Lesson Planning

The next assignment due in the LTEC 3440 class is a lesson plan. Typically, a lesson plan would be a five minute job. However, my topic is one I’m a bit more passionate about than say, The Mating Cycles of Angry Chilean Sea Bass. Interesting, though it may be, I’ll stick to my Business Transformation topic.

In creating the plan, I found that I was somewhat proprietary with the manner in which the information should be delivered. Early on, I inquired as to the nature of the assignment. Specifically, I wanted to know whether we were building lesson plans for our own delivery or creating the plans so that someone else might pick it up and deliver it. When word came back to me that the essential answer was “Both” I began to consider how I intended to address the issue of someone else delivering my message.

Getting this right out in the open, I don’t like it.

That said, I found myself desiring to put down in stone as much detail as possible regarding not only the lesson content but the graphics and the background of the individual(s) who might be so fortunate as to be tasked with its delivery. Said person must understand not only business aspects of the lesson, but also a wide ranging array of technical concepts.

In looking through the various models and templates for lesson plans provided in the course itself, I found (surprise surprise) that I was too picky and that none of them suited me. A Google search of “lesson plan” rendered more hits than one might get through in a lifetime. Based on the numerous sites I visited in search of said lesson plans, finding one I thought I could use would also have taken a lifetime. They vary from “holy crap are you actually teaching this idiocy” to only slightly dismaying. So, I adapted a few aspects from various plans into my own hybrid. It’s not perfect, but it works for now. I’m sure I’ll evolve it over time to suit my own selfish and moderately evil purposes.

I’m still not entirely happy with it, but it’s not due for another few days. I’ll go slap a few more revisions into it and hopefully come up with something serviceable.

For today (what’s left of it), I’ll leave it alone.  My wife is very patiently waiting for me to whisk her away for the evening.  Since today marks our 17th Wedding Anniversary, I’ll be good and do just that.

Designing For Learners

The assignment for this week in LTEC 3440 was relatively simple to complete. While I didn’t necessarily agree with the results of the various surveys in which we took part and discussed, they did provide some insight. In addition to those, we were asked, “Aside from learning styles and preferences, what else should we take into account regarding learners or our audience in designing instruction?”

There are so many things to keep in mind in course development. There are different kinds of instructors/teachers and different kinds of learners. The course needs to take into account all of those variables to as high a degree as possible. That said, the single most important factor to consider in creating a course is the audience.

The audience will make or break a class. If Richard Feynman had attempted to teach Advanced Physics to a group of Art Majors, for example, his brilliance would be entirely lost on them for the most part. First, they likely have little or no interest in basic Physics, let alone advanced concepts. The course may be incredible and without equal, but if it is lost on the audience the brilliance of the Professor and/or the course itself matters little.

I mentioned also, the varied types of learners. One of the surveys we discussed was the VAK survey. It determines one’s learning style be it Visual, Auditory or Kinesthetic. I believe it is possible to reach all three kinds of learners in a single course. It may take a somewhat remarkable teacher, however. For the visual learner and auditory learners, I’ve found that engaging them actively in conversation with dynamic visual representation (such as a whiteboard discussion) usually enhances their retention and interest. For the kinesthetic learner, all of that chatter is fine, but this one learns by doing. These individuals typically ask no questions during lecture/discussion but have no end of them when it comes time to hit the lab and apply what was discussed in the classroom.

By the end of the practical labs, all three types of learners can easily be on equal footing with regard to knowledge and retention of information from the course. The visual and auditory learners may have been the first to complete the lab work, but the kinesthetics used that time to catch up on the intake of knowledge. So, patience from the instructor and other class members is a must.

The way we learn impacts our manner of teaching. We tend to deliver courses in the manner in which we came to understand the concepts when we were the learners. We want to explain things in the manner in which we see them so that others might see the same big picture view. It is incumbent upon the instructor to learn to present the concepts in a manner that will reach all three learning types, not simply the ones similar to them.

We relate lessons in the context of our own path to acquire the knowledge at hand. When we rethink our own path through the learning maze, we are able to relate shortcuts to our students that will hopefully bring them to a fuller understanding in a shorter time. We use our own experiences to reach them. They may well take our experiences and make them their own by learning the lessons contained within them. They may well choose to take their own path as it works better for them as a different type of learner.

As course designers and presenters, we need to be versatile enough to adapt our manner of teaching to the audience’s manner(s) of learning. It’s a bigger job than what it seems on the surface.

Every class we teach is a chance to learn something new or expand our understanding in some way. Whether that new understanding comes from the material itself or the people in the class, embrace the learning.

A day without learning is wasted.

Discussion on the Purpose and Use of the DISC Tool

In my LTEC 4070 class, we’re doing some work on the DISC tool. It was a requirement in the course, listed on the syllabus but it wasn’t mentioned in our text book until the very last two pages of the text book. There was no information in the lecture. The assignment associated with it was put on hold pending clarification. When that clarification came back and I started looking into the DISC tool, I found it to be a very interesting topic. In fact, I would like to spend more time with it for both personal and academic development reasons.

