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We have had enough of experts
Michael Gove famously claimed that Britain had had enough of "Experts." Whether he is right or not a lot of change involves venturing into new territory. New ways of working require people to work together to learn from each other. The Ideas Exchange is an approach to learning used with members of the International Association […]
March 15, 2018 /0 Comments/by Mike Pounsford
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5 arguments for why people need purpose – and the evidence for them
1. People want meaning not money People who spend money on others are happier – around the world. Giving is a universal human driver. "Pro-social spending and happiness" is a study conducted by Elizabeth Dunn, Lara Aknin and Michael Norton in February 2014. Research shows that people with more money are somewhat happier than those […]
January 25, 2018 /0 Comments/by Sue George
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Fake News is in the news – but what makes it fake?
On November 28 I met with a mix of IABC UK members and guests to discuss the challenges and issues raised by Fake News. Facilitated by the superb and provocative Ezri Carlebach people heard from five speakers for five minutes each. Spin and misinformation Jane Mitchell, is a specialist on business ethics, and she talked […]
December 6, 2017 /0 Comments/by Sue George
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Leading Digital Transformation
Common challenges you've probably noticed
Digital development is demanding change in the way businesses are run and how they interact with their audiences and their employees. No matter what sector you're in, you're likely to be facing at least one of these challenges:
Teams have less face-time as people share, work and interact more remotely.
Employees and customers are enjoying new relationships with employers and brands as we move to self-serving models: this creates the need to rethink communication and engagement with employees and how we structure customer service roles.
Employees want more opportunities to work with their employers to give back to society and the communities they serve.
Organisations want more agile approaches with empowered employees who understand both company strategy and customer needs.
A solution starts with a conversation
Solving these issues requires processes that connect leaders, managers, project teams and front-line staff.
The traditional top down approach is hopelessly inadequate, especially in large organisations. A cascade approach is too slow when there are multiple levels of management and a complex organisational structure. "Top down" also contradicts the message that organisations need to empower their people to take more responsibility for the delivery of satisfaction and productivity.
Achieving that kind of collaboration across an organisation puts a premium on the need for quality conversations – conversations that help people work out how they can support strategic direction. The kind of conversation that encourages people to challenge, work out what they need to do to support change, and feel a high degree of ownership of the outcomes of the conversation.
Exploring the visualisation of strategy
Couravel has been using Big Pictures to help leaders define strategy and then to help teams engage with strategy. The power of visual representation of strategic and market issues is well proven. It was first written about in the Sears case study in the Harvard Business Review which introduced the Service-Profit Chain. At Sears, groups came to a better understanding of the marketplace and what they needed to do to support competitiveness by addressing questions posed by a visual representation of the High Street.
To explore its relevance today we asked 15 leaders from different businesses how developments in technology would affect their business in the next five years. Using ICA's Technology of Participation (ToP) Consensus Workshop approach, they grouped their answers into seven main themes:
Liberating structures
Empowered customers
Dynamic skill sets
Disruptive markets
New world of risks
Transformation challenges to address
We then invited them to draw these themes and use their insights and imagination to create a synthesis picture in real time.
The textual list below presents information related to transformational challenges, while the picture conveys the same information visually:
Always on and changing working patterns – timing and geography no longer blockages
Feedback is instant and we have to respond instantly
Enable paradigm shift in service design and operation – focus on understanding and improvement
Creating new skills to cope with technology change
Using data to inform decisions
Defining and mitigating new risks caused by over-reliance on technology
Identifying and responding to new competitive challenges
What this gives the organisation is a visual representation of Digital Transformation and what it needs to do to navigate change.
To involve people in a conversation about how to respond to these challenges, the visual route represents an engaging starting point because it:
Invites people to interpret what is going on
Is easier to access (you do not need to understand jargon like "paradigm shift")
Provides information more quickly
Leads to a less critical and more curious audience (lists invite a more critical, sceptical response).
Conversations around the visual
What is more important than the visual are the conversations around it; and they must be well facilitated. The visual becomes the focus for a conversation whereas questions draw people out.
For example, questions we used following the ORID framework of ICA's ToP Focussed Conversation method include:
What can you see in the picture? What else? (Objective)
How do you feel about what you can see? Anything surprising, confusing? (Reflective)
Where do you see yourself fitting? (Reflective)
What could this picture mean for how we work with each other and our colleagues in other teams? (Interpretative)
What risks do you think technology creates for us? (Interpretative)
How might we be able to mitigate these risks? (Interpretative)
How could we use new capabilities to provide better services for our customers? (Interpretative)
What does that mean we need to do differently? (Decisional)
Using pictures to lead the conversation around Digital Transformation
This led to some penny-dropping moments for people involved in the leadership of change. For example:
It is increasingly difficult to define and think in terms of "visions" as these rapidly become outdated in the face of global and disruptive competition.
Consultants working with clients are experiencing their own journey of change through the digital landscape and the relationship between client and consultant needs to shift from the expert to the consultative model (i.e. where facilitators operate most effectively)
This is also true of the relationship between customers and suppliers generally, but the changes are complex. In some respects, the relationship becomes more transactional and customers interface with technology to get what they want. This scenario sees people losing jobs as machines and robots take them over. But in other respects, the roles become more demanding and complex as the relationship becomes more akin to partnering: when customers want help it is because the technology cannot address more complex challenges (notice the bridge between suppliers and clients that is itself on wheels and constantly changing)
The value of tangible, visual outcomes that can engage people more because they are visual, different and not prescriptive and that can convey some of the nuances and challenges of change (notice the trolls waiting to sabotage change work)
The widespread application for approaches like this (see below).
Rethinking how we think about change
We need to rethink the process of change. If we want people to let go of past practices we have to pay more attention to the way individuals respond to change. To encourage people to collaborate to define new practices, here are a few "must haves":
Celebration of past achievements
Reflection time
Generating our own ideas
Feeling valued and connected
Using the Technology of Participation facilitation approach and visual thinking tools such as Big Pictures, we can create the kind of approach to collaboration needed to support transformation.
This approach is valuable in most change situations including:
Introduction of new technology
New strategy
New strategy communication
Brand evolution or launch/relaunch
Design of new organisational processes
Defining cultures, behaviours and values
Visuals and support provided by David Gifford.
September 4, 2017 /0 Comments/by Mike Pounsford
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Stories create a sense of purpose – but are you sharing or telling?
Storytelling is often seen as a communication tool to be used by leaders to influence an audience. But this misses one of the most powerful dimensions of stories – they are things that people, as social animals, have always shared and used to communicate deeper meaning. The sharing of stories has a powerful ability to […]
August 9, 2017 /0 Comments/by Mike Pounsford
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The Big Conversation
I was in Hanover today testing the appetite in Germany for The Big Conversation approach. We were slightly worried because some members of the client's leadership team had expressed concern about whether the approach would 'land' here.
We had groups involved in testing work in progress on the current visual – a Big Picture of the Group's strategy. So we talked them through the concept, the draft visual and they gave us 1 1/2 hours of feedback.
Reactions? They loved it! They thought it a great way of bringing strategy to life and involving teams in thinking about its implications for them.
By coincidence I ended up sitting next to one of the clients leadership team on the flight home. I told him the reaction and he was not surprised. He had shown some colleagues in Germany the UK version of the story and they had loved it too. So, rest assured – the Big Picture/Big Conversation approach does travel and works in cultures where some may fear more traditional business attitudes may prevail.
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Ten characteristics of effective strategic conversations
Leaders often talk about the need to align people behind goals and the challenge of doing so, and yet frequently adopt conventional top down approaches focused on "key messages" that just don't work when change is so rapid and people expect more adult to adult approaches. A more impactful approach that resonates needs to relate to the way people naturally communicate. Organisations need to use conversational approaches that include core narratives and weave discussion about everyday challenges into more strategic conversations about higher purpose and longer-term goals.
For example TUI Travel, BAE Systems, Vodafone and TNT Express have all transformed understanding of strategy by inviting teams to discuss their priorities and actions in the context of a bigger picture. Ernst Young, Rolls Royce, RBS, Aviva, Cisco, Lilly and Royal Dutch Shell are all publicly talking about their use of narrative to help give people greater contextual understanding, to share goals and to improve collaboration.
Strategic conversations
A strategic conversation connects people to an organizational narrative. It is a conversation in which people talk about what they do in the context of a bigger picture; one that enables them to explore purpose, strategy, dilemmas, problems and solutions. It is a meaningful exchange that gives the opportunity to challenge and to think through what a team, or a group of people from different teams, aims to achieve in the context of bigger goals, and the best way to do so.
A strategic conversation is an intervention that prompts people to talk about forces for change, leadership intentions and their own intentions in response to local issues and challenges. Having conversations like these moves an organisation in the direction it aims to go. The theory underpinning this approach comes from social constructionism and, in particular, the work of David Cooperrider considered the father of Appreciative Inquiry – an approach to change that sees organisations as human living systems where asking questions and encouraging focused conversations which are not prescribed can help raise energy and change.
Different approaches work better in different situations and for different organisations, but here are 10 core principles that underpin any approach to help colleagues have more meaningful strategic conversations.
1. Provide clarity of purpose and vision
An organisation needs to be able to tell its stakeholders and its people what it stands for. For example:
Disney's vision is to make people happy
Twitter wants to give everyone the power to create and share ideas and information instantly, without barriers.
These are more than marketing devised straplines to differentiate. These statements capture at a deeper level why an organisation exists: what it is for. This is important to give meaning to the people who work there for whom this purpose should be explicit and something that gets talked about constantly. For customers and other stakeholders, the purpose may be more implicit, but nevertheless it is important to confirm why the organisation is relevant for them.
The purpose needs to drive the business and sit at the heart of every strategic conversation. Even though it may not get mentioned in the course of the conversation, it still acts as a guiding light against which proposals, ideas, activities, behaviours and plans can always be tested by the simple question: is this aligned with our purpose?
Other famous statements include:
Nike: "To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world."
Google: To organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful
Amazon: "Our vision is to be earth's most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online."
2. Develop shared goals at top
This sounds like a statement of the obvious but the reality is that many organisations talk about wanting to align people behind their vision or purpose while leaders do not themselves share a set of common goals, or are not seen to.
Unless the top team can develop and convey commitment to coherent goals that they all share, and are seen to share, it is futile to expect other people, starting with their direct teams, to do so. The strategic conversation process must always include the top team for if there is any sense that there is a lack of shared goals from the top, energy and commitment for the process will drain away.
