Leadership Challenge 4

LdC Template #4

Influential Practitioners (Leadership Challenge): Leading in a COP

Enhancing Action Research and Leadership Possibilities

through the Development of your Collaborative Skills

Module 4                                                                    Name: James D. Lett

The process below relates to the following new Leadership Provocative Question(s): 

How can I positively influence my CoP through participation in “broader configurations” of networks?

I have found that my mind is limited by comparison to a larger group. I can think of many things. However, it is because of the many communities of practice that I have participated in over the years. For this week's leadership challenge, I actually reached out to that old community of practice from my military days. They deal with the issues of building and maintaining motivation on a regular basis. I have found that connecting with a larger network gives my ideas that I never would have thought of. Additionally, I have the opportunity to build new relationships and connect with members from other groups. Last week I attended a conference where I heard other educators discussing many of the same issues that I am facing within my institution. They were able to share some of their solutions to issues ranging from very basic to very complex. 

My positive influence comes through the new knowledge that is produced. I have found that my stress level is reduced because I know what to do when confronted with or how to approach a situation. I know who my supporters are and I can reach out to them when needed. I can pass along new knowledge to my team to help them become more engaged and empowered. Additionally, I am able to progress beyond lingering problems by developing relevant solutions and move on to the next challenge. Contributions to larger networks also contributes to your identity. You feel as though you are a member a larger group and you feel a level of responsibility to help answer some of these burning questions or build upon the work that is already being done. You also get a view or your competence. You will then take those next steps toward improving your competence and becoming a more active contributor in your local community of practice and your larger configuration. 

e. Preparing for an on-line Conversation

Quote/ideas from the book; applications/instances from your workplace setting	Page number
When we are with a community of practice of which we are a full member, we are in familiar territory.	152
We can handle ourselves competently. We experience competence and we are recognized as competent.	152
We know how to engage with others. We understand why they do what they do because we understand the enterprise to which participants are accountable.	152
Engagement - active involvement in mutual processes of negotiation of meaning	173
Imagination - creating images of the world and seeing connections through time and space by extrapolating from your own experience	173
Alignment - coordinating our energy and activities in order to fit within broader structures and contribute to broader enterprises	174
Within my own workplace using collective problem solving would help minimize managerial stress and disconnection from staff.
Recently we have begun to participate in some of these larger configurations within our institution. In the past we have remained in our collective bubbles. We are now connecting and finding that we are dealing with similar issues. As result of connecting, we are able to arrive at collective solutions.

f. Holding an on-line Conversation

After participating/viewing the “fishbowl” conversation record notes here (below) about your responses to your peers or new thoughts based on their postings.  Be certain your notes here are comprehensive, as were your responses to peers. (If you participate as a “fish,” in the fishbowl your notes, which should be entered below, can be much more succinct.)

(This space expands to accommodate your writing.)

The group addressed "how can I influence my community of practice through participation in broader configurations of networks?" Liz reflected on an conference she'd attended. She was able to meet with others who are experiencing some of the same issues and challenges. They shared information on services and innovations that could improve her current work context and expand her competencies within her community of practice. Sean discussed how he connected with some members of his community of practice with regard to the use of Google Apps and other applicable technology. Arianna spoke about her unit (Early Childhood education with Department of Education). She is developing a community of practice with the selected programs that were chosen to participate in the new grant program (approximately $84 million). She talked about how to avoid stagnation through continuous learning and reflection and consciously making those network connections and sustaining those connections. Liz talked about communities of practice being tied together in constellations. She offered a few quotes and expounded upon those. Some of her thoughts included, how to learn from other communities of practice and how each may grow within the larger constellation. Ariana adds a  paraphrase from the Wenger text on how there are tradeoffs within the exchange and a change of scope through larger network configurations through the use of applicable technology. Sean adds a quote from page 256. He then connected with his practice. He talked about the department meetings, technology meetings, and intradepartmental meetings and how these connections are used to avoid silos. He stated that good leadership skills are reflected through networks or communities working together and not just operating within disconnected groups. Liz adds an example of how Social Studies is often relegated to the periphery within the larger constellation. Sean talks about how he has experienced the same isolation with regard to the social sciences, particularly Social Studies. Paraphrasing his response, he states that If we don't understand how history has affected our present we cannot move forward in the future. Ariana, talked about how opportunities connect the other subjects together. "You can do math in Social Studies," and she talked about how there are opportunities to connect those as well as other subjects. 

