groupcreate

David Allen, speaks to Google

Here is a video, of David Allen, speaking to Google. I think it is worth watching.

-Joshua Jordison

groupCreate's Strengths

Here is the matrix of everyone's strengths:

Download GroupcreateStrengths

If you don't see your strengths on this list, you need to post them here.

My Strengthsfinder Results!!!

Hey All,

My Strengths Are:

1) Includer

2) Harmony

3) Woo

4) Restorative

5) Belief

I really enjoyed meeting with a small group of you last night and look forward to our projects and endeavors as a whole.

: )

one love. nate.

Is multitasking better than single tasking?

I am recovering multitasker who has found razor sharp focus on the goals I want to achieve. In the "Power of Less" by Leo Barbatua, Leo highly recommends 

"...that you focus on one thing at a time. To get to your short list of three tasks completed, you'll need to focus on each one of those taks in turn, and try to focus on them to completion. This will be a radical departure for the multitasker in all of us. But single tasking is not only more productive."

Here is my question: Does this work in the real world? 

Leo has the luxury of being self employed and makes his income from his blog zenhabits.com. Is it realistic that the student worker in the mail room will be able to focus on the three things he/she thinks is most important, single task each one of those goals to completion, and still be able to keep their job? 

I think the assumption Leo makes is that we are in positions where we are given great autonomy. He makes the case that if we aren't given autonomy in the workplace, we should simply quit our jobs and find a job where we have the flexibility to set the goals we find most important. I have to agree. Even in this economic climate there are jobs available for self motivated employees who can focus and eliminate the nonessential.  

What are your thoughts?

Applying "The Power of Less"

Here's how I'm applying lessons learned from "The Power of Less:"

First, I wrote out a post-it note with my One Goal, and another with my Three Projects, and put them on my refrigerator. Each morning I review those, then decide on my three Most Important Things (MITs) to do for the day. I write those on a third post-it note, date it, and stick it on the fridge.

The next morning, I check off what I did, write a new daily MIT list, and put yesterday's MIT list in a folder for the month.

The result for me is that I'm staying very focused on activities that are related to my key projects and goal.

My Strengths Finder Results & More

My strengths are as follows:

1. Ideation 

2. Strategic

3. Individualization

4. Futuristic

5. Learner

Looking forward to the matrix. 

I would love to see everyone participating in "projects". I think that is a great idea!

-Joshua Jordison

What are your strengths?

What are your Strengthsfinder 2.0 strengths? I am looking to put together a group matrix of everyone's strengths.

Strengthsfinder--application

Based on the read-then-do pattern of this group, I read Strengthsfinder 2.0, took the online test, and spent some time verifying the results. I talked it over with friends, and used the action suggestions to get a feel for what was right for me. I also took some guesses about what my 2nd and 3rd tier strengths might be, and developed a few strategies to deal with my weaknesses. Then I used the results to: reorganize my working style, rewrite my resume, and rewrite my bio on LinkedIn.

Play the Strengthsfinder 2.0 game

Strengthsfinder for me was valuable for the test. The opening part of the book had some valuable for some thought fodder, but after that, it was a listing of personality attributes. My learning style is not such that I can learn from lists of items so I decided to turn the book into a game:

Read all the strengths and then name 3 people that you know that possess this strength.

This will make learning the strengths fun. It also turns the book from a list of personality attributes into an index of the strengths from your social and professional circles.

What are your strengths? I want to see if I guessed correctly!

Developing Strengths instead of trying to fix weaknesses in education

The concept of developing strengths instead of trying to fix weaknesses is an interesting idea, especially as it applies to education. Here is a quote I found interesting from Strengthsfinder 2.0 :

" What's even more disheartening is the way our fixation of deficits affects young people in the home and classroom. In every culture we have studied, the overwhelming majority of parents (77% in the United States) think that a student's lowest grades deserve the most time and attention. Parents and teachers reward excellence with apathy instead of investing more time in the areas where a child has the most potential for greatness." (Kindle Location 182)

I have talked to a lot parents in the last 6 months who have become increasing frustrated with the public education system and its lack of flexibility. A common complaint is that their children are failing at the routine memorization of information and concepts (usually in subjects where the student is weak or dispassionate).

How can this be fixed? The main theme of the book seems to endorse the Montessori approach to education where students are able to develop their own curriculum based off their strengths. I agree, but the problem is the quantity of students that must be educated. As curriculum becomes more custom on a student by student basis, the cost goes up, and the program becomes increasingly difficult to scale. You basically have to solve the problem of a trade off triangle:

 

Here are some thought questions:

• How do you create a scalable education model that allows individual learners to customize their learning experience based off their strengths?
• Would this be a better model? 
• Would our students lose the ability to synthesize different subjects?