ZOUNDS!

I got a ZOUNDS from someone the other day. I was speaking to a colleague and we were discussing our projects and she said, actually said, "ZOUNDS!" This was a first for me. Last month Melissa "Golly Gee'd" me, but I've yet to ever have a "Zounds-ing."

Why did she say Zounds? Well, it was because we were talking about our projects and our lives. She said, "ZOUNDS! How do you do it all? You're so busy? How do you pack it in?"

I was taken aback. I don't necessarily think I am super busy, but I like to stay occupied. But according to her, I was very, very busy. I remember as a teenager reading "Life's Little Instruction Book" and running into this little bit of perfection: 

"You'll regret the things you didn't do more than the things you did."

I guess that's why I like to stay busy. I don't want to look back on life and regret the opportunities missed. It's fine if I missed something where there was no opportunity, but if the opportunity was there and I didn't take it, well I think I'll regret that. 

Lately, I've also been taking the time to smell the roses. It has my team a bit miffed. They are used to me always busy, always moving. After meetings with Julie, I'll linger and try to make small talk. When talking to Kayla I try to go further than the superficial, "How you doing?" I really have them off their game.

I try never to tell anyone that "I'm too busy." I remember the effect that had on me when my roommate was too busy. I've heard that from too many others. It's about priorities, right? If Julie asks if I have time to help on a project I try to never say, "I'm too busy." If Russell comes by for a chat, the last thing I say is "Sorry, too busy." Those little things add up and affect relationships. And that's my focus right now.

Why?

I have been thinking about people lately and relationships. I think I need to do a better job of fostering those relationships. I need to be there for people now. I think about that time when my roommate was too busy for me. I don't want others to feel that I'm too busy for them. I like to stay busy, but not too busy for anyone. 

The last thing I want is to look back on life and think, "Shoot, I'm sorry I was too busy not to make that work better." That would be horrible. If for years I kept saying, "Nope, too busy for that," then after twenty years of saying it, look back and think, "Well, shoot, I should have made the time."

I think we make the time for the things that are truly important to us. If I want my PhD, I'll make time. If I want to write 50K words, I'll find a way to do that. If I need to foster friendships, then I'll make time for those friends. I'll find a way to make that happen. I'll record em on my commutes (see here). I think that goes along with what that last assessment said about me (see here). What did it say about me? "They exude an inaudible intense energy, which cannot go without notice." Seems about right.

I do find it funny when other's tell me they are too busy. When I worked for Charming Charlie my supervisor was always telling me how busy he was. He would stay up at work until 2 or 3 in the morning. What we found was that he didn't actually work very hard or get much done. Marsha too was like that. When she left we looked at her workload and duties and there wasn't hardly anything there, yet she constantly told us just how busy she was. I've found the more people tell me that they are busy . . . the less busy I believe they truly are. What it tells me is that they are just horrid at prioritizing. Has less to do with busy-ness and far more to do with organization, thinks I. 

There have been a few people who I think are generally too busy. Brad, my former boss comes to mind. That guy was a whirlwind constantly. Ran to and from meetings. Lieutenant Davis, he was a busy guy, you kinda have to be to a Delta Force Squadron Leader. Sergeant Weideman, that guy never stopped to smell the roses. If he wasn't working hard, he wasn't working. Of course, he pounded caffeine all throughout the day, coffee, caffeine pills, energy drinks, everything. Again, Delta. I think being busy is a pre-requisite for Delta.

There must be a balance between "Zounds that's busy" and "Ensuring against regret." I hope to find it and look back on my life with little to no regrets.  

Brookfield Feedback

 I have written alot about Brookfield lately (see here and here) and I had another thing to write about it. Brookfield filled his book on how to create reflective learning tools, feedback loops. 

In the military as a private I was provided monthly feedback via counseling with my team leaders and squad leaders. That was my foundation and the basis of understanding that I was used to and that I came to value. Once I got into the contracting world I found that none of those systems existed that I had come so used to having. Now, fifteen or twenty years later, I still have yet to find the level of feedback that I had gotten used to in those formative years. 

I work with my direct reports and provide them feedback on a monthly basis because I find it useful. Most find it intrusive, I hope because they aren't used to that level of interaction. I've tried to institute feedback mechanisms to help critique and train our trainers and have found that in most cases these were used as platforms for revenge from one trainer to another. 

I've been surprised by how little formal feedback we in the corporate world, or perhaps it's the oil and gas industry, provide our direct reports and receive from our bosses. As a training institute, we go out of our way to get feedback from those that we train and the contractors who are our members, but we do very little for our direct reports. Perhaps this is because we are paid by our trainees and members and our direct reports come and go. Regardless, I really liked the emphasis that Brookfield placed on feedback and reflective learning tools in the book, but noticed that it was always from teacher to student (which of course makes sense as that was the focus of the book), but as leaders, we should not stop there but also look for ways to institute those systems in our organizations to the benefit of our workers. 

Inspirational Innovation in Training

My colleague had a great discussion point the other day. Her question was about what other technologies or tools have we used in our online teaching that might have been inspirational. 

