FM8 – Chris Payne

https://www.plectica.com/maps/AEYSJD3OD?present=1

Resources
– 1. Are the how-to videos still providing value? Please explain.
I still really appreciate the videos.  While I do use your maps for reference, I feel like I’m better able to deliver what you’re looking for because of the videos.
– 2. Are the documents and videos I am providing valuable? Please explain.
Yes.  The articles and references go into deeper detail and the videos are good in that we get to hear a different voice in their context share with us.
– 3. Is the syllabus still valuable? Please explain.
It is.  I like to go back to the course content objectives and weigh them against what we’ve done so far.  I also value the Course schedule, as I really hate any ambiguity on due dates.  It gives me anxiety.
– 4. Is the textbook starting to become more valuable? Please explain.
Not really.  I find myself combing through the additional material in our assignments than I do the textbook.  I kind of feel like I’m just reading it to check it off the list, not really for serious comprehension.
– 5. Was the information about audiobooks and text to speech valuable to you? Please explain.
I’m pretty familiar with audiobooks as I do a lot of driving out where I live.  The TTS information was helpful though.

Programs
– 6. Is Plectica becoming easier for you to use? And does it help you learn more? Please explain.
Oh, for sure.  I’m certainly more familiar with it because use it practically every day.  I don’t know that it helps me learn more, per se, but I’d say its a great way to organize information and its a tool can use in my workplace.
– 7. Same question for Tableau, Rationaleonline.com, and Thinkquiry.
I don’t use Tableau, save for looking at my grades.  It’s really cool, but it requires mountains of data to put together a graph or chart that means anything.  Rationale is another program that I can see myself using in my job, and as far as I can tell, Thinkquiry is just something I look at, not use.  Unless I’m missing something about it.

Concepts
– 8. What were your thoughts on complexity, emergence, innovation, and organizational learning?
The more I think about complexity, the harder time I have thinking of an organization that doesn’t have some layer of complexity, even if it isn’t readily apparent.  I work at an organization with only 10 employees, but the level of complexity involved would make anyone’s head spin.

Emergence is a neat concept and one that I’m working to make my coworkers aware of.  Along those lines, I’ve recently been tasked with helping to create our staff values, and even add innovation to the list of things that we should be accountable for within our areas of expertise.

Organizational learning is an idea that few in our part of the country have really thought about.  As an organization, what have we learned, and why haven’t we documented it.  I’m currently working to involve volunteer leaders to examine  how we proactively create culture that learns and grows instead of pretending we just know everything.

– 9. What were your thoughts on the Cynefin framework and the OODA Loop?
– 10. What were your thoughts on the Toulmin Method?
This seems to be one of the least complex ways to simplify an argument and for that reason, I appreciate it.  I would use this if I were putting together a video where I could present a salient point and not have to go into to much detail.
– 11. What were your thoughts on the Red Team tool — Argument Deconstruction?
I like this method of argument deconstruction as it goes into great detail and definitely prods and pokes at a
– 12. What were your thoughts on Double and Single Loop Learning?
I work at a place that doesn’t have many operating policies in place.  They just solve problems as they come, which is one reason I’m working on creating a leadership pipeline, so that the same issues don’t keep coming up again and again.

As someone who considers themselves a visionary, I try to think about situations I encounter and how to help us grow as an organization.  Double Loop learning will not just help me, but help my organization and those who come after me.

– 13. What were your thoughts on Professor Bunch’s video and the video on Soldier and Scout Mindset?
This is so timely considering our country is coming up on an election season.  In my job, its rare for someone in my position to say “I don’t know, lets figure it out” or “I’d like to hear what you have to say about it”.  It was refreshing to put language to what I’ve always felt, in that I’ve felt like a scout where people expect me to be a soldier.

It also reminds me of Simon Sinek’s concept of finite and infinite games.  Many of us are playing to win what we think is a finite game, but in reality we are playing an infinite game most of the time and when you try to win, you lose.  The point is getting to continue to play, not to win.

