires a proficient wordsmith to capture deep emotions, and I am but an amateur blog writer.

Yet the desire to write it down, no matter how clumsily, is so all pervasive that I am making the attempt in full recognition of the fact that I am not equipped to do so.

I am not overly spiritual and only of a somewhat philosophical bent of mind…I don’t go into spiritual trances ever and have my feet pretty firmly rooted to the ground except for my proclivity to daydream now and then…Even then, most of my daydreams are associated with e-learning and stuff like attending ASTDs and talking to e-learning gurus…nothing spiritual there either…

Today:

A sharp backache I often get these days from bending over my laptop for far too long drove me out for a walk this afternoon. It was a gloomy day with the clouds threatening to burst into a shower any moment. Meandering aimlessly, I walked down for sometime till a sign saying “Chalker Beach” brought me up short. The magic word beach did the trick.



I stared at the tree-lined lane turning and twisting out of sight and plunged forth.



I walked on… solitary except for the stray squirrels and some sparrows scolding me from the tree-tops. The lane was deserted…the cottages closed for the winter. The landscape already heralded the winter days with most of the trees now bare of leaves, the tenacious ones clinging on till the last gust of wind would shake them off.

I had no idea where the lane headed or how far away the beach was till I arrived at the spot below.



I emerged through this outlet on to the beach here.


The sheer serenity, the tranquility and peace of it made my throat ache and my eyes burn with something I do not have the power to name. I silently thanked god that there was not a soul there except for the gulls and the waves and a stray crab or two. I sat at this spot for a long while…I don’t really know how long till my fingers began to ache from the bitter cold.


The phrase, “This is providence”, rang like an echo in my head. I am here, in this remote part of the USA, for this one afternoon, to spend these moments with myself, to experience this absolute inexpressible calm that comes perhaps once or never in one’s lifetime, that people spend their entire lifetime seeking.



Chalker Beach defied all notions of a beach. It sported no colorful beach umbrellas or frolicking children with spades and buckets building sand castles, no bikini clad figures romped the beach...

All I saw was an immense expanse of ocean in front, sea-shell covered beach that only my footprints had disturbed below...and heard the constant lapping of waves beating against the rocks pierced intermittently by the shrieks of the gulls swooping down for their meal. The stark bleakness of the landscape was almost frighteningly beautiful and painfully moving. It was as if all the inessentials of life had been stripped away and only the very essence remained.


All the minor inconveniences faced, the frivolous irritations, the petty thoughts, the painful walks through woods on cold evenings to buy dinner rolled away like water off a ducks back. I know now that I would gladly face them all over again, without a complaint this time, for another afternoon like this.

I thanked god I was not in a city like New York, Boston or any of the other places that people pine for. I would want to visit them someday with people I love. But today I am glad to be at Chalker Beach, a spot probably not highlighted on the map of the USA but one that has connected me to myself...

Data, Information, Insight...A Fine Balance!

"Data is raw material! Analyzed data lead to assumptions. Assumptions can lead to mistakes. Don't assume...know! Don't settle for information, demand insight!"

I don't know who is the originator of the quote above, but it appears on almost every wall here in the form of posters, banners, wall stickers, table stands...

The first few weeks here, I did not fully appreciate the depth of this message till I came across the following video by Nick Milton of Knoco.com discussing data, information and knowledge. Even this alone may not have struck a chord but for the fact that it was a part of a blog post by Kevin D. Jones:
I Finally Get It – Why Social Networking is So Important.



A combination of the post, the video and a couple of experiences brought about my Ah ha! moment today.

Here's an excerpt from the post where Kevin J is quoting Luis Suarez:

"In fact, it’d be right to say that we already *know* way too much. KM isn’t about helping us to know more. It’s about helping us to understand. Knowledge without understanding is like, well, information."

Nick Milton says about Knowledge:

"Knowledge can come from others, it can come from your experience...it is the factor that allows you to take the right decision and do the right thing. KM is a managed system that systematically ensures people have the knowledge they need in any circumstance to make the correct decision...It is providing them with capability, with know-how."

I have been mulling over this for some time when like a jigsaw puzzle, things seemed to fall in place.

I know there is a process for transforming data to knowledge and all kinds of graphs and charts show the process. But they don't really say what knowledge is that data is NOT.



Data, and this is my understanding, is "context-less pieces/bytes of information."

Just hang on to this thought for a moment, and I will come back after a short digression.

The Anecdote:
I recently finished reading Garr Reynold's Presentation Zen. In the book, he recounts his initial encounter with the Japanese. The Japanese, as a culture, do not present their opinion immediately. When presented with any information and asked for their conclusion, their typical answer is, "It depends!" Coming from a data-driven culture, he used to find this slow and frustrating till he realized the philosophy behind it.

Analyzing a set of data out of its context can only lead to assumptions. And assumptions can be misleading. And the same set of data can take on different interpretations depending on the context. The Japanese, a wise culture, realized this long ago and made it a part of their philosophy. And this is also the root of knowledge.

An Experience:
I recently went through an experience where the same set of data led to completely different interpretations by about 6 different people.