My company (including Sally who is in this pic) wanted to deliver 40 hours of safety and compliance training via live virtual training. That's five days of live instructor-led training via zoom. It was TOUGH to make it worthwhile and engaging. Other than workbooks, e-quizzes on handholds, and discussion, we also used videos of real-world fatalities that occurred in our industry for the class to watch and analyze.

These videos were relevant so they appealed to the trainees, they brought all of the modules into focus at once, instead of keeping them separate as they were trained, and best of all made the trainees analyze what had gone wrong and what they might be able to do to not mistakes the same mistakes themselves. Prior to each video we prepped the trainees and asked them to look for focus points in each video to look for and to analyze based on their training.

• We would train fall protection
• Then fire safety
• The electrical safety
• Another module might be on scaffolding

But so many accidents, especially fatalities, aren't just one thing going wrong, but a cascade of many problems. These videos helped our trainees understand that these safety aspects did not exist in a vacuum. 

These videos were something that we did just to make the training more interesting, relevant, and effective. But what I've learned since is that we were actually working our way up from remember, to understand, to apply and up to analyze. By making them analyze these videos we were helping them apply and understand the learning. It's only since finishing that project and winding it down that I realize how founded it was an effective learning principles and innovative, scalable, technology.

More On Brookfield

I was somewhat unimpressed with Brookfield's chapter on Teaching Online. The chapter held little insight for me in terms of the best ways to teach and engage effectively in an online format. He had some good tips on getting feedback, but that is ubiquitous throughout the book, and the feedback tools he listed in the online chapter could have been the same as any other portion of the book, so I failed to see how it was unique to teaching online. I was looking forward to that portion of the book and found as I read it that I grew more and more disappointed. That being said, the maturity of the user group and the expectations have shifted greatly since this book was updated.

That being said I was very happy to read the chapter on Responding to Students' Resistance to Learning. I found this chapter to be very helpful and worthwhile. This did provide very relevant tips, tricks, tools that could be immediately useful for creating that engagement. Would some of these directly transfer to the online teaching aspect? Sure. And I look forward to doing just that.

Again, both chapters have as a hallmark feedback loops that allow teachers the opportunity to gauge, adjust, and adapt to the class to make immediate and long-term improvements. Part of that reflective learning strategy that I wrote about previously (see here). I think the one thing I feel was completely underwhelming, as I mentioned above, was Brookfield's linking this to an online world. Almost all of the advice he gives to his readers could easily be transferred to online, and it was strange to see so little of it actually applied with forethought and precision in the Teaching Online chapter. Felt as though he slipped this in as a sop to his publisher who was demanding an update. That being said, his advocacy for online tools for generating feedback were very worthwhile, twitter, polls, etc. and I've already instituted some of those in our own online teaching paradigm and look forward to the results.

As I read the Teaching Online chapter I tried to subtlety count the things that we don in our own classes that Brookfield advocated and provided in his book. Warming Up to the Online Environment Setting Expectations . . . As this book was last updated in 2015 and technology and expectations have shifted in that time, I kept wondering what more we have seen other organizations do to create engagement and to train effectively online? The changes, updates, and verve for online learning have accelerated rapidly in just the past 6 months, what other tools or techniques could be added to this chapter since it's been written? 

I think my organization is definitely cutting edge in these terms. We can't just present a flat power point via Zoom and call it a day. I'm glad that the reflection tools that Brookfield brought up are there, they provide a much-needed reminder of what needs to be done, especially online, for learning to occur.

Brookfield, S. D. (2015). The skillful teacher: On technique, trust, and responsiveness in the classroom. John Wiley & Sons.

Technology Learning Curves

We are struggling with that at this very moment. My organization educates and trains a very working-class level of trainees. We have introduced new virtual reality/VR training to some of our e-learning modules. So far in just a month and a half, we have been delivering it we’ve had to re-film re-teach and re-edit the introduction that tells the trainee how to don and doff and use the equipment. We have found that the learning curve on just using the equipment for a quick 3 to 5-minute exercise is far steeper than we realized. 

One of the things you’ve mentioned about people being afraid to break technology is very much at the heart of this. Many of our trainees are afraid to push the wrong button for fear that they will break it. What’s funny about that is all the destruction testing we did beforehand. We tried everything we could to see if we could break it so we could drill that out of the system before we released it. Despite our efforts, people are still afraid they will break it.

One of the other things you mentioned comes to mind as well… All of the different technology at hand. We ask our users of the VR exercises to click on just one button. There are five buttons they could push but we only ask them to use one button. The primary button or trigger. None of the other buttons are used. We even train them not to use the other buttons. Despite all of this they continue to try and click different buttons to make it do different things.

Technology can be a curse as well as a blessing. One of the things we realized from this VR exercise we are going through is that our trainees develop far stronger long-term memories after going through the VR exercises than when they didn’t. So despite the learning curve and despite our having to go back and remake the instruction video, it’s worth it in the long run. 