   

g. Determining your Leadership Challenge

Note:  We are directing the Leadership Challenge for this module.

Expand your social network to include knowledgeable individuals beyond your workplace setting.  Find 1-3 others not in your institution, who have a similar problem as yours.  Establish a dialogue with them whereby you compare situations and learn from one another’s experiences. 

Submit the channel your used to connect (Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Alerts, discussion boards, email, phone call, etc.), who you connected with (a group or individuals), and a summary of your interactions thus far.  

I connected with leaders that I served with in the Army. We connected through Facebook IM. These two individuals are have been leaders within the military community for many years. Leader number one is Warrant Officer overseeing a warehouse operations. The other leader is departmental manager and a senior enlisted leader. I asked the both of them how they build and maintain motivation within their individual work settings. Leader number on stated that she started by explaining the larger picture of how each members contributions are pivotal to organizational success. She then established a monthly award to recognize  members of her team who demonstrated exemplary performance. 

Leader number two created a relaxed atmosphere. He learned how to be more accessible and he created an environment where he could learn from his staff and they could learn from him. Additionally, he created an incentive program as well to build motivation. 

With leader number one, what resonated was the way that she connected hew staff to the bigger picture and illustrated their importance to the success and growth of the organization. With leader number two I appreciated his approach to he environment. He created an environment where people felt safe sharing. Each of the instituted an incentive program that has proven successful in both cases. 

Leadership Challenge 3

LdC Template #3

Influential Practitioners (Leadership Challenge): Leading in a COP

Enhancing Action Research and Leadership Possibilities

through the Development of your Collaborative Skills

Module 3                                                                    Name: James D. Lett   

      How does “participation” relate to identifying problems/challenges and solving problems?

      Participation will often lead to collaboration among peers. The collaboration can lead to problem sharing and group thinking leading to problem solving. From the Wenger text, the claims processors were often in situations where the organizational policies conflicted with the realities of their work situations. Though they completed their work individually, they were able to collectively work with their group to find solutions to these conflicts (Wenger, 2008, p. 46). These resolutions cannot come about without deliberate and active participation. Wenger defines participation as the social experience of living in the world as members of social communities and being actively engaged in their endeavors (Wenger, 2008, p. 55). The author goes on to describe participation as an intricate method in which participants combine activity, feeling, thinking, talking, and belonging (Wenger, 2008, p. 56). 

      a Preparing for an on-line Conversation 

Quote/ideas from the book; applications/instances from your workplace setting	Page number
Participation refers to a process of taking part and also to the relations with others that reflect this process.	55
Provides resolutions to institutionally generated conflicts such as contradictions between measures and work	46
Supports a communal memory that allows individuals to do their work without needing to know everything.	46
Helps newcomers join the community by participating in its practice	46
Generates specific perspectives and terms to enable accomplishing what needs to be done.	46
Makes the job habitable by creating an atmosphere in which the monotonous and meaningless aspects of the job are woven into the rituals, customs, stories, events, dramas, and rhythms of community life.	46
We need to improve communications between our administrative team.
We need more knowledge management to improve consistency of message to our students and external partners.

b. Holding an on-line Conversation

Copy and paste your notes from your on-line conversation from last week and upon which you implemented your Leadership Challenge (LdC) from last week.

c. Determining your Leadership Challenge from last week

What behavior did you experiment with/try out for your leadership challenge last week?

(Write one sentence.) 

I plan to spend some time with my supervisor and peer this week so that we can begin providing a more consistent message from a managerial standpoint. Additionally, we want to help our staff communicate in one voice to students and the general public. 

What did you end up doing for your leadership challenge last week?

We attended a conference for advising and registration. We took a great deal from the conference with respect to student, faculty, and staff engagement. We then met for lunch to discuss our plan for improving our communication and building a shared departmental voice. 

d. Assessing and Reflecting on your Leadership Challenge from last week

How did your change in behavior affect others in your Community of Practice? Tell the story of what happened.

We first developed some understanding within the two support manager roles. Additionally, we each acknowledged some individual failures and oversights. Finally, we developed a plan to bridge the gap between our three student services sections (advising, enrollment services, testing) and faculty. This conversation lead to our next intervention. We plan to use our student services meeting to discuss the roles of each section and discuss how each section can support the other. We also plan to use an open forum approach to allow for the free flow of communications for those who are reluctant in the more formal settings. This seems like something that we should have been doing. However, in claiming responsibility, we admitted to becoming complacent and making some assumptions. 

Reflect on your experience with the Leadership Challenge for this module. 