We were asked to write a two-page paper on the topic. I can hardly get through an introduction in two pages these days. I did manage to keep it relatively short. Here’s what I put together:

Discussion on the Purpose and Use of the DISC Tool

In order to properly understand and utilize business tools, it is usually prudent to gain an understanding of the history of those tools and why they were brought about. In exploring these things, one not only gains a deeper understanding of the tool, but also gains insight into the motivational factors and environmental variables present at the time of its inception. In understanding and using the Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Conscientiousness (DISC) behavioral model in both an efficient and proper manner, the history is certainly a vital component.

DISC is the brain-child of Dr. William Moulton Marston of Columbia University. Through his research, he created the concepts and model of the DISC in 1928. Marston’s work is considered to have been of great benefit to the fledgling field of Psychology. Though, he reportedly never really made use of the concepts behind DISC as an assessment. The concepts were introduced to the general public in his 1928 book, “The Emotions of Normal People”. His motivating principal was the desire to develop a way to measure people’s mental energy. One might surmise today that he was attempting to delve into what is today behavioral neuroscience. He further expanded his concepts three years later with the publication of his second book, “Integrative Psychology”. His concepts and ideas were put to use by a friend and colleague in what would become the first of many thousands of self-help books which are so common on the shelves of any bookstore today.

At question is the relationship between behavior and personality. Does one have a significant impact on the other? Personalities and behavior patterns evolve over the course of a person’s lifetime based on experiences. The manner in which each person deals with individual situations determines the lessons learned from those experiences. These lessons shift the scope of what is and is not acceptable behavioral response in the future. DISC serves to create emphasis situational interpretation for given person. The manner in which an individual responds to situations, indeed their very sense of right and wrong is a product of lifelong exposure to their culture, surroundings, personal successes, personal failures and more. DISC brings many of these aspects to light so that a person can gain personal insight and further their quest for self improvement.

The ideas behind DISC deal specifically with human performance components. Human performance components include abilities/attributes, motivators, education/training, skills/experience and behaviors. DISC assessments serve as a behavioral predictors based on situation. These can range from work ethic, relationship compatibility and many other potential scenarios wherein situational behavior may be a factor. The human performance components addressed are focused on the core of the person as well as their perimeter behaviors. Core motivators cause one to ask why one does what they do. Some believe these motivators are the foundation of why humans as a race tend to be exceedingly inquisitive regarding the unknown. Perimeter behaviors evolve out of education, skills, culture and experiences such as exposure to other people and/or other cultures. These are experience-driven motivators and are unique to each individual. These behaviors deal with how one reacts to a given set of conditions and surroundings. DISC is presented in a quadrant model as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 – The DISC Model

A person’s behavioral patterns are measured against the four dimensions of DISC shown in the figure. They are:

• Dominance – Relates to control, power and assertiveness. A high ‘D’ score indicates a very straight-forward manner in dealing with problems and/or challenges. These individuals may be seen as being egocentric and demanding. Low ‘D’ scores tend to research issues prior to dealing with them. These individuals may be seen as being calculating and somewhat peaceful. The ‘D’ score typically indicates how one might handle problems or challenges.
• Influence – Relates to social situations and communication. A high ‘I’ score indicates an enthusiastic and persuasive personality. A low ‘I’ score indicates one influenced by data and facts more so than feelings. The ‘I’ score typically indicates how one might interact with or influence people.
• Steadiness – Relates to patience, persistence and thoughtfulness. Originally defined by Marston as Submission, a person with a high ‘S’ score will be seen as calm with emphasis on security and a steady pace. A person with a low ‘S’ score will tend toward restlessness or impatience. The ‘S’ score typically indicates the pace at which one works or follows processes.
• Conscientiousness – Relates to structure and organization. Originally defined by Marston as Compliance, a person with a high ‘C’ score will tend to adhere strongly to rules and regulations. They enjoy structure and quality of work/craftsmanship. They are typically neat, systematic and tactful. Individuals with low ‘C’ scores will tend toward willfulness and stubborn behavior. They are often seen as opinionated and careless. The ‘C’ score typically indicates how one responds to rules and procedures set by others.

From the basic explanations, it is easy to see where some of the traits may overlap or blend. Therein lies the key piece of the puzzle that defines an individual as a unique being. In a DISC assessment the highest score among the four dimensions or traits is considered to be the core behavior. The varying dimensions of the other three allow predictions to be made about behavioral responses to varied situations. People are not simply categorized into being solely a D, I, S or C personality type. Their dominant trait may well vary based on context and/or situational differences. As variables in a given situation shift, so too does the possibility for changes in the assessment scores. For example, one may strictly follow rules and regulations in day-to-day life even going so far as to outwardly and adamantly demand that others do the same. However, place something of high importance, such as a child, in danger and that sense of adherence to strict laws or rules moves quickly to the perimeter behavior column and another trait moves into the core position in order to react properly to the situation at hand. Which trait becomes dominant will also vary from individual to individual. Therefore, the definition of “react properly to the situation at hand” is quite subjective in scope.

In understanding how the DISC model is utilized, it is not sufficient to merely understand the terminology. A discussion of behavior styles and where they might fall in a given quadrant will assist in comprehension. To that end, a Successful Insights wheel was developed as an overlay to the DISC quadrant model. It adds a great deal of understanding by illustrating where particular traits fall in the quadrant model. Figure 2 shows the Successful Insights wheel as it relates to the DISC model.

Click to see the full image.

