The Learning Organisation and how we get there, wherever there is.

More and more in today’s business we need people to be free to be able to offer their creativity. But do we provide that environment which encourages true dialogue? Or do we just play lip service to it? It is a brave manager who is prepared to accept disagreement and work to a better understanding and possibly a different solution that where they originally thought.

We spend most of our lives working to achieve higher goals and aspirations. In that endeavour we reach position of authority and some respect control. But have we forgotten that boss we did not like? Or get on with? or had no respect? Was that important to the way we did our job and interacted with our environment? Are we that boss?

We all hope that through our experiences we learn and take the good and the things we liked about our leaders, and hopefully emulate them when we are in that position. Many times this is not the case and our attitude changes and sometimes becomes coloured with our experience. We end up becoming what we disliked and did not value.

The time has come to take your pulse and see are you the manager you want to be? Are you doing the things you said you would in the past?

The biggest thing to remember is that you never stop learning and everyone has something to offer you in that lesson. The moment we forget this and try to pretend that we have all the answers it cam be to late. But that is only if you are not prepared to look in the mirror.

One of the biggest things that has had a major impact in the way I think and work is my recent study on the topic of Systemic Thinking. Peter Senge "The Fifth Discipline" has had a big impact in the way I look and think about many aspects of my work and personal life.

The five disciplines are Personal Mastery, Mental Models, Shared Vision, Team Learning and Systems Thinking. These are the notes from "The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook":

Personal Mastery - learning to expand our personal capacity to create the results we most desire, and creating an organsational environment which encourages all its members to develop themselves toward the goals and purposes they choose.

Mental Models - reflecting upon, continually clarifying, and improving our internal pictures of the world, and seeing how they shape our actions and decisions.

Shared Vision - building a sense of commitment in a group, by developing shared images of the future we seek to create, and the principles and guiding practices by which we hope to get there.

Team Learning - transforming conversational and collective thinking skills, so that goups of people can reliably develop intelligence and ability greater than the sum of individual members' talents.

System Thinking - a way of thinking about, and a language for describing and understanding, the forces and interrelationships that shape the behavior of systems. This dicipline helps us see how to change systems more effectiviely, and to act more in tune with the larger processes of the natural and economic world.

World Grid - Help the World and your self

World Grid

Who we are
World Community Grid's mission is to create the largest public computing grid benefiting humanity. Our work is built on the belief that technological innovation combined with visionary scientific research and large-scale volunteerism can change our world for the better. Our success depends on individuals - like you - collectively contributing their unused computer time to this not-for-profit endeavor.

How can you help
Simply donate the time your computer is turned on, but would normally lie idle, for projects that benefit humanity. Like a screensaver, grid technology is easy to use, safe and free. When you are ready to use your computer, the grid software will shut itself off until the next time your computer is idle. To learn more, click on Become a Member. Or to start volunteering your PC time now, click the button below.

Download the Program

Wil Wheaton, actor, author and geek

If you are interested in hearing a great podcast then you can go no furhter than this very inspiring and raw presentation by Will Wheaton. I personally found it very powerful and open. Please enjoy http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail220.html This is put into two parts so wyou will need to download both parts.

I have just purchased his book "Just a Geek" which again is great. Make your own mind up and see what you think.

The Keys to your Mansion

This is the age old question where does your business IT strategy lay. The IT section of business has held the keys to the IT strategy for a long time. It was the case of the black magic of technology could not be managed by anyone other than the tech heads. That was fine if your business was soley IT focused. The IT manager understoods your business and the direction you wanted to go. The only problem is a lot of IT managers use IT glasses. The other problem is they usally are not involved in the business strategy and its direction. Their understand of security issues and making it all workis fine, but what of productivity?. What of innovation? Where do they get these insights?

A lot of IT managment are pushed as it is to manage and maintain the systems, backup, security and implementation of windows and office and a number of standard products over a network. But where are the productivity tools and for the consultants. Where do they get the time to research and see that they are best of breed. How do they do this if they do not understand the use or application of the product. This is one of the biggest failings in the current IT model of the IT manager being the definitive place for these decisions.

Decisions on software products need to be made with background and knowledge in the areas that they will be required. This is the domain of the CIO (Chief Information Officer) of KO (Knowledge Office). We need to take some time and consider the role and maybe IT should be accessed more as a service provider to the organisation rather than the lead.

Marc Dimmick

Effective Training and Training Material

I have just started employment at a new company. Great I am finally back into a full time position. The first part of my job is to learn how their software works. I started with a couple of hours training with a member of staff. This was great, a lot went over the head but after a little percistance I started to understand their reporting module.

I have just started to work thorough their Accounting modules and finding the going tough. No due to the subject, but mind you a little dry. But the training material is very confusing.