1. Who was wrong? No one!
2. Who arrived at the truth? No one! and that includes me...
3. What was missing? None of us asked or answered the right questions. All of us focused on the four Quantitative W's of Who, When, Where, and What. We never addressed the two Qualitative W's of How and Why?
4. What was the key flaw? All of us--some 6 people in the mail trail--had the same set of data but not the same context.

For quite a few days, I have been pondering about my utter inability to communicate my need and the sheer desperation to even one person. I began to doubt my communication and e-mail writing skills. And this was agonizing me more than the incident...my absolute failure to communicate with even one person out of the six...

Then, just at the spot you can see below, while I stared into space, it all just came together. No one had the context. Everyone had only the data. And this knowledge without the understanding, is well, information. I wanted to jump up shouting Eureka! At least, I know my English was not so flawed that no one understood...



Everyone on the mail trail must have forgotten the whole incident by now but I like to arrive at the root of my emotions and reactions...

My Key Learning:
Address the How and Why and make sure the context is clear. Never assume! Look for insights. I put this up on my Skype handle to drive home to myself the lesson I have learnt...

This applies to all life situations--personal or professional. Half our problems begin because we jump to conclusions...we don't stop to ask, "Why".
Why did you do this, say this, write this...?

How do we make sense of data?
This brings me back to the original thought of Data vs. Knowledge management. In daily life, discussions help. This is, as Kevin Jones says, the primary reason for the existence of social platforms. The people help us--through shared experiences, inputs, insights--to make sense of the endless stream of information bombarding us each second, every day.

My Wishes For You

I love this piece...and gives me insights every time I read it...While not in the vain of ID, training and learning, I am still putting it up here for anyone who visits this page...

The italics are mine...

My Wishes For You

May you find serenity and tranquility
in a world you may not always understand.

May the pain you have known
and the conflict you have experienced
give you the strength to walk through life
facing each new situation with courage and optimism.

Always know that there are those
whose love and understanding will always be there,
even when you feel most alone.

May a kind word,
a reassuring touch,
and a warm smile
be yours every day of your life,
and may you give these gifts
as well as receive them.

May the teachings of those you admire
become part of you,
so that you may call upon them.

Remember, those whose lives you have touched
and who have touched yours
are always a part of you,
even if the encounters were less than you would have wished.
It is the content of the encounter
that is more important than its form.

May you not become too concerned with material matters,
but instead place immeasurable value
on the goodness in your heart.
Find time in each day to see beauty and love
in the world around you.

Realize that what you feel you lack in one regard
you may be more than compensated for in another.
What you feel you lack in the present
may become one of your strengths in the future.
May you see your future as one filled with promise and possibility.
Learn to view everything as a worthwhile experience.

May you find enough inner strength
to determine your own worth by yourself,
and not be dependent
on another's judgment of your accomplishments.

May you always feel loved.

by Sandra Sturtz Hauss

e-Mail Etiquette

Sometimes, in the stress and pace of our daily work, we forget to exercise a few simple communication etiquette—etiquette that not only makes us appear more human and professional but also serves the end purpose of the communication. With e-mail still being the most common form of business etiquette, e-mail writing and its nuances are skills we should all be proficient in.

Having taught and developed Business e-mail Writing Courses in the past, certain incidents brought back those rules I had painstakingly researched and compiled into short, digestible courses.

Some rules I had included in what was called the e-learning Power Pack!

Rule #1: Check and recheck before hitting “Reply All”

Today began with a mistake I inadvertently made—broke a serious e-mail etiquette. I hit the Reply All button without a thought when I had been drilling into learners the importance of using this feature sparingly. I seriously think Outlook should pop-up an alert message when anyone tries to avail of this feature. This feature is the cause of endless misunderstanding and mis-communication.

One of the mail recipients kindly pointed out my faux pas. I was deeply embarrassed that this very basic e-mail rule should have been ignored by me. Only to realize that he had done a Reply All himself. :)

Rule #2: When pointing out mistakes, avoid the cc feature

My first boss used to tell me, “When pointing out errors, do so in private unless the mistake is so heinous and has such a wide impact that you need to keep people in the loop. And when offering praise, cc the whole world.” And this has stuck with me. An error pointed out in private takes on the connotation of someone genuinely trying to help you overcome your shortcomings. The moment you make it public, it becomes a case of finger pointing and intentionally trying to demean another.

Rule #3: DO NOT USE ALL CAPS!

Yes, that sounded exactly as if I had screamed at you. But this is one of the most important e-mail etiquette we, as business professionals, need to remember.

Use of All Caps in an e-mail is equivalent to screaming. And using All Caps in a mail that has multiple people on cc is equivalent to screaming at someone in public and can lead to serious actions should the recipient choose to take offense.

Many often try to emphasize a point by using All Caps but this argument would not hold if s/he is in the senior management position. To say, “I did not know the rule” would seem immeasurably foolish, and to say "I knew it and used it deliberately" is downright stupid.

If you feel the need to emphasize a point, word offers super features: Bold the text you want highlighted, use different fonts, use a mix of serif and san serif to set apart titles, sub-titles and body text, different font sizes, color…etc.