– 14. What were your thoughts on the Nominal Group Technique, the Delphi Method, and Context Analysis?
I like that Nominal Group Technique gives everyone in the room the opportunity to provide input and when a decision is made, it’s truly the decision of the group.

The Delphi Method would be useful for inviting everyone in the group or organization to have input and its a great way for management to really hear what’s important to the organization.

Context analysis is so important because it helps explains behaviors and policies that may be indecipherable otherwise.

Assignments
– 15. What did you think of CM5?
Since I’m the nerd that’s been asking to tie SWARM closer to our textbook, this was great.  I appreciated how the concepts in the book began to tie to the learning methods we’ve been experiencing and how to apply those methods to answering the questions.
– 16. What did you think of CM6?
This one felt a little bit all over the map with all of the difference concepts.  While some were loosely related, most seemed to be in their own silo.  And that’s fine, but for me, mentally, there was a lot of gear changing.  However, this assignment contained some of my favorite concepts, including the soldier and scout video and teaching.
– 17. What did you think of EM7? Do you still plan on writing a blog? What were your thoughts on using previous student blogs to deconstruct?
This was a pretty large assignment.  I really appreciated the usage of content from the Red Team handbook, as this will be useful on the blog I plan on writing.

I love seeing previous blogs from students so I feel like I at least have a roadmap to where I’m going.
– 18. What did you think of the Spiral Method in EM7? What did you think of the discussion on Logical Fallacies?
The cartoon was amusing, but I’d have liked to have seen more examples of the logical fallacy being described.  The chart was a bit hard to follow, but I think I got it.
– 19. What did you think of the Thesis Generator in EM7? What did you think of the BDK Method and the Critical Thinking handouts?
I love the Thesis Generator.  This is a super helpful tool as I begin to craft my blog post.  Some of the information in the Critical Thinking handouts was hard to read, particularly the list in #2, but the concepts are very usable.

BDK is hilariously named, but also an excellent way of approaching an idea or new concept.

– 20. What are your thoughts of this assignment (FM8)? Does this idea (Swarming Feedback) make sense?
I love it, and it helps shape the learning so it fits the class best.  Instead of giving feedback at the end, which may or may not benefit the next class, this allows us to be dynamic in how we learn to learn.  The idea is making more sense the further we go.

Collaboration
– 21. What are your thoughts with the Facebook group? How can we use it better?
For me, the challenge is that it doesn’t seem to offer anything that the wordpress site doesn’t already offer, except for communication with students outside of this particular class.  For me, I think the benefit will lie in the ability to access information after the class is over.
– 22. What are your thoughts with the WordPress Learning Community? How can we use it better?
I’m more familiar with how to use it, and now it makes more sense to me.  I think a good way to use it better would be for it to open a new tab in the browser when we click on a link to another location.  That way, I can access the home page and the assignment or resource that I’m looking up.
– 23. If you connected with an expert (e.g. Dave Snowded, Rob McClary, Laura Cabrera, etc.) did you enjoy the connection? Was it worthwhile?

Expectations
– – 24. What are your expectations moving forward?
That we will continue to dig into the textbook, meet the course objectives and I’ll learn some more things that will simultaneously blow my mind and help me improve as a leader.
– – 25. What would you like to see change?
I wonder if you could put out your next plectica map assignment with the new concepts in the middle and then the resources surrounding that concept like moons around a planet.
– – 26. What is one thing you love?
That you provide almost instant feedback on our work.  As someone who’s love language is Words of Affirmation, that’s the best thing in the world.
– – 27. What is one thing you hate?
I don’t know that I hate anything.  Or even strongly dislike it for that matter.  For instance, I don’t look at any assignment and roll my eyes or think “UGH!”.
– – 28. What can the instructor do immediately to make the class better?
Maybe provide an example of how we can use Tableau so it makes sense to use in this class.
– – 29. What is one question I should be asking, yet I am not?
Maybe ask how you think these concepts would uniquely apply to our jobs or lives.