Learning Theorist - Wenger 11.16.2010

Learning While Socializing
Lynn Pregitzer
Pepperdine University
EDOL 755
16 November 2010 
Abstract
Finding ways to pass on knowledge is important as organizations feel pressure to raise their level of performance during difficult times. The theory discussed in this paper gives an alternative view to the traditional method education and training. In Etienne Wenger’s view, people learn while they associate with each other. (Wenger, 2006) Using this as a foundation, he develops systems to give groups of people with mutual interests a place to meet and share solutions and learning through conversations.
Learning While Socializing
Organizations face the challenge of effectively managing knowledge to stay competitive. Businesses are faced with staying ahead due to globalization along with technological advances. To optimize efficiency, management must capitalize on its existing knowledge base. This need is amplified in today’s economic depression. Hansen (1999) categorized knowledge mainly as hard and soft. He describes hard knowledge as words and numbers stored in databases and soft knowledge as intuition and wisdom. (Hansen, 1999)
Etienne Wenger (n.d.) describes himself as an expert in social learning. (n.p.) In their book, Lave and Wenger (1991) analyze learning that takes place while people keep company with others. They specifically speak to the apprentice model (as cited in Koliba & Gajda, 2009). Examples include junior carpenters train with master journeymen and midwives that train with a veteran in the field. A very common example of this practice is seen when teenage girls begin learning the art of makeup. They establish relationships with peers that have mastered the skill. Due to the amount of time spent with these “masters” they become adept at it. The learning in this case is incidental and happens at a subconscious level. Dr. Wenger called acquiring new skills in this manner as “Communities of Practice” (COP). (Lave & Wenger, 1991)
Etienne Wenger is the author of several books on COP and speaks on the topic at forums around the world. (Wenger, n.d.) In addition, he is a consultant to major corporations such as Hewlett-Packard, DaimlerChrysler and P&G. Wenger also regards himself as a researcher and is currently leading a new research the project that expands on COP and analyzes the dynamics of learning that spans across schools and universities, corporations, governments and churches. (Wenger, n.d.)
The Theory
Learning in a societal context existed long before Wenger identified it as COP. (Wenger, 2006) In Japan, for example, life-long learning for adults is called shakai kyoiku or social education. (Gordon, 1998) Adult education classes, similar to the non-credit education courses in the United States, are offered to promote learning for life. (Gordon, 1998) Courses are held locally in a casual setting, frequently lead by an expert in the village. Furthering the knowledge base of the people in this manner is important because people rarely pursue a higher level of education in the formalized system once they graduate from high school or college. (Gordon, 1998) The Japanese Ministry of Education supports these activities through formalized laws and policies. (Gordon, 1998) Although learning has occurred in this manner for centuries, through his research, Wenger (2006) illustrated it as a practical model applicable to organizations.
The three elements of COPs are a realm of interest and commitment by the members, a space where the members can congregate and a collection of shared solutions, experiences and stories. (Wenger, 2006)
In the first key element, Wenger uses the term “domain” to describe the common goals the groups subscribes to. (Wenger, 2006) There is an underlying commitment to the purpose of the group because of the mutual benefit. As I see it, this is innate to how teenage girls form cliques. Their mutual interests bring them together and through storytelling they learn new skills such as how to apply makeup. In a business example, a Canadian insurance company with 3,000 geographically distributed independent sales agents used the COP to discuss new products, best practices and resolve issues. (Wenger, 2002)
The second required element is space. (Wenger, 2006) This is where the conversations happen and activities are held to build relationships. (Wenger, 2006) These spaces can be impromptu like a gathering in the bathroom at school, or preplanned lie a meeting in conference room. COPs can be held on online environments as well. (Wenger, 2001) This implies that transference of knowledge can occur without boundaries. An perfect example of this the use of social mediums like facebook and twitter. Teenagers are now able to codify the acquired knowledge on these websites.
The third characteristic is the element of practice. (Wenger, 2006) This is explained as the solutions that are arrived at collaboratively, joint use of resources or the experiences shared in the group. (Wenger, 2006) The value of the informal structure is that it facilitates the transfer of tacit knowledge from one to another. (Wenger, 2006) A long standing tradition in high schools are sororities. Something that started as informal gathering in hallways and bathrooms, became a supported institution that lived on long after the girls graduated. The tales and best practices are left behind in manuals, videos and online media to build on the past.
Practical Applications
COPs are not effective in all situations. (Wenger, 2010) Wheatley (2000) says people are likely to help each other when they feel their contribution will be valued, when the organization encourages them to learn and when the colleague is important to them. Wenger confirms Wheatley’s assertion. (Wenger, 2010) Organizations must support and endorse learning for this to work. For instance, an organization that designs its rewards system at the individual level will discourage group participation. (Wenger, 2010) Employees have to feel their contributions as valued by management. (Wenger, 2010)
COPs have demonstrated core benefits to organizations by realizing savings in time and money. (Wenger, 2010) This is realized by quick access to people and artifacts. (Wenger, 2006). Some groups even saved money by sending representatives instead of paying for the whole group to attend conferences to enhance the knowledge base of the entire group. (Wenger, 2010) In addition to the aforementioned tangible outcomes, inspiration and trust are intangible benefits realized by thriving practices. (Wenger, 2010)
In conclusion, the practice is effective only in specific situations where a free exchange of information through conversation of experts will realize a solution to a complex problem. (Wenger, n.d.) In hallways of every high school, new knowledge is being absorbed by teenagers engaging with each other. This type of learning cannot occur within the formal walls of the classroom. Learning how to apply makeup is efficiently occurring without any formal cost or venue in cliques. Conversely, there are examples where COPs are inefficient. Take for example, learning about school policies. Generally speaking, such explicit information is best given out on a manual. Similarly, in the business world, I think executives have difficulty connecting this theory to a real return on investment. Intuitively, I agree that there is a real benefit to connecting with peers, but the concept seems too fluid without a formalized structure. Using the example of the teenagers, I think the knowledge will disappear as the students graduate and move on. Interestingly enough, the creating a sorority leaves a legacy behind which the group can keep learning from. The structure of COP is used by companies, but are not referred to in these specific terms. To be able to deploy this as a product, it is necessary to show a real return on investment of developing the COP technology. Koliba and Gajda (2009) confirms in their writing that future research is needed to prove the efficacy of communities of practice in organizations.
References