The experience was eye opening for me. I am self-evaluative and I noticed some errors that I need to correct in my communication. First, I must learn to value the thoughts and ideas of others. I tend to dominate conversations. I think of something and I have a very rude habit of jumping in to make my point before my conversational partners finish theirs. I can feel myself doing it. Still, I have a difficult time just sitting, listening, and waiting my turn. I am a male in an office with several women who are very conscious and sensitive to gender issues. I am also a veteran and there are also some positive and negative reactions to that part of my personality as well. In a nutshell, I am a know-it-all and I need to learn when to be quiet and allow others to have a turn. That being said, it was a very good conversation about who we are as a student services group and our dean provided some much needed feedback about here vision for the future. Additionally, my colleague and I had came to an understanding about how to work through issues when the lines between enrollment services and advising services become blurred. 

Some prompts to help the juices flow, but it is not mandatory that you use any/all of these:

·            Was your behavioral change supported by CoP theory? Explain.

·            Was this change really a challenge for you? Why?  (cont. next page)

·            Did you “Lean In” for this challenge? How far? Could you have leaned further? If so, why did you hold back?

·            Did your behavioral change trigger changes in response from others? Was it a positive or a negative response? Why do you think this is so?

·            What do you think would happen if you sustained this behavioral change over time? Why do you think this is so?

·            What would Wenger say?

--------------------------------------------------

The process below relates to the following new Leadership Provocative Question(s): 

When/why do I hold back from participating? When/why do I commit to solving problems by myself?

I hold back from participating when I am not feeling accepted into the group. There are language barriers in new groups. When I joined the military, people were speaking military all around me and it did not make any sense. However, after being immersed in the environment for some time, I began to understand the language and felt more comfortable participating. The same can be said of education. When I came to work as an advisor, I had a hard time following the lingo. Education has more acronyms than the military. Additionally, there was a significant social challenge that I had to overcome. I have come a long way. Still, I have a hard time with the emotions of the environment. I often make simple statements that I do not feel are harmful. However, I will get a nonverbal response that tells me otherwise. I also hold back from participating when I am feeling incompetent. I often keep my opinions to myself until I have become more educated about the topic(s). In the meantime, I try to gain an appreciation for the context and the terms being used. I take notes for self study so that each time I am in the room, I feel a little more comfortable.

I solve problems on my own when I feel that there is an opportunity for personal growth. I love to brainstorm with others to solve problems. Nonetheless, there is a real value in figuring out a complex problem on my own. I feel like I grow each time I am able to work a problem through with available resources. However, there are times that I commit to solving problems by myself because I feel that I have to. In the army, I was expected to have answers even though a person cannot possibly have an answer to every problem. In my current setting, I often forget to utilize the team and I can feel a little bit exposed when I ask for help. 

e. Preparing for an on-line Conversation

Quote/ideas from the book; applications/instances from your workplace setting	Page number
Participants from close relationships and develop idiosyncratic was of engaging with one another, which outsiders cannot easily enter.	113
They have a detailed and complex understanding of their enterprise as they define it, which outsiders may not share.	113
They have developed a repertoire for which outsiders miss shared references.	113
For learning in practice to be possible, an experience of meaning must be in interaction with a a regime of competence. Although experience and competence are both constituents of learning - and thus of knowing - they do not determine each other. They may be out of alignment in either direction.	138
Competence may drive experience. Sometimes, our experience must align itself with a regime of competence. This is what happens to newcomers to a practice. In order to achieve the competence defined by a community, they transform their experience until it fits within the regime. But old-timers, too, need to catch up as the practice evolves.	138
Experience may drive competence. Imagine that one or more members have had some experience that currently falls outside the regime of competence of a community to which they belong - for instance, because there are no words for it or because it puts the enterprise in question. As a way of asserting their membership, they may very well attempt to change the community's regime so that it includes their experience. Toward this end, they have to negotiate its meaning with their community of practice. They invite others to participate in their experience; they attempt to reify it for them. They may need to engage with people in a new ways and transform relations among people in order to be taken seriously; they may need to redefine the enterprise in order to make the effort worthwhile; they may need to add new elements to the repertoire of their practice. If they have enough legitimacy as members to be successful, they will have changed the regime of competence - and created new knowledge in the process.	139
New staff member, once a member of the military, experiencing the initial adjustment to the environment.
Older staff members experiencing feelings of abandonment as the organization evolves.

f. Holding an on-line Conversation

After participating/viewing the “fishbowl” conversation record notes here (below) about your responses to your peers or new thoughts based on their postings.  Be certain your notes here are comprehensive, as were your responses to peers. (If you participate as a “fish,” in the fishbowl your notes, which should be entered below, can be much more succinct.)