Technology to Help Training

In my previous job, I was hired to help bridge innovation with our educational initiatives. I have a history of finding ways to use technology to help make learning easier. 

In one case we were providing mimeographed tests to disparate locations on our virtual learning classroom and the instructor was struggling to keep everyone together and the learners were having trouble seeing the quizzes and tests. 

We recycled iPhones that were being turned in by our sales and executive groups and sent them to the learning sites as testing units. We could have re-typed the tests and sent them out to be re-printed but by using the iPhones we could immediately update tests and quizzes with new questions, and get better analysis and real-time feedback of results. 

Too often there is a belief, particularly in today's day with so many apps and so much technology, that there is a technological solution for everything. In some cases, though that might not be a positive change or less of a burden for the user. In every case, we try to determine before rolling out technology how it will affect learning, and whether or not the learner will be able to use it without hardship. If the answers don't support using it then we go back to the drawing board. 

I'm a huge fan of technology in the workplace, especially in learning, but I have to constantly remind myself that although I may be an advocate, many of the trainees I design it for, may not be. Understanding the audience, the limitations, and the overall goal of the technologies use is paramount in deciding if that is a worthwhile investment of time and energy. 

Things Have Slowed

Although I was moving right along before (see here) my writing has certainly slowed down now. It's not a complete stop, but it is slower. As of November 20th, here's where things stand.

Why? 

I think I may have the answer to that. I've been stuck working with Anne and Emily on our final push to complete our presentation on emotional intelligence. (For anyone who may question it, I have none, that much is clear).

Regardless, let's see where I'm at:

• Total words: 24,433
• Words left: 25,567
• Words per day: 1,221
• Words per day needed to complete on time: 2,557
• Words needed to be a better writer than my cousin Alex: Already there!

Mezirow on Learning

I really like the definition of learning from Mezirow. I ran across a similar definition for a paper I am writing on Robert Kegan when he describes how an adult moves from one stage to another in his developmental stages. He states at about four minutes and thirty seconds into the interview, that developmental growth should "transcend but include prior logic" (Fuller, 2019).  This definition really appealed to me I'm sure for the same reason that Mezirow's definition resonated with you. As an aside, I'm a fan of when different ways of saying similar things appeal to different people. Goes to prove there's no one right way to say or do something. 

I liked this definition in that it proves that there can be no developmental growth, and perhaps no learning without some sort of prior learning from which to build. Yesterday I posted a discussion post and quoted a long passage from Daniel Pratt's book about the Developmental perspective and the fact that a passage about a washing machine could only be appreciated and fully understood without some working knowledge of a washing machine (see below). My kids, ntierh of whom are even amateur washers yet (despite my my and my wife's best efforts) would wholly miss the point of the thought experiment that Pratt lays out if only because they have no perspective or knowledge from which to build. 

I am constantly finding this to be the case in my work-life and home life; that I am asking people to understand and process information to the same degree that I do without letting them build the prior knowledge to understand how to do it. Too often I ask colleagues to develop eLearning a level they are not prepared for without fully helping them get to the level. My kids too, when I tell them to use the weed eater on the fence line, their work, in my opinion, is lacking, but in their eyes, it was well done. They lack that knowledge that over 40 years has afforded me. 

I like Mesirow's and Kegan's definitions if only because it reminds me that there is no right way to say or do something and that each person's ability to learn and transition from developmental stage to developmental stage is based primarily on their background, perspectives, logic, and understanding. 

If you get a chance to watch that video interview, do you think that Kegan's view of developmental transactions and growth makes sense? 

Fuller, D. (2019). Robert Kegan: The Evolution of the Self. Rebel Wisdom. Retrieved from

Success Oriented Learning

 In the 1960's Houle wrote an article called The Inquiring Mind. In it he talked about why adults continued to learn. What leads adults to want to continue to learn? Who among us makes the best adult learners and why.

I enjoyed how Houle broke down adult learners into three groups, Goal Oriented, Activity Oriented or Learning Oriented, but I think he may have missed one in limiting himself to three. I believe there should be a “Success-Oriented” group, those learners who are learning journeys continue on because they strive to continue to be successful. Perhaps it is a substrata of goal-oriented. I know that hate in order to continue to lead my departments I must learn more about what they do .... how they do it .... and what makes a good work product and what doesn't. To help our clients I have to continually learn about their work,  . . . how they do it . . . and how best to train and teach their employees. 

To continually be successful for my organization I have to constantly learn. To continue to be a successful husband and father, I have to learn there too. I think the desire to be successful in different arenas can be just as powerful a driver for continuing adult education as any of the drivers Houle identifies. The more I consider it I think that success if a more primary driver for continuing education than activity or learning-oriented.  I think even when you discuss why and how you have meetings and brainstorming sessions with your colleagues and your personnel, it's a desire to be a success within your organization. 

In today's day and age where so much of our work lives make up a preponderance of our overall lives, success is something that is constantly striven for by the workforce. We identify who we are by our jobs and how far we have risen in our jobs. "What do you do?" is commonly the first thing asked after "what's your name" and sometimes it precedes finding out the name. I think success in the work place might be a new orientation for adult learning that Houle might want to consider if he was writing this in today's day and age rather than the 1950's and 60's.