Figure 2 – The DISC Quadrant with the Successful Insights Wheel

The outside of the wheel has the strongest core behavioral tendencies. These pure tendencies may be somewhat intense and pervasive in an individual’s personality. The inside has been designed to illustrate a blending of the behavioral traits. Cross-blended scores landing near the center of the wheel tend to be the most flexible.

Now that there is some understanding in how the tool can be utilized and further clarity has been added through the Successful Insights wheel, some discussion of how the information gained from this insight can be used. Individuals scoring high in various quadrants will need to be treated, managed and addressed in various manners. Each core trait will be addressed individually. Keep in mind that the High and Low scores for each behavior are essentially opposites in nature. However, they do share a number of basic attributes in common.

The Dominance trait essentially boils down to how short a fuse an individual might have. The higher the score, the shorter the fuse the individual is likely to have. There is no typical score for individuals showing core D results. D’s tend to like freedom from controls and working in futuristic environments. They work best in challenging positions without routine. In other words, they are independent, motivated workers who like to set their own hours. The high D’s will have a “let’s do it” attitude where the low D’s will wish to examine the situation before charging in. They need results in order to avoid their primary emotion, anger.

The Influential trait is a measurement of optimism or skepticism. High I’s are optimistic where low I’s are skeptics. I’s need a high degree of interpersonal contact. Like D’s they like freedom from controls or micro-management. They move at will and like to be heard. They want to have a say in their destiny and will not likely hold back from taking an active role in their supervision, preferring a democratic leadership style. The high I’s will state that “business is going to explode in the coming years, I can feel it” where the low I’s will ask for facts and evidence to back that statement. They need to talk to people in order to validate their primary emotion whether it be optimism or skepticism.

The Steadiness trait shows an individual who prefers solitude. These lone wolf types finish what they start. Like I’s, they want to build relationships, but they want them at a distance of their choosing. They want stability and predictability in their working environment. They want to be able to adapt their working environment as need dictates. They form long-term working relationships and experience little conflict. As one might expect from a fiercely independent personality, these individuals enjoy freedom from restrictive rules. A high S will want to form a team to address an idea where the low S will demand immediate action on the idea and want to move forward, planning as they go. They are emotionally unexpressive. The have a drive to accommodate and placate others.

The Conscientiousness trait includes those who satisfy a need to follow rules be cautious. High C’s are slow, methodical and highly accurate. They tend to avoid risk and are data oriented. Procedures and order are of utmost importance. These individuals are exceedingly useful in environments demanding critical thinking. They are usually highly technical or specialized and excel in their chosen field. Low C’s are risk takers, highly independent and pay limited attention to details. They establish close relationships with small groups. They thrive in a familiar, unchanging work environment where they have a significant degree of privacy. The high C will demand to follow the rules and procedures for any given situation where the low C will state that rules are guidelines or suggestions.

The most interesting, and at times infuriating, thing about people is that each is different and unique in his or her own way. Their behaviors can be quickly judged based on body language or other signals provided in the course of conversation. As a leader or manger, it is important to provide guidance and leadership in the manner which results in the best overall model for the team. Knowing how to judge the core trait of each of the team members will allow a quick adjustment in communication tactics used for each member. Table 1 notes basic body language signals used by each personality type. When communicating, watch for these basic signals of each of the traits:

Table 1 – Signals by Personality Type

Personality Type	Signal
D	Looking at their watch, leaning back in their chair, challenging or disagreeing in conversation.
I	Looking around the office or room. Highly skeptical or negative
S	Asking to repeat information or trying to tactfully end the meeting
C	Evasive. Little or no verbal interaction. Asks difficult questions in an attempt to end the meeting

By adjusting communication styles to directly address the personality types of the team, more successful communication is possible. This makes for a more efficient overall team by playing to the strengths of each member. A successful team makes for a successful leader. In order to be successful, it is incumbent upon the leader or manager to know his team and understand means and methodologies that can be utilized in making them the best they can be both individually and as a unit. Use of the concepts put forth by Marston as well as the behavioral scientists and psychologists following in his footsteps, a leader can make further progress in the process that is leadership. By learning to adapt to the needs of the team, the leader or manager creates an environment that lends itself well to the success of all involved.

Mind Mapping

Our assignment included a requirement to explore mind mapping and contrast a good ol’ pen-and-paper mind map vs. a computer generated mind map. Personally, I find the pen-and-paper maps more fun and more interesting to create. I have a hard time with the computer or web based mind mapping software packages because I can’t seem to keep my ideas flowing slowly enough to get them entered in the software. Formatting the fonts, boxes and lines seems to take an inordinage amount of time compared to throwing it all down on the page in different colors and making it pretty as a follow-up.

Here’s my latest mind map regarding my typical topic for the class’ assignments, Business Transformation. It’s rather basic, but it hits the very high points.

Mind mapping is exceedingly useful in learning environments. I’ve found it most useful in studying for exams. You can quickly see where your week points lie and work to strengthen those faults prior to test time. Mind maps work well as either individual or group projects. If you make them a group effort, it’s best to have a topic per student. Have each page prepared with the core topic already entered. Each student will spend 10-20 seconds at most adding their immediate input to the map prior to moving on to the next map. After a relatively short time of rotating through the maps, there will be a good amount of information down on the page. Each student either builds on what the prior student started or begins a new sub-topic.

