Inclusive Circle of Virtue

There is currently a prominent dialog in the press about women leaving technology in droves. In addition there is a lively national debate about how to improve the US education system. Reading up on both topics has stimulated similar thinking on both topics that involve insider-outsider circle propagation, or virtuous versus vicious cycles.

Waaa?

Let's talk terms. Inclusiveness is a term that has touchy feely attached to it, but merits attention because being inclusive means beginning from the perspective that there is a place for everyone and everyone informs the conversation and improves the group. It does not mean removing all standards or that everyone 'wins'. Exclusivity has been the norm for centuries for clubby types and became the measurement bar for all things desirable with the advent of marketing. We all love to possess an exclusive item, yet nothing hurts like being excluded.

I happened to think about what it means to be automatically included in a group, at school at work, wherever. It means that individuals can assume they are part of a unit and that their interests do matter, at some level. It does not mean that the individual directs all things for the group. More on that idea anon. For leaders inclusion raises the necessity to consider the interests of diverse groupings of individuals and raises the bar required to satisfy the larger group.

Exclusive models do not absolutely require diversity of members within a group and tend to dictate behaviors that reinforce homogeneity for the group. This model means the best minds and strong feedback loops apply to in depth thinking over long periods of time for highly evolved results. Groups that rank exclusivity highly create models that support the group and monolithic ideals over individuals and varied goals.

Neither model is good or bad by definition, each brings strength and balance. Each can also support random reinforcement of pernicious patterns that erode the value of the group over time.

In both classrooms and small workforce group level setting occurs early in the formation of the group. To reinforce an inclusive approach in a work setting socialization across the group is taken as a requirement for the group to function. In the classroom a give and take approach that allows for different view points rather than a fully top down structure helps, though leadership from a teacher will necessitate some control from the top. Peer pressure can help in both environments.

For inclusive groups, the success or failure of every individual reflects on the success of the group as a whole. In schools that means the least productive student has to be brought to the standard of the cohort, within a range defined by the cohort. Work environments that are financially driven might allow for more diversity of ability with different compensation and benefit schemes to support the range.

In work settings that support exclusive practice hiring directs an outcome to identify and include only the ready-set-go personnel in today's fast paced, success oriented environment. In the short term this seems fine for best in class companies, but there are longer term consequences to this approach that apply to growth and maturity attainment.

In the educational environment exclusivity leads to elite programs, schools and tracked systems that limit upward mobility for less well equipped participants while supporting the already verdant support system available for the top performers. If it is our educational system we look to for our future workforce leaders, this appears to be weak model.

The exclusive model ensures that the best of the best continue to excel which is good for improvement of all things. However it means that a large group never jumps from one track to the next. Over time this leads to an inability to change or innovate, group think and eventual stagnation tends to follow without an extreme event to cause radical change. Instead of incremental improvement for the whole that occasionally allows for a large leap, cynicism and cronyism becomes the norm. We can do better.

Parents, teachers and leaders in the business space set rules that support or change the status quo. It is time for the larger group to take a stand and participate. Newcomers need to broadcast new thinking and produce new models of behavior to break us out of elitist and talent stifling behaviors.

Portland - the initial user experience

After a long absence from spouting off about whatever, I find myself compelled to write about one of the great visit experiences I have known.  I have been dithering about, hoping I might stumble upon a new mindset for myself.  In pursuit of this undefined, new place, I planned a trip to Portland, Oregon. Lucky for me, several friends were on hand to gentle me through a sweet weekend.

Several months ago I arranged airfare so that I would be forced to embark on a visit to the dreamed of new location.  To be fair, a chunk of my family is located on the west coast somewhere between Southern California and Southern Alaska, so Oregon is hardly a stretch.  It is the one part of the coast unvisited by me, making it irresistible as unknown territory.  Also, several important friends have talked up the region and I already know how to pronounce Willamette Valley and Couch Street, surely portents of belonging in the City of Roses.  Who can resist a possibly errant city slogan, "Keep Portland Weird"?

