Leadership I-Programs
Ignite
Ignite I-Program Attended: 02/17/2018 During the Ignite I-Program, I learned how to apply tools used in leading change within communities and organizations in a team and goal oriented fashion. We practiced brainstorming and utilizing different systems of thinking. We made a change timeline. Zeroing in on specific events in our lives that have acted as pivots and discussed what the transition periods were like for our unique situations. The program leader introduced the bridges transition model, which shows the three stages that one goes through during a transition. Stage 1 is Ending/Losing/Letting Go, then Stage 2 is The Neutral Zone, and the final Stage 3 is The New Beginning. Everyone reacts to change in different ways and we learned about the 7 negative responses and 4 positive responses by watching a clip from an episode of Parks & Rec and analyzed each reaction to the given situation: new office set up and practices in the Pawnee Parks and Recreation office. One of the last things we discussed as table groups was systems thinking. “Systems thinking can enhance your ability to analyze the complexity of organizational environments. It can also help you understand how politics play a part in organizational contexts and even show you how to use technology”. In the end, we learned how leadership can originate from personal experience and the importance of thoughtful leadership in a group setting.
Innovation
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Innovation I-Program Attended: 01/19/2019 During the Innovation I-Program, I learned a ton about my personal innovative, creative, and problem solving skills and how to further develop and utilize in different team settings. Before the I-Program, we all took the KAI test to learn more about how we each prefer to solve problems and manage change, either with a more adaptive or more innovative style. My style is in the middle, so depending on the other people in the group, I tend to be the bridger, I think that knowing this will help me be more understanding of the team dynamic within my stage management teams for productions. We tested our innovative problem solving skills by helping a partner, at our table, brainstorm a solution for giving a gift to a difficult family member, We used the Stanford D School Model to create an innovative and creative solution step by step. The final step is to test our possible solution, so our discussion group leader dumped a bag of random craft supplies and we needed to make the gift/ solution for our partner. It was a fun way to problem solve a little differently. I honestly will use the concept with difficult problems that are not in a time crunch. I also got an opportunity to test our table’s team dynamic with the Marshmallow Challenge, which tested our collaborative nature in a fast manner. This exercise is used in so many different workshops from college business students to kindergarteners, all trying to make the tallest structure in 18 minutes using only tape, string, spaghetti, and a marshmallow. I learned that design is actually a contact sport and the most important thing that you can bring to the group is your past experience and an open mind to allow optimal collaboration.