It tends to be highly effective in assessing group comprehension. If you give each student a different color, you might also be able to guage how well each student comprehends the information at hand.

Analysis of Learning Technologies

Technology is pervasive in today’s society. It touches every aspect of our lives today in ways we don’t even realize. In 1958, what may be the single largest advance of our time took place. The Integrated Circuit (IC) was invented. Since that time, the volume of transistors that can be placed on an integrated circuit has doubled roughly every two years. This phenomenon has come to be expressed as Moore’s Law (so-named for one of the co-founders of Intel). Ten years ago, a typical integrated circuit would cost some where in the realm of $2-3 Million due to the number of transistors involved. Today, a similar development effort has resulted in a single chip with over 850,000 transistors on a chip no larger than a child’s finger nail. The development cost of this chip was in excess of $30 Million. Few companies can direct that large an amount of resources to a single development effort. Those who can do this hold the key to the future of how we, as a global society, work, live, play and learn.

Regardless of how the technology comes about and by whom it is brought about, our capabilities to reach out and touch someone will greatly increase. We will be able to reach more people and more resources. The consumer market will demand to that these technologies be easy to use and common across platforms. In other words, they will demand to know how it works and that it works identically regardless of how they access it, whether from their mobile phones, PDA’s, PC’s and so on. The human network will consist of one experience regardless of the means of access or distance from the experience.

Technologies for Evaluation

In the course of preparing a lesson on Business Transformation, a number of technological possibilities came to mind. It may seem unusual in this discussion that the technologies mentioned in the discussion are also the key technologies utilized in the Business Transformation solution. In the past these technologies have been utilized individually or loosely paired in non-cohesive manners. Therein lies the problem. There must be a way to get these technologies to work seamlessly together without a great deal of difficulty or customer interaction.

With that in mind, the technology choices for this discussion really amount to something of an evolutionary ladder. Based on the constraints imposed by the requirements of the assignment, they will not all be addressed. However, it is prudent to discuss a few of them, at least in passing.

Distance Learning Software

• Purpose: Provide a single point of reference (or a portal) for discussions, assignments and electronic communications.
• Pros: Centralized command and control. Standardized look/feel. When well laid out and assembled in a modular fashion, they can greatly contribute to the educational process
• Cons: Impersonal, high potential for time delayed communications, lack of intuitive interfaces tend to add confusion to the educational process.

Virtual Lab/Remote Lab Technologies

• Purpose: To provide learning through reality-based implementation scenarios in a highly controlled environment. The student may interact and construct solutions as if truly in a real-world situatio
• Pros: Saves expense of building an isolated lab for student experimentation. Builds confidence and measures true ability rather than simple book smart or rote memorization.
• Cons: Can be cost prohibitive to implement. Difficult to support if utilized during non-business hours. Virtual labs tend to have quirks that the real solution would not contain.

Legacy Audio Conferencing

• Purpose: Provide real-time multiparty communications between instructor and students. Should be available on an at-will basis.
• Pros: High quality, centralized voice conferencing
• Cons: Difficult to collaborate ideas due to lack of visual/concept sharing capabilities

Legacy Web Conferencing

• Purpose: Facilitate document, application and desktop sharing in a real-time fashion so that all participants view common, specific presentations
• Pros: Single source of shared media. Instructor can present a wider array of presentations. Version Control for files and presentations.
• Cons: Fixed and difficult to utilize on its own. Visual communications possible using electronic whiteboard and text chat. Still quite cumbersome

Legacy Video Conferencing

• Purpose: Further facilitate communications by expanding traditional audio conferencing to include visual presence.
• Pros: Brings a more personal experience into being where individuals can talk to each other rather than at each other.
• Cons: Low resolution/quality (grainy), high bandwidth utilization

WebEx

• Purpose: Bring together the best of audio, web and video conferencing technologies to create a collaborative environment specific to the needs of the presenter and audience.
• Pros: Flexible formatting to allow presenter to choose fully bi-directional communications with all attendees, presenter-only mode or training mode which presents a more classroom-like view to all individuals. Brings together all aspects of Audio, Web and Video Conferencing technologies.
• Cons: Managed service portions live in the provider network. Traffic traverses firewall bi-directionally for collaborative meetings.

TelePresence

• Purpose: Provide in-person (life size) collaborative conferencing capabilities to geographically dispersed sites around the globe in real-time.
• Pros: Brings collaboration and conferencing to the next level. Utilizes HD Video formats for high quality video conferencing. Utilizes wideband codec for in-person quality audio transmission. Virtually eliminates need for business-related travel resulting in lower costs and reclaimed productivity hours typically lost to travel time.
• Cons: High bandwidth utilization. Pricing beyond capabilities of most small and medium businesses.

Learning and Collaboration Enhancement

Learning has been a human drive as long as there has been recorded history. Very likely, it was a drive well ahead of that time. Teaching methodologies and resources are abundant across the world. People of varied expertise provide in-depth training to small numbers of very fortunate individuals. Our collective drive today is based in changing that audience from a fortunate few to the general masses regardless of their distance or monetary resources. To that end, this discussion will focus on three technologies that bring that capability closer to reality. These are: Virtual Labs, WebEx and TelePresence. These three tools bring about the current pinnacle of technological evolution and focus it directly on those points indicated by business leaders to cause the highest degree of pain in their day-to-day business.