(This space expands to accommodate your writing.)

   

g. Determining your Leadership Challenge

Based on your own quotes/ideas from Wenger, your workplace experiences, and new insights you developed as you reflected on your peers’ work, what behavior do you want to experiment with/try out for your leadership challenge in the next few days?

I plan to lead a student services discussion this Friday at our students services meeting addressing communication breakdowns, procedural changes, and collecting feedback for further discussions and activities. 

Leadership Challenge #2

LdC  #2

Influential Practitioners (Leadership Challenge): Leading in a COP

Enhancing Action Research and Leadership Possibilities 

through the Development of your Collaborative Skills

Module 2                                                                    Name: James D. Lett

The process below relates to the following Leadership Provocative Question(s):  

How are groups and communities of practice (CoPs) different?  How are they alike?  So what?  What now? 

Groups and CoPs are comprised of people who have frequent contact, consistent interaction, collective influence, a shared feeling of friendship and support, and a commitment to work together to achieve common goals.

Communities of Practice are not simply a collection of individuals discussing various topics or participating in a myriad of activities. PoPs are built upon competent membership. There are three components of competent membership:

1. Mutuality of Engagement - the ability to build relationships based upon engagement with members and reciprocating actions. Membership is based upon social status, organizational membership, or personal relationships with people. Identity is established through participation.
2. Joint Enterprise - the ability to adequately grasp the enterprise, take responsibility for it, and participate in the negotiation of the community's continued pursuit. 
3. Shared Repertoire - refers to routines, words, tools, words, experiences, tips, stories, and ideas that have been adopted during the communities existence. 

a. Preparing for an on-line Conversation 

Consider the provocative question(s) above; please record quotes/ideas from the Wenger text that are appropriate in responding to the provocative question(s) posed in this module. These quotes/ideas will help you participate in a scholarly and collegial on-line conversation during the module. Also record illustrative stories or instances from your professional practice appropriate for responding to the provocative question(s). Typically, you should provide six (6) quotes/ideas from Wenger and two (2) applications/instances from your workplace setting. Write them here.  

Quote/ideas from the book; applications/instances from your workplace setting	Page number
Membership is not just a matter of social category, declaring allegiance, belonging to an organization, having a title, or having personal relations with some people.	74
Their practice supports a communal memory that allows individuals to do their work without needing to know everything.	46
Makes the job habitable by creating an atmosphere in which the monotonous and meaningless aspects of the job are woven into the rituals, customer, stories, events, dramas, and rhythms of community life.	46
Knowledge is a matter of competence with respect to valued facts, fixing machines, writing poetry, being convivial, growing up as a boy or a girl, and so forth.	4
Communities of practice are an integral part of our daily lives. They are so informal and so pervasive that they rarely come into explicit focus, but for the same reasons they are also quit familiar.	7
(Implications for what it takes to understand and support learning) For organizations, it means that learning is an issue of sustaining the interconnected communities of practice through which an organization knows what it knows and thus becomes effective and valuable as an organization	8
Frequently, our student services are often unsure of their responses to students when being asked general advising related questions.
Many procedures are communicated through word of mouth, which places a great deal of pressure on staff members to know everything.

b. Holding an on-line Conversation 

After participating/viewing the “fishbowl” conversation record notes here (below) about your responses to your peers or new thoughts based on their postings.  Be certain your notes here are comprehensive, as were your responses to peers. (If you participate as a “fish,” in the fishbowl your notes, which should be entered below, can be much more succinct.) 

(This space expands to accommodate your writing.)

c. Determining your Leadership Challenge

Pt. 1: Based on your own quotes/ideas from Wenger, your workplace experiences, and new insights you developed as you reflected on your peers’ work, what behavior do you want to experiment with/try out for your leadership challenge in the next few days? 

I want attempt to improve our organizational knowledge by offering student services information sessions during our Friday meetings.

Implement your leadership challenge over the next week. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Complete in Module 2)

Pt. 2: What did you end up doing for your leadership challenge? 

I provided answers to frequently asked questions to our enrollment staff to help them better support students. 

d. Assessing and Reflecting on your Leadership Challenge 

How did your change in behavior affect others in your Community of Practice? Tell the story of what happened. 