Christopher Koliba, R. G. (2009). "Communities of Practice" as an Analytical Construct: Implications for Theory and Practice. International Journal of Public Administration, 98-135.
Gordon, B. (1998, March). Lifelong Learning in Japan. Retrieved November 14, 2010, from Lifelong Learning in Japan: http://wgordon.web.wesleyan.edu/papers/lifelrn.htm
Hansen, M. N. (1999). What's your strategy for managing knowledge? Harvard Business Review, Vol. 77, No. 2, 106-116.
Koliba, C., & Gajda, R. (2009). "Communities of Practice" as an Analytical Construct: Implications for Theory and Practice. International Journal of Public Administration, 97-135.
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: legitimate peripheral participation. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Wenger, E. (2001, March). Supporting Communities of practice; A Survey of Community-oriented technologies. Retrieved November 14, 2010, from Etienne Wenger: http://www.ewenger.com/tech/index.htm
Wenger, E. (2002, September). Clarica's Agent Network. Retrieved November 14, 2010, from Etienne Wenger.
Wenger, E. (2006, June). Communities of Practice. Retrieved November 14, 2010, from Etienne Wenger: http://www.ewenger.com/theory/
Wenger, E. (2010, May). Vimeo.Com. Retrieved November 14, 2010, from Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/11712562
Wenger, E. (n.d.). Etienne C. Wenger My Bibliographical Information. Retrieved November 14, 2010, from Etienne Wenger: http://www.ewenger.com/bio/index.htm
Wenger, E., McDermott, R., & Snyder, W. (2002). Cultivating Communities of Practice: A Guide of Managing Knowledge. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing.
Wheatley, M. (2000). Can knowledge management succeed where other efforts have failed? . Knowledge management: Classic and contemporary works, 3-8.

Reflective Moodle 12.6.2010

Moodle in Hawaii Public Schools
Lynn Pregitzer
Pepperdine University
GSEP
755 E-Learning
Elio Spinello
December 12, 2010
 
Moodle in Hawaii Public Schools
While working on the Moodle project I pondered the implications of a decentralized learning management system for the Hawaii public school systems. Like many other public school systems in the United States, Hawaii’s system is plagued with budget problems and behemoth bureaucracies. There are two formalized virtual learning projects offered by the Hawaii Department of Education (DOE), but both have a limited reach and are not used across the board by all high school students. This paper discusses the applicability of Moodle to an average high school student in Hawaii from the viewpoint of a teacher. The perspective I chose is the strengths and weakness I observed while working on the learning technology project, whether a public high school teacher could easily take on the implementation of Moodle as a learning management system (LMS) and my argument for providing an e-learning environment to a high school student that aspires to a higher education.
Personal Observations
The major advantage I gleaned from the learning project was the scalability of the Moodle LMS platform. Moodle is an open source software that is estimated to cost about $1,500 for a small setup with limited flexibility. The literature review revealed that smaller schools implemented basic tasks such as posting homework and grades (Brooks-Young, 2008). We learned, however, that the platform has unlimited potential as new “moodles” or plugins to the core platform can be attached and unattached as needed. This holds great appeal because Moodle a launching pad for the future. Moodle developers are not constrained by a proprietary code base, therefore having complete freedom to innovate. The Moodle website alone lists about 700 plugins, most at no cost. Such an open source setup spares the end user from the risk of an outdated platform. Unlike open sourced software, proprietary software packages are completed controlled by one vendor. If the vendor goes out of business, further updates could cease to exist and support can be cut off.
Another strength of moodle is its community of over 38 million users. Such a strong user base guarantees that fresh new ideas and up to date code changes will quickly be implemented. Accordingly, the active user base acts as self-perpetuating mechanism for a more integrated fully featured environment because of the common vested interest in sustaining the platform.
Moodle’s weakness comes from its greatest strength. That is a fully featured platform with sophisticated capabilities could cost up to $5,000 a month to host. We learned that there are many hosting websites offering a variation of plans, which could create confusion for a lay person that doesn’t understand server technology.
Moodle at Hawaii Public Schools
In 2007, the State of Hawaii legislature mandated the formation of a task force to develop e-learning programs for Hawaii. Two LMS were created by this task force. One, the Hawaii Virtual Learning Network, is an environment for public schools that pay a fee for membership and offers ePortfolio and Standards Toolkit as environments. The second LMS is separately operated ESchool, which is a venue where students with interest are able to sign up for online courses. ESchool is not integrated with a traditional classroom environment. Course credits can be used towards high school requirements. Faculty for these programs are specifically trained for online teaching.
Anecdotal information from personal conversations with my stepson, Micah Pregitzer, who is a high school teacher, suggests that barriers to implementing such a broad based strategic change to the pedagogy model in Hawaii public schools is difficult. Instructive strategies are determined by multiple authoritative bodies such as the elected Board of Education, the Hawaii State Teachers Union and the Hawaii DOE. The priorities of these governing bodies usually compete with faculty initiatives. Therefore, chasing down these barriers, albeit in the service of the students, diminishes teachers’ capacity to pursue measurable goals such as test scores.
Given these issues, however, the group demonstrated that an LMS certainly is within reach for someone with Micah’s education background. As a graduated from a major the University of Colorado in Boulder, he excelled in computer technology, his area of interest. Later in life, Micah, like many of his peers, built computers for internet-based computer, the rave of the 90s. As an experiment, a cohort member, Mark Leonard took on building a Moodle site. It took 15 hours for completion. There is an advantage, however, Mark has the technological background for building a Moodle platform. The group does conclude, however, that high schools have computer programs or centers of technology excellence within their districts that can help with this task. Current high school students can also assist with moodle apps as the group did by attaching Elluminate, blogs and FreeMind.
The ultimate factor for creating a collaborative learning system, is a teacher with the vision and will. Creating a maintaining the system could be a class project for a computer class. The groups experience strongly suggests that an LMS environment within the microcosm of one classroom is a reachable goal.
Advantages for Students Aspiring to Higher Education
Before I attended Pepperdine’s doctoral program, I had no experience with LMS. My personal experience was an indication of how much learning can take place in a collaborative environment where learning is documented and shared by a community of motivated individuals. Studies now indicate that over 92 percent of higher education institutions deliver course content utilizing LMS. I can conclude that there is a definitive advantage to a high school student that has experience with this tool.
Malcolm Gladwell states that there is a time when ideas will explode like an epidemic (Gladwell, 2000). My personal prediction is that this will happen in the next five years. The demand for LMS will come from within the mavens that start their own proliferation of LMS out of necessity, thus forcing all schools to adopt the new model of instructional design (Gladwell, 2000).
Conclusion
Although there are barriers to implementing a broad based LMS in every the classroom of the Hawaii public school system, the cost of delaying will be high. LMS are now a common tool common in the education setting, but my literature review indicates that it is proliferating in the business setting as well. Keeping pace with the implementation of technological tools in the education system is a critical element to producing competitive graduates that are ready for higher education and the business world. The Moodle system was proven to be a viable option for a small group with limited resources and time. There are definite costs associated with maintaining the platform, however, but reaching out to expert resources within the community puts Moodle within reach of an average educator.
References
Brooks-Young, S. (2008). Got Moodle? T H E Journal, 35(4), 28-29.

Gladwell, M. (2000). The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference: Little Brown.