Training is a pet hate of mine due to I want the information as quickly as I can get it. I have been involved in providing training and editing a training book for ColdFusion. ColdFusion from static to dynamic in 10 Steps, by Barry Moore. The important thing that I learnt from this experience was never to asume. I would have to say that this book is one of the best examples that I have seen in instructional design. When I was editing it I always took the position that the user or reader had no prior knowledge. In some respects that can be boring but you just never know where the reader is at.

Hopfully this will imporve with the material I am currently working with.

Marc Dimmick

Things to do, but when?

So many times we talk about the things we want to do. The thing is until you commit to these ideas they are just dreams. I was told a long time ago that until you commit your dreams to paper they never go much further. I did this in a small grey book and supprisingly I have achived quite a number of them. One of them was to travel around the world. Since then I have, twice and each time I never thought I would ever get the chance to do it again. I now know the trick is to believe you can. also to put those ideas on paper or you can go to http://www.43things.com/ there you can create an account for free and start to put your ideas down. The wait and see how they start to appear.

Marc Dimmick

Did this a while ago

I built my own Blog. It has taken me awhile to get into it. But with my study I am now starting to use it a bit more.

http://marcdimmick.blogspot.com/

See more progress on: Create a Blog

Created my own Blog

I did this a while ago and have only started recently posting details and articles to it.

See more progress on: Create a Blog

Enterprise Applications Next Wave for Open Source

OSBC: enterprise applications next wave for open source by ZDNet's Chris Jablonski -- This morning kicked off the Open Source Business Conference in San Francisco, where a mixed crowd of IT enterprise customers and vendors, lawyers, and venture capitalists rubbed elbows as they contemplated open source market strategies. In his keynote, Larry Augustin, CEO of Medsphere, left everyone with no doubt that the next frontier for open [...]

Marc Dimmick

Mind Mapping - "why didn't they show me this when I was at School"

Mind Mapping; when I first hear of this I just thought of it as a gimick. After using Mind Mapper Pro for some time I now only wish I knew about this when I was at school. To that end I have taught my son to use the application. It take all of about 1-2 minutes to learn and you are away. The proof is that my son now uses the program without any prompting.

Mind mapping was developed by Tony Buzan a good place to find out more is at the Buzan Centres - Mind Mapping There is a good interview with Tony at Management Consultancy News. Tony Buzan's mission is to unlock the power of our brains, and show us how to tap and use our creative genius with ease. The Times of London predicts Buzan "will do for the brain what Stephen Hawking did for the universe."

Mind Mapper Pro is a software tool which I have been using for a few years. This tool gave me the ability to transfer random thought in to a sequential document. Schools and computers keep trying to make us all think and report in a sequential manner, but we are human and we just don't work that way. What Tony Buzan has done is free up the way we think and provide a method to take all the bits of information and put it into some form of order.

What Mind Mapper Pro or the developer have done is to create a piece of software which is easy to learn and powerful in its exicution of Tony Buzan's concepts and ideas.

Of the different pieces of software around this I believethat Mind Mapper Pro is the better of the lot. Not only does it give you the freedom and flexibility to take your thoughts and finally put them into some order but you can then transfer them to either Word, Outlook tasks, Microsoft Projects and Power Point.

I have used this tool in many different ways. Initially I was using it as an interviewing tool. when meeting up with a client for the first time we would commence the project titled after the company I was working with. I would then commence with questions like, what would you like to do, where would you like to go with your buisness and what ideas do you have for the business. This would be the basis for the start of the interview. From there the client then produces the information and creates futher questions and answers.

I can then develop them further untill the client feels they have transferred all the details and information. Initially I would start with a radial tree. From there I would then transfer the tree to the right and start to get priorities from the client. Ideals which end up not being used are kept for future reference. In this way then can re-address them, it also takes them out of the picture and put to rest.

We can then open up the project line and start to assign timelines and resources to the mind map. Finaly the whole map can then be exported to work to complete and report back to the client and the timeline if needed can then be exported to project for further managment.

Other areas that I have used Mind Mapper Pro is with contracts, assignments in my study and programming projects. It is also a great way to do mind storming with a group and get the ideas out in the open. Do your self a favor and checkout Mind Mapper Pro.


Marc Dimmick

Pod Casting the evolution of Blogging

Pod casting is I believe an extention of Blogging. It takes Blogging to the next stage, and gives everyone the opportunity to broadcast their views and ideas. It gives you the opportunity to listern to many chanels and topics of which there are thousands.

My preference is for the technology and new advances in the IT industry. I came across a great chanel which is Slashdot review which if you are interested in slashdot.com you will enjoy this stream.

But to start of you will need a program to receive and manages the streams. I started with a program called iPodder which also has a great directory of chanels. From there you can then either listern to the chanels on the PC or transferr to your ipod. Try this out and see what you think.

Marc Dimmick