In larger businesses, this extends to the wider leadership cadre – typically the direct reports to the executive committee. Winning the buy-in of this group to the value of the conversation process, and providing them with the confidence and skills to lead their own conversations, is critical. For example, BAE Systems encouraged all members of its senior group to attend conversations led by their leaders before leading their own. In this way, the top group not only worked through a better and shared understanding of their strategic aims but also learned the value of a process that encouraged open dialogue and the exploration of how different teams support the strategy.
3. Encourage a focus on strengths and celebrate what the organisation does well
Our brains respond positively when we are told what we are good at and we focus on things that we do well. This builds self-esteem and releases dopamine in the brain that reduces threat and makes it easier for us to collaborate and create. Important elements in strategic conversations are current strengths, and historical successes, and it is the appreciation of these that carries an emotional punch for people.
Many will overlook the importance of this. They will avoid, for example, historical brands or reference to past (e.g. pre-merger) organisations. This is a mistake – even if brands or companies may no longer trade, their legacy may mean a lot to the people who still work in the business. Erasing them from the story just damages the impact of the narrative; celebrating past successes acknowledges what they meant to people and displays a sensitivity to, and confidence in, the history of the organisation.
Focusing on current strengths allows people to think about how we can build on them and is more likely to raise energy. Typically, conversations at work tend to focus almost exclusively on the issues and problems to address. The power of a positive focus can be demonstrated by making relatively minor shifts in the style in which conversations are led. For example, starting with some of the things that have gone well in recent weeks; key achievements of the business or people in it; positive customer or other feedback, etc.
4. Build conversation skills and curiosity
Good strategic conversations are really an enquiry into why things are the way they are and how they can be better. The kinds of questions to stimulate these can include:
What are we here to achieve?
What works and what does not?
Why does it or why doesn't it work?
What can we learn from that?
How can we change the way we work?
How will we know if we are getting better?
What would our customer say if he or she was here?
What is implicit in this approach is the assumption that we all have a perspective on the world that is relevant and we each have an equal right to express that perspective. Sceptics may discount this because some people bring more to the team and its work than others. Of course, they do. But it is still the case that every person in the organisation shapes how it works and what it achieves. A spirit of enquiry helps all members to contribute to an exploration of what can be better and the team needs to ask itself these questions to reach alignment and that "aha" moment to connect what's important day to day with the strategy and purpose
5. Focus on the Future
Strategic conversations need to focus on where we are going. They may and often do begin with where we have come from, what makes us proud and what are our successes. But a strategic conversation is primarily future focused – it is about where we want to get to and how are we going to get there.
The pace of change today often makes this difficult because people and teams need to react to what is happening around them as new competitors appear, customers defect, and new initiatives are launched. But a strategic conversation needs to be more proactive and to look at the things teams can do to influence events and to take more control of their environment.
For one recent client, this was at the heart of their strategic conversations and drove the process from the top down with the desire to look at the things that people could take control of and influence to ensure their work patterns and outcomes supported the achievement of the longer-terms aims of the business.
6. Adopt an external perspective
One of the great challenges a strategic conversation brings is its focus on the external and internal organisational drivers for change. Typically, these are
The needs or actions of customers, competitors, or regulators,
The outcome of social or technological trends
The impact of organizational change
Normally they are a combination of all the above. A good strategic conversation builds peoples' awareness of these opportunities and challenges that lie well outside the team and provides a platform for people to reflect on them, perhaps to vent and then to think about options for supporting the response to them.
This is important not only because it acts as a reminder of how change is always necessary but also because it is the hallmark of a healthy organisation – and the ability to be able to monitor the external environment and make changes is what makes organisations sustainable. Increasingly the need to do this at local levels, quickly, marks out the higher performing organisations from the ones that get left behind.
7. Tolerate ambiguity and build resilience
We all crave certainty but modern businesses operate in a climate of huge uncertainty. We do not know if we will win that next contract or not, what resources we may have, when we will have a change of leader and who it will be, what political, environmental or technological forces will shape the economy and our livelihood, and so on.
Building resilience involves acknowledging that change happens and that it is not always good; indeed, it involves cultivating the expectation that life will always present us with challenges. Leaders face the choice of being open about these challenges or not, and they often choose not to for fear that such discussion will be unsettling or de-motivating.
In my experience people respond positively to invitations to discuss the implications of what a future decision may mean for the business, even though the people involved lack the power to influence the decision. The reality is that people talk about this all the time and strategic conversations provide the opportunity to talk openly about uncertainty and responding to it. And during conversations about the impact of change a clear purpose is helpful to keep people focused on what they want and what they are there to do.
For example HM Revenue and Customs over the years has transformed its estate reducing the number of offices. Although this uncertainty hung over the business it encouraged its local leaders to get involved in conversations about what the future may hold for them. They were not "comfortable" conversations but they were important. They helped people express their feelings and more importantly they helped them exercise some control over the way they managed and responded to change. It enabled people to think and talk about their personal concerns and to talk about how to lead their teams to maintain service to the taxpayer during uncertainty.
8. Be clear on outcomes and share responsibility
Strategic conversations are an opportunity for people to focus on the outcomes of their work that move the business forward in the right direction, and identify what does not. Clarity of outcomes makes it easier for teams to work smarter and to build trust based on achievement and delivery.
But strategic conversations are also about sharing responsibility for outcomes. On a pragmatic day-to-day basis, more and more uncertainty permeates our working lives. The future is less predictable and keeping people focused depends less on telling people what to do and more on working with them on what needs to be achieved. A strategic conversation is an opportunity to acknowledge uncertainty and share responsibility for managing it throughout the business. It is a mistake to think that as a leader or manager one can shoulder the entire burden. A strategic conversation shares responsibility and asks the team to think about what can be resolved and what needs to remain unclear.
9. Encourage discovery and emergent thinking
But equally, and alongside, the need for clarity of outcomes, strategic conversations provide an opportunity to explore new ideas and thinking about what teams and individuals can do to achieve outcomes in new ways.
To gain this insight and to create new ways of working a strategic conversation can help and encourage people to discover the direction of travel for themselves in a way that makes sense for them. It's essentially about letting go but in the context of a clear framework.
This can be challenging for managers and the people who work for them, and it is one of the reasons why leading a strategic conversation is normally best done after people have participated in one themselves and have experienced the role they need to play as a conversation leader by being a participant first.
10. Build relationships
We need social relationships at work and outside, and neuroscience is demonstrating that these needs are as basic as our need for food and water (see for instance Matt Lieberman's "superpower" talk at the RSA). When we are threatened, we want to connect more to groups. Global competition, digital transformation, changing work patterns, rising customer expectations and disruptive competition are all creating huge "threats" across industry.
We need to help people connect over strategic conversations that enable them to tackle these challenging problems together and to share perspectives to enrich their own and to come up with more informed action plans. These conversations help us to connect with each other at meaningful levels to build relationships that are important for our own health and for the good of our organizations.
Strategic conversations are here to stay. We no longer have the luxury to manage people in traditional ways. Success depends upon our ability to empower people, which requires a different level of awareness of the big picture and buy in to strategic priorities and common goals.
December 14, 2016 /0 Comments/by Mike Pounsford
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Platforms for Communicating Purpose and Strategy
The need to connect people with Purpose and Strategy is becoming more pressing as the pace of technology change, globalization and the disruption of markets increases.
CEOs and their leadership teams want people aligned and engaged in a way that educates and motivates them so that they can take the initiative to respond as needed without waiting for directions. To do that requires equipping people with an understanding of competitive challenges, what customers want and expect and a clear view of the business priorities. It also requires doing this in a way that energises people to respond in appropriate ways. People not only need to be able to work out what needs doing but should also feel inspired, empowered and motivated to act accordingly.
Gallup, a company that has led on research establishing correlations between employee engagement and performance, has demonstrated that engaging employees can make a difference1. Jim Harter, Chief Scientist of Workplace Management and Well-Being at Gallup highlights the importance of making connections between purpose and people:
"Engaged workers have bought into what the organization is about and are trying to make a difference. This is why they're usually the most productive workers."
But the importance of connecting people with purpose and strategy is not just driven by the commercial need to stay competitive in fast moving times. Employees increasingly want to know what their company stands for and why they should care about its success and growth. A recent survey of recruitment and retention issues (again from Gallup) highlighted how the importance of purpose has risen versus more traditional factors such as reward2.
Stakeholders too want organisations to be authentic – so that the experience of dealing with the organisation matches the promises it makes through its marketing and other communications. Stengel's recent work on top performing brands demonstrated the importance of a shared higher purpose that sustains brands by delivering consistency between promise and delivery3.
The importance of "narrative"
The importance of an organizational narrative to help in this process has been recognized by people such as David MacLeod and Nita Clark in their "Engaging for Success" report for the UK Government4. They described a narrative as one of the important drivers of employee engagement:
The narrative is a clearly expressed story about what the purpose of an organisation is, why it has the broad vision it has, and how an individual contributes to that purpose.
According to CEB5 a narrative typically covers key purpose, values, vision, and strategy; and, to support these aims, the brand, desired customer experience and culture. It can also include the external factors that drive the need for change and the history of the company that represents an important legacy for many employees.
Approaches to sharing the narrative
There are many different approaches to how to "socialize" the narrative – that is, how to bring it to life for people so that they get it and understand what they need to do to support its delivery. Organizations use different platforms as the basis for sharing their narratives. Central to all these platforms is the intention of encouraging conversations to link the bigger narrative to what that means for individuals and teams. The table below summarises some of the more frequently used approaches, what they involve, their relative strengths and critical things to think about if using the approach:But as MacLeod and Clarke suggest what is important is the link or "line of sight" between what an organisation is trying to achieve and its interpretation and internalization at an individual level, which makes the way the narrative is shared critical to its value.
Platform What it can involve Strengths Critical things to think about
Big Picture; Big Conversation A large visual metaphor (a road, bridge, football stadium, islands, etc.) that outlines key elements of the narrative (vision, values, market forces, etc.).
Numerous conversations using the Picture as the prompt to discuss what this means for local teams Use of visual makes translation easy; so conversations take place in local languages discussing local issues but using one global metaphor
A big picture links complex themes (strategies, values, initiatives)
Impact and efficiency – the brain processes visual information 60,000 times faster than the time it takes to decode text Maintaining focus on creating empowering conversations; focus on getting the "right" picture distracts from equipping people to lead conversations well
Equipping managers and/or facilitators to lead conversations
Getting the leadership team behind the initial drafts is important to build ownership from the top
Establishing the right visual tone for the audience to avoid patronising people