Moodle - Learning Technology Paper 12.6.2010

Group: Mark Leonard, Lynn Pregitzer, Alexander Sevilla, Shawn Warren

The Moodle System
Mark Leonard, Lynn Pregitzer, Alexander Sevilla, Shawn Warren
Pepperdine University
GSEP
755 E-Learning
Elio Spinello
December 12, 2010







The Moodle System
Educators and trainers, no matter the setting, are tasked with creating effective environments that maximize learning outcomes for their participants. As advances in technologies have changed the education and corporate training landscape in recent years, these learning environments are now often connected to eLearning platforms. A large number of academic institutions and corporations provide their educators with standardized platforms, or learning management systems (LMS), in order to provide a comprehensive, well designed and fully supported eLearning solution.
Unfortunately, not all educators, institutions, or corporations are able to utilize a standardized, institution wide LMS. This may stem from the significant barrier to entry costs of a system wide LMS implementation. In other cases, an LMS may be provided, but lack the specific needs of a particular educator or trainer. Technically proficient educators may prefer to create their own open source learning environment as an alternate to a system wide LMS, if given the authorization to do so. In the higher education community specifically, according to a 2009 Campus Computing Survey, while 92 percent of institutions have a campus wide LMS in place, university CIO’s estimate that 55% of classes make some use of a LMS (Green, 2009).
In both of the instances described above, educators are challenged with creating their own eLearning platform. Our team elected to take an action based, constructivist epistemological approach to this specific issue, creating a unique learning activity that would deepen our understanding of eLearning design (Land & Hannafin, 2000). Our goal for the eLearning environment design project was to create a basic eLearning environment using an independent, open source model, and then evaluate the process, the constraints and the outcomes. The learning community includes all educators and trainers who do not have access to a system supported LMS, or have found that their standardized LMS constrains the learning objectives, goals or outcomes they wish to achieve. Through the completion of this design project, we would join an existing community of practice (CoP), educators utilizing open sourcing rather than a standardized LMS. This CoP is emerging as a vocal proponent of open source alternatives to expensive and constrictive LMS model. The open source model also enables members of this CoP to share stolen knowledge, and utilize this information to improve our eLearning environment and its impact on participants (Brown & Duguid, 1996).
Moodle Versus Sakai
Two learning environments, Sakai and Moodle, were considered for this project. Although Sakai is a robust environment actively used by major universities across the nation, the group chose Moodle as an alternative to the mainstream LMS’s. It should be noted that the effectiveness of a customizable LMS depends heavily on an effective user interface and the incorporation of meaningful and smart usability features (Krug, 2000) . The ideal system depends on the organization’s mandatory selection criteria to meet its unique needs. Therefore the group chose Moodle to study its adaptability to a specific demographic, namely the individual educator and small to mid-sized school districts with limited resources. (On a surprise note, after the presentation the group learned that Pepperdine University does in fact have a Moodle server set up for its e-Learning Technology program.)
In choosing Moodle, the group listed four mandatory criteria. The platform must be:
• flexible and capable of growth
• implementable by an average individual with limited technical skills
• affordable and not require specialized computer hardware.
• effective in a computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) strategy.
Flexibility and Growth Capacity of Moodle
Flexibility is inherent to open sourced software, of which Moodle is one, because of the sharing between developers that collaborate while working on new solutions. The freedom to modify the original source code results in a continuously evolving infrastructure. The open architecture also promotes a community that builds tools called plugins that enhance the core application’s capabilities. The collaboration results in a commitment to a community with a vested common interest. The open source model is a platform which avails the user to over 700 add-ons to create a central learning domain. Another quality of an open source platform is that deployment (whether partially or fully completed) is fully under the control of the end user. The ultimate advantage is that the end user can choose any number of plugins to customize the Moodle site to meets the organizations unique needs. Plugins, or moodles—as the group calls it—are mainly free, but there are additional plugins that can be purchased. A listing on the Moodle website shows that there are about 700 known Moodle plugins. The power of open sourced systems is that the possibilities of new and creative applications are unlimited. Another very important characteristic of an open source environment is that the platform can be scaled for use by a small school district to a large university environment. The ability to scale to a group of 3 individuals in the EDOL class made Moodle an ideal choice for the presentation
Easy to Implement
General literature review states that the basic implementation of Moodle is easy to implement (Brooks-Young, 2008; Lawrence, 2009). Part of its popularity can be attributed to its reputation as a learning system that beginner users without technical training can implement. However, the groups’ experience was contrary to this common assumption. The group found that the environment is easy to build for basic tasks only. To take advantage of the vast array of the sophisticated tools, an experienced user with programming background is needed. For the project presentation, the group relied on the expertise of Mark Leonard, an experienced software/web designer who spent over 15 hours developing the project environment from the ground up. Mark also had the technological knowledge behind server hosting to set up Moodle on a laptop. Mark did, however, have access to a range of resources. Online support, community forums, and coworkers that utilize Moodle were available to help. In addition, third party training programs, manuals and training events are available for purchase as well.
An Affordable LMS
In comparison to learning systems such as Sakai which can cost $10,000 or more, Moodle can be implemented from about $1,500. As stated earlier, the open source software is available at no cost, but there are three main expenses associated with any learning management system. There must be a computer server to host the site; there are user training and support costs and maintenance associated with keeping the site up to date and in working order.
Server hosting fees for Moodle can vary widely. The group project was hosted on Mark Leonard’s MacBook Pro for demonstration purposes, but this was limiting, as it could not be deployed for use by others. As an alternative, free sites are available, but these require the use of premade templates which do not allow for customization and place advertisements on the environment. For the most effective implementation, an analysis of the importance of degree of flexibility, the number of courses and storage space should be conducted. A balance of the three factors will determine the ideal server host of the organization. Server hosting services can cost from $150 to $5,000 per year, depending on these factors. ClassroomRevolution.com, Moodlerooms, Inc. and Remote-Learner USA are examples of reputable server hosting services in the United States. Now that Moodle is used in over 200 countries in 78 languages, hosting partners are available worldwide.
Effective CSCL Strategy
Since its inception in 2001, the community of Moodle users has grown to over 38 million users worldwide (None, n.d.)(moodle.org/stats). Perhaps Moodle’s biggest attraction is that the efficacy in learning outcomes is similar for both non-technical and sophisticated users. Participation from the global Moodle community has established it as a central tool for learning organizations. It continuously evolves as developers add new features to the infrastructure. The group found that Moodle possessed the same qualities as major learning management systems and therefore be as effective.
Moodle Plugins
“Apps” are the buzzword these days. Public attention to iTunes and like sources that provide consumers with a variety of games, entertainment, productivity, and business resources—the list of categories are almost endless with many interwoven and coupled with existing software and programs. Moodle is no different; with its many apps or plugins to incorporate into the LMS, the open source provides indefinite possibilities for a learning environment. Our group’s project implemented three such plugins; Elluminate, Blog, and Freemind (mind-mapping program).
The first plugin is Elluminate. The use of this synchronous option is to demonstrate the versatility of Moodle in incorporating web conferencing tools. The need, adeptness, usability of the tool, and preferences of the members of the learning environment determine the web conferencing plugin. The liberality of the platform determines a function depending on the form. Thus the context of the learning environment determines its applications.
The second plugin in our design was the blog. The use of blogs sparks the question, “Can blogs enhance learning environments?” (Huffaker, 2005). Research gives evidence that “blogs can be an important addition to educational technology initiatives because they promote literacy through storytelling, allow collaborative learning, provide anytime-anywhere access, and remain fungible across academic disciplines” (Huffaker, 2005). The platform our group presented promotes utilizing various tools, such as the blog, to meet the needs of a learning environment. In our group’s case, the blog was used as a diary, which can neatly provide “individual expressions and collaborative learning” (Huffaker, 2005). Once again, the use of this tool is determined upon the context.
The last is Freemind (mind-mapping software). This tool is unconventional in learning environments, at least in regards to Sakai and Blackboard. However, the use of it reinforces our groups approach with Moodle as an open-source platform supporting the independence of an institution or individual’s needs. Because Freemind is an asynchronous tool, the members of the learning environment can contribute to the CoP, giving further independence as a LMS. Furthermore, the Freemind plugin is but one possibility of a mind-mapping tool. If this tool becomes obsolete in the design, then Moodle allows for revision or a complete transformation of the tool.
Conclusion
Some of the learnings from this project was that although Moodle can be implemented with less resources than other major LMS, it was clear that there are definite costs associated with the initial development, deployment and for ongoing maintenance. It was also found that the more fully featured platforms required a technically skilled expert as the platform became much more complex. Nevertheless, educators have the perennial dilemma of staying current with quickly changing technological learning environments with even less financial resources. A recent article states that the pace of changes in technology will demand that schools adopt some sort of LMS in the near future. (Garg, 2010) As the computer industry shifts towards incorporating mobile devices to complement learning platforms, Moodle again will be ideal as plugins continue to be built for the platform. The group concludes that Moodle is a viable solution for the small to mid-sized schools and is capable of supporting an integrated collaborative learning environment.