Why I Chose to Get my PhD

I wanted to quickly give everyone here an understanding of why I chose to get my PhD in Adult Education. I've been writing a lot about that . . . a lot (here, here and here just to start), so here it is in 800 words or less (799 to be exact).

I chose the Adult Education Degree program as a course of study to pursue my Ph.D. for several reasons. The first reason is that although I've worked in the petrochemical industry for over twenty years, I have never received formal education in training, training delivery, or adult education. Secondly, our organization's leadership wanted to find ways that our organization can differentiate our safety council from competitors. Having a leader of our executive team who has completed a Ph.D. in Adult Education and who is implementing the tools and techniques that are taught in these courses can yield superior training content and deliverables. Finally, I enjoy learning new ways to lead and teach, discovering ways to develop my teams, and persuade my employees to enjoy their jobs and careers.



As a technical writer and proposal writer, I supported contractors in the petrochemical industry. I learned about safety and compliance standards on the job. As an operations analyst and project manager, again I learned in the field. Learning by doing has been a hallmark of my life and career, and up to a point I've had success in that method. When I was promoted to Director of Training I used what I learned in the field and translated it into training content as best I could. I provided and used no specific technique beyond using that field experience.



HASC, where I currently work, is a non-profit training group that occupies a space between contractors and plant owners, but we are not immune to typical business demands. HASC must compete against other training centers or lose our market share. Our goal is to stay abreast of adult learning techniques so that we can be competitive. This degree program will provide us the knowledge as well as tools and techniques to develop the ones we have stumbled into over the years.



As a Training Director for a contractor, our projects had to be quick and nimble. Most projects always had a horizon date of a year and usually an expiration date a year after that. The delivery of the projects was more important than the analysis of results. This degree program, and my new position, has provided me a view of projects with a longer time horizon. My work on CBT engagement, VR microlearning reinforcement, and on analyzing data and results will all benefit from my working on this degree. 



In 2003 I earned an MBA with a focus on technology and eBusiness. This has helped me fine-tune and tweak training delivery systems and make training easier for our learners to consume. Using eLearning tools like virtual classrooms, microlearning, chatbots, and more make delivery easier but doesn't necessarily make training more effective. What I'm learning in this degree program provides a stronger understanding of how to engage adults and can make our training more effective. Learning by doing and slick delivery methods can only take me so far.



Already the courses I have been completed have contributed to my personal goals. There are many tools and techniques that we have used in the past that we have fallen into without any academic understanding. Knowing about Pratt's five perspectives on teaching, understanding that HASC provides most of our training via a Transmission Perspective and that our leadership program uses the Developmental Perspective has already made me a stronger leader and facilitator. HASC developed training the way we have because it seemed right, but no one at HASC would have been able to define why or how it was worthwhile. Already, because of what I've been learning, I have helped HASC become a more potent learning community.



Until I started working toward this Ph.D. I had no further career goals. I enjoy training, teaching and facilitating. The work I'm doing now will make me a stronger trainer, teacher, and facilitator. A multitude of pathways can open up following my earning a Ph.D. in Adult Education and Leadership, pathways that would not have been as easy to access previously.



The work I've completed already has made me and my organization stronger and has made our training more effective. Not only will I benefit from a more solid understanding of adult learning principles, but HASC and the trainee's and contractors HASC supports will find their training more beneficial. Our industry needs extremely effective safety and skills training for oue contractors or catastrophic damage and personal harm could result, especially if it's provided poorly. Understanding how to effectively train our learners through this degree program will have benefits for our industry and my own personal, career goals.

No Credibility Training

I recently recalled at my old company, training in vacuum truck operations for a small refinery in a small town in Lousiana. This training had been developed and delivered for my company, but we had recently merged with our principal competitor, and this training in Louisiana was my first training of this type for a branch from the company that we had merged with. 

My showing up without the credibility I had fostered within the branches of my previously, unmerged company, and I was forced to deal with a large group of trainees who were unexcited about being a part of a new, larger, company, and were not used to this style of training. Finally, the training was on a Saturday, eight hours outside, and in late June. It was a dangerous mixture for learning. I would bet the same difficulties and challenges you faced were exactly the same as the ones I faced during that training. 

Several things saved me during this training, first, the hostility I faced about having to take the training was very similar to the hostility that I faced when I had rolled out this training six years earlier in the unmerged company. I called on that history and fell back on those tools and techniques of persuasion I had learned to use then. Secondly, there was a new site safety manager who happened to be an enlisted Marine. This Marine enjoyed having processes and procedures and training that helped to outline and deliver them to the team. Secondly, he had the least experience in working with large industrial equipment like liquid vacuum trucks so he was an eager participant. I leveraged his seniority (such as it was as a site safety manager) and his eagerness throughout the training as a foil against the negativity coming from the class. 

