January 30, 2008 by sqmk5.

With great discussions around nuclear proliferation, MDGs, and ICT4D, my questions include:
• Who controls information, what are the new roles and associated status?
• Will the South be allowed to develop as it sees fit, or will its development be driven by the North’s agenda?
• What unique approaches are the Africans creating around technology and change?
Wellness and hope are key indicators of social capital, let’s ask the recipients what they want, not just what they need.

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November 10, 2006 by sqmk5.

Taxiing down the tarmac, a jetliner stops abruptly, turns around and returns to the gate. After an hour-long wait, it finally takes off.

A concerned passenger asks the flight attendant, “What is the problem?”

“The pilot was bothered by a noise he heard in the engine,” she explains. “It took us a while to find a new pilot.”

Isn’t that what we do. If things aren’t going well, change the leader. But people are NOT disposable commodities like the rest of our culture. Leaders have gotten where there are for many reasons. Mostly we need to go through our own personal growth and change in order to bring our organization along with us. So here are some questions:

• What is your role as leader during change and transition? How do you react?
• How to you accumulate the collective knowledge of your team?
• Do you know who is good at what and use that to the benefit of the agency?
• How do you do assessment in the midst of turmoil?
• Do your people feel valued when times are tough?

For Non-profits:

Managing the Non-Profit Organization: Principles and Practices by Peter F. Drucker

For churches:

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November 5, 2006 by sqmk5.

Don’t you just love a word like ‘Heuristic’ - replicable method or approach for directing one’s attention in learning, discovery, or problem-solving. Whether we use the words ‘mental sets’ or heuristic, we’re getting at helping ourselves through transition and strengthening personal and organizational readiness for change. What are your organization’s heuristics? If you’re in tornado or hurricane or terrorist country, you will need one kind of plan(s). If you’re a church or school, you will need different mental set(s) for dealing with transitions. But no matter in what agency we’re involved, we need to address the psychological and emotional elements that the heuristic addresses. In a Kuwaiti school, I set up an Emergency plan for bombings. This involved a emergency drill, an evacuation plan, and a response team, with my counseling office working with those who responded to the trauma (of even the drills) with a stress reaction. There are the sociological effects of any plan. How will the culture change in the event of transition or crisis? What paradigms will shift and how will we respond? The Boys’ Scout motto is ‘Plan Ahead’ – just don’t forget to factor in the whole person when creating your heuristic.

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October 22, 2006 by sqmk5.

We experience many changes in our lives, events that surprise, startle and upset us. They start us on a journey of transition. Stressed and distressed emotions follow, decision making becomes blurred, and our self-preserving wills activate. What if this happens in your family, church, or at work? These are also optimum times for growth and renewal. If you’re aware of the process, you can be patient with yourself and circumstances, knowing that this too shall pass.

Alvin Toffler said, “Our moral responsibility is not to stop the future, but to shape it… to channel our destiny in humane directions and to ease the trauma of transition.”

Those that experience trauma events often undergo post-traumatic stress, a stress that may exhibit through experiencing nightmares, anxiety, and depression. Our nation experienced a trauma in 9/11, so some of our reactions may be coming out of PTStress. In interacting on an international level, it is important to recognize this and be aware of what triggers our reactions.

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October 16, 2006 by sqmk5.

Currently I am assisting a couple of churches with finding the direction for the congregation. The final question becomes, do we serve ourselves or others? My answers is ‘serve yourself, become insular, and growth is not possible.’ Whether ‘others’ are customers, clients, your partners, Millenium Development Goals, or the world, by being and looking outside of your comfort zone, you and I will become creative, renewed, and mature.

This connects in my mind to mentoring. Women in particular are encouraged to find mentors. But from my personal experience, I have not found many mentors. We’re too busy, our time is prioritized otherwise, and quite frankly we’re selfish. But how did you get where you are today? Did your parents, a teacher, someone at church or work give you a nudge or a word that just wouldn’t go away? Do you do that in the lives of others? It’s a gift that can keep on giving. Pass it forward.

A wonderful experience I’ve had is to interview and talk with brilliant people who are will to share their ideas, bounce and exchange theories, and to help me network with other concerned citizens. Fantastic! According to a study published in the American Sociological Review research (June 2006) indicates the circle of those we share with is getting smaller and smaller. How drab and boring, but safe! We need each other as Mother Theresa said, “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”

Save the Children proposed “partnership defined quality” taking TQM to the next level as non-profits. This approach identifies problems and goes about problem solving in a positive way with the partners involved. We are not alone in this or any of our jobs. By working together and helping each other, growth is possible.

So the thought I will leave with you today is – Mentor, network, create support systems for those in your families, among your friends, and in your organization.

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October 13, 2006 by sqmk5.

  So I’m on a journey, or perhaps the river of my life is flowing in new directions, toward envisioning a new life path. I have a rich heritage and my life has been an amazing adventure (see resume) so far. So what do I do with all that, now that I’m in America? How can I give, share, and enrich other lives with a bit of what I’ve had?

Here are some thoughts…

I’m a Third Culture Kid (TCK), a socio-cultural group defined in the 1960’s and 70’s. I grew up in West Africa and have worked much of my adult life overseas particularly in teaching, training, and starting programs.

So how does that get me into organizational management, you might ask. In my life experience I have been through numerous crisis and transition changes, worked with culture groups around the world as a woman, and have found myself advocating for the underdog in most situations. This has led me to use and create tools for my own personal transformation that I see as being useful at the organizational level. I have degrees in English and counseling, with post-graduate work in transition psychology. I worked for an organization concerned with aiding the transition experience of TCKs to their passport ‘homes’. I know a bit about transitions and working internationally.

There is no time in history like the present that is so concerned with people and organizations in transition, often as a result of a crisis experience. Many times the people affected are left hurting and damage, and the organizations wither and potentially die. How can this be prevented or at least alleviated? In my blogs, I hope to give some thoughts that I have come across in my wanderings which I will share with you.

The thought I will leave with you today is that - personal change management is a major factor in successful organizational change.

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