Virtual Lab Technologies

Virtual labs have been in development and widespread use for a decade or more. They have certainly evolved into an art form all their own. Virtual labs provide learning experiences that simply may be out of reach to the average student. In the case of Business Transformation, there is a wide array of varied technologies involved. These technologies encompass call control entities, connection admission control methodologies, collaborative technologies, call routing, dial planning and more. Each of these is but a step on the path to Business Transformation. Each must be understood in concept and practice prior to implementation.

Virtual labs take what is learned through reading, videos, instruction and other available media and put it to the test in a real-world scenario. By testing the student’s ability to implement working solutions, you not only test his/her general knowledge but their ability to implement what was learned through practical application. Figure 1 illustrates a typical virtual lab front-end interface.

vRack Console

Figure 1 – Virtual Lab Control Console

This particular virtual lab allows students access to extremely expensive and sensitive equipment in preparation for certification testing. These students would have no ability to personally finance the equipment involved. However, this type of solution allows a student access to the equipment for extended periods of time for minimal cost. In this case, the certification exam has an eight-hour duration. An eight-hour session with this virtual equipment pod costs less than $60. The pricing is discounted with volume purchases of five, ten or more sessions. Virtual labs are one of the most comprehensive means of driving home concepts and cementing knowledge learned in the classroom whether physical or virtual.

The work done by the student in the virtual lab is dictated by the instructor in the form of scenarios that drive home the learning objectives and concepts behind them. Scenarios can be crafted to meet the needs of any or all of the desired learning objectives. This technology has the unique attribute of providing a learn-by-doing environment that is risk free to the student and work environment. Essentially, virtual labs are to the Information Technology industry what flight simulators are to Airline Pilots.

The virtual scenarios are typically crafted to test in-depth knowledge of technologies. They dictate requirements that would not typically be found in a typical implementation. In doing this, they test the depth of knowledge by having the student perform a deep dive into the real capabilities of the technology above and beyond what might reasonably be expected in the real world. This results in a depth of learning that could rarely, if ever, be accomplished in the classroom. This aspect alone sets virtual labs among the best of the learning technologies.

WebEx

WebEx is an amazing set of tools aimed at providing organizations and individuals the ability to engage in audio, web and low-end video conferencing with the click of a mouse. WebEx has mission-specific components utilized based on the needs of the presenter or instructor. It allows the user to engage in remote helpdesk or customer support activities, online training, large scale online seminars and online sales meetings. Each of these has a varying degree of needs and control. Figure 2 illustrates the WebEx meeting interface.

Cisco WebEx Meeting Console

Figure 2 – WebEx Meeting Interface

As an instructor, this interface lends itself well to presentations, shared applications, recorded sessions, instant messaging, video collaboration and more. The key to the success of WebEx as a learning tool is its ease of use. By navigating to the home page of the instructor’s WebEx site, a single click can initiate a full-featured, collaborative meeting. The invitation to join the meeting can be propagated to students via email, phone or instant messenger. If the meeting is scheduled ahead of time, the instructor’s MS Outlook calendar can create the meeting invitation through a WebEx plug-in and email the meeting notice to all participants.

This tool is particularly suited to distance learning when real-time interactive discussion and sharing of documents, applications and ideas are of particular importance. If the students have webcams connected to their computers when they join the meeting, they will be able to broadcast video to all other participants. The instructor can utilize both visual instruction on the computer desktop and visual instruction via video camera. This allows for personal interaction between instructor and students.

This evolves the idea of simple distance learning into a collaborative classroom where experiences can be shared visually, audibly and in any other manner typically available in a physical classroom.

From the standpoint of Business Transformation, this technology allows individuals to meet quickly and efficiently without incurring logistical and scheduling issues associated with coordinating an in-person meeting. This also allows the reduction of travel thereby saving very large amounts of time and, more importantly, money.

TelePresence

TelePresence technologies are relatively new to the collaborative world. TelePresence is not video conferencing. Simple video conferencing brings to mind the visualization of highly complex and cumbersome cameras wheeled from conference room to conference room so that remote viewers can see a small, grainy picture. If anything, this is the exact opposite of the technology that is TelePresence.

TelePresence is an in-person remote meeting technology that allows you to interact with real, life size people in real time and virtually in the same room. It is the pinnacle of collaborative technology today. Individuals in San Francisco, Dallas, New York and Hong Kong can interact in real-time as if they were physically in the same room. Everyone who has had the chance to experience it has been utterly amazed at the reality it provides. Figure 3 provides a glimpse into a TelePresence conference room.

Cisco TelePresence CTS-3000

Figure 3 – A Cisco TelePresence Room

The screens and cameras function in High Definition (1080p) resolutions providing the highest in picture quality. Audio is transmitted using an industry standard wideband codec (G.722) for near CD-quality sound. Setting up the meeting is done by a single button press on the conference table phone. Projectors are built into each side of the conference table and project below the screens so that presentations can be shared directly or a WebEx meeting can be initiated to allow other outside callers to participate. Those outside callers can also participate in the video portions of the meeting.

This gives tremendous classroom potential in the form of expert panels wherein the participants and students are all in different countries. Each screen changes to show the individual who is speaking at a given time. Archeology and Entomology classes, for example, might make use of this technology to examine fossils and rare insect specimens up close with key experts who never need leave their own offices.