It's always interesting how each class is different, with different and various stimuli that must be overcome and incorporated into the training. Thankfully, having had a background in providing that training for many years I was able to bring the class back to the appropriate learning objectives despite the challenges. 

Half-Way There Update from Guest Blogger - Shannon

Shannon wrote again and gave an update on her progress. Specifically she wrote: here's my latest update if you'd like to use it. Here's something she may not realize . . . the guest blogger posts are by far the most popular posts I have on this blog! So, of course, I want it!!! - Ergo, here's Shannon's half-way post!

Here we are, halfway through the month of November already, which means we’re halfway through NanoWriMo. If you started Nano with a blank page, you are hopefully moving along nicely and find yourself now at about 25,000 words. Give yourself a pat on the back and a box of chocolates! If you haven’t reached the halfway point in your novel, or gotten as far as you’d hoped, cut yourself some slack. Writing a book while juggling a day job (for most of us) and housework and family and everything going on in the world is not easy! The important thing is that we do our best and keep writing. We all deserve a pat on the back for just showing up and putting pen to paper.

As I said in previous posts, I’m a Nano Rebel. I’m using Nano to finish the 2nd draft of my novel. I started the month 34,876 words into the 2nd draft. Halfway through Nano I’m sitting at the 47,423 mark. I’ve written what I believe to be the last paragraphs, so the remaining 2500 words or so will need to be incorporated into previous sections leading up to the ending. It’s like pulling teeth, trying to find another 2500 words when I’ve said everything I want to say. I know there are things I will expand upon in the next rewrite. Themes and metaphors and imagery and descriptions. All of that still needs to be fluffed out more, and I know that will come in the next draft. Still, I really want to hit that magic 50,000 words before Nano ends!

How about you? How far along are you? What are you struggling with? Let me know in the comments here or on my website ShannonHovey.com I'd love to hear from you!

Derry Girls Lessons

Always tough to find those shows that you can watch with kiddos and still find funny. Those shows that transcend generations. We have the difficulty of having two kiddos who are in different eras. One is ready to move on to heavier stuff, the other is still quite fine staying a kiddo. I love these shows that are able to move between generations, imagine Harry Potter for television. I loved the fact that the Harry Potter series was for kids and grownups alike. 

We found that in Derry Girls. We love to sit around and watch Ireland in the early 90's and hear the crazy things that the Derry Girls say. Hard to pick a favorite. The first time round I thought Erin's odd facial expressions and breaking, sometimes gravelly voice was hilarious. Then by the end of watching that first season, I thought Clare was the funniest of the bunch. At the moment it's Michelle and her constant reviews of "rides."

I look forward to reading more about how it was inspired. It is written by Lisa McGee, and as with J.K. Rowling, I'm impressed with her writing something that transcends eras especially as she intertwines the war in Northern Ireland. Coming of age in a time of war. Nothing new, but perfectly done storywise in this series. 

The episode we watched last night had Erin stuck at home waiting for a date. It was a moment to discuss the importance of never standing anyone up for a date. It's particularly pernicious, unlike missing a business lunch, an interview, or just failing to show up for a meeting. Standing someone up for a date includes emotions and feelings. Not only are you undermining the trust you have with that person, but you are destroying the feelings they have built up for you and for that moment with you. 

"Never do that to someone," I told my son. "Whatever you do, even if you're upset with the person and think they deserve it, never do that to someone. Be better than that."

He was a tad taken aback, he had no idea it was such a big deal. Glad we had Derry Girls to show us the importance of staying true to your word and keeping dates. BTW, in the end, James shows up to save the day for Erin. If you haven't seen it, stop what you're doing and do so. 

Evershade, evershades , ever shade, ever shades, shades of Betsy Elizabeth, Betsy 

Guest Poster Update - Alex Cole

We have a post from another guest blogger (see the others here). Alex has checked in. I'm glad to see that he's giving NaNo a try and it's coming along. 

I have officially begun the challenge to write 50,000 words in a month. I’ve started writing, but I’m not as far along as I’d like to be. Fortunately, I have plenty in my head to write about. It’s almost as if I’ve been storing away stories and situations and techniques for many years now, and it finally has a place to pour out. My stories seem to be at the forefront of my mind now, which is a nice distraction and a nice escape from daily stresses. 

A few weeks ago, I discovered something that I do in my mind when I have an interesting thought. I’m sure most authors have their own heuristics or peccadilloes that help them conceptualize novels or stories and I am discovering my own even this early in the process. When I have an interesting thought pertaining to my story, I either have to completely process the thought and write it down quickly. If I don’t write it down fast, I will forget it. I also have to completely explore the idea and wring out every usable drop from it. This whole process rarely happens. 

More frequently, an interesting thought jumps into my brain and I have to convince myself to stop thinking about it. I write down the truncated thought then try my best to not think about it ever again until I have time to explore it. If I explore it and can’t write it down, it’ll be gone forever. Then I delude myself into thinking that when I do have time to explore it, I will get from it what I need. I don’t know how this affects my stories, but I will also never know, which is fine by me. Ignorance is bliss. 

