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MGMT 535 - Week 8 Blog

 As I reflect on all that this course presented in the way of communications, I think I see some growth in my potential communications style. In the beginning of the course we were presented information on culture. As a military brat and subsequent military officer, stationed all over the world, I have always been aware of cultural differences and my role in making myself fit expectations. However, I never thought to look at my internal communications within my everyday life and job as an avenue to bring that same awareness and focus to cultural differences, etc. It's even more appropriate as I now have a female asian, direct supervisor! I will tell you that in the beginning it was not easy. However, I actually called her at the peak of my frustration and admitted a realization, that pretty much broke a barrier (and I don't know which one) that now allows for open communication. What I told her, is that it is my fault for not recognizing the change that was being directed from ...
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MGMT 535 - Week 7 Blog

Thinking about the past year from June 2020 - now, there was one big change. We onboarded a new Test & Evaluation Director (a newly retired Air Force 2 star general). What changed...communication. Of course, the first folks to bend his ear, where those in leadership positions and closest to him. It was apparent when he held is first one on one meetings with the rank and file...the perceptions from leadership and those of the everyday worker, were completely different. As you know, we worker bee's have a lot closer relationship than we may let on. We were all comparing what was asked of the director and how they responded. That allowed all of us to echo the same themes as well as echo the same items of interest. What came out of that first round of "talks" was the edict that the rules are no longer rules and all options for solving challenges were on the table. In this one move, the boss had opened up the portals for creativity not unlike what the TED Talk speaker ment...
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MGMT 535 - Week 6 Reflections

 I will "Amen", the statement Powers makes about working across boundaries is unnatural. The natural tendency of humans is to protect "their" turf. That being said, it is easy to see how organizations get stove-piped and focused on only their "lane" or primarily on their lane. Everyone believes they are the main attraction. With that all on the table, I have to state in my current job/position within TSA, it really is a mixed bag. On one hand, we work well and communicate well with the other departments that are a part of a testing event...because we have to...to get our job done. On the other hand, other departments don't necessarily respond or communicate how what we require affects their routines/rhythms. In that regard, many times our department has to request information multiple times before someone "gets it", that what we are asking is important (at least to us). When it comes to interactions like this where the other department is not...
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MGMT 535 - Week 5 Reflections

 Wow, this DIKA...which I had no idea about really hits home in my current job.  I'm a research analyst by training. I crunch the numbers, I set up the tests to collect the data based on the requirements and sometimes I even conduct the evaluation. One of the first questions asked is, "how do we test the requirement"?  My answer is normally, "Is the requirement even testable"? That begins the discussion of the how and why of data collection. Can we actually get a piece of data that can represent if something is or is not doing what it is supposed to be doing?  So this won't be a long blog. However, it seems I have been doing DIKA since the beginning and did not even know it. Fortunately, I craft all of my data meetings around the specific metrics and therefore the only thing to determine is what to do with the information we've learned.
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MGMT 535 - Week 4 Reflections

 I hate to say it but I'm an intellectual snob. Not that I think education is the end all to be all, but it does point to a level of exposure and experience. Every time I come across someone whether in my professional environment or personal environment, I find myself going to Linked In and/or Googling them. After retiring, I've noticed that honesty and integrity as expressed in the military isn't so cut and dry in the "world". When looking for my co-workers online, it is interesting to see who does have a Linked In profile and who doesn't. My unofficial observation is that those who know what the heck they are talking about in any given context have the profiles online and their credentials. I also find myself doing this when I run across people who are appointed to boards or have some title and job and I ask them what their qualifications are for holding the position. For instance, I was applying to a program through a service provider for veterans. I asked ...
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MGMT 535 - Week 3 Reflections

 As I've stated before, there are several workforce organizations within the TSA. We have the blue shirts (TSO's) that do the screening and security missions at the airports and then you have HQ, which does everything else to support the TSO's.  I work in the field testing the equipment the TSO's use to conduct screening. When that equipment doesn't work or work well, I hear about it. In one particular instance, we were testing some new equipment at Long Beach Airport. The equipment that was being temporarily replaced was old and slow. In the security screening game, timeliness is a key metric. The airlines are quick to throw the TSA under the bus as to the reason why a bag missed a flight, when in reality the problem rests with the airlines baggage operations. The good thing about being in the TSA is we can time stamp the moment the bag was handed off to the TSA, with timestamps throughout the security equipment processing and timestamps when it was handed off to t...
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MGMT 535 - Week Two Reflections

 I now have someone I would offer to take to lunch only to practice what the TED speaker mentioned. For 11 years I've had zero personality conflicts. Everyone is professional and we all work together for a common solution. Unfortunately, that changed this year. I'd like to invite Felicia out to lunch. However, I'm not sure the three questions and the methods of understanding Elizabeth Lesser relayed would help solve anything. The reason I say this is because Felicia and I had no problems work wise. However, other folks in my team were having problems with her. I was in disbelief at some of the claims because my relationship was fine. I knew all about her failed marriage, her previous assignments, her family's wine business in Sonoma, CA. We talked about all sorts of things, that weren't work related like, cryptocurrency, buying tax liens, etc. However, one by one, someone was always in conflict with Felicia. Then it was my turn. The funny thing is...I began to confe...
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