 
References
Brooks-Young, S. (2008). Got Moodle? T H E Journal, 35(4), 28-29.

Brown, J. S., & Duguid, P. (1996). Stolen Knowledge. Situated Learning Perspectives, 47-56.

Garg, A. (2010). Future of Learning Technology - 2015. Insider Higher Ed. Retrieved from http://www.upsidelearning.com/blog/index.php/2010/05/07/future-of-learning-technology-2015/

Green, K. (2009). LMS 3.0. Insider Higher Ed. Retrieved from http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2009/11/04/green

Huffaker, D. (2005). The Educated Blogger: Using Weblogs to Promote Literacy in the Classroom. AACE Journal, 13(2), 91-98.

Krug, S. (2000). Don't Make Me Think: New Riders.

Land, S. M., & Hannafin, M. J. (2000). Student-Centered Learning Environments. In D. H. Jonassen & S. M. Land (Eds.), Theoretical Foundations of Learning Environments (pp. 1-19). Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erbaum Associates, Inc.

Lawrence, R. (2009). The moodle model. e.learning age, 16-17.

None. (n.d.) Retrieved December 4, 2010, from moodle.org/stats/

Simulation and Its Discontents - Spinello EDOL 755 11.13.2010

Turkle speaks of the use of simulations by Los Alamos nuclear weapons designers as dangerous because it is “easier for the weapons designers to distance themselves from the potential consequences of their art.” The new designers stand in test chambers where nuclear explosions are set off in a virtual environment, while the old generation set off real bombs that left massive craters behind. Older engineers express concern because their younger counterparts’ get excited when using the simulators—Turkle describes them as “happily inebriated.” She says that conducting bomb tests through simulators allow designers to remove themselves from the reality of destruction. I am dubious about supporting Turkle’s thought completely because I have to believe that nuclear weapon designers are a responsible group of people with high emotional intelligence.
Turkle’s illustration, however, does remind me of the game, Grand Theft Auto. In the game, a criminal shoots pedestrians, hijacks cars, and does other brutal acts. The game was popular due to its shocking realism. Parents were wary of letting their children have the game and the game was banned in Australia. In 2003, a teenager that played the game repeatedly murdered 3 police officers, claiming the similarity of life to a video game.
In conclusion, the simulations should be used prudently. The original purpose should be kept in perspective to avoid falling into an altered state where the real and virtual world can’t be differentiated.

Power Politics and Conflict Presentation - Schmeider 11.5.2010

E-Learning Technology Project - Moodle Blogs

November 5, 2010

Working With Emotional Intelligence

October 3, 2010
Presentation with Mark Leonard begin_of_the_skype_highlighting     end_of_the_skype_highlighting, Shawn Warren, Jacque Johnson Hirt, Alex Sevilla, Lynn Pregitzer

Blogs and The Learning Needs 11.5.2010

Trust in Leadership

Leaders in Alignment
Lynn Pregitzer (lpregitz) (Sep 23, 2010 10:07 PM) - Read by: 12Reply to MessageReply

I believe that there are three main attributes a leader must have to foster trust: alignment, alignment and alignment. Leaders must consistently align their personal values to their words, align their words with their actions, align their actions with company goals, and align the company goals to the company policies and company policies to the company mission.

Values --> Words --> Actions --> Goals --> Policies --> Mission

At Kaiser Permanente, the mantra at the company is "thrive!" As an integrated healthcare company, the first principle of thriving is to promote wellness in the community that it serves. As a role model, the president is frequently seen volunteering her own time to charity. She created a director level position for community benefit and also made it one of the employee measures for meritorious increases. This is an example of alignment in the simplest sense. The key to this is that she has been doing this consistently during her tenure of 3 years as President. Robbins and Judge (2011, pp396) describe this consistency as integrity. When someone exhibits this behavior consistency, we trust that this person will not compromise their values in complex and difficult situations.

It is unfortunate that trust levels cannot be benchmarked and measured. Leaders that disconnect their words from their behavior quickly lose trust. of the people, but surprisingly, many managers I’ve worked with are not aware when the trust level is running low. (Maybe they don't care.....) B. Nanus in The Leader’s Edge: The Seven Keys to Leadership in a Turbulent World, p102 said “Nothing is more noticeable…..than a discrepancy between what executives preach and what they expect their associates to practice.” In my experience, people at every level of the company are quick to point out misalignment in the above areas.

What motivates people?

Recognition as motivation
Lynn Pregitzer (lpregitz) (Oct 9, 2010 10:52 PM) - Read by: 11Reply to MessageReply

In my experience, I found that recognition was important to keeping people motivated. As a manager, I acknowledge achievements as they occur and praise employees for high quality work. I practice this consistently as it gives timely feedback that reinforces self-esteem. I see this as critical to retaining the best employees. As for my opinion regarding the merit increases, the high performers in my workplace recognize that the performance review instrument that determines the increase is subjective and flawed. In addition to the flawed instrument, the small percentage range of the increase can be demotivating for high achievers as the difference is approximately 1%.