Storytelling Can involve the development of a core narrative for an organization and/or the development of storytelling skills for leaders and managers. Stories are memorable, understandable, can operate at an emotional and rational level, and are less prescriptive inviting the listener to interpret the story to make meaning for them at a more personal level
As a result stories can be more persuasive as people reach their own insights and make their own meaning Selection of a bank of core stories that will resonate
Development of the skills of leaders and managers to create their own stories
Brand Articulation of the brand essence: a promise that represents what we offer customers (and employees)
Use of this to drive conversations and workshops that help people understand the value of the brand and their role in supporting it Links strategic conversations strongly to customer and other stakeholder benefits
Supports the alignment of customer experience to brand promise
Helps strengthen corporate reputation by increasing understanding of delivery roles Can be more difficult to apply in B2C and product brand situations where brand essence is based on less tangible differentiators
Requires acceptance of brand as a key competitive advantage which is more difficult to establish in public, third and some professional sectors
Values Similar to brand as a platform but based on enduring organizational values
Identification of enduring tenets to capture "what we stand for"
Summarises underlying assumptions about what it means to work here Appeals at a more meaningful level to a deeper purpose: why people work here and why it is worth working here
Highly flexible to enable people to adapt values to their own situations, teams and experiences
Naturally leads to questions and discussions about how we deliver the value Challenge of engaging people: how to align personal and organizational values
Can feel like a leadership construct imposed on others after executive away days
Are there worthwhile values that underpin how the business works?
Large group interventions A completely different approach that is far more emergent inviting people to contribute to the definition of what we are here to do and what our future should look like. LGIs represent a distinct discipline in organisation development and encompass such approaches as Open Space, Future Search, Search Conference, etc. These real time change methodologies can be used to engage groups in developing their narratives Emergent and more real, engaging and empowering
Bottom up rather than top down
Generates higher levels of ownership and commitment
Aligns individual stories and values with organisational story and values
Fast and operate in real time; rather than relying on project teams or sub-groups decisions are taken within group conversations This approach requires sufficient leadership confidence to be ready to adopt the proposals and ideas that come from anywhere in the organisation
Getting the right people in the room
Lack of certainty can be challenging for leaders and participants who typically take time to understand that the outcomes are not pre-determined nor constrained in the way more top down approaches are
Customer experience This focuses on how the customer experiences interactions with the organisation and the impact this has on the customer. The use of a customer journey tool encourages people to put themselves in the customers' shoes and see the world through their eyes. Key "moments of truth" and other opportunities to improve the customer experience support action planning or further work with other parts of the business Encourages people to analyse how different parts of their organisation interact to create the customer experience
Breaks down silos and builds cross-departmental co-operation
Puts emphasis on external perspective rather than an internal and introspective analysis
Fosters a growth and service mindset Understanding the customers' perspective both in terms of how they encounter the business and how they feel about those encounters
Creating opportunities for people to work laterally to influence change following participation in these conversations
Encouraging an openness and climate for people to be self-critical and constructive
Gamification Creating business games and scenarios that simulate challenges that the business faces
Using these to engage people in conversations that increase their awareness and understanding of the dilemmas involved in growing the organisation
Using these conversations to inform local planning and prioritisation Encourages the development of organisation awareness to reduce silo thinking and encourage cross-fertilisation and co-operation
Provides insights into executive decision-making
Promotes deeper awareness of the trade-offs and compromises that are sometimes necessary
Engages people in meaningful value discussions Creating scenarios that are engaging, realistic and challenging
Positioning the game as a learning experience and translating that learning to the real work
Game design that provides realism, fun and competition
This is not an exhaustive list. Other platforms include Lego SeriousPlay and drama based approaches. Nor is the list above mutually exclusive. Big pictures support storytelling and vice versa; brand workshops can encompass customer experience analysis and planning; gamification frequently highlights ethical dilemmas at the heart of values based planning.
1. Gallup; How Employee Engagement drives Growth; June 2013
http://www.gallup.com/businessjournal/163130/employee-engagement-drives-growth.aspx
2. Gallup; How Millennials Want to Work and Live; 2016
http://www.gallup.com/reports/189830/millennials-work-live.aspx?utm_source=gbj&utm_medium=copy&utm_campaign=20160920-gbj
3. Jim Stengel; Grow; 2011;
4. David MacLeod and Nita Clarke; Engaging for Success; 2009
http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/1810/1/file52215.pdf
5. CEB; How Firms Build their Corporate Narratives; September 2016
Corporate Communications: How Firms Build their Corporate Narrative
November 24, 2016 /0 Comments/by Mike Pounsford
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Building a sense of Purpose
This article aims to help people think through the scope of the conversation they may want to have to define Purpose for their organisation, or part of it. It provides a guideline for helping to think about the most appropriate way to frame the inquiry. It also provides links to other resources, articles and books that may be helpful.
This follows an earlier post that addressed why being clear about organisational Purpose is important: the Importance of Connecting People to Purpose.
Individual vs. Organisational Purpose
This is about organizational as opposed to personal purpose. For an exploration of the latter, the article in Harvard Business Review by Nick Craig and Scott Snook is a good place to start. They provide a process for helping individuals, working with trusted colleagues or friends, to ask themselves some fundamental questions from which to draw insights. For a perspective on how individual and organizational purpose can be combined Dan Pontefract provides some good stories and approaches in his work on the Purpose Effect.
Creating your process
In order to generate a relevant, inspiring and sustainable Purpose it is critical that the design and ownership of the process sits with the group who's Purpose is the focus of the work. Hence the first phase in the generic process below involves contracting with this team, before the discovery and engagement work.
The team will want to focus on questions like what data to collect, who to involve, what questions to ask people, how to bring data together, how to communicate outcomes and so on. They also need to think about and shape the subsequent stages to ensure high levels of ownership for this and the eventual outcome.
Step1: Contracting
Step 2: Discovery
Step 3: Engagement
The process iterates backwards and forwards, and the players in different stages need to interact if not overlap. Put more simply, key influencers need to play a role in all phases.
The first phase involves contracting with leadership at an appropriate level for the Purpose Inquiry. This might be the Board of a Corporation, the executive leadership of a transformation project, the functional team in a support role, the lead team of a project bid, etc. Key outcomes include clarity about the reasons why this will help the business – the business and benefits case looking at hard results such as financial gains and soft benefits such as improved reputation with customers. This is also an opportunity to brainstorm the North Star that works for this team and to outline who and how to involve others in this work.
What is important during Contracting
It is critical to get the right group of people together which essentially means the leadership. Contracting is not just between this group and an internal or external facilitator, but also between these team members as they agree what they want, and between this team and the rest of the organisation and the "system" within which it operates. Effective delivery will be defined and shaped by the leadership group working together and providing a consistent narrative.
Key outcomes from Contracting
At least three important outcomes from this step are:
"North Star" – draft summary of Purpose
Business and benefit case explaining why this is important
Scope and approach to this work; who else to involve and how to keep focused on intentions
Activities and issues to consider during Contracting
Explore readiness for change so that the team is confident that it is up for a significant shift in direction if the need emerges
Establish transparency of process so that the leadership team have complete ownership, including the option to stop the work
Insist on self-analysis of data so that internal or external consultants manage the process not the content emerging
Ask questions that encourage self-disclosure and learning to give leaders insights into what gives their work meaning, for themselves and for their clients
Identify and tackle dilemmas and political agendas that always surface: such as the relative merits of top down and bottom up approaches, the merits of an outside in and an inside out perspective to data collection, whether to explore the whole or just part of the system
Agree clear outcomes and measures so that the team knows how to expect this work to deliver value, so that it can measure progress and so the team can learn from the work's successes and shortcomings
What is important during Discovery
Discovery is an exploration of what stakeholders value – from employees and their managers to customers, partners and regulators. The essence of defining Purpose is to synthesise this feedback, drawing out themes that resonate across stakeholders and using processes (visuals, stories) to build on words to articulate Purpose.
Discovery implies both an exploration and a journey. The Purpose is "out there" and the work is to identify, enrich, focus, describe and communicate that Purpose.
Key outcomes from the Discovery step
Perspectives from all significant stakeholders on the role of the group
Synthesis of these perspectives
Creative articulation of Purpose
Engagement plan for invoving people in translating Purpose
Activities to consider during the Discovery step
Ensure all influential stakeholders feature in both the data gathering and the engagement planning
Agree what data is required – for a discovery process around purpose the essence of the inquiry is about what the organization exists to do in the eyes of different stakeholders and to explore what the organization means to different stakeholder groups
Embrace diversity so that many different perspectives are heard
Think rationally and emotionally – Purposes provide direction and inspire so it is important not to overlook the emotional value that can be delivered by a well researched Purpose appropriate to key stakeholders
Agree what data collection methods will best uncover insights for different groups – approaches can include interviews, focus groups, story boards, free form drawing, observation, document review, etc.
What is important during Engagement
Engagement emphasises that the effective delivery of Purpose is the responsibility of all people in the organisation and some outside it. However well defined the Purpose, if these people do not get it and how they relate to the Purpose, then it will remain words and aspirations on a page.
Line managers are pivotal in engaging people providing the face to face link between the organisation and the customer facing teams. Their involvement in the process begins in the discovery stage and is major during engagement. Ultimately it is the line managers who help others bring purpose and strategy to life making it relevant to different teams and helping people to connect their roles to the bigger picture.
Key outputs and outcomes from the Engagement phase
Communication materials (e.g video, social media platforms)
Face to face conversations to translate Purpose at local levels (e.g. conferences, workshops, team meetings)
Alignment between teams and throughout organisation on common goals
Inspiration – making greater meaning for people on the nature of their work
Activities and issues to consider during Engagement
Help people connect everyday work to higher Purpose
Who is going to lead conversations – will this be led by local managers, by a special team of facilitators, by leadership – or by a combination of these
Maintain an external focus on what people do for others
Involvement of all groups internally and clear communication through multiple channels to external stakeholders
Clear outcomes and measures against each group of stakeholders
Measurement processes to start early (establishing baselines) and to continue to learn what is and is not working and to help sustain the engagement
Rather than looking for rules or experts to answer questions about how to build a sustainable process, the approach above represents a more sustainable approach that views developing purpose as a discovery process with a number of different steps and ongoing feedback loops to collect and interpret data.
For more information on the importance of connecting people to Purpose go to:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/importance-connecting-people-purpose-mike-pounsford?trk=prof-post
For more information about recent clients' experiences of sustaining Purpose go to:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/focussing-purpose-mike-pounsford?trk=prof-post
For more information about how to use the Big Conversation as an approach to communicating Purpose and Strategy go to:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/using-big-pictures-engage-people-strategy-mike-pounsford?trk=prof-post
October 24, 2016 /0 Comments/by Mike Pounsford
https://couravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/xDiscovery.jpg.pagespeed.ic_.TYAk1_g6xy.jpg 271 692 Mike Pounsford https://www.couravel.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/couravel-logo-1.png Mike Pounsford2016-10-24 14:07:112016-10-24 14:07:11Building a sense of Purpose


