Resolutions Again

Last year, as part of my New Year's Resolution, I adopted a minimalist approach. I thought I would try and have one highly attainable and achievable resolution. I think I did "well." Not "great" by any means . . . but "well."

Last year's resolution was to use the Roomba more consistently. 

First, I fixed it up. I bought some new sweepers and flippers and replaced them. I bought a new filter and replaced it as well. I have a bunch of leftovers, so I can continue to keep it up.

Blogging Becomes Life

I was on a call today, and I actually used my own blog as a reference point. The call was supposed to help align the work that Marketing does with the work my own department, the Research Department, does. I believe that Marketing is tired of going back and forth with my edits, which I can certainly understand. 

I think, too, that the Marketing personnel I lead are a bit less "robust" than I am. Meaning, I think they may jump at their own shadow quite a bit. This question about the CEO review makes me think this. JA wanted to run our edits by the CEO before moving forward. I don't know about you, but if I were CEO, I'd have bigger things to worry about than verifying that someone has accurately translated my notes and edits. 

Autoethnograpy, Question 4

In what ways did the study group function as a community of practice rather than simply a study aid?

So just to double check I looked up the definition of Community of Practice, and what I found was that a "Community of Practice (CoP) is a group of people who share a passion or concern for something they do, interacting regularly to learn and improve their skills, share best practices, and build a collective repertoire of experiences, tools, and solutions to become better practitioners in that domain (Communities of Practice, 2020)" . . .  and. . . . "Communities of practice are formed by people who engage in a process of collective learning in a shared domain of human endeavor: a tribe learning to survive, a band of artists seeking new forms of expression, a group of engineers working on similar problems, a clique of pupils defining their identity in the school, a network of surgeons exploring novel techniques, a gathering of first-time managers helping each other cope" (Wenger-Trayner & Wenger-Trayner; 2015).

In almost every way, our study group functioned as a community of practice. When I think of our group meetings, I recall that a significant aspect was venting and support from the other members. However, a large part of the first few years' meetings was spent by me getting up to speed on many aspects of the program. It was great to have Andrew and Will in the group because they seemed to have such a strong handle on academic red tape and processes. Usually, they could help me navigate the processes within Canvas and our overall program progress. Additionally, I think they were able to help me with the challenges that came with understanding and making the content we covered more accessible.

Autoethnography, Question 3

Describe how you initially joined the doctoral support group, what motivated you to join, and why you stayed involved.

I think I hit many of these points in earlier posts, but I don't know if I discussed motivation enough. 

I was not necessarily "motivated" to join the group. I think I went into it grudgingly. I am not a "group" person. Never have been. In general, if there is a team sport or a solo sport, I'll pick the solo every time. So, really, it's a surprise that I joined the group and stayed with it. 

Last 5% or Last Mile Drag

I don't know why it irks me so much, but I hate it when people refuse to make a decision. Here's what's brought this to mind this time. 

We have a report that I want to finish up. I had intended to release this report in July or August, but it has taken my boss quite a while to provide her edits. It took, in fact, several months for her to get those edits to me. They were fairly extensive too, so it took me a bit to integrate them all. 

Autoethnography, Question 2

Again, I'm taking part in an autoethnography , so I'm answering questions about our study group. Here is the next question:

How would you describe your level of participation over time? (e.g., occasional, regular, core member, shifted over time)

I think we met quite regularly at the beginning of our coursework. But then these meetings were very mission-driven, almost tactical. I remember we discussed specific homework assignments. We discussed upcoming classes and the progression of the classes. We would discuss the challenging aspects of the homework and even those related to APA. I had very little integration with APA, so it was great to have an academic professional in the group whom we could turn to for APA guidance. 

Control Freaks

I like to do things myself. Ask anyone who has gone camping with me. My wife loves talking about how I'll ask her to do something, and in just seconds, I will take over for whoever I've asked to do it, and do it myself. "Honey, will you go make a fire?"  . . . "Never mind, I'll do it." or "Sweety, will you get the campstove out of the car?" just seconds later, "I've got it."

I don't know what it is. Maybe it's a control thing. Maybe I don't trust others to do the job that I think I can do better. Maybe I just enjoy trying things and doing things by myself. I do enjoy trying things. Maybe I just like things do my way, and if I don't trust you to do it my way, then I'll do it myself. Again, control and trust. 

Onboarding Training Fiasco

Today, for some reason, I was reminded of a project at my old organization. That organization specializes in developing and delivering training courses, especially onboarding courses for other companies. We noticed at some point that although we provided that for others, we had never provided one for our own workers. Or if we had, and some departments had, it was ad hoc. 

Ergo, I was tasked to develop an onboarding for our own organization.

Here were the capabilities and expectations I had. 

Autoethography, Question 1

I'm taking part in an auto-ethnography study about our PhD study group. So as I answer these questions about it, I'm going to go ahead and post the reflections here . . . enjoy!

Question 1: At what point in the doctoral program did you first begin participating in the study group?

Andrew and I met in late spring or early summer of 2020. I think we had a third, Aaron? I remember thinking that it was nice to connect with someone outside of class. Immediately, it was nice to talk about the experience with someone else who was involved, to hear their perspectives, and to hear that my impressions weren't unique. 

Waiting on Orders

 I'm reading a book about D-Day by Stephen Ambrose. I've read a lot of books by Ambrose over the years. I gave up on him due to the "plagiarism" scandal at the end of his life. I wasn't a fan of that. And I'm still not. BUT, I've been stunned (as my readers well know) by the magnitude of plagiarism taking hold in academic circles, see for instance Harvard's president, et al. I wonder if there is a study there somewhere. Regardless, Ambrose is a greater writer. More on that later. 

What I find interesting is his description of the landing at Omaha Beach. The first invasion he discusses is Utah, and for the most part that sounds rather staid. But boy, Omaha was a goat fuck.