In the past, we have had advisors available to answer questions ranging from initial getting started steps to transcript evaluation. However, we have recently seen a strong shift in enrollments. This a good thing. Unfortunately, we have experienced some turnover in the advising section, making routine calls difficult to answer. I contacted our web updates team and updated our website to better support our students and to provide easier access to information for our student support staff. I also spoke with our enrollment staff about the changes that I made. Additionally, I provided them with a copy of our getting started steps and answers to some frequently asked questions. I know that it sounds very minimal. However, the ease of access and the sharing of information really put them at ease.  

Reflect on your experience with the Leadership Challenge for this module.  

Communication is very important to our team. When we do not communicate consistently, it can lead to some anxiety filled moments. For a long time we performed our daily operations in a certain way and everyone was comfortable and the day made sense. Then there was budget crisis within the DoD and federal workers were furloughed and military students' tuition assistance accounts were placed on hold. Our extension site survives on these tuition assistance payments. Once tuition assistance was reinstated, it was reduced. Therefore, students needed more financial aid to support TA. Then, the calendar at our extension site was deemed no longer in compliance with financial aid payout requirements for the college district. This lead us to change our calendar, which affected enrollments for a time. Then there were changes in organizational structure and within the advising team.

Our staff absorbed all of these changes. However, their normal workday and the office tempo changed. What I leaned during this exercised is just how much these changes have affected our team. Before we could make assumptions because we had been performing the same way for so long. We got lazy with our communication. I learned that we now have to rebuild our community of practice and begin sharing more knowledge. We need to rebuild that shared understanding. However, we need to be sure to keep our practice fertile and active rather than allowing it to drift into complacency. 

(Be verbose.  Write 2-3 paragraphs.)

Some prompts to help the juices flow, but it is not mandatory that you use any/all of these: 

·            Was your behavioral change supported by CoP theory? Explain.

·            Was this change really a challenge for you? Why?  (cont. next page)

·            Did you “Lean In” for this challenge? How far? Could you have leaned further? If so, why did you hold back?

·            Did your behavioral change trigger changes in response from others? Was it a positive or a negative response? Why do you think this is so?

·            What do you think would happen if you sustained this behavioral change over time? Why do you think this is so? 

·            What would Wenger say? 

The process below relates to the following new Leadership Provocative Question(s): 

How does “participation” relate to identifying problems/challenges and solving problems?

      Participation will often lead to collaboration among peers. The collaboration can lead to problem sharing and group thinking leading to problem solving. From the Wenger text, the claims processors were often in situations where the organizational policies conflicted with the realities of their work situations. Though they completed their work individually, they were able to collectively work with their group to find solutions to these conflicts (Wenger, 2008, p. 46). These resolutions cannot come about without deliberate and active participation. Wenger defines participation as the social experience of living in the world as members of social communities and being actively engaged in their endeavors (Wenger, 2008, p. 55). The author goes on to describe participation as an intricate method in which participants combine activity, feeling, thinking, talking, and belonging (Wenger, 2008, p. 56). 

e. Preparing for an on-line Conversation

Quote/ideas from the book; applications/instances from your workplace setting	Page number
Participation refers to a process of taking part and also to the relations with others that reflect this process.	55
Provides resolutions to institutionally generated conflicts such as contradictions between measures and work	46
Supports a communal memory that allows individuals to do their work without needing to know everything.	46
Helps newcomers join the community by participating in its practice	46
Generates specific perspectives and terms to enable accomplishing what needs to be done.	46
Makes the job habitable by creating an atmosphere in which the monotonous and meaningless aspects of the job are woven into the rituals, customs, stories, events, dramas, and rhythms of community life.	46
We need to improve communications between our administrative team.
We need more knowledge management to improve consistency of message to our students and external partners.

f. Holding an on-line Conversation

After participating/viewing the “fishbowl” conversation record notes here (below) about your responses to your peers or new thoughts based on their postings.  Be certain your notes here are comprehensive, as were your responses to peers. (If you participate as a “fish,” in the fishbowl your notes, which should be entered below, can be much more succinct.)

(This space expands to accommodate your writing.)

   

g. Determining your Leadership Challenge

Based on your own quotes/ideas from Wenger, your workplace experiences, and new insights you developed as you reflected on your peers’ work, what behavior do you want to experiment with/try out for your leadership challenge in the next few days?

 I plan to spend some time with my supervisor and peer this week so that we can begin providing a more consistent message from a managerial standpoint. Additionally, we want to help our staff communicate in one voice to students and the general public.