I’m curious to hear about other people’s idiosyncrasies when they are writing and how they battle their minds to get the best out of themselves. 

Another Gem from the Wire

Watching The Wire the other day, season 2, and truth be told there isn't too too much that can be quoted. There are more irreverent words and curses every few seconds that it might give Goodfellows a run for its money.

However, there is one that grabbed me almost as much as Bubbles' "thin line between heaven and here" (see here). Bodie asks one of his runners how things are going. The response he gets, and it doesn't phase him as it did me, was;

"Slower than a white man wearing slippers."

Moving Right Along

How are things going? Well, they are moving right along (thus the picture below). This was one of my all-time favorites when I was growing up. I had this movie on VHS and watched it hundreds and hundreds of times. I think I wore it out. There was actually static at the bottom of the screen from all the back and forth of watching. And this song, Moving Right Along, was one of my favorites. So naturally, I thought about it when I wrote this title.

So, I did a lot of prep this year and that's what's saved me. I wrote 3500 words on Sunday which is great, but that's all I've written for the week. I've had some other projects going on. Leadership training at work, new large scale project at work, a HUGE project for school, and this week is the week I'm supposed to present for my class on the proper way to budget and manage finances for large programs. So, this past week has been a bear. BUT, as I said, today, I got to sit back and get some great writing in. 

My plan to use dictation didn't work at all. Just not at all. The transcription process was laborious and listening to my own voice for a half-hour to hours on end, not a fan of that. Secondly, the "writing" through dictation just wasn't very good. Why do it if the writing is no good? That seems like a step backward.

How's the writing? What are the scenes like? I like them. I think although it's a bit spotty in terms of the flow between chapters, the chapters themselves are fun to write so I hope that means it's fun to read. Another thing I'm doing is I'm looking for conflict everywhere. If there isn't conflict (both internal and external) then I go back and find some. This poor gal in my novel is gonna be a wreck when I'm done with her! 

So, all told I'm at 20K words thanks to Sunday's writing fest and my prep work. How's that translate to the rest of the month? I think I'm ahead of schedule so that's a first for me I think. Thank god for prepping. 

Guest Blogger for NaNo - First Weekly Update - Shannon Hovey

Following up on last week's prep update (see here), Shannon provides a week 1 update with the below post! Keep up the great work!

Well we made it through the first week of NanoWriMo, amidst political unrest in the states that kept the entire world on the edge of their seats, holding their breath. I know for me, as a Canadian who spent almost twenty years in the states, it was incredibly difficult to concentrate on writing this week. That said, I did manage to make some headway on my work-in-progress.

As I mentioned last time, I’m a Nano Rebel. I did not start Nano with a blank page. At the onset of Nano I was 34,876 words into my 2nd draft. My goal was to finish Acts 1 – 3 during Nano, which would hopefully bring me to 50,000 words. Then I would work on my Epilogue after the Nano frenzy.

I’m really pleased to say I made it to 44,343 words this week, despite being glued to CNN for the better part of four days. That leaves me with 5,657 words to sort for the rest of the month. If I did 9,467 words the first week, it seems likely that I can make it (less than 2,000 words per week for the remainder of NanoWriMo).

Can I do it? Only time will tell!

Those of you who started with a blank page, if you’re struggling to find a path to the finish line, I highly recommend you check out Abbie Emmons on YouTube. She has a plethora of videos explaining every step along the way, and she’s doing Letters from Abbie for the month of November, where you can sign up to receive an email from her every day of NanoWriMo. These letters are encouraging, but also informative, and even though we’re a week in, you may still be able to sign up for the remainder. So if you find yourself lost or just needing a bit of a push, check it out.

In closing, I want to say that for those who think it’s crazy to try to write a novel (even just a very rough first draft) in 30 days, think of this: it takes about 30 days to develop a habit. This is why Nano is so awesome, because it can create habits that continue long after the month of November – habits that successful writers need.

Are you on your way to developing a daily writing habit? 

For a look at all of the NaNo guest bloggers feel free to see (here).

Incentives or Innovation?

Is it incentives or innovation? I believe that many entrepreneurs enjoy seeing their innovations or ideas make an impact regardless of the incentives or the chance to make a profit. The profit motive for these innovators is secondary to them. Whether or not their innovations have an impact and can make a difference is their target. It just so happens that usually that ability to make an impact and "make a difference" translates into uniqueness and hopefully profits for their business.

I've been impressed more and more with the people around me now that I know about Kegan's Theory of Adult Development and the final stage, the Self-Transforming mind. I wrote a while back about the self-transforming or self-authoring mind (here). When I consider the work my grandfather did, and I look at how our CEO who has been in our industry and growing this safety training business for over 30 years, I see how that mentality of "letting go of preconceived notions of how they should behave" (Carabi, 2020) and of having the ability to "to step back and reflect on something and make decisions about" (Shifting Thinking, 2017) about projects and systems.



