The Tuesday Reading from Dec. 2 discusses our never-ending thirst for always doing more. It is based upon the HBR.org article by Greg McKeown “Why we Humblebrag about being busy” and Jim Collins’ “undisciplined pursuit of more”.  We are called to be essentialists, or in the words of Jim Collins, the one key to being successful today is developing “a ferocious understanding of what you’renot going to do.” How does one design their life around only the essentials things? In a world full of constant information, meetings and never ending e-mails how do we find the “stuff” that is meaningful to us? One tip is taking the time to walk, allowing yourself quite time to think and reflect. Another reason to get our there and walk! Greq McKeown suggests:

1. Schedule a personal quarterly offsite: Every three months take three hours to come up with three things you want to accomplish in the next three months. Of course the key here is to keep them essential and achievable. I can also see the need to schedule in time to accomplish these and to create milestones. First I need to schedule in my three hours to reflect on what three things do I want to accomplish. A new year seems the perfect time for this! They are on my calendar, that’s the first step.

2. Rest Well to Excel: Am I getting enough quality sleep? The easy answer to that is no. The question is how can I take the concept of being an essentialist and use it to enable me to get more sleep? How can I make better use of my time?

3. Add expiration dates on new activities: Even though an activity is successful does it need to become a “tradition”? What “traditions” are nice but not essential. McKeown says, “The next time you have a successful event, enjoy it, make the memory, and move on.” I’m not sure this always applies. Surely some repeating events are worth repeating. I think assessing at the completion of every event and discussing what the goals and objectives would be for repeating the event would be important.

4. Say no to a good opportunity every week: “consider what you would bring to the table, what you might drop to take this on, etc.  If you don’t have time to do this evaluation, you don’t have the space to do it if you accept.”  I love this statement and have shared this advice with many people already. The new behavior I need to work on is not immediately saying yes, but “that sounds really interesting, let me look at my load and see if I have the time to fit it in”.

Some tips for increasing our network given to us by MOR include:

• Make a point to connect with people
• Show up a few minutes early at meetings, walk out with someone different, engage with others more readily
• Ask people how they are doing and listen
• Have a cup of coffee with someone or go to lunch
• Take your employee to breakfast on his or her anniversary

After a meeting, conference or other social gathering MOR suggest you reflect on the following:

• What kind of energy do you feel you brought to the room?
• What image are you conveying? What is the image you want to convey?
• How are you interacting with others? What impression are you making?
• Think about your voice, tone and projection. Do they convey the image you want?

Since I just came back from #aln14 this is a perfect time for me to reflect on my presence and networking. I had the perfect opportunity to “put it into action” since I was working in the Technology Test Kitchen. This event consisted of talking with faculty, instructional designers and administrators about how they would like to use technology, what problems they were having and what their goals were. I had three full days of opportunity and sometimes I was more successful than others. We were set up in a corner of the room where the vendor showcase was so there were people who were intentionally stopping by and those who were just strolling along. While some people did the initiating most people walked by looking and wondering what was going on. I “read” these people as someone who is looking to be asked to join in. This was great practice for reaching out and initiating. I had the opportunity to connect with all kinds of people and practice inquiring, investing and in many cases influencing. Now that I am back it is time to reflect on my presence.

I observed my actions and those of the other “chefs” when thinking about what energy we each brought to the room. One of the great joys of working on a team is the different skills and energies we each brought to the room. Some were silly, some were serious and others were in between. I think of myself as in between. I’m not the one who will jump up and down and do something crazy silly, but I  am also not the one who is all business. I think my energy was to make people feel welcome, and that this was a “safe place” to ask questions, play and experiment. I’ve been told that I have a very positive energy, and that I make people feel comfortable. My skill was getting people to tell their story and engage. I was the “gatherer” who invited people in and communicated why they would want to spend time in this space. After hearing their story I would either help them or send them to one of the other “chefs” who better fit their area of interest.

When I think about the image I want to convey, it is of someone who is easily approachable. I want to come across as someone who is confident and knowledgeable but not a “know it all”. Based on my interactions and feedback I’ve gotten from others I think this is the image I convey.

I will continue to keep these questions in mind as I find myself in a range of situations and reflect on my presence in different contexts.

I was recently invited to a symposium organized by George Siemens. The topic of our meeting was what the higher education landscape will look like in 2030. Now that we’ve passed the MOOC media frenzy we can reflect on how the idea of MOOCs can improve learning experiences, increase access to education and better match the educational process with ever changing employment needs. As George Siemens pointed out, a MOOC is not a thing…the idea of a MOOC will continue to be around under a different name.

For two full days we discussed a wide range of topics: competency based learning, creating cohorts using a similar algorithm as dating services; following learner trajectories like Google or Amazon; next generation textbook; how knowledge is created and shared; the need to understand the architecture of knowledge; the importance of research driving informed change; and how MOOCs have made teaching transparent.

I was struck by the similar challenges universities big and small faced: lack of resources and clear goals and strategy for entering the MOOC market and a lack of trickle down to residential students. Universities are finding themselves unprepared for the new legal questions and processes needed. A great outcome of this event was the opportunity to share, reflect, and build our understanding of the future of higher education together. Rather than working in silos a move toward sharing across universities is needed. How do we innovate and scale up together.

What innovations and impact do you see the idea of MOOCs having at your university?