Rule #4: Try to respond within two hours at least (Maybe, that should be one!)

The e-mail as a form does not require immediate response. It does not pierce your consciousness and demand attention as the phone does. But it is often a polite way to communicate if you know the person at the other end is likely to be busy. An e-mail respects a person’s time giving them time to respond at their pace.

It is quite possible, however, that the e-mail may demand a response that cannot be given within two hours. Then, etiquette demands that the recipient drop a one line stating the expected time of response. This is reassuring to the sender, shows respect, and acknowledges the mail.

However, an e-mail that is a Request for Help should be responded to as soon as possible. Even if the request is invalid or unreal, explain that and send out a response. Nothing is more insulting than to have a genuine request mail sent by one professional to another ignored.

To ignore a mail of request or plea is equivalent to saying, “I don’t care what professional relation I have with you” and is a sure shot way to break trust.

Rule #5: Type unto others as you would have them type unto you!

A line that I read somewhere and remember for its pithy nature. If we remember this golden rule, we can’t go wrong. No matter where we are in the corporate ladder, how large or important a role we play, it can never harm to do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

So, read that mail carefully before hitting the Send button. It never does anyone any good to spread hurt, disrespect, mistrust, pettiness... It does a whole world of good to spread understanding, empathy, trust, respect…

All it takes is a few minutes of your time, a few words, and a little bit of thought for the other person…

Organizational e-mails reflect the culture of an organization.

If more than two of the rules mentioned here are not followed, it is time to think twice about the culture and influence of the place…

A friend once told me of an old Tamil saying that goes, “Go far away from bad influence or enemy”…

I agree!

Anger and Truth!

I have never believed in writing when angry! I always felt that anger distorts perception, is illogical, and indicates a lack of control over the self.
Today I realized that anger clears away the clutter of “logic”! Honest-to-god anger shows us the truth in a blinding flash.

Often, our logical, conscious mind conditioned on “should do” and “control is good” deceives us. Till something happens that forces us to go beyond the logical and feel with our gut, with our bones and all our senses. It leaves us shaken to the core but also strangely relieved.

Two things in life are very precious to me (except my daughter of course):-
1. Learning
2. Self-respect

And, they have never been mutually exclusive. I have learned with joy and pleasure all things new—some have been challenging, some have aroused my curiosity, some have reinforced what I knew and some have been the result of really hard work—but every time I learned, every situation that enabled me to do so, brought me joy.

Till something happened that made the two things so precious to me mutually exclusive—a situation from where I can learn, perhaps a lot, but by compromising on my self-respect, by bending to “processes” where human interaction has no meaning. A process where no one extends warmth or understanding or mutual respect, a process that is bound to rot one day because it is driven by “process” and is not for the “people.”

Brought face-to-face with this dilemma, I caught myself asking, “What is more important of the two?”

Sheer anger and the tears of absolute helplessness told me it is self-respect. I am strangely relieved that I shall go through this dilemma no more. And when the moment comes to choose, I know my way ahead.

If prizing self-respect above learning makes me egoistic, then I am egoistic. I am proud. I am glad of what has happened. It has helped me to find my core, my strength.

I wanted to have this documented and so a post that deviates from e-learning and is of a personal nature. But I am documenting this, laying it out in the open so that I don’t forget this commitment to myself, and don't compromise on my priorities.

Collaborative Enterprise - Social Learning Introduction

View more documents from Frédéric DOMON.

Dealing with Ambiguity!

Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity! ~ Gilda Radner

I have just written a short post on life being in a state of perennial beta. And the importance of dealing with ambiguity. I think as a literature graduate who spent years seeped in metaphors and symbols of words, ambiguity is a little easier to handle. And not being too great with number crunching, I am often happy with ambiguity as long as I have the end outcome in mind.

Why is ambiguity important?

Because:
It gives rise to questions
It makes you probe deeper
It makes you suspecting of surface reality
It makes you uncomfortable and forces you to find a way out
It has layers of complexity that one can peel away like an onion; usually the un-peeling is rewarding.

But how do you explain ambiguity and hidden roads to those who are used to dealing with hard facts and numbers? How do you show them that the path will not always be linear and will have twists and turns and sudden bifurcations? How do you show them the answer which is as yet in the conceptual stage without the support of quantitative analytical proof? And most importantly, not feel a perfect fool when asked to provide details you are unable to tell.

Ambiguity is not to be confused with lack of planning. Lack of planning is chaos. Ambiguity is those grey areas in the plan that makes us probe and ask and dig. Ambiguity exists because we know the desired outcome and the gaps, and the missing pieces of the puzzle disturb us.

Some research led me to the following post--Dealing with Ambiguity—nicely explains how ambiguity can be taken into consideration in the planning process.

Most importantly, it showed me the planning possibilities taking ambiguity along as a companion.

I have taken the following diagrams from there to illustrate my points. I suggest you read the post for a deeper insight.

Efficient diversity: Probably the one most applied in creative design projects.






Hill climbing: Most applied in engineering projects where the end solution is well defined