Basically, 10 year old Ricky knows no fear - but the world around him is rough. He struggles with his 15 year old brother who is always giving him a hard time and telling him to "piss off." Things change when a headstrong 13 year old girl and her huge Bull Mastiff move to town.
Winner Audience Award Visions SXSW Film Festival 2013, Festival Directors Award Winner Mountain Film in Telluride 2013.
A favorite at this years Children's Film Fest at Mill Valley Film Festival Selected by a jury of teens from California Film Institute's 6th annual Summerfilm course, this year's youth reel draws from 160 national and international entries—including, say the jurors, one of the scariest shorts they've ever seen. Shorts made and selected by youths.


TORONTO - Vintage Hardwood Flooring recently opened its new showroom and manufacturing facility. Among the highlights of the new facility if an aluminum-oxide wood finishing production line designed with PPG of Pittsburgh, PA, that uses an ultraviolet curing process.
Brian Knapp, PPG market manager for UV flooring in North America, said the new wood-coating line gives Vintage Hardwood Flooring manufacturing versatility.


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The easier and smarter way to save big on shopping or expensive products would be getting from quality online shopping network, which offers exciting year end and festive season deals. These online shopping network also help users in finding wholesale products at exciting price and deals.


text:
Der Hangelstein ist ein  hoher Berg etwa 6 km nordöstlich der Gießener Innenstadt gelegen. Er gehört zum dem "eigentlichen" Vogelsberg nordwestlich vorgelagerten Vorderen Vogelsberg und ist, wie der Vogelsberg selbst, vulkanischer Herkunft und besteht daher größtenteils aus Basalt. Das Basaltvorkommen, in dem sich kleine Olivineinsprenglinge befinden, ist subvulkanischen Ursprungs und wird von Schottler zu den feldspatfreien limburgitischen Basalten gestellt. Im westlichen Teil des Hangelsteins befindet sich die Felsenkanzel. Diese Felsbildung besteht aus horizontal liegenden Säulen abgesonderten Basalts und diente im Mittelalter als Steinbruch.

Der stark bewaldete Berg ist vor allem mit Laubwald bewachsen. Der Berg dient unter anderem als Naherholungsgebiet für den nahen Gießener Stadtteil Wieseck. Besonders an schönen Tagen wird das Gebiet gern von Joggern, Wanderern, Fahrradfahrern und Spaziergängern besucht.

Verkehr
Die Nordflanke des Berges wird von der A 485, der Westhang von der A 480, die nach Norden zur B 3 wird, begrenzt. Ihre Trassen separieren im Nordwesten den 281 m hohen Lollarkopf, hinter dem die Stadt Lollar liegt.

Flüsse
Am nördlichen und westlichen Rand grenzen die Autobahnen 485 und 480 an. Im Süden geht das Gebiet allmählich in die Wieseckaue über, nordnordöstlich des Berges liegt die Hainbach-Mündung in die Lumda. Diese Flüsse begrenzen zusammen mit der westlich passierenden Lahn Hangelstein und Lollarkopf orographisch in alle Richtungen bis auf den Osten, wo Großen-Buseck liegt.

Naturschutzgebiet Hangelstein
Das Gebiet war schon lange als botanisch interessant bekannt. So besuchte es z. B. auch der berühmte Frankfurter Forscher Johann Christian Senckenberg. Aus diesem Grund befindet sich auf der Kuppenregion des Berges ein 107 ha (1,07 km²) großes Naturschutzgebiet gleichen Namens, das aus vegetationskundlicher und floristischer Sicht überregionale Bedeutung hat. Die Vegetation zeichnet sich besonders durch seltene, wärmeliebende Pflanzen aus.
Aufgrund jungsteinzeitlicher (Michelsberger Kultur) und bronzezeitlicher (Urnenfelderkultur) Funde sowie Resten einer keltischen Ringwallanlage kommt dem Hangelstein neben ökologischer auch eine kulturgeschichtliche Bedeutung zu.  Das Gebiet wurde schon 1939 unter Schutz gestellt und 1976 auf seine jetzige Größe erweitert.