TelePresence is the flagship technology in Business Transformation. It resonates exceedingly well with company officers and executives. Typically, a CEO need only walk into the room and sit down to see the benefit potential of this solution as an immense cost and time saver. This is especially true of executives who have hectic travel schedules. By utilizing various available models and sizes of TelePresence solutions, they need never leave their own offices, homes or conference rooms in order to have an in-person meeting with important business associates around the world. In a matter of months, most larger companies report that the TelePresence solutions more than pay for themselves in cost reductions and gained productivity hours that would have been spent in transit between sites, cities or countries.

Transforming Businesses

Business Transformation is not about individual technologies. It’s about changing the way customers do business and it’s a learning process. Many companies find that their infrastructure needs to be overhauled from the ground, up. This seems to be quite a monumental and expensive task. In many situations, that is the case. However, once the executive management of a company sees the value proposition in implementing the solution, they can look past the efforts and costs involved. It is never an easy task; however the key concepts can be relayed in a short amount of time. All that is necessary is outline the underlying tenets of the solution. This includes focusing on the user experience rather than the applications or networks themselves. Work toward the goal of giving the user the same access to the network and the same applications as if they were sitting at their own desks. Give them one experience whether they’re accessing information from a laptop computer, desktop computer, mobile device or any other means of access into the network. Show them the same information in a concise, easily understood form regardless of their location. Communicate with them in the way they choose to be reached and propagate that information to others so that they can see how people wish to be reached, if at all. Give them one phone number and one voice mail box and make the magic work behind the scenes. One phone number rings in any number of remote places. Voice mail can be accessed from anywhere via web, phone or even read to the user through a Text-to-Speech interface.

The possibilities are endless and each implementation is different based on the business needs and the imaginations of those who are creating the solution. Every solution needs to have some aspects left to the imaginations of those who know the business best. But, the end results are clear. Focus on the user experience and make it simple. A simple solution is a successful one. The human network is ready. You don’t use it. You experience it.

Utilizing Job Enrichment to Improve Work Climate

Throughout the course of history, work has typically been classified with other unsavory four-letter words. In the Industrial Age, employing people was seen as doing them a favor. And, in many cases, that was indeed the case. The idea of people actually liking and/or enjoying what they do was irrelevant or simply unthinkable. Similarly, the concept of taking pride in a job well done was quite rare for non-artisan or unskilled labor. Much has changed in the past few decades. As Behavioral Sciences made an approach to the forefront, supplanting Situational Psychology, significant strides have been made in creating a nearly familial environment in the workplace. Corporate culture has become immensely important to many larger companies. The company has begun to see fit to increase the value of the employee and thereby increasing productivity. Unfortunately, this is not quite enough to attract and keep the best talent in a given industry. A company must develop not only their business but their people as well.

At present, my job description essentially revolves tasks associated with product sales. My company’s sales model typically pairs two individuals to cover a wide array of technologies and solutions. Each of these individuals is responsible for a specific function. An Account Manager (AM) provides traditional sales support and customer service functions. A Systems Engineer (SE) provides technical design and pre-sales engineering support. The SE also tends to be the conscience of the AM to ensure that product capabilities are not exaggerated, misplaced or misquoted. Extended teams provide higher level support for these individuals and their counterparts for other customers. These extended teams are usually technology specific. I fill a role as the technical side of one of these elite, technologically focused teams. My official title is Consulting Systems Engineers (CSE). My technology focus is Unified Communications and Collaboration. That is, network-based telephony, conferencing (voice/video/web) and a myriad of related technologies. My account base includes nearly every State/Local Government Agency, School District and College/University in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

Currently, the global sales force at my company numbers at 16,000 employees. Each of us carries a sales quota measured quarterly. We are incented to meet these numbers, of course. However, my company is one which strongly believes in job enrichment. To use a generic description of job enrichment, we are heavily empowered. We are expected to bring resources to bear as needed to support our customers and sales efforts. There are unimaginable amounts of resources available for our at-will utilization.  They are a company which truly provides whatever tools may be necessary in order for my teams to provide an exceedingly high level of customer support.

The resources available do not stop at those needed to support customers. There are numerous internal tools and resources available for us to further develop our own skills, both hard and soft. From this perspective, job enrichment is based on one’s own initiative and drive. I have the leeway to develop my skills to better myself and better support my customers. I maintain my own task lists day to day in a manner of my own choosing that allows me to provide the best coverage for my most active accounts. I design and build solutions based on each customer’s needs. I talk to them, their employees, managers, directors and executives. I gain as full an understanding as I can as to where their primary points of pain might be and build a solution that alleviates that pain. By impacting Universities and School Districts in this way, I have a direct and very visible impact on the students attending those institutions. That may be the single most rewarding part of my job. No one tells me how to do it. I’m expected to have the expertise to do it or to go get the expertise at whatever cost.

My team and I have accountability, to be sure. If there are problems, they are addressed quickly and efficiently. Along with that, we have a high degree of autonomy. This is not simply a sales position to me, it’s a passion. I get to work with so many new technologies and show my customers how to use them to better enrich their jobs. I impact the way people work, live, play and learn. I enrich my own job by better honing my presentation skills, my technical skills and my communication skills. I enrich my job by utilizing the latest technologies daily in order to show that these solutions work and are easily implemented and used by just about anyone.