High performing employees implicitly know that merit increases are not exclusively correlated to their own achievements. The amount of the increase is frequently dependent upon the characteristics of the supervisor. Heneman (1988) confirms this in his study, Supervisory and Employee Characteristics as Correlates of Employee Salary Increases. He states that some bosses have a better understanding of the company policy better and therefore give lower increases. Some supervisors give better increases to employees that they interact with socially. He also discusses the tendency for supervisors to give employees an increase based on the amount of their own increase.

Given that merit based increases are heavily influenced by the biases of the supervisor, I feel that it cannot be relied upon to provide motivation to the employees. A poorly administered merit pay policy results in motivating the low performers to stay with the organization and the inequities drive high performers to leave.

360 Degree Feedback

Re: 360 posts - Pregitzer
Lynn Pregitzer (lpregitz) (Oct 19, 2010 1:30 AM) - Read by: 9Reply to MessageReply

I used the free version of the surveymonkey.com tool for my 360ᴼ feedback. The survey had four sections: Character, Interpersonal Skills, Building Talent, and Leadership and Motivation. The questions were selected from Dr. Farzin’s recommended list with each section consisting of 5 questions each. The survey had 100% participation from 11 participants. All responded anonymously via email.

The respondents were all connected to me through work. Feedback was requested from 5 former bosses and my current boss, 3 coworkers and 3 subordinates. Most of these people have known me more than 5 years. If I did this survey again, I would have evened out the categories, to get more feedback on the Building Talent section. Most of the scores were in the top two weightings. This consistency was a surprise to me as I rated myself lower in many areas. Family members were not in the survey because I think they would perceive me as dominant in comparison to my work personality. (As Vance Caesar demonstrated, I am the typical crooked person--almost falling over.)

For character, there was one particular area that stands out where I am 64% “Often” and 37% “Always” on “Knows own strengths and limitations.” Getting rated “often” rather than “always” seems to imply that that I am perceived as being confident. I frequently am insecure and am always cautious when I’m in a group. I exhibit the same behavior in this cohort as well. Until I am confident that I am in an environment where I belong, I don’t usually speak up.

For interpersonal skills, I was rated higher in all categories than I rated myself. For the question “Brings conflicts into the open for resolution”, one person rated me lower than others. The rest were split 50-50 between “often” and “always.” This may be my gorilla pounding his chest. This is a skill I want learn from this program.

For the building talent category, several respondents chose N/A because they did not see me in this role. The average scores of 4.6, 4.8, 4.9, 4.7 were right in line where I thought I would be. I make a concerted effort to ensure to give employees an opportunity to grow themselves.

In the final category, leadership and motivation ratings were higher than I ranked myself. The ratings for the question “Effectively persuades others in order to build commitment for ideas” were 36% “Often”, 46% “Always” and 9% “Occasionally”. I think that depending on the situation that I interacted with the respondents, I can understand why they see me differently. While working on projects that I needed to garner support, I would hold one on one meetings to lobby the key decision makers. However, in settings where I needed to persuade a group with no preparation ahead of time, I find it difficult to sell my idea.

In conclusion, I was hoping that I would be able to identify more “gorillas”. If I redo this survey again, I think I’ll try a professional service to give me insight into more areas for improvement.

3 foot giant

Re: 1. What eviudence of self-esteem do you see in Sean Stevenson (the 3-ft giant)?
Lynn Pregitzer (lpregitz) (Oct 16, 2010 12:37 AM) - Read by: 12Reply to MessageReply

Sean Stevenson grew up in a family with true values and lots of love. They accepted Sean for being the beautiful and amazing child that he is. His parents’ commitment provided a solid foundation for Sean to grow into an adult with a healthy self-esteem; independent and self-aware. One example of a Sean’s internal strength shows when he gets ready for his blind date to pick him up in the driveway. His tentativeness shows when he explains that his date has to carry him into a car seat. I could tell that he’s a afraid of what his date might think, but when she arrives, he reverts to his assertive fun self again. He tells her how to get him in the car as if it’s just something to do. He goes on to enjoy a wonderful evening with his date and even asks if she might see him again. In this example, Sean doesn’t let any of his fears or insecurities prevent him from experiencing an evening with a beautiful girl—like any other guy. He moves on right past any negative thoughts and proceeds to enjoying a night out.

Sean is the epitome of the 7th pillar of self-esteem. “The energy for this commitment can only come from the love we have for our own life. It is the motive powers that drive the six pillars. It is the seventh pillar of self-esteem.” (Branden, 1994)

Re: 2. In what ways has he turned his brudens into blessing?
Lynn Pregitzer (lpregitz) (Oct 15, 2010 9:18 PM) - Read by: 14Reply to MessageReply

This video reinforced the teachings of Dr. Farzin in our last F2F. In my journey to get to know myself better, I took his message (“you are already there”) to heart and have applied it at every opportunity. It’s been a joyous several weeks!! But as usual when work began to get frustrating, I forgot (again!) to keep recreating the moment. Last night, however when I watched this video and saw Sean in action, it awakened me. His commitment to living a life full of new experiences was an eye opener.

Sean stood tall for who he is and made his uniqueness his strength. When Sean took on something, he was determined to do it well. The movie depicted that clearly as he counseled Aaron. It also showed him using his entire body to throwing a baseball. In each situation, Sean’s visions of success were inspiring.
Re: 2. In what ways has he turned his brudens into blessing?

KM, HRM, and Higher Ed

KM, HRM, and Higher Ed
Oct 11, 2010 12:21 AM) - Read by: 11Reply to MessageReply

The theory proposed by this article which suggests the involvement of business schools that teach human resource managers who in turn can imbed a formalized knowledge transfer mechanism into organizational processes is unrealistic. First, there is the greater matter of getting the executive support on something that is difficult to measure. Second, it is just plain theory, which is difficult to sell to a businessperson. I find that in organizations that by nature have an operational mission to deliver a service or product that could place lives at risk place a high priority on having knowledge management policies. The physician’s group contracted to deliver healthcare to Kaiser Permanente members in Hawaii has formalized policies regarding continuing educational requirements and utilize communities of practice where tacit knowledge is shared through dialogue. This supports the logic of “expert economics” where soft knowledge is needed to solve complex or unique problems. (Edvardsson, 2007) The policies in the physician’s group support their aim to provide the best quality healthcare possible.

In my personal experience in the business world, however, we are at the mercy of the budget. Communities of practice, especially in Hawaii, are frequently spread in many states and countries. The current project I work on has members in Ohio, Maryland, Colorado, California, Hawaii and India. I am frustrated that the executives who underestimate the value of knowledge transfer that occurs in face to face sessions because it cannot be fiscally quantified. Members of my community regularly hold conference calls just to make up for the deficit of communications.

As Brewer and Brewer state, there are limitations to the paper as it is still in the conceptual stages. I believe that the successful implementation of this model would require a supportive organizational culture that hardwires this as a standard of practice.

