MGMT 535 Personal Reflection Blog - week 1

 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.

 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 ...

 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...

 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...

 As an operational test director for explosive detection systems, just the words alone make me seem very important. Because we are dealing with explosives...I guess I am. The jargon used mostly in my work environment consists of, theat, threat scenario, elevated posture, alarms, alarm resolution and operational impact just to name a few. Throw in the catch all phrase of "safety" and you have the means to get everyone's attention and focus. One of the things that I've noticed is that when any entity involved in a project is not getting their way...they begin communicating with the jargon listed above. Subsequently, the tactic is to frame any issue in terms of the jargon to get higher elevation of what is usually a small item. It is frustrating at best as it slows down progress but it is how words are used at the TSA in my environment.