Galerie

Literatur
 E. Schubert: Der Hangelstein. Führungsblatt zu den Wallanlagen bei Gießen-Wieseck, Kreis Gießen. (= Archäologische Denkmäler in Hessen, Heft 126). Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Hessen, Wiesbaden 1995, ISBN 3-89822-126-1.

Weblinks

 Naturschutzgebiete im Umweltatlas Hessen
 Website der Vogelschutzgruppe Hangelstein

Einzelnachweise

Michelsberger Kultur
Urnenfelderkultur
Geographie (Gießen)
Vorderer Vogelsberg
Keltische Wallanlage in Hessen

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


COLUMBUS – JobsOhio's latest Research & Development (R&D) Center Grant is focused on advancing autonomous vehicles in Ohio. $2 million will be awarded to Columbus-based Pillar Technology, who plans to use the economic development grant to accelerate the advancement of revolutionary intellectual property related to the development, testing and validation of connected, autonomous, and electric vehicles. The R&D Center Grant Program allows JobsOhio to make strategic investments in new R&D centers that support targeted industries and the evolution of the Ohio economy.
The exact location of the autonomous vehicle research and development center has not yet been determined, but Pillar is committed to building it in Central Ohio and is currently narrowing down final site options. Pillar will drive the creation of the Center, which is expected to create at least 25 new jobs by 2022 and will act as an open and collaborative area to assemble the Columbus automotive and tech communities.
Pillar Technology's 20 years of experience uncovering and executing industry-disrupting opportunities at lightning speed makes them an ideal partner for a venture focused on moving autonomous technology to the next level.
The Columbus region is an emerging hub for smart vehicle technologies. In 2017, JobsOhio, along with the State of Ohio and The Ohio State University, invested $45 million for the first phase of a state-of-the-art hub for automated and autonomous testing at the Transportation Research Center (TRC). In addition, U.S. 33 will soon be one of the country's longest highways ready for autonomous and connected driving.
Pillar Technology is a technology consulting company with more than 20 years of experience uncovering and executing industry-disrupting opportunities. The organization is made up of developers, engineers, designers, digital experience architects, and thought leaders who understand the business value of complex initiatives and solve complicated problems through exceptional digital solutions. Pillar's four physical Forge (collaborative work environment) locations include Columbus, Detroit, Des Moines, and a listening post in Silicon Valley. For more information, go to https://pillartechnology.com/.


text:
Selkirk, Market Place, Town House
Sheriff Courthouse (19th Century), Town House (19th Century)
Site Name Selkirk, Market Place, Town House
Classification Sheriff Courthouse (19th Century), Town House (19th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Court House
Site Number NT42NE 89
Selkirk Court House. General view.
Selkirk Town House. West elevation (partially reconstructed) Preparatory drawing for 'Tolbooths and Town-Houses', RCAHMS, 1996. N.d.
Photographic copy of drawing showing elevation and strip plan. Preparatory drawing for 'Tolbooths and Town-Houses', RCAHMS, 1996. Original drawing signed: 'HLS'
View from W.
Selkirk, Market Place, Court House View from N
John R Hume
© HES. Reproduced courtesy of J R Hume
Selkirk Town House. View from NW.
Council Scottish Borders, The
Parish Selkirk
Former Region Borders
Former District Ettrick And Lauderdale
Former County Selkirkshire
Photographic Survey (1955)
Photographic survey by the Scottish National Buildings Record in 1955.
Photographic Survey (October 1959)
Photographic survey by the Scottish National Buildings Record in October 1959.
Photographic Survey (February 1961)
Photographic survey by the Scottish National Buildings Record in February 1961.
Publication Account (1996)
The court-house is situated on the upper side of the triangular Market Place in the centre of Selkirk, at the NE angle of its junction with Fleshmarket Street. It was built in 1803-5 to replace an earlier jail and council-room on an island site a few metres to the W.
The building is two-storeyed and was originally almost square on plan, measuring 12.2m across the main (W) front, with a projecting central steeple about 4.3m square and some 30.5m in height. It was subsequently extended by two annexes at the rear to a length of 17m. The upper two stages of the steeple are ashlar-built, while the rest of the building is of mark coursed rubble with stepped sandstone margins, covered with render at the first and third stages of the steeple. The roof of the main block is hipped and slated.
The central entrance-doorway is round-headed, and until about 1870 the side-bays and the side-walls of the steeple at ground-floor level contained openings of similar form, which have been replaced by shop-fronts filling the re-entrant angles. The first-floor windows are rectangular, but that in the steeple is set in a round-headed surround.
A heavy wall-head cornice continues round the steeple, and is repeated at the next three stages. The first of these has slightly-sunk horizontal panels in moulded surrounds, and the clock-stage has recessed angles which define square panels carrying circular dials. The octagonal belfry has alternate louvred and blind round-headed embrasures, and its cornice carries the spire, also octagonal, which rises from a splayed base-course and roll-moulding. Its facets have oval sound holes, alternately blind and open, and it terminates in two ballfinials surmounted by a weather-cock.
The entrance-doorway gives access to a stone staircase which rises through the steeple to the first-floor court-room and two small rooms at the rear. The court-house has a coved ceiling, and all three rooms retain some original fittings including wooden panelling and benches, but they were extensively renovated in the third quarter of the 20th century.
In the belfry there is a bell, 0.63m in diameter and cast by Lester and Pack, London, in 1757, which is rung every evening as a curfew-bell. The existing clock dates from about 1870.
A tolbooth is known to have existed at Selkirk by 1517, and in 1536 it was quoted as a landmark in alloting stances in the market-place. In 1722 there was 'ane strong prison, fine Councell house and markit cross', and in 1742 the 5th Duke of Hamilton gave £100 to improve or rebuild the tolbooth to provide separate accommodation for debtors. A steeple to replace that of the demolished church was built in 1746 'above the high pend at the east end of the tolbooth', and in 1760 a debtor absconded after working 'as a day labourer at the building of the council-house'. A plan drawn shortly before its demolition in 1803 shows a rectangular building containing the council-room at the Wand a square prison-room and a stair to the E, with a square steeple projecting from the E wall and the fleshmarket adjoining the N wall. It was demolished following a complaint in 1801 by the local sheriff-depute, Waiter Scott, that 'the Town Jail was totally insufficient', and Scott acquired for his own collection a lock and key which are now displayed in the court-house.
The new 'jail and Town House' was funded partly by the burgh, which offered £500 and the materials of the old building, and by the county, and partly by subscription.' Various sites were considered, and an early request for advice was addressed to 'Mr William Elliot, architect in Kelso'. In March 1803, however, 'three different plans of a Town house and Steeple, one by Mr Boyd Architect, one by Mr Easton andone by Mr Lees architect', were laid before the council. That chosen was evidently by Lees, who proposed a similar design for a town hall at Duns. The building was completed by 1805, when Robert Sou they contrasted 'a new town-house with a spire' with the general simplicity of the town. The ground storey presumably included prison-accommodation, but a separate prison in castellated style was built a few years later, at the NW edge of the town.
The building has particular associations with Sir Waiter Scott, who was sheriff-depute of Selkirkshire from 1799 until his death in 1832. The court-room is often known as 'Sir Waiter Scott's court-room', and a bench and chair preserved there are believed to have been used by Scott.
Information from 'Tolbooths and Town-Houses: Civic Architecture in Scotland to 1833' (1996).
Sbc Note
Visibility: This is an upstanding building.
Information from Scottish Borders Council.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
TPMA Greenville Housing Plan Moving in the Right Direction
Career Pathways | Other | Workforce Development
Source: Greenville Journal
At the start of last year, Greenville's Affordable Housing Coalition set a lofty goal — to bring about a thousand new affordable housing units to the area each year for the next decade. The grassroots organization, convened by the Greenville Housing Fund and consisting of dozens of stakeholders including public, private and nonprofit entities, released a community-wide affordable housing strategic work plan, in partnership with Thomas P. Miller and Associates.
"The plan synthesizes the primary causes of Greenville's exploding affordable housing deficit and identifies the barriers that have prevented our community from making significant inroads," the Greenville Housing Fund said in a statement.
The findings of that plan can best be boiled down to two numbers:
10,000 — the number of new affordable housing units the county must build by the end of the decade.
3,000 — the number of affordable housing units that must be preserved by the end of the decade.
If Greenville County does not meet both of those two numbers, it cannot hope to make significant inroads in solving the affordable housing problem.
But so far, experts say things are on the right tract, with the Greenville Housing Fund alone projecting 500 to 600 new units in the coming year, according to Rebecca Edwards, community development manager with the City of Greenville.
"I think over the next year you will probably meet that 1,000 goal [for new construction per year]," Edwards said.
Speaking during a special-called meeting of the city's Planning Commission, Edwards and Community Planner Monique Mattison outlined some of the recent housing projects in the area.
Affordable housing: housing that does not cost more than 30% of a resident's income.
Workforce housing: housing that is affordable for residents earning 80% or less of the area median income (AME).
Greenville County area median household income: $60,351.
A 57-unit senior housing development at 119 Logan Knoll Lane, Renaissance Place features one- and two-bedroom apartments for very low-income and low-income residents, aged 55 and older. The units come with full kitchens, Energy Star-rated appliances, washer/dryers and elevator service, all situated in a building with a leasing office, community gathering area, fitness center, library and on-site laundry facility.
Twelve of the units are targeted to "very low-income" residents (those who make 50% or less than the area median income) while the remaining 45 units are targeted for "low-income" households (those earning between 51% and 60% of the area median income).
Renaissance Place is just one example of a private developer utilizing federal funds to address affordable housing concerns, Edwards said. By taking advantage of Low Income Housing Tax Credits, a federal incentive that allows tax credits for the purchase, rehabilitation or new construction of rental housing for low-income residents, developers are able to rent units for lower prices while not sacrificing profitability.
That is just one of the many tools local stakeholders are using to ensure developments are affordable.
"And usually it takes several different types to make a development affordable, so the deals can become very complex and have multiple funding sources," Mattison said.
The sheer number of tools — including community development block grants, 4% bond financing, the S.C Small Rental Development Program, HUD's Continuum of Care program, traditional financing, community development financial institutions, housing trust funds, federal home loan banks, housing choice vouchers and philanthropy — can be confusing even for developers.
But Edwards said the numerous options are also a boon for Greenville's housing problem.
"With all of our partners, nonprofit and private, the Greenville Housing Fund and all the incentives, I think over the next year you will see a lot of progress on [providing affordable housing]," Edwards said. "I think there is a lot of work ahead of us, but I think we're making really good traction too. There are a lot of new partnerships. Private developers are getting more on board with this, which is exciting."