The Cognitive Style of Powerpt

Re: THE COGNITIVE STYLE OF POWERPOINT
Lynn Pregitzer (lpregitz) (Oct 23, 2010 8:23 PM) - Read by: 9Reply to MessageReply
There are several good points made about the use of powerpoints in the this forum. I'll take an introspective approach on this topic as well. When I lead a discussion with my project group or subordinates I don't use powerpoints because I'm confident of my knowledge in this area. However, when I am presenting material that I am not 100% confident about, I do rely on the powerpoint. A good example is when I present to the GAP cohort. The material is usually new, I have insecurities that fellow cohorts will ask questions that I can't answer and overall, am anxious about my ability to do well due to lack of practice.
As Dr. Elio suggests, I agree that the quality of the public speaking skills should be more important than the powerpoint. I recognize that I need to work on this. I should not have powerpoints dominate my presentation, I should seek assistance in honing my presentations skills instead.

Emotional Intelligence Bullets to Trigger Thoughts

October 1, 2010

American Express and the Yuck Factor
1. Advisors felt they had to “make the sale”. When clients gave a resisted, the agent was taught to give a rational argument.
a. Agents should use empathy.
b. Volume of information on products was too much.
c. Agents weren’t entrepreneurial—felt personal lifestyle was at stake if they failed to sell.
d. Long hours sacrificed work/life balance.
2. To bolster emotional competence, the solution was to:
a. Be driven by their own principles.
b. Advisor would get very upset that she didn’t make a sale. So upset that she couldn’t move on to the next project.
c. She found ways to hanel the tension—would take a break and go to ballet.
d. People that went through the training gained about 8 to 20 percent in sales.
3. Changed the role from salesperson to trusted advisor.
Scientists Study the Amgdala:
1. The amygdala is in the prefrontal lobes of the brain area. This area became significantly more active after undergoing training.
2. Competence such as self-control strengthens, so do the corresponding brain circuits.
3. How often have you seen employes going to training, but not making a difference on the job? There’s a difference between declarative knowledge and procedural knowledge.
4. An expert who studied training has said that people have tended to consider all training the same without regard to the purpose of the training or the type of learning involved.”
5. Need to stop lumping training together. For Technical knowledge, declarative knowledge ay be sufficient, but not for emotional intelligence.
Learning Emotional competence involves engaging emotional circuitry, where the social and emotional habits are stored.

1. Approach people positively.
2. Listening better
3. Give feedback skillfully.
Changes must happen at a neurological level – how many weeks does it take to change a bad habit?

BIG MISTAKE corporations make is to teach skills like service and leadership the same way they teach technical skills, like fixing a machine.

Billion Dolar Mistake
1. Companies invest
2. Training programs that were evaluated on observable effects on change in behavior, 3 of eleven were found to be worthless.
a. 5 day mountain retreat
b. Ropes courses
c. Off site training

Alpha Male

October 15, 2010
I characterize the alpha as being aggressive and driven, frequently leaving “dead bodies” in their path. Ludeman and Erlandson (2004) confirm this in the article describing alpha males as unemotional, analytical and coldhearted. Although I knew that these people were type A personalities, I was surprised to read that 70% of senior executives are in this category (Ludeman and Erlandson 2004). Based on this statistic, one could conclude that you should be pushy, forceful and menacing if you want to become CEO. When I was younger, I didn’t like alphas because they were difficult and intimidating and self-centered. As I matured in my career, I found myself gravitating towards these executives because of their ability to stay focused on the goal at hand and engineer solutions to get there. Projects that force significant organizational changes and shift the paradigm in an entrenched tradition require leaders that exude confidence and thrive on dominating.
Alphas typically don’t see a need to change, but today’s business environment requires collaborative leadership. The example of Michael Dell and Kevin Rollins, typical alpha males, is revealing. Dell and Rollins sought executive coaching in the aftermath of the burst of the 2000 dot com bubble when it became evident that the company needed to diversify. Dell needed new lines of revenue as the company was heavily dependent on PC sales. They were also facing fierce competition from the recent HP and Compaq merger. The new environment required a collaborative environment, but the employees were afraid of talking to them. As difficult as it is for alpha males to admit that they need to change their ways, they sought help from Ludeman and Erlandson to change their ways.
I think that the alpha male’s Achilles heel is that their successes cover the need to examine themselves internally. In time of crises as Dell faced, their best strengths became their largest weakness. As discussed in other threads, it is a challenge to suddenly switch to a policy of transparency and cooperation when employees have been living in a culture of command and control.

A Model of the Effects of Reputational Rankings on Organizational Change

10.22.2010

It has been found that prominently published rankings such as “America’s Most Admired Companies”, “Best Business Schools”, or the “Fortune 500” places pressure on organizations to adjust practices according to the criteria of the ranking survey. The degree of to which action may or may not be taken is studied based on how the organization sees itself versus the published ranking. In the article, this is referred to as “perceived identity-reputational discrepancy.” (Martins 2005) The study demonstrated a higher propensity for an organization to implement changes based on the extent of this discrepancy. The article finds that management’s perception in three areas temper the urgency to take action. These are: 1) Is a change to the ranking in line with its strategies? 2) Does the organization have a strong sense of itself internally? and 3) Is the perception of the public important to the success of the business.
Last year, the company I work for was ranked first in the nation for breast cancer screening. The new president correlated a high ranking in this statistic with a positive external reputation and to be in line with his strategy of providing high quality medical care. The old process required a patient to persevere through several steps to actually receive mammogram. First, patients were given a notice to call the mammogram department when they presented at an appointment with their primary care or OB-GYN doctor. Those that took the next step of calling the department were needed to wade through the automated voice response system before getting to an appointment clerk. Next, the clerk entered their name into the computer and mailed out their confirmed appointment date and time months later in the mail. As a result, patients frequently did not show up and or were apathetic about being tested. This process also completed ignored people that never came to the primary care or OB-GYN department.
The process has now been improved in 3 ways: 1) Receptionists anywhere in the company can now schedule a mammogram. Computer systems were modified to increase patients’ ability to walk away with a confirmed appointment in hand in 30 departments instead of only 1 department. 2) New mammography equipment was purchased and housed in all major locations. 3) Same day appointments are now frequently available to provide a hassle-free experience for the patient. As a result of these changes the organization’s measure of the worst stage of breast cancer is now down to zero for established patients. This change has proven to benefit the patients whose lives and well-being is now enhanced and benefit the organization due to reduced cost due to detecting these cancers in its early stages.
Martins (2005) study illuminates the idea of the relevancy of prominent rankings to the economy and to people’s lives, consequently having a multitude of positive effects to society. This examination was interesting as it points out how certain types of organizations assimilate their practices to match the criteria in the ranking surveys.

How Do I As a Leader Engender Trust In An Organization?

