The first Connect session was held in Spencer County, which is best known for the Lincoln Boyhood Memorial Park (where we met), the Lincoln State Park (where we went second), and Santa Claus, Indiana which is home to Holiday World theme park and Splashin' Safari water park. Although I don't want to give a play-by-play of the entire day, the schedule was roughly: breakfast, intoductions, presentation from the 2 professors, group activities, lunch, and then we went to the state park for team building and a tour of the Interpretive Center.
After breakfast, we opened with the typical name, position introductions. Then we did an interesting ice breaker exercise that was called X of Y. I thought this was really an interesting way to learn more about how people see themselves in a few words. The idea was to come up with something more interesting than your typical "Chair of the Board" or something like that. The example that was given was the "Sherlock Holmes of Student Learning." The exercise also got people to think outside the box, which giving others insight into them. I came up with the "Benjamin Franklin of Emergency Management." The reason I chose this for myself was because Ben Franklin was known for trying to put things together and find the right/best answer to things that most people didn't understand. I feel that is the aspect that I'd like to bring to FEMA or emergency management. The typical state of administration is that they have management experience, but not the foundation of technical knowledge to truly understand and make informed decisions.
The content portion of the day, by Coach B (Bryan Bourdeau) and Coach K (Kevin Celuch), was focused on Change & Innovation. There were several things that really stood out to me from the presentation that they gave.
- Entrepreneurs observe and reflect, which makes them good learners.
- I have always been considered a good learner, and it isn't because I'm good at memorizing. I think it's because I observe the world around me, listen to what I'm told, and then really think about it. I've become more reflective as I've gotten older, and some just see the difference as me being quieter. What is really happening is that I think A LOT more than I speak in almost all situations. It also makes me a fairly good listener. When I don't internalize and reflect, I think I tend to needlessly worry more.
- Numbers I found interesting:
- Happiness = 70% mindset/expression + 20% brain chemistry + 10% external factors
- Creativity = 80% learned + 20% inherent
- 80% of companies think the service they offer is superior to their competitors, 8% of that company's customers think the service they receive is superior.
- 90% of worries that people journal about and dwell on never come to pass and of the 10% that do happen, 90% of those aren't as bad as the person anticipated.
- Innovation is not born in spreadsheets
- Why isn't there more innovation? fear of change, resources devoted to incrementalism, risk averse, rules in place to discourage, "if it's not broke, don't fix it," "we've always done it this way," status quo, etc.
- Where's Waldo? The fun isn't in the end result of finding Waldo, but in the journey and everything you see in the process
The purpose of the group exercise was to develop an entrepreneurial mindset metaphor that incorporated unique visual and/or verbal elements that work together to capture the concept. The group then pitched the idea to the rest of the class and each person was supposed to keep track of which metaphor resonated with them the most. Here are the metaphors that the different groups came up with:
- The entrepreneurial mindset is like water.
- Changes in different situations, powerful, can break boundaries, cut steel, or nurture life, attempts to absorb into surroundings, can give peace or bring fear, forges it's own path
- The entrepreneurial mindset is like a puzzle.
- Have an overall vision, must start outside the box, initially overwhelming, build framework first, trust all the pieces will come together, need to know when to involve others or take a break, the more you get done; the stronger it gets
- The entrepreneurial mindset is like the Olympics.
- Unique, lot of prep work and background, must stay focused, good mental attitude, team support, perseverance, embrace challenges, can't be afraid to fail, and must grow and learn from failure
- Innovation is the fountain of youth.
- Outside of the norm, always moving, continual quest, sought after, always striving to go further, continual process
- A lack of vision is throwing away gold when prospecting for silver.
- Recognizing things found in the journey as valuable, overall purpose and vision, personal contribution
- An entrepreneur is like a graffiti artist.
- Creative, risky, never know who will approve, thrill, don't know obstacles till things are underway, breaking the rules to fulfill your purpose, not mainstream, not the status quo
My favorite metaphor was probably the puzzle one for several reasons. First, like a puzzle, you have to have an end vision and a picture of what you are trying to work toward when you start an endeavor. After you know what you want to accomplish you have to dump everything out, which is usually overwhelming. It is at this overwhelming point that having an execution plan and strategy is vitally important. As you get more pieces in place, the project is less vulnerable and less likely to fall apart during shifting. The last point that I liked with the puzzle is that you have to know when to take a break, involve others, or walk away completely.
We then went across the street from the Lincoln Boyhood Memorial to the Lincoln State Park.
Along with touring the Interpretive Center, which tries to understand what Indiana would have been like during the time Lincoln lived here, we divided into 3 groups and participated in ROTC-led team building exercises. This was probably the most fun, challenging 45 minutes I've had in a long time. I was appointed the leader for the the exercise that was more difficult for our group (typical!). The other cadets when assessing our group said our strong-suit was that we discussed and decided on a strategy before starting. The exercise I was leader of was the one that we were not allowed to talk during *face palm*. BUT, it was still a great exercise and very entertaining! :) I learned something important about myself after the ROTC exercises. I thought that I always had to be the leader or I would be unsatisfied, but I learned that I am perfectly happy NOT leading when there are other CAPABLE leaders around. Interesting revelation for me.
In summary, I really enjoyed the first session. I'm feeling great about the fact that I am going to learn a lot. Probably more than I even consciously realize. I think that the 'entrepreneurial mindset' direction that the program has taken is extremely positive. It seems like the old model was more socializing and networking, but not really growing as innovative leaders. The networking opportunity is still great and I have met several people that I have come into contact with for the Online Senior Resource Guide of Southwest Indiana (resource.swirca.org), for which I am the Project Coordinator. I was also impressed during the metaphor and team-building exercises at the intellectual and leadership capacity of the group. I'm looking forward to the next session!