City 'founders' (the European types who showed up first with a thirst for real estate and pre-lottery fundraising ambitions) Francis Pettygrove and Asa Lovejoy each wished to name the new city after his respective home town. In 1845, this controversy was settled with a coin toss which Pettygrove won in a series of two out of three tosses (he haled from Portland, ME). The coin used for this decision, now known as the Portland Penny is on display in the headquarters of the Oregon Historical Society, a place worthy of more time than I allotted for my visit (note that much of this bit is borrowed from Wikipedia!).

Upon arrival, a good friend scooped me up at the Airport and whisked me off to Fourth of July Celebrations in neighborhood Portland to rival anything across America.  On offer were pulled pork, lamb burgers, salads of every type, beer and wine, children at their best and,  might I mention, a few fireworks!  Pyrotechnics drove the day's agenda, but conversation won my interest until darkness descended and these lovely Portlanders included me with no requirements.  Hours later the fireworks were still lighting the sky and my favorite memory of a hands-on celebration for Independence Day is now of the Portland variety.  I still am timid around things that go boom, but I almost felt I could light something.

Three hours into my trip and I was smitten!

Two Feet in the Air - Jumping Jacks with the First Lady

Just when I thought I wasn't happy with my country any more, Michelle Obama has created an event that makes me smile. She is attempting to help kids set a new world record for the largest number of people 'jumping jacks' at one time. This takes little time, it's good for us and it brings light hearted purpose at a time when we need to stand together.

Go Michelle!

Check out the National Geographic website for details
http://kidsblogs.nationalgeographic.com/lets-jump-community/

Meditations from 100 Feet in the Air

One of the great joys in my life is living 100 feet in the air over a gorgeous green park with mature hardwood trees, a wildlife pond (yes, there are blue herons) and a major body of water. I like to call it Lake TV as a friend mentioned that I have a wide screen! There is always something to view and think upon. It brings together nature and commerce in the most interesting of intersections.

The nature part of the advantage is obvious. With such an active body of water (color change and conspicuous wave action), bird life and cloud formation, there are literally changes every minute. Clouds at this time of year bring special beauty and challenge with both color and shape, and especially the storms they contain. A couple of times every year there is the magic of a double rainbow, a rain display in a single, tiny location or a glasslike body of blue/grey water to soothe the most troubled spirit.

With the shipping lane, trolleys in the park and cars, scooters and packs of cyclists, the commercial element might be less obviously full of artistic display. Yet, the removal of 100 feet gives energy and structure to the display. This is a world that diminishes any personal or inward trauma. The magesty of size reduces my personal imprint. This is a wonderland that can really dish it out with downed trees, instant lagoons and the thrash of post natural stress-syndrome, not unlike the stuff we small mammal types experience.

Here is a sense of purpose out of time. The rhythm is macro-dimensional, I can react, but there is not instant need. As an artist best grounded in sound, the advantage of having immediate and constant access to such visual grandeur is astounding and forces me to grow, even if it comes with a bout of tears or stirs yearning I cannot stem or escape. Viewed from the safety of 100 feet, structural steel and cement and the knowledge the I am a speck, this is a new version of symphonic awakening that gives something new every hour, every day and certainly every season.

Closure as a Device to Resist Change

Recently I read an excellent article about Agile methodology (this is software speak) and in it the author really got up my nose with the topic of change. I routinely seek out change, sometimes at the cost of deeper exploration because I'm too quick to jump on the change bus. Our author said that uncertainty, being a state that many humans seek to avoid, leads to a longing for closure. But that closure is actually a hedge against change.

Then a friend commented on closure in a personal way that really brought my quest into focus. He said he disliked the drive for closure as a false thing and used a striking example, the loss of his brother. He commented that he found friends who stated that old chestnut, "at least you have closure," superficial and unhelpful. He did not have any kind of closure even after numerous years. And I'm certain their mother did not find closure with the loss of her child.

At the time we had this conversation I never dreamed I too would lose a brother (early).  This loss has led me to redefine my thinking on change, loss and recovery.  Imagine a chilling of the planet and that would describe my feelings on this topic six months on.
Ever read a book with an ending that is so bad you wished you could unread it? I am never comforted just because I know the ending. If I hated the conclusion, I find myself longing for a loophole, something more open ended that lets me participate or just dangle in the breeze with thoughts about what might have been. So you can see why I might prefer the end of the story to continue on a path with an unknown ending, my heart can continue to hope.