This paper describes qualities of successful leaders who were highly regarded in their fields. My observations are based on 30 years of working in the corporate environment. My career spanned corporations ranging from Forbes 500 companies to family owned businesses. These leaders were known as visionaries in their company, in the community they lived in and by their peers. They inherently recognize that trust is a critical component to long term sustainable growth and consistently applied this principle. I found that organizations that had trust embedded in their culture could act quickly on decisions during periods of major changes.
There are a few characteristics that were visible from my experience. Each one had their own way of creating trust, but there are some commonalities in their behavior. I found that the visionary leaders shared of themselves, some by implementing company policies that impacted hundreds of employees and some in more subtle gestures. Through my personal experience, these people did this by: 1) aligning their actions with their words, 2) admitting to mistakes, and 3) exhibiting ethical behavior.

Aligning Actions and Words
Early in my career, I was privileged to work for Henry A. Walker, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for Amfac, Inc., in Hawaii. Amfac, Inc. was a $2 billion company with operations in hotels, real estate, retail, and horticulture. Mr. Walker was a classic leader who gave great speeches. During his tenure at the helm, Amfac, Inc. acquired about 40 companies and became a major conglomerate listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
During a time when the standard work week was 40 hours, Mr. Walker implemented a 35 hour week at Amfac, Inc. He trusted the employees to produce the same level of productivity with less time. It was risky to cut the hours when the company was embarking on a growth campaign to diversify and build a conglomerate and expand. Amfac, Inc. was mainly an agricultural company to with roots in sugar, but grew to include hotels and resorts, horticulture, food and retail. The growth of the company during the 1970’s proved that Mr. Walker was right. Although the working hours were less, employees were motivated to get the work done in a faster more efficient manner. Such shift in the paradigm also set the tone for the employees to think differently. It created an environment for unique ideas to surface. Ultimately, employees themselves proactively began to make their own unique recommendations. It was a change that engendered trust in the employees. Mr. Walker’s belief that the employees were the greatest asset of the company lined up with his actions when he implemented the new policy.
The positive outcomes from his actions were three fold: 1) he created a trusting and safe environment for employees, 2) he capitalized on the brain trust of hundreds of employees for new ideas, and 3) his bold initiatives and company changes were supported during a period of critical growth.
As stated in Organizational Behavior, “Trust is a psychological state that exists when you agree to make yourself vulnerable to another because you have positive expectations about how things are going to turn out.” (Robbins and Judge, 2011) The downside of taking a risk like shortening a work week is lost productivity. Understanding the culture of the organization and what motivated his employees was a key factor that needed consideration when implementing a significant policy change. It was evident to the employees that he was taking actions based on the trust he had for them. In other words, his actions directly corresponded to his speeches. Consequently, an atmosphere conducive to taking the organization forward into new industries was present.
In another, entirely different situation, I was employed at SPC, a family owned business with assets of $200 million. The organization was made up of a large community of long term employees. The president of the company deceased after 30 years and his son who had recently moved from working on Wall Street as a lawyer took his father’s place. Employees were on edge about the change in leadership while mourning the loss of their beloved leader. They were also afraid of the potential change in culture strictly based on the differences in the family culture of Hawaii versus the culture of New York.
Over the next two years, the new CEO embarked on a restructuring campaign that included removing senior executives, closing out divisions and selling assets of the company. During this period, the communication felt detached and lacked compassion. Key employees were let go and executives were demoted. Reassurance from senior leadership was rare and questions were not adequately addressed. As a result, the morale dropped and the company suffered for it. The norm during this time was to keep quiet and remain hidden.
Mergers, divestitures of business lines and acquisitions make employees nervous and uncertain about their own future. These corporate activities conjured up images of massive layoffs as portrayed in the media. Leaders making changes without communicating intentions to build an atmosphere of trust will find resistance to new programs. Resistance to new changes and lower levels of participation are some of the negative consequences of mistrust.
As author, Daniel Goleman (1998) says in his book, Emotional Intelligence at Work, emotions are contagious. People were scared at SPI. The mistrust spread through the organization quickly. The employees relied on each other for moral support and it was the prevailing emotion during the restructuring.

Admit to mistakes
In Zimbardo’s prison experiment (Robbins and Judge, 2011) normal Stanford students with no pathology history were confined in a basement and took on the roles of prisoners and guards. Within a day, the guards took on superior roles acting more aggressive and cruel than they normally would have. They forced the prisoners to submit to severe dehumanizing treatment and stated that they could not control themselves. Zimbardo summarized that people quickly take on behaviors of new roles based on their past experiences, whether that is through family, school or other relationships. The BBC later conducted the same experiment under the scrutiny of the public with very different results. The guards in the BBC experiment did not take on aggressive personalities. It was thought that the behavior was different in the BBC experiment because the people knew they were being observed by millions of viewers and their behavior was being recorded and televised.
We can extrapolate from the Zimbardo experiment that new leaders will exhibit leadership styles learned from past role models. The results of the Stanford experiment, demonstrates that people in different roles act according to the way they perceive the role should be. When actions violate federal or state laws, external agencies or board of directors intervene to implement penalties.
In instances where mistakes do not violate the law, but are strictly bad judgment, frequently leaders will gloss over the infraction. In my experience, many leaders do not feel that they are in jeopardy for their mistakes. They rationalize their acts as necessary and appropriate under the circumstances. During the early stages of taking on leadership positions, leaders do not have the courage to offer apologies. A simple, “I’m sorry” or “I made a mistake” resonates with people as an act of humility, but their belief systems do not allow them to admit to mistakes as it equates to a sign of weakness.
Executives are frequently faced with difficult decisions that challenge their ethics. In doing so, there are forced to make decision that conflict with their values.
Before becoming a project manager, I was in a department that launched new projects for Kaiser Permanente (KP). The department itself was entrepreneurial and implemented businesses that were different from the core business of KP. Two years of hard work developing a business case to build a medical clinic catering to tourists only and seeking approval from numerous committees reached fruition in 2000. The concept was revolutionary for an organization focused on providing healthcare to people that purchased the Kaiser Health Plan only. The team spent hours developing a model that would be complementary to KP’s core mission while providing an extra stream of new revenue. There was much pride when the clinic was finally built and opened. The staff bonded and were dedicated to the success of the clinic. What excited the staff the most was the significant financial contribution the clinic was making to the organization.
After five years, the building lease was up for renewal. The approval of the regional president was needed for renewal. At that time, KP’s president was newly transferred from the California region. She had a firm belief that all activity should be geared towards enhancing the traditional members of the health plan insurance only. She was not supportive of the venture because it treated tourists only. Although the clinic contributed positively to the bottom line, she made a unilateral decision to not renew the lease. In the aftermath of her decision, 10 employees were let go or transferred. In her speeches the decision was glossed over. Employees knew that KP was financially struggling and needed the financial contribution of the clinic. This same pattern of making unilateral decisions began accumulating. As mishaps became more frequent, it was evident that she wasn’t being forthright. Within two years after the clinic was closed, she was removed from her position for mishandling crucial managerial decisions.
In her dissertation, Marie Legault (2009) studies the reasons some leaders remain ethical, while others succumb to pressures. She explains that leaders have limiting values during their developmental stages. In a table that describes this development, she lists the value of accountability, responsibility, and success as having the limiting belief of “do not make mistakes” when a leader is early in his or her career. The guiding value, however, as the leader matures is that “making a mistake is an important aspect of growth. The ability to be self-aware and recognize a mistake is in large part one of the keys to being a competent leader, which will create a bond of trust.