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can i download remote access service/application to a windows 2000 pc?
Sure you can download a remote access application for your PC.
PCAnywhere would be an example of this.
Can you use the Windows server remote access on a Windows workstation OS? No.
what about radmin.exe from the windows 2000 server cd?


text:
Registrierung Zurück zum Programm
The AI exhibition: can an Artificial Intelligence explain itself?
The interest in AI systems is increasing as more applications become available and influence our daily lives. Numerous exhibitions worldwide attempt to bring explanations to the general public, while the research field of Explainable AI explores how can AI systems explain and justify their own decisions.
Can we combine both? Can we make an exhibition about AI that is an AI? Can an Artificial Intelligence exhibition explain itself?
Dr. Andreas Daniel Matt
Andreas Matt (1975, Innsbruck) is director of IMAGINARY, a non-profit organization for the communication of current research in mathematics based in Berlin. He has a PhD in Mathematics in the field of Machine Learning, and has worked from 2007 until 2016 for the Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, a Leibniz Institute, where he co-initiated IMAGINARY. In 2013, he received the Media Award of the German Society of Mathematics for his achievement in communicating mathematics.
Lic. Sebastian Uribe
Sebastian Uribe (1978, Buenos Aires) is project manager and exhibition curator for I AM AI, the upcoming exhibition about Artificial Intelligence from IMAGINARY. He studied computer science at the University of Buenos Aires, and lectured on computer graphics and information visualization at the Buenos Aires Institute of Technology, where he also directed the Video Games and Animation Laboratory. Since 2012 he lives in Berlin, Germany.


text:
Men's Roster
Women's Roster
2018 Season Bests (M)
2018 Season Bests (W)
Eldon Fix Track Tour
Pios compete in two track meets on Saturday
The men and women are both in fifth place for the El Boitano Invitational, hosted by the University of Puget Sound, on Saturday. There were also competitors in the Erik Anderson Memorial Icebreaker, hosted by Linfield.
El Boitano Invitational
For the women, there were several top five finishes.
Nicole Godbout grabbed third in the 100 meter dash, with a time of 13.22. Also placing were Sarah Howard, Anna Slaiding, and Rachel Seagren. Godbout also placed fourth, with a time of 26.90, in the 200 meter dash. Teammate Alaina King came in sixth, with a time of 27.32. Also placing were Anna Slaiding and Howard.
In the women's 400 meter dash, King placed first in 59.02. In the 800 meter dash, Samantah Bowen finished fourth in 2:25.02. Elisabeth Kirkwood finished as well.
Running the 1500, Dawn Mist Movich-Field, Kiera Crabtree, Katherine Hull, and Madison Sullivan placed 16th through 19th.
In the hurdles, Rachel Stone placed seventh in the 100 meter hurdles, and seventh in the 400 meter hurdles. Morgan taylor grabbed 11th in the 100 meter hurdles. Avia Kumano was seventh in the 400 meter hurdles.
The women's 4x100 meter sprint team finished third, and grabbed fifth in the 4x400.
On the field side, Rachel Segren grabbed fourth in the pole vault. In the long jump, Rochelle Locey placed fourth with 4.85 meters, and Chase Hagar placed fifth with 4.74 meters. Locey also placed forth in the triple jump, while teammate Kara Marler was fifth.
The Lewis & Clark women placed fifth overall.
On the men's side, Micheal Malecha grabbed the first points for the Pios, placing ninth in the 100 meter dash.
Bryce Johnson had a pair of second place finishes, one in the 200 meter dash and another in the 400 meter dash. He had time sof 22.93 and 51.67 seconds, respectively.
In the 800 meter dash, Miguel Haro-Ruiz finished in 2:04.08. In the 1500 meter dash, Jeff Mullins finished third with a time of 4:06.77. With the longest race of the day, Sean Richardson ran the 10,000 meter in 34:02.79.
Freshman Will Hoard ran the 3000 meter steeplechase, placing fourth in 11:04.93.
On the field, Noah Avery placed in four events. He placed fourth in the Men's Pole Vault with 3.70m. He was also second in the Long jump, grabbing 6.12m. In throwing, he was sixth in shot put and eighth in discus.
The men also placed fifth overall.
Erik Anderson Memorial Icebreaker
Three of the women's throwers placed in the top twenty in the Erik Anderson Icebreaker, hosted by Linfield.
Ellery Creighton placed 20th in shot put with 8.8m.
Sarah Bucknovitz competed in the hammer throw, grabbing second by throwing 42.78 meters.
Syrah Starnes placed 19th in the javelin.
Track & Field competes on March 10th at the NCAA Div. III Indoor Championships at Naperville Illinois.
August 2, 2017 Nearly 80 Pios on Academic All-NWC list
August 1, 2017 Pios receive postseason academic awards
July 30, 2017 Swanson nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year
July 13, 2017 Class of 2017 set for induction during October's 40th Annual Lewis & Clark Hall of Fame Dinner
May 26, 2017 Avery finishes as top NWC decathlete at NCAA Championships
May 25, 2017 Long jump highlights Avery's first day at NCAA Championships
May 23, 2017 Pios average 3.2 GPA with more than 55 on Dean's List
May 20, 2017 Avery to compete at NCAA Championships
May 13, 2017 Blog: Portland Twilight
May 12, 2017 Valdez selected senior speaker, numerous student-athletes earn honors at commencement
May 6, 2017 Blog: Four compete at Linfield Open
May 5, 2017 Blog: Another personal best for Swanson at Oregon Twilight
April 28, 2017 Swanson breaks school record in steeplechase
April 22, 2017 Bucknovitz takes discus title at the NWC Championships
April 21, 2017 Swanson wins NWC championship in steeplechase
April 15, 2017 Pios complete final home meet before the NWC Championships
April 11, 2017 Avery sets seven PRs, finishes third with best-ever total in the decathlon
April 10, 2017 Two Lewis & Clark men in top five at NWC Multi
April 10, 2017 Off a pair of top-two finishes, Bucknovitz wins conference award
April 8, 2017 Johnson wins two events to highlight day for Pios at Luau Invitational
April 1, 2017 Richardson, Swanson turn in Lewis & Clark's best finishes at Boyman Invitational
March 28, 2017 Avery leads way as three Pioneers qualify for NWC Championships
March 25, 2017 Numerous career bests move for Pioneers at Willamette Invitational
March 18, 2017 Lewis & Clark hosts Spring Break Open
March 17, 2017 Avery, Bucknovitz finish top eight to start L&C Spring Break Open
March 16, 2017 Blog: 17 student-athletes certified to serve as mentors
March 14, 2017 Blog: King, Johnson earn All-Region honors for indoor season
March 11, 2017 Track & Field competes at Pacific Preview
March 4, 2017 Pios compete in two track meets on Saturday
February 25, 2017 Three track athletes place in SPU final qualifier
February 12, 2017 Lewis & Clark competes at Dempsey Open
February 2, 2017 2017 Season Preview: Track & Field
February 1, 2017 Blog: Weather affecting weekend events
January 28, 2017 Blog: Pios have two compete at UW Invitational
January 26, 2017 Over 50 student-athletes earn Dean's List honors
January 18, 2017 National Girls and Women in Sports Day coming to Lewis & Clark
August 1, 2016 Lewis & Clark earns team awards, Mock and Artner chosen All-Academic
July 21, 2016 Northwest Conference announces All-Sportsmanship list
July 19, 2016 Thompson, Mock earn NWC First-Team Scholar-Athlete honors
July 19, 2016 #NewPios16 - Track & Field


