Effective Management, Communication and Action (EMCA)

Overview

• Gayle Yamauchi: Lives in SC, green home renovation
• Ruth Katz: TA, work life, 2 boys
• David Bennet: Room buddy
• Late assignments not accepted
• Doc names: Lastname_Firstname_Assignmentname
• Partner: Laura Waters
   

Final Project

• Define 'Human Sustainability'
• Pick company
• Look at Social Justice section of GRI
• Evaluate company
• Figure out what they are doing right and wrong
• Present argument to audience with most resistance
• 15 minute presentation, PPT + creative: video, etc
• Grade: Creativity/innovation, add to conversation, reframe and find common ground

Readings: Week 1

Asking Big Questions

• Some organizations are afraid of questions. I once wrote on my cubicle blackboard some key strategic questions for the business, like "What business are we in?" and "Who are our customers?" My boss erased it the next morning before I got in and said that asking questions like that would make everyone think that they didn't know what they were doing!
• Interesting to talk about finding "questions" because we seem to be more interested in finding "answers"

Undivided Life

• Fully present
• Hide real feelings & real thoughts or lose popularity
• Actively tought to keep wall high, otherwise risky
• Integrate work
• It was a little vague, wanted specifics

Cafe To Go

• Our Cafe was a little dissapointing, it didn't seem as powerful as I thought it was after reading The World Cafe
• One issue was that we had been having good conversations, so the change wasn't as dramatic.
• It also needed a better atmosphere:
  • Soft music
  • Pleasing aromas
  • Coffee, tea, cookies, snacks
  • Better light
• I would also like to see more rounds, at least 3, to better mix up ideas and spend more time talking in small groups
• Maybe this would need a more efficient way of harvesting?

Conversations as a Core Business

• How to keep conversations focused on things that matter? (Rather than who Angelina is dating.)
• How to capture the information discussed for the good of the whole organization, so it doesn't get siloed or float away?
• "Knowledge creation is social" - don't know if I agree
• Idea: Virtual meetings, virtual break rooms
• Idea: Librarian whose job is to capture, organize and publish knowledge

Constructivist Listening

• Old study showed that a talker felt that a listener that didn't say anything understood them better than one that did respond.
• I don't believe that we were born with the ability to authentically listen. Even a child that is not saying much is internalizing what he hears and warping it into how it applies or affects him, rather than truly listening to what the speaker is saying.
• What to do when the speaker goes on and on, or moves off-topic?
• What to do when we get bored?
• Silence can be a great way to get down to the deeper issues and feelings
• I have a hard time with friends that like to talk all the time and never listen. My best friends are those where we both share in the talking, and if we have been talking for a while, will turn it over to the other person and listen to them for awhile.
• I sometimes butt-in and ask auxillary questions that while on the subject matter, interrupt the speaker's thoughts and maybe move them off-track

Listening, by Wheatley

• For me, listening takes more energy than talking.

Just Listen

• "The most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen."