Tuesday, January 16, 2007
11:59:54 PM

Today’s First Item of Business: The Lost and Found Box has been Lost.

It really seems like we are getting into quite the routine these days. This morning I got up a half an hour later than usual and grabbed a bagel and some coffee for breakfast. The morning ride in was cold as I’ve grown accustomed to it. We had a morning workshop on “Introuction to Leadership” where we broke into groups based on what part of the world we are from. The discussion included things that make a good leader as well as some great leaders current and past. (see photo) The bulk of the rest of the day was spent dancing until I could dance no more. We had costume fittings as well, I still need to go to the Sally Army to buy a more color appropriate shirt; my plaid pastel brown was not exactly what you might call cop-esthetic. Lunch was again baked potato; filling no frills goodness right there for ya. The afternoon session from 3:30 onward was with Dr. David Stephens (see pict). We played a game called Barnga. The basic premise of the game is that there are different groups who each believe they are all playing the same card game but in fact are all given variations on the game. The Groups are numbered so whoever wins the most tricks in the group during a hand advances to the next highest group. The opposite of that is the lowest scoring person gets bumped down a group. You can see the problems start to arise at this point as people think they are playing the same game but not. The twist is that no one is allowed to communicate verbally or through writing. This simulation shows how people from different cultures, even when they think they are doing the right thing the way they have been taught but it may not be the same as other cultures. Most of these differences spur from how we’ve solved problems. Why is the fork on the right and the spoon on the left? Well, that is the solution that we have come up with to solve the problem of getting food to our mouths form our plates and bowls; there is nothing wrong with it, its just the way it is.

It was a really weird experience at first because people coming to the table didn’t seem to know the rules. Some adapted while others felt strongly that out group had misinterpreted the rules. Some actually became violent.
The lesson to take from this is that we should always try to be mindful that others’ ways of doing things, although different from our own, are not necessarily incorrect.
As far as appling this ideology to UWP and my life, I’m going to have to say that I should apply it to be more patient when dealing with people that know less about technology than I do.

Me and the Doc.
Peppe Enjoying the Ride home.
Our Group's results
The Latin Representation
The European Group
The Techbar located next to the Café
Dance Practice


For those of You wondering my tour Schedule goes as follows.

North America Dates
Denver, Colorado (orientation) 6 January – 5 February
Arizona 5 February – 12 February
Texas 12 February – 19 February
Texas 19 February – 26 February
Louisiana 26 February – 5 March
Arkansas 5 March – 12 March
Tennessee 12 March – 19 March
Georgia 19 March – 26 March
Florida 26 March – 1 April

Europe Dates
Belgium 2 April – 9 April
The Netherlands 9 April – 16 April
Germany 16 April – 23 April
Germany 23 April – 30 April
Denmark 30 April – 7 May
Sweden 7 May – 13 May

Asia Dates
Thailand 14 May – 11 June
*This schedule is subject to change.


Its All Good™ I would encourage everyone to comment and give feedback.
brennancoldwell@gmail.com