Probably the best way to learn something is to teach
it to someone else
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Previous Homeworks
Homework 1
"Beyond Blame Games"
1: Briefly describe to me a
“mess” YOU are familiar with. Then
briefly teach me a stupid way to manage it, followed by a not-so-stupid way
to manage it.
2: Briefly describe to me a
“wicked problem” YOU are familiar with. Then briefly teach me a stupid
way to manage it,
followed by a not-so-stupid way to manage it.
"Managing Surprises"
Briefly describe to me a “mess” YOU are familiar with that gives evidence of “interactive complexity.” Then briefly teach me a stupid way to manage it, followed by a not-so-stupid way to manage it.
Homework 3
“Working Smarter”
Quoting the late Peter Drucker, “In knowledge and service work…the first questions in increasing productivity – and working smarter – have to be, “What is the task? What are we trying to accomplish? Why do it at all? The easiest, but perhaps also the greatest, productivity gains in such work will come from defining the task and especially from eliminating what does not need to be done.”
So, pick an example of a situation you are familiar with where there is a real need to ask, What is the task? First, briefly describe the ways things are versus what needs to be done -- the task. You might also identify eliminating what does not need to be done. Second, can you think of any reasons why might people not be focusing on this task?
Homework 4
"Designing for Human(e) Being"
First, briefly describe its key structural characteristics if efficiency is your primary design principle.
Second, briefly describe its key structural characteristics if you were Judi Heerwagen (see "Unraveling the Mysteries of
Productivity,” by Bonda).
Homework 5
“Learning to Think in Circles”
Pick one of the three "systems archetypes" (self-fulfilling prophecies, escalation, fixes that fail) from last Wednesday’s readings. Briefly describe to me a situation you are familiar with which illustrates the archetype’s dynamics.
Then teach me a stupid way to manage the situation followed by a not-so-stupid way to manage the situation.
Homework 6
"reframing"
Over the next several days, pick a "chore," a "problem" you're involved with, or something that is otherwise unpleasant.
Before you do it, reframe it as an opportunity. Then do it.
Please tell me the following:
What was the chore or problem?
What was it after you reframed it?
And what difference(s) did reframing make.
Homework 7
“On feeding the good and starving the bad wolves”
or
"Learning to Choose Plays Worth Playing"
A) Take a minute to reflect on a recent experience where you felt a sense of “flow,” of intrinsic motivation, of “it doesn’t get any better than this,” of an intense awareness of “quality.” Then briefly describe it.
B) Imagine it’s Career Day at OSU. You come across a row of six booths, each with a religious leader proposing you follow his advice on your "ultimate career choice.” These leaders are: Jerry Falwell (died in 2007), Warren Jeffs, Jim Jones (died in 1979), a Shia Imam, a Suni Imam, and Shoko Asahara (leader of the Japanese Aum Shinrikyo religious group).
Each makes the same offer: follow me and you will go to Heaven while the rest of humanity will be destroyed in the coming Armageddon, will end up in Hell, whatever. Yet each also vehemently condemns the others.
Briefly try to explain what is going on: why they have such large followings yet why they are so opposed to each other.
Homework 8
Listening to Others: Seeking First to Understand
First, read the Covey selections from Monday's required readings. Next, try to "seek first to understand" in a situation that comes up this weekend where you normally would try to be understood -- e.g., you and your significant other have a "disagreement," one of your parents doesn't "get it," a friend is irritated at you. (If you're really ambitious, you might try to "seek first to understand" someone whose political / religious views you find repugnant.)
Then briefly describe to me -- a paragraph is fine -- what happened.