It may seem that my job is well enriched and that I see no room for improvement. To some degree, that is true. This is the best company I have had the pleasure to work with and I don’t see myself voluntarily departing. The company culture is one of inclusion and diversification. I’m paid to do my job. When I do my job well or go beyond the call of duty, there are sometimes significant bonuses and awards. I do see room for improvement, however. Given the chance, I would rotate through various other departments and business units within the company. I want to see what they see and do what they do. I want to understand what I ask of them and what my customers ask of them. I would like to spend time soaking up knowledge of other technologies and run with other extended teams to see how they handle themselves.

In the end, it’s all a learning experience. These opportunities I seek to better understand my colleagues in other job functions do exist. In fact, I am expected to develop my own skills through whatever means possible. In time, I will branch into other technologies. My current position is the third separate and distinct technology I’ve undertaken in the past ten years. I honestly have no plans to ever stop learning. That, to me, is life enrichment. It just so happens that I’m able to get a large dose of it from working.

I am truly fortunate. I work for a company listed on the Forbes Magazine 100 Best Places to Work. I have 66,000 extended family members in 100 +/- countries. I consider myself paid to perform my hobby. Technology has long been a passion. Teaching too has been a long-time passion. In my current position, I get to spend a great deal of time with doing both. I can make a difference in people’s lives. What more can I wish for?

I’ve worked very hard to get to the position I currently enjoy. I haven’t always worked for a company so dedicated to the enrichment of the lives and job functions of its employees. In fact, most of the companies I’ve worked for in the past 17 years could use a good deal of enrichment. I won’t speak ill of them, however. They prepared me to be successful in this position just as it prepares me for what will come in the future. The future looks bright from my perspective.

Business Transformation

The latest activity in the LTEC3040 course is similar to the prior one regarding Syberia.  However, this time, we’re creating a plan rather than trying to distill a message from a pre-created media source. 

LTEC3040.020 Week 2, Activity 4

Topic

In selecting a topic for this discussion, I wanted to do something out of the ordinary yet beneficial.  To that end, I have chosen to discuss Business Transformation.  Business Transformation is a frequent topic of discussion in my day-to-day life at work.  For the past 3 ½ years, I’ve been a part of a highly successful sales team specializing in speeding customer adoption of cutting edge technologies.  Up to now, I’ve been selling products.  As of now, I sell solutions.  Those solutions range far and wide across many different technologies and touch every level and individual within an organization from the CEO, all the way down.

Audience

The target audience for any discussion of Business Transformation is the key business decision-makers.  Usually, that entails long discussions with CxO (i.e. CEO, COO, CFO, CIO, CTO, etc.) level executives of a particular company.  Each officer wants to know how this transformation will impact their particular aspect of the business and the bottom line.

Purpose

Aid companies in meeting their business needs while addressing and eliminating points of pain within their business processes.  This allows them to better differentiate themselves from their competitors in the marketplace by creating a more flexible and adaptive business model.  The results of this kind of transformation include cost reductions, expense reductions, higher productivity, more stable and reliable network-based services for end users and a common user experience regardless of the manner in which these resources are accessed (whether by PC, mobile device, telephone, PDA or other device).  This is accomplished through the positioning of the network as the platform on which these services and applications run. 

Goals

1. Demonstrate understanding and positioning of available technologies (now and future)
2. Illustrate the manner in which the deployment of these technologies positions the network as the platform for applications and services in order to create a single user experience regardless of location or access method
3. Identify key business needs and requirements to meet those needs

Cognitive Objectives

1. Describe the System Oriented Network Architecture and Intelligent Information Networks
2. Demonstrate the use of this architectural model to meet the business goals
3. Summarize the end results that can be expected with Business Transformation

Attitudinal Objectives

1. Validate the architecture’s ability to meet business objectives and satisfy requirements
2. Identify roles of key business players in the adoption of these technologies

Psychomotor Objectives

1. Employ technological tools to allow for efficient, highly coordinated meetings which have no requirement for travel in order to bring together individuals from geographically diverse locations, regardless lf distance
2. Validate business processes, both new and old, against newly deployed business models to ensure greatest efficacy

Technology in Practice

In a competitive technological landscape such as the one in which we live, it is imperative that technological concepts be comprehensible.  This means that people want to see what you’re proposing.  Any technology company that doesn’t utilize its own tools is deservedly suspect.  The old adage about eating one’s own dog food comes to mind in such cases.

 

In delivering a discussion on Business Transformation, it should be considered a requirement to utilize the technologies which are to be incorporated into the company’s infrastructure.  This includes a wide array of collaborative technologies for sharing of web, audio and video content during live, in-person discussions and the use of Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs, vlogs and Community of Interest Workspaces in order to make use of shared resources.  These various tools are brought together into a single interface in order to allow all parties to keep an open communication line at all times and provide a single repository for shared documents, meeting recordings (audio and video) and other resources. 

 

All correspondence on the space are indexed and kept in a central, searchable repository on the site.  This includes video and audio discussions.  Once audio or video meetings adjourn, codecs transcribe the contents of the meeting so that the spoken words can be added to the index and searched at-will.  When a search is complete, instances of the searched phrase will be noted in timelines by date and time in which they occur in the video.  A simple click of the associated link will initiate playback of the audio or video from the desired point.