The more I work in this non-profit safety training organization and community the more I see people who have achieved that stage 5 mindset. When working in the contracting community there was still that drive for increased revenues and decreasing costs. Now, in this community, there is a desire to see the industry become safer despite the drivers of cost and revenue, but rather for the benefit of the trainee and the industry.



I've been reading on Kegan's stage 5 and what the features of this mindset include, it would be interesting to see if there is a correlation between that mindset and a need to "make an impact" which is the wording I used to begin this post. Haven't seen it specifically yet.



Carabi, A. (2020). Only 1% of People Have a Self-Transforming Mind: Lean How to Think in Grayscale. Wealth Fit. https://wealthfit.com/lifestyle/adult-development-theory/ (Links to an external site.)



Shifting Thinking. (2017). A Change Theory: Key Concepts for Understanding the word of Robert Kegan. Shifting to 21st Century Thinking in Education and Training. http://www.shiftingthinking.org/?page_id=449

Oil Refining and Petrochemical Industry

One of the wonderful things about the industry I work in, the petrochemical and oil refining industry, is that it's quite easy to get wonderful and relevant training for new professionals as well as career-oriented employees.

Although many decry the fact that their contracting organizations do not spend enough time or money training them, the fact that there is training, such as we provide, that is relevant, well thought out, and we provide it to our trainees at a discounted price if they pay for it themselves, is an inspiration to me.



One of the reasons I was so eager to come and work for my organization is that we are a testbed for what can be done in our industry if there is a will by our members. Small organizations that may not have the time, money, or personnel to fund a training department can turn to us to provide their training for them. Large organizations that have training departments but do not want to work down blind alleys can turn to us to experiment with new training tools and techniques on their behalf.



What we don't have enough of is "self-directed" learner opportunities especially at greatly reduced rates. I would love to try and set up an office of grants and training opportunities for employees who want to invest in their own career training but need more help to do so.



This would be a good balance of what you've written about in your reply in the capability for us to continue to be profitable and stay in business. Regardless of social classes, I enjoy the fact that our industry is fundamentally capitalist and free market. Our contractors will take anyone providing they want to work hard, in extreme and dangerous conditions, and invest in their careers.



I've seen many field workers who have come straight out of high school and make a long term career within our industry if only because of their desire to stay gainfully employed, and our training helps provide them that opportunity to do their jobs safely.

Zoom Plus or Zoom Extend

I look forward to seeing how the larger companies like WebEx, Teams, and Zoom are able to expand their offering to meet these new challenges. For example, Zoom has the primary classroom for lecture down pat, I've started to see some breakout rooms, whiteboarding, chat, and other features come into play as well. 

I imagine that soon (or already) Zoom is creating something like Zoom Plus or Zoom Extend that has a place for discussion boards, a poll and twitter capability, a link for better more integrated video streaming from youtube or live cams, etc. And a file transfer and storage capability Imagine Zoom classrooms integrated directly into the application rather than being an addon. 

I watch the challenges that my 10-year-old has in submitting handwritten homework and I'm stunned by the multi-step process he is following to do it. Write out the homework, take a pic with his iPhone, upload the pic to Google Drive on his phone, download the pic from Google Drive on his computer then upload the image file to the assignment area of his online classroom. That's a tough thing for a 10-year-old to handle. Imagine when he's 20 what his expectations for an online classroom will be? 

Another feature that I think is missed, and that my organization has to contend with . . . is cheating. In an asynchronous class like many folks use, how can we be sure Dick Hannah hasn't outsourced all of his homework and discussion posts to some eager third-party. 

I predict an explosion in online live protecting services to ensure that Dick Hannah is who he says he is, that he's not copying from a textbook and that he's the author of his own thoughts. Maybe that's another feature that will come with Zoom Extend?!?!

Andragogy vs Pedagogy

What are the differences between adult learning and youth learning? It's an interesting question if only because I've started to address my teenage son's problems with learning and school by describing some of the techniques, tools, and philosophies behind what I have learned in my study of adult learning or andragogy with him.

For example; reflection and retrieval practice. Thanks to a paper I completed for a previous class, I am armed with information on how effective "spaced retrieval practice" and "self-reflection" can have on long-term memory formation. The other day when my 14-year-old son was complaining about his assignment to keep a journal and about the number of take-home quizzes that he had to take, I provided a long sermon on why those are more effective means for long-term memory development. 

Now, these might be tools and techniques that are able to easily be bridged between andragogy and pedagogy but I think they offer a general example of how many of the principles can be shared between the two disciplines. Are there some which can not show that same ability to work in both areas, sure, but while we may learn more on some in our world of adult education, and his school my practice techniques for kiddos, there are certainly enough similarities between an adult brain and a child's brain to allow for many of the principles to be used in both classrooms.



The principles that support pedagogy and andragogy may be similar but it's how they are applied and how they are tweaked toward the specific audiences that would make them effective or not. If anything the effective techniques for andragogy should be used in pedagogy to create a foundation for adults to use when they are learning. By applying some of the andragogy principles to children they might be more effectively used when those children become adults because they will be less novel and hopefully more appealing.