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In Alberta, high school students get an additional four weeks off to accommodate for exam break; two weeks in January, and two in June. Classes typically end on the 15th of those two months. Canada-wide. Elementary, intermediate, secondary, and post-secondary education in Canada is a provincial responsibility and there are many variations between the provinces. The federal government's how to get a wage garnishment Anecdotal evidence aside; it is extremely difficult to acquire a high paying job for someone without a high school diploma. Less than 2% of all the people in Canada making over $80 000 do not have a high school diploma or equivalent (that's approximately 0.04% of Canadians).
Alberta Education recently announced that, as of September 1, 2015, school marks will count for 70 per cent and diploma exam marks will count for 30 per cent of a student's final mark in Alberta diploma … how to get an international lisense with alberta license This is pre post-secondary study for students who already have a high school diploma or are in their last year of high school. The focus is on achieving an Alberta high school diploma through completion of five mandatory courses within the periods of either February to August or September to February.
• A mature student, for Alberta High School Diploma purposes, is one who, as of September 1 of the current school year, is: − 19 years of age or older; or − the holder of a previously awarded high school diploma from the province of Alberta, or an equivalent high school diploma from a jurisdiction acceptable to the Minister.


The Lean Startup gets to product/market fit by following the process of Customer Development. Customer Development was created by Steve Blank, mainly based on his experience in the enterprise software market. Steve Blank's book, The Four Steps to the Epiphany, is required reading for Lean Startups.
Customer Discovery, the first step in Customer Development, teaches an iterative process of documenting your business hypotheses, testing these with your early-adopter customers, and modifying the business model based on your customer discovery and learning. In his book, Steve Blank presents his detailed customer discovery process for enterprise software startups.
Ash Maurya, founder of web 2.0 company WiredReach, shares his version of the customer discovery process for web startups on his blog.
The two diagrams above show the types of hypotheses needed for enterprise software and web startups. The four-part medical device customer requires a medical device startup to form a slightly different set of hypotheses. This exercise is really just another way of documenting your business plan, but in the useful form of testable/changeable hypotheses. I'll describe some standard medical device hypotheses here, with hypothetical examples of a new coronary stent and a single-incision laparoscopic surgery tool.
Around 0.5% to 1% of coronary stent recipients suffer a heart attack due to late stent thrombosis, and the risk of late stent thrombosis requires the patient to take anti-platelet medications to reduce the risk of late stent thrombosis. (Notice that none of the proposed solutions of imaging to achieve better stent placement, biodegradable stents, and safer anti-platelet medications are not listed in the problem hypothesis).
More than 25% of laparoscopic surgery patients are dissatisfied with the cosmetic outcome associated with multi-port laparoscopic surgery. (Note that the potential solutions of single port surgery and natural orifice surgery are not described in the problem statement).
A product that solves the late-stent thrombosis problem could realistically be used on all ~1M US patients who get coronary artery stents each year, because all are at risk.
A product that solves the dissatisfied laparoscopic surgery patient problem could realistically be used on all (>1M) laparoscopic surgery patients each year.
Steve Blank (The Four Steps to the Epiphany, p. 10) asserts that startup markets fall into one of four basic types, which are readily applicable to the medical device industry. Blank states that because "the four types of startups have very different rates of customer adoption and acceptance, their sales and marketing strategies differ dramatically." So, the market type hypothesis is important for understanding the spending required to achieve customer adoption. For each of the four market types, I've added a medical device example.
Bringing a new product into an existing market (e.g. Cordis's introduction of the first drug-eluting stent, to replace bare metal stents).
Bringing a new product into a new market (e.g. Target Therapuetics whose catheter-based tool for neuromuscular disease created a new medical specialty – interventional neuroradiology).
Bringing a new product into an existing market and trying to re-segment that market as a low-cost entrant (e.g. the Sonosite laptop ultrasound).
Bringing a new product into an existing market and trying to re-segment that market as a niche entrant (e.g. the bifurcation stent intends to create a new niche in the stent market).
a 3.0mm diameter, 25mm long biodegradable stent that has the structural integrity of current stents, elutes the same drug at the same rate as current stents, but biodegrades without any harmful effects after six months. (Note that the minimum viable product does not include all diameters and all lengths).
a laparoscopic tool-set for cholecystectomy that combines visualization and treatment into a single port, but maintains triangulation of visualization. (Note that the minimum viable product does not include tools specific to other surgical procedures).
Every startup makes implicit assumptions about the market and the competitive environment. Even mundane assumptions can have a major impact. In late 2007, everyone I met in the aesthetic device industry assumed that the market for aesthetic devices would continue to grow at 15% to 20% per year, driven by the aging baby boom population. We missed the link to the overall economy, which drove a 40% decline in industry revenues over the next 12 months. In this section, we make explicit our assumptions about competitive behavior, related markets, issues facing our customers, and the overall market environment.
There will be no significant advances in medical therapy for coronary artery disease that will impact the market for stents in the next five years.
Our analysis of competing biodegradable stent technologies indicates that other competitors either cannot achieve the key benefits that our product delivers, or that they do so at a much higher product cost.
Health care reform in the US is unlikely to affect the market demand for drug-eluting stents.
Today, the FDA and EC regulate medical device design, manufacture and sale in the countries representing the largest medical device markets. Your regulatory hypothesis states how your startup will achieve clearance (to market) and compliance (with design and manufacturing regulations) for these two regulatory bodies. (Japan, China, Korea and Brazil have their own special regulatory challenges, but that will wait for another day). Your regulatory path often includes the need for clinical trials. Even when clinicals are not needed for regulatory clearance, they are often necessary to drive market adoption. Your clinical trial hypothesis states how your startup will perform clinical studies to provide sufficient evidence to gain regulatory approval and to convince physicians/patients to adopt the product.
The biodegradable stent is an FDA class III implantable device, and will require a PMA supported by an ~1,000 person randomized, controlled non-inferiority trial versus an existing drug-eluting stent (pivotal trial).
Prior to the pivotal trial, we plan to run one ~100 person pilot trial, to demonstrate safety prior to beginning the pivotal trial, and to achieve CE-marking, allowing us to sell the product in Europe.
After beginning sales, we will start a registry to collect clinical data on normal patient usage of our device, similar to registries for existing drug-eluting stents.
We will develop our own internal quality systems to ensure compliance with design and manufacturing regulations of FDA and CE-MDD.
We will build our own manufacturing capability to ensure quality control of our product, and compliance with manufacturing regulations of FDA and CE-MDD.
For a medical device startup, acquiring new customers can be a long, costly process. Distribution channels, pricing, and revenue strategies are critical. Unlike self-serve web 2.0 sites, medical devices companies still need sales reps to bring in new customers, and some level of clinical training and support is often required. The most common types of distribution channels are direct (sales reps employed by the company), independent distributor(s) contracted by the company (managed by one or more sales managers), strategic partner(s), and independent reps managed by direct sales managers. The cost and timeline associated with acquiring new customers should be estimated. A specific price and pricing strategy should be hypothesized, and assumptions of competitor pricing should be listed. Pricing can be especially challenging for products with both capital and disposable components. A low-volume user may never pay back in profits the sales/marketing cost of acquisition, so assumptions about revenue per customer, repeat sales, and/or contract renewal rates are important.
We will sell our biodegradable stent for $3K each (25% premium to existing stents) via a direct US sales force with experience selling previous stents, supplemented by clinical training/support specialists on a contract/as-needed basis.
In the first year of sales, we plan to have 20 direct reps, expect that the sales process will take an average of 6 months, and expect to achieve a volume of at least 200 stents per year in each customer site.
Outside the US we will use a network of independent distributors with similar capabilities/experience. Each sales rep will be targeted at $1M in revenue per year, and will be at run rate by the end of 6 months.
In the important US market, most physicians are still paid on a fee-for service. If physicians aren't adequately compensated and motivated, adoption will be delayed. So, document your assumption about how physicians will be paid. If insurance-reimbursed, is there an existing CPT code they can use? If so, document why physicians can use the existing code, and document the average physician reimbursement. What does the physician earn on a per-hour basis, and how does this compare to other procedures they could do? If there is no existing CPT code, what are your assumptions about the path to adequate physician reimbursement? What other companies/technologies have recently received codes and coverage, and how does your plan compare to their activities? If the product is not insurance covered (e.g. refractive surgery or aesthetic surgery), document your hypothesis about how the physician is compensated for his/her time, and how this compensation compares to alternate procedures.
For implantation of our biodegradable stent, the physician will use the same CPT billing code as for the metallic drug-eluting stent, and will be paid the same amount, which is sufficient for our procedure.
The existing CPT code for stent implantation is not specific to metallic stents, so it covers our device and therefore can be used by the physician.
The physician will bill for our single-incision laparoscopic procedures using the same CPT codes at the same rates as current multi-port laparoscopic surgery.
While our single-incision procedure takes longer than the existing procedure, the ability to bring in more patients (with the single incision procedure) enables the physician to grow their business and maintain a better professional reputation.
While medical device companies understand the FDA and CE regulatory process, it's more difficult to understand and manage the way that hospitals are paid for their services (a.k.a. reimbursement). If your product increases hospital direct costs, without an increase in hospital revenues, the hospital accountants may become a serious obstacle. If the majority of your patients are 60+, in the US, medicare (CMS) will be the insurer of largest concern. Otherwise, you may need to learn the process of several large private insurers, including traditional insurers (e.g. Blue Cross) and HMO's (e.g. Kaiser Permanente). It may also be important to address assumptions about other aspects of the hospital, including purchasing, accounting, capital budgets and facilities.
For the hospital, the biodegradable stent will replace an existing product under the existing reimbursement coding, which are DRG's for drug-eluting stents.
The hospital will be willing to pay a slight premium versus current products, do to the improved outcome, despite the unchanged revenue the hospital receives.
The hospital CFO will not have to sign off on the purchase of biodegradable stents, and no special changes to the hospital budgets need to be made.
The hospital will buy the biodegradable stent from a start-up company that is not a current vendor, because of the clinical data supporting the device and the financial health of the company.
The hospital will promote the biodegradable stent as a marketing tool to patients.
No additional products or facility modifications need to be made in order to use our product.
Medicare will not change hospital reimbursement for drug-eluting stents.
The first step for the lean medical device startup is documenting the business plan or business model in the form of hypotheses or assertions. Try to uncover hidden assumptions, as these can make all the difference. In subsequent posts we will explore the testing and modification of these hypotheses, as part of the Customer Discovery process for medical devices.