 

This not only builds customer confidence in the technologies, but gets them familiar with their use and allows them to see the kinds of capabilities they should expect as the project progresses to completion.

Kate Walker’s Adventures – Syberia

We were asked to put together an analysis of an example of various media types and what the presenter(s) may be trying to get across to us as consumers.  I chose a video for my little piece of the discussion.  Here are my rambling thoughts:

I took a look at the Syberia Video for the purposes of the discussion. Until the last couple of years, I was exceedingly active in the gaming world. I played first-person shooters, strategy games and, yes the dreaded MMORPG’s (Dark Age of Camelot then World of Warcraft). I’ve since broken my addiction and will not be sucked back into similar games.

That said, it’s no real surprise to me that I’ve not previously heard of Syberia. When I viewed the video, I had no idea of the game’s premise. That inadvertently gave me an interesting perspective on the video itself because I was taking everything at face value. I watched it a number of times to guage the reactions I experienced to the video and its message. Prior to that, I had no idea who Kate Walker was nor her plight. That is, until I watched the other videos linked on the site.

With no frame of reference for the story-line or premise of the game, I had only my impressions of a woman who stepped into a mechanized society. My first thought was that the mechanical people were a metaphor referencing the droning day-to-day tedium of life in an industrial city. I then saw the woman take a somewhat long journey to a place where she finds comeraderie and happiness which is then summarily smashed in a rather dramatic and violent manner.

The final seconds of the video show her in what appears to be a confused state followed by a quick shot of what appears to be a toy breaking. I got the impression throughout the video that this particular toy, having been shown in various states, was an analog of the societal situation at the time.

Now, that my odd interpretation of the video is somewhat explained, here’s what I got out of it from the Taxonomy point-of-view.  I felt that the presenter wants us to see from Kate’s perspective; to feel her emotions, tension, pain, duress, disappointment.  We’re expected to commiserate with her, and of course, pay money to play the game.

Cognitive:

• Identify patterns in day-to-day routines
• Contrast personal life from that of the mechanical masses
• Develop camaraderie and a sense of being/belonging
• Relate effects of tragic circumstances on self and others
• Formulate reaction and recovery plan

Attiudinal:

• Display resignation toward emotionally taxing events and tribulations
• Demonstrate perseverance to complete needed tasks

Psychomotor:

• Assess situation and respond accordingly with appropriate force or finesse

Comments are welcome.  I usually try to take an unusual stance on things.  This one just worked out that way from the beginning.  If anyone has played the game and knows the storyline, please respond to provide additional insight.

Texas Municipal League Conference

I’ve recently become active with this group. I’ll be attending their conference in September.  Check it out if you have an interest in education and helping to shape our future by shaping how our teachers teach and our kids learn.

http://www.tml.org/ed_ac_general_info.html

Leadership vs Management

In my LTEC4070 course, we’ve been discussing a bit on the concepts of Leadership and Management. More precisely, we’ve been discussing some of the differences between the two concepts. I posted this to the group discussion forum, but I figured I’d make use of my blog for tracking in both courses.

I’ll kick off the conversation with a bit of my own personal experiences and ideas regarding management and leadership. I believe them to be concepts of very different proportions.

Management:
Over the course of my career, I’ve held management positions at various positions from IT Help Desk Lead for a Law Firm to Director of Engineering of a large Telecom company. In those positions, I was purely and simply a manager.

I had visions of how I wanted to evolve the team and the products, but I had no real vision of how to evolve the business to make those team and product changes work within the respective companies. In short, I was no leader. That simple realization was relatively shocking, though I’ve come to accept it over the years.

I believe I’ve grown from that knowledge, both personally and professionally. I’ve also come to accept that I have a great deal of personal evolution to undergo prior to any possibility of moving back into a management role. I always had a difficult time balancing work and personal life. The drama and personal plights of my direct reports tended to find its way into my personal life. I have to better learn how to keep it all separate physically and mentally.

Leadership:
I consider myself to be one who is paid to do his hobby. That is not to say that my job is easy. No job worth doing is without its challenges. I help companies, universities, schools and governments transform the way they do business. I apply technologies and applications in a manner that helps alleviate particular points of pain for individual entities.

In doing this, I meet regularly with individuals holding titles such as CEO, COO, CFO, CIO and others. Each wants to hear how the solutions I’m presenting are relevant to their particular vision. As they explain their visions for the next 2, 3, 5, 7 or even 10 years, I am slapped in the face by the concept that is true leadership.

These people live and breathe the idea and embody the definition. They see on a conceptual level that I’m only beginning to grasp. They thrive on the thrill of being in the front car of the roller coaster. Often times, it’s a roller coaster of their own making. They’ve done their best to stack the deck in their favor by surrounding themselves with visionaries as strong or stronger in their ability and usually from widely diverse backgrounds.

They speak to their people at every level and inspire them to drive to a common goal. They bring their vision to life and show managers and employees the path to success if only they can meet goals. They outline the risks and offer up rewards. Everyone has a stake and everyone can make a difference. Most importantly, everyone believes in the vision.

I firmly believe that a manger is not necessarily a leader, but every leader must be a manager. Management is but one sub-set of the job of a leader.

Side Note: As I was typing this, my kids started The Sponge Bob Movie and I had to laugh when the crowd shouted, “Three cheers for Manager!”