Self-Directed Learning

Recently read a list of strengths and weaknesses of adult learning in terms of self-directed learning. I recently wrote a blog post discussing Blanchard's Situational Leadership model and Grow's Stages of Self-Directed Learning (SSDL) model (see here). Grow's Four Stages of a Self-Directed Learning Model (SSDL) espouses a theory of adult development from Dependent, to Interested, then Involved, and finally Self-Directed (2020). Several things about your post in comparison to Grow's SSDL caught my eye.

First, I really liked that almost all of the strengths were balanced with weaknesses. It's an acknowledgment that there are no absolutes and that these statements are not as clear cut as they might seem. However, the strengths that caught my eye were a quote that stated, "Adults are more inclined to seek and acquire knowledge," which was immediately counterbalanced by the weakness "not all adults are ready to learn" among others.

The other strength I read was, "Adults are generally self-directed, life-long learners who have a unique concept of self." This one is where I would argue that Grow's SSDL comes into play. Not all adults are or will make it to that stage of Self-Directed learning. It's incumbent on us as teachers, trainers, and facilitators to model our styles to meet their specific needs at the stage they happen to be in.

It's important as trainers that we model our training to the needs of the student. Just as we as writers need to change our writing based on the type and needs of the reader, and we need to model our leadership based on our employee's needs. If we don't do these things, then we risk not being as effective as necessary.

Teach Thought Staff. (2020). Four Stages of a Self-Directed Learning Model. Teach Thought. https://www.teachthought.com/learning/the-four-stages-of-the-self-directed-learning-model/

Guest Blogger for NaNo - Reina Pennington

Continuing with more guest bloggers, Reina asked if she could participate. She comes with a deep background and an obvious record of success! I can't wait to hear more about her work, and love her list of things to do to get off to a good start!

I I wasn't sure I'd join NaNoWriMo 2020, but today I'm glad I did.  I'm drawing on my background as an Air Force intelligence officer and Soviet analyst to write a novel about the Eastern Front. It was great to spend today back in the Great Patriotic War with Soviet fighter pilots!

I managed to "win" NaNo five years out of the past six. My day job as a teacher is taking almost all my energy this year, but my novel just had to come off the back burner in November. I may be a "NaNo Rebel" in the year of COVID-- I can't commit to 50K this time around--but I can commit to doing a little something every day for a month.  

Here are my three tips for a quick start:

• Use the Daylight Savings Time shift to your advantage (best for early risers). I stay on the old clock for a week or two for bedtime and rising. That gets me up and writing an hour earlier. That's my NaNoWriMo hour even if there's no other time in the day.
• Plan & prep. Doesn't matter if you're a planner or pantser -- I'm not talking about your writing project, but your life. Reduce all possible friction that will get in your way. Plan a schedule, carve out those writing hours, and hold them sacred. Prepare your life and your space to keep your writing top priority. Stock up your pantry and freezer, keep a list of quick and easy meals, and/or have a meal plan. If you need a clean desk, shove everything you don't need into a box and hide it a closet until December.  Get whatever distracts you out of your way, and keep whatever helps you close at hand (coffee! Indian Monsooned Malabar for me!). 
• Rituals, Rewards, and Tools. Ritual draws a line in the sand between writing time and the rest of your life. Light a candle, wear writing-time-only special cozy clothes, use a special mug, whatever makes writing a little more special.  Reward yourself for achieving goals. For me, it's one Sanders Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramel for every thousand words I write, and a fountain pen from my wish list for bigger milestones. Use the tools that get you there faster; mine are a Filco mechanical switch keyboard, Scrivener, Aeon Timeline, and the Pomodoro technique.

Good luck with NaNoWriMo or whatever writing you're doing! You can find me on NaNoWriMo as "NUHistorian," or check out my web site at http://www.reinapennington.com.

Master Trainers and TPI

I find it telling that I teach black and white safety information with a dose of hands-on from master trainers, and my two highest are Apprenticeship and Transmission. You find that Nurturing and you recall your class: INQ 101: Intellectual and Creative Inquiry which sounds to me would very easily lend itself to a Nurturing perspective (and perhaps Developmental). Regardless, it makes me think of the chicken and the egg conundrum or the confirmation bias that so often is a part of these tests. Do we see these qualities and perspectives because we are told to? Or are they real? 

How interesting would it be to create a personality test or gauge, provide the testee the results, ask them to write their feedback on if they agree with the results or not, then after they've submitted the results reveal to them that the results are the exact opposite of what was presented to them? I feel certain someone must have already done this as an experiment in confirmation bias. Regardless, like you, I agree with Pratt's perspectives and also think our perspectives mature, change, and grow over time and with the material that we are presenting. 

If I spent the majority of my time facilitating our upper management leadership classes were we do focus on models that fit the mold of a nurturing perspective or a developmental perspective, how then would my test scores come out? What I find intriguing was the quote in my post about the perspectives being the "philosophical orientations to knowledge, learning, and the role and responsibility of being a teacher." It's not just a teaching style, it's far deeper and ingrained in the teacher's psyche.