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John Simmons, fellow board director and founder of 26, has a new book out. It's called 'Twenty-six Ways of Looking at a BlackBerry: How to Let Writing Release the Creativity of Your Brand', and explores different approaches to business writing.
Basically, John has taken a piece of generic corporate writing – the 'base text', and rewritten it in 26 different ways, each following a particular constraint. For example, as a fairy story; without using the letter 'e'; written in the style of Dickens; as a letter to a friend; as a six word story; as a sonnet. It's surprising just how revealing this exercise can be. There's also an engaging themed web site to promote the book, where John has asked 26 of the UK's leading commercial writers to write in the tone of voice of a fruit. I chose banana, for its obvious comic potential, and created a laid back, West Indian tone of voice. You can see my efforts, and check out the other fruity offerings here.


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Former MLB player, Water Mission ambassador Scott Linebrink on power of empathy
By Scott Linebrink Jun 19, 2020
Blaine Boyer, Jason Standridge, Scott Linebrink (in blue) and Kyle Hanlon with the Water Mission team on their trip to Uganda. (Photo courtesy of Water Mission)
This World Refugee Day, which is June 20, I am reminded of what the word "empathy" means: the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference.
It's been said we can't truly know someone until we've walked a mile in their shoes. Last November, I traveled with a team of Water Mission partners, including former MLB pitchers Blaine Boyer and Jason Standridge, to northern Uganda — home to more than 1.3 million refugees fleeing violence and persecution in South Sudan and the Republic of Congo.
We spent two days in settlements supported by our safe water and sanitation projects, meeting refugees and listening to stories of their harrowing and tragic experiences.
Aerial view of the Bidibidi refugee settlement in Uganda.
I have never fully known the depth of suffering faced by these courageous men, women and children. But our visit to two of the main refugee settlements on the border of South Sudan and Uganda gave me the opportunity to hear about what life is like for those who have survived extreme hardship and trauma. Because of their stories, I'll never think the same of the refugee crisis in Africa.
The first story is of Mary, a mother whose husband was killed in a vicious attack in South Sudan. Their village was raided and many were killed. Armed soldiers stormed the streets, burning homes and shooting people indiscriminately. Mary saw people she loved fall to the ground right in front of her. She realized that the only hope she had was to run.
She and her two older children narrowly escaped. They meandered through the east African wilderness for three weeks, staying away from main roads to avoid detection. Finally, they made it to the Ugandan border and hopped a shuttle that brought them to Omugo refugee settlement — home to 65,000 fellow Sudanese seeking asylum from similar atrocities.
Mary left her job as a teacher, a good home and many relationships, including her happy marriage to her husband — all of it gone with no hope for a return. All she was able to salvage were her memories.
When I met Mary, we sat outside her hut made of sticks and dried mud. We gathered in her modest garden, which she planted herself and tended daily. Our team listened as she prayed, first in her native tongue (Kuku) and then in English. A smile beamed across her face as she professed her love for God and the fellowship she now enjoys with her new neighbors.
Mary fled the violence in South Sudan and arrived in the Omugo refugee settlement in 2018.
We asked her how she could have joy in the midst of so much pain. Mary explained that God had allowed her to accept the challenges and that she believed in His promise to never forsake her.
"When I think of how I lost my husband and the situation my children are in, I can get weak in my faith. But God reminds me to leave them to Him," she said.
Mary thanked us for coming to Uganda to witness what was happening in the refugee settlements. She talked about Water Mission and other organizations who have brought much-needed assistance through the provision of basic resources.
Looking back, I remember her parting words: "Be careful that you remain prayerful." Mary's faith and joy during unimaginable suffering opened my eyes to the peace that God gives, one that surpasses all understanding.
Other stories told that day and the next broke my heart. Children without parents. Mothers losing babies. Families torn apart. I asked myself, "How does one begin to live again?"
I struggled to come up with an answer. There already existed an impossible task to shelter, feed and provide safe water to 1.3 million people. But beyond that, there was also the Biblical call to speak of and embody the hope we have in Jesus. Basic needs mean little when someone has lost the will to live. That was Esther's story.
Esther was tall and slender, with short hair and piercing eyes. She told us how she escaped South Sudan with only two of her siblings and her husband. The rest of her clan, comprised of around 25 people, were killed. She, too, battled the elements of the African bush and arrived at Bidibidi — the second-largest refugee settlement in the world and home to a quarter million displaced people — to try to start a new life.
Esther, a South Sudan refugee, now resides in the Bidibidi refugee settlement.
Once the immediate effects of her trauma subsided, Esther fell into a deep depression. She couldn't help but fixate on the loss of her family and the loss of identity. Her voice dropped as she admitted to us that she made plans to take her own life.
As if by divine guidance, she heard of a Bible study being led by Water Mission at a nearby church. She decided to go. That day, she heard Revelation 21:4:
"He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain."
It was through this Scripture verse that Esther found hope and gave her life to Christ. She thanked God for saving her from giving up and for allowing her to learn of the restoration that is made possible through His forgiveness.
"It is impossible to be fulfilled without having a heart for God," she said. "Because of this teaching, my wounds were released."
Esther's words immediately gave me perspective. That was the answer I sought! How else could anyone overcome these circumstances without the power of God?
God used these amazing women to show me that His love is available to any person who would call upon Him in all circumstances. And because of their stories, I now have greater empathy for the plight of the refugee and those who must survive in a world full of oppression and inequity.
As I consider what I've learned from refugees like Mary and Esther, in light of the injustices taking place in our country, I can't help but draw a connection between the two. I've been asking myself lately:
How can we truly empathize with our African American brothers and sisters unless we listen to the pain that 400 years of racism has caused?
How can we understand the plight of the poor unless we listen to their pleas?
How can we move beyond the deep political divide unless we listen to the other side?
In general, how can we love without listening?
Former pro baseball player Kyle Hanlon and a Bidibidi resident pray together.
I believe empathy is at the root of the solution. We must first come with open ears and hearts before we can affect change to end oppression and suffering. Ravi Zacharias said it best: "You can't fully understand someone's heart unless you understand what hurts them."
Ministry is messy and it takes time, but it's exactly what God expects of those whose heart is for Him. Moments like these are an opportunity to lean into the Lord for wisdom and guidance.
I hope you join me in listening and praying:
God, heal our world and break our heart for what breaks Yours. Give us ears to hear. Let us be slow to speak and abounding in steadfast love. AMEN.
To learn more about Water Mission, visit Watermission.org/jointheteam.
— Pitcher Jaime Garcia overcomes fear, shares Gospel through work with Water Mission
— Cardinals infielder Matt Carpenter surrenders to God during 'offseasons'
— Former MLB players band together to bring safe water to Uganda through Water Mission
— PODCAST: Former MLB players Lance Berkman, Scott Linebrink on Great Commission
— Orioles' Chris Davis sees God's plan at work in using his struggles to help others
— THE INCREASE: Scott Linebrink – Trauma Healing
Scott Linebrink,
Water Mission
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