Saturday, January 30, 2010

Creating Change--Finding Patterns Invisible to Others




In reviewing a Grant-Writing Course I have taught, I remembered one of the slides from my Power Point presentation, “Creating Change—Finding Patterns Invisible to Others,” which I have included with this blog post.


How about you? You may not be writing a grant, but are you able to apply the process to a “Present Condition” in your life for which you would like to see “Change” to a “New Condition?” 


This involves the best of creative thinking and problem-solving. 


Why not start today?

Take a look at the graphic included above.

Begin to visualize that “New Condition” in your life for which you would like to begin creating change.

Do you see patterns which may be invisible to others?

Monday, January 11, 2010

Use STARs to Your Advantage


As social media networking opportunities are rapidly expanding, you can use the STAR format to your advantage through networking and communicating in social media as well as in job interviews. In this blog post, I have identified some STAR strategies to help you recall and structure your life experiences to help you “shine” in the vast network of social media, or in replying to targeted selection questions in a job interview situation.

When describing your life experiences, design your own thought-provoking questions beginning with a stem like, "Describe a situation in which..." or "Tell about a time when you..." Then, utilize the following STAR format to recall and structure your life experiences for social media readers or when being interviewed for a job:

S – SITUATION—Describe the situation in which you were involved. Here, you have an opportunity to show your grasp on the English language by being concise. Be as descriptive as possible in as few words as possible. The more concise your description the easier it will be for the reader to follow and understand the situation. If you ramble, even if your answer is great, the audience's attention will fade.

T – TASK—Describe the task to be performed. This is an opportunity to display your ability to assess situations and read people. Sometimes the task required can be self-explanatory. If so, over-complicating the task can make you appear self-aggrandizing. Don't always give the obvious answer, however. Giving novel answers to prickly problems shows initiative and evidence of original thought.

A – ACTION—What was your approach to the problem? Here you have the opportunity to show yourself as a doer, a person of action. Be concise. Your actions should simple. This is also an opportunity to show decisiveness.

R – RESULTS—What were the results of your actions? This is the part of the answer where you get to sell yourself by selling the results of your work. There is a time and place for everything and this is your time to shine. This is the part of the answer where the reader will see how confident you are in the work you have done.

Even with stellar credentials, the STAR format will help you organize your life history and shine in the vast network of social media or when you are applying for a job.


Just for fun, try writing out your responses to your own thought-provoking questions beginning with a stem like, "Describe a situation in which..." or "Tell about a time when you..." This will give you a great resource from which to draw descriptions of your life experiences for use in the future.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Quamran caves and the Dead Sea






Quamran cave number four, the site where in 1948 a little Bedouin shepherd boy was looking for his goat and discovered the first two earthen jars containing the Dead Sea Scrolls. As our tour bus stopped to take this photograph of the Quamran caves on March 17, 2000, our Israeli tour guide, Micah, told us that Bedouins never go in caves, even to rescue a goat, but because it was a young boy, he didn't know any better, and didn't want to go home to his father with one less goat.


From "Meeting God in Holy Places," by F. LaGard Smith, "Maybe it's time I joined the young Bedouin shepherd boy and climbed to a higher plane...by God's grace, it won't be ancient scrolls in earthen jars, but the Living Word in a purer heart." 


We arrived at the Dead Sea about 1 p.m. and sat down in the shade by the shore with our box lunches, reading more from the author Smith's wonderful commentary, "The thought I could not dismiss that day was that sin--all sin, whether disgusting and gross or all-too-acceptable--finds its source in an excessive attention to self. It's time to do some serious bobbing in the Dead Sea and to think long and hard about just how much our lives are wrapped up in ourselves: in our careers, in our clothes, in our houses, in our money, in all the things that keep us looking inward instead of outward. That was the very problem of Lot's wife. When she looked back from Sodom, there was still something about her life that she just couldn't let go of. Whatever it was, it turned her into a pillar of salt. No wonder Jesus told us to, "Remember Lot's wife!" 


According to Jesus, the fate of Lot's wife reminds us of the lesson, "Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it."


Blog Archive