Be Ethical
How often are leaders seen breaking the bonds of trust? I have worked for leaders who take credit for ideas of their subordinates, tell lies for their personal benefit, or break promises. To my surprise, they have felt that their actions were justified.
Some leaders are willing to cross trust boundaries. How do they choose which are all right to cross? And which are not? I have seen people rationalizing their behavior even after harming another individual. This can be compared to telling “white lie” and justifying it as protecting the individual who is receiving the lie.
In 2008, I was offered a promotional opportunity for a director level job. I had worked at the company for 10 years, in progressively responsible positions and had excellent reviews. In a panel interview that consisted of six, including the chief financial officer (CFO) in Hawaii I received positive feedback. One person on panel told me that I was the only qualified candidate of the two people that were being considered. The other candidate was young, inexperienced and did not have supervisory experience. The job was at least three grade levels above her current position. A reliable source told me that reason she was interviewed, was because she was loyal to the outgoing CFO who was promoting several of his loyal followers as the last act before leaving. (Senior executive level jobs in Hawaii are often used as stepping stones to get to the corporate offices in California and tenure is short. In the last five years, there have been four CFOs and four presidents.)
I received a call from the hiring manager in Colorado letting me know that I was the most qualified candidate and that he is thinking of offering the job to me. There was one caveat. My fiancé was a Vice President in the medical group that provides services to Kaiser Permanente and that there was a possible conflict of interest. He asked me to clear this with the Compliance and Ethics departments.
I proceeded to do so and it immediately cleared at both the regional and national level. In my situation, it was fairly clear that he worked for a separate organization and could not me. My fiancé’s superior was also in agreement.
I was excited about the new job, but the phone call offering me the position never came. Instead, a month later, I was told that the position would be reposted to get a larger pool of candidates. The next time I heard from that manager in Colorado was a year later. The position was vacant for the year.
He was nervous and profusely apologized for not notifying me, but he was calling to let him know that the position was offered to someone in California who will be transferring to Hawaii. The reasons were never offered and promises to document the reason never came.
The new recruited director has now been in Hawaii for two years and it is well known that she is failing at the job. She has cried in front of executives because she isn’t able to perform her job duties, got in a fight with the company security guard and her staff has had 99% turnover.
The entire process was terribly disturbing, not only for me, but for employees that were privy to the entire situation. The hiring manager in Colorado made a decision due to political pressures from a higher level. There is no trust for that manager, the vice president in California and the former CFO, who is in California today. It is common knowledge that these people manipulated the situation .
As I reflect on the leadership in place during that time, there was a high level of mistrust due to the shifting of employees during that period of transition in the CFO. I was a victim of timing and negotiations to further his career in California.
Leaders make compromises every day, but leaders strongly grounded in their values are able to make ethical decisions in the face of adversity. Leadership principles are values translated into action. (George, Sims, McLean, Mayer, 2007) Unethical behavior as I described in my situation is not sustainable in the long run. Such behavior will eventually cause people to fail both by losing the faith of their employees and their peers.

Conclusion
Leaders are on stage at all times. Their actions are under constant scrutiny of the employees. The trustworthiness of the leader is a critical success factor when undertaking major initiatives. Incongruences between action and words are intolerable. Leaders with long term strategic goals achieve them efficiently by enculturing trust into their organizations. A trusting culture frees people to point out problems in its early stages, therefore, giving leaders a chance to take mitigating actions. Those that have the network of strong ethical people in their circle will be able to take advantage of the strengths of others to achieve long term company objectives.

Power and Politics Robbins & Judge Chapter 13

Robbins and Judge Chapter 13

Power and Politics are words with negative connotations.  The chapter describes power and politics as innate to being in a group.  Powerful people may not be constrained by pressures that constrain people without power.

A critical element of power is that there is a person is dependent on another for resources.  I.E., information, money or a passing grade.

Leadership vs. Power - Ldr requires followers to believe in the same objectives.  Power just means one is dependent on the other.
Power is broken into 5 types:
Formal Power Categories
1) Coercive - fear of consequences when there is a failure to comply.  I.E., via pain, suspend or demote, embarrass the person, or even withholding important information.  Information is classified as a powerful resource.
2)  Reward Power - Cotnrolling bonuses, raises, promotions preferred parking spaces etc.
3) Legitimate Power - Structural position in the organization.  Followers in the group accept that position as powerful.  Principle, presidents, directors.
Personal Power
1) Expert Power - Experts wield power via knowledge . Doctors, teachers, lawyers have specialized knowledge.
2)  Referent Power - This is the ability to influence others because they want to be like you.  Michael Jordan can convince children to buy his shoes because they admire him.

It's been clear that the Personal Powers are the most effective to have.  Groups find satisfaction where people are experts and feel they admire the person in power.  Coercive power is unrelated to any source of satisfaction.
People buy products that famous people endorse because they want to emulate them.  These celebrities have referent power.

Dependency
The person being depended on always has power over one who doesn't.
The department that is depended upon is the most powerful in an organization.  In a healthcare organization, the physicians are the most important.
Scarcity - Being a doctor in a rural area makes the community dependent on one.  This creates power.
Nonsubstitutability - This is when one cannot be substituted by another.  A powerful highly skilled surgeon that cannot be replaced by another has power.
Power Tactics
1.  Legitimacy 2. Rational persuasion (soft), 3. Inspirational appeals(soft), 4.  Consultation-involving one in planning together(soft) 5. Exchanging of favors(hard) 6. Personal appeals-based on friendship(soft), 7. Ingratiation - flattery
8.  Pressure(hard & downward) 9. Coalition(hard)

Organization Factors that influence politcs
Political activity is more a function of the org's characteristics.  Not of the individual.  Certain situations and types of org culture promote politics more than others.  Low levels of trust, and less resources, and ambiguiousness, all create politics.  Promotional decisions are consistently found to be based on politics.

Studies show that job satisfaction is negative related to perceptions of org politics.  It also relates to lower performance because people perceive it as unfair.

Impression Management
How individuals control how others think of them.  Sitatuions with high uncertainty and ambiguity provide great atmosphere for people making fraudulent claims and reduce risks associated with lying.

Job Interview--People that engage in self promotion get more follow-up visitis, even after adjusting for gpa, gender and job type.    Ingratiation works as well--agree with interviewer's opinions and emphasize of fit with the interviewer.

Perf Reviews - For performance ratings people who ingratiate with supervisors do better than self promoters.


In job interview, interviewer cannot confirm self promotion,  however, supervisors can, so self promotion doesn't work.
Immoral people can justify almost any behavior.  Those who are powerful, articulate and persuasive are most vulerable to ethical lapses  because they get away with it successfully.