The Block M

I just realized another reason to why I like the University of Michigan's Block M: It's modern and old school at the same time.

First a pseudo tangent for example:
In cartography circles, sans serif fonts are often used to indicate man made features (like cities), while natural features (rivers for example) often have serif fonts.

Serifs are those extra bars and lines you see at the ends of letters such as on the capital letter "I". These

Serifs can be seen in Times New Roman or Palatino, and they often carry a traditional/historical/academic aesthetic feel to themselves.

A sans serif font like Arial or Impact is often interpreted aesthetically as modern. Can you imagine the font-logos of Star Trek or Star Wars with serifed feet on their fonts?! I challenge you to make an alternative logo that keeps serifs on it.

Back to the University of Michigan's block M:

It's got straight shot lines to make it aesthetically interpretable as a sans serif font, but keeps with tradition by retaining its "feet". Pretty hip huh?

Real tangent: I'm diving shallow into the world of typography, so I'm actually unfamiliar with font/typeface phylogeny. Even still, it's interesting to note that my favorite serif font is a member of the humanist font family while my favorite sans serif font Impact is a member of the realist font family. I wonder if there's an idealist font/typeface family out there...

What's in the window? What can you see?

Let's put the petty implications of politics aside for this post.

I suppose John Kingdon's policy windows of opportunity has been around for a while now, but it's brand new for me, and I think that every team player and leader should know how to use this as an analytical tool.

Essentially, the window of opportunity happens when you've got streams of problems, solutions, and politics overlapping into one another at the same time.

This is best depicted visually, and a venn diagram with three circles is the standard image you might find in textbooks and other publications. However, we should acknowledge that it is a dynamic process (ergo the mention of "streams" for problems, solutions, and politics).


First, I'd like to redefine what politics are. Politics is the articulated desire for action. It's about what is seen as wanted or needed, it doesn't necessarily need formal systems and attention to happen. It goes beyond elections, diplomacy, or international statements.

That said, we can apply Kingdon's model beyond the realm of State, Federal, and Foreign policy and test this window on individuals. In particular, individuals like you and I who work with others as team members and leaders.

I like how the circles in the venn diagram work out. You'll always have more information than you can fit in the window of opportunity.

There will always be more information than you can use

Talkin' 'bout my generation--it's going to be thirsty

I've been hearing about "Generation Y Michigan" on the radio recently and saw this posted on facebook.

Michigan Radio:

The first Generation Y Michigan story airs tomorrow during Morning Edition (5-9a) & All Things Considered 4-6:30p.) As we work on more pieces in the series, we wondered what questions you have about Michigan's "brain drain"?

You might be picking up some negative vibes about Michigan right now, and it's easy to see where a lot of it comes from. Unfortunately, I was feeling it from some of the promo for this series, and the responses were equally pessimistic (or at least, they could be depressing). Here's one of them:

I'm sorry but i'm leaving again the moment I have the chance. I've been all over the country and never, ever seen poverty like this. In over three dozen close family and friends I see on a regular basis I know seven people total with jobs. Three of those are part time underpaid positions.

There's no future here. That's why we're leaving.

Ack! Please do not forsake the state! When it comes to Brain Drain, the Bruce Lee allegory about an empty cup comes to mind. You can't fill your cup with anything else until it is empty. Michigan may be emptying, but we're entering the best time for leaders and learners to rejuvenate its systems. Here's my response:

I respectfully disagree: There is future in Michigan, but leadership among its people will determine whether it's going to brighten or languish. There's a lot of raw opportunity despite the fact that (or maybe because) the economic and political climate may slow us down.

That said, there's a myriad of reasons that people need to leave, but there are just as many for people to return or stay.

Think about Detroit; its capacity and momentum for recovery are diminished by brain drain, uncoordinated leadership, and weakened communities to name a few. We'll see similar results if the state is forsaken altogether.

The questions: Pick anything the state has certainly been failing at or can substantially improve. Then ask how can we bring people together to process these opportunities in ways that are socially, economically, AND ecologically sound? There's no shortage of work to do, but find out how value in those three areas is recognized so that we can quickly communicate the benefits of Michigan's situation to current and future talent.

As I was writing the reply, I realized the problem almost boils down to a marketing piece. Do the research, build your community, and communicate the value. Assess, tweak/terminate, and sustain.

But, the solution also has lots to do with leadership that considers more than government systems or America's most talented.

There are three audiences I can think of:
the dedicated (people staying within the state)
the maybes (recapturing those who briefly left)
and the not yets (attracting new folks)

Right now, it's about working with the dedicated people who stay.

Bring out their best, share with them what you know, learn what you can from one another. You'll explore with them, develop a community, and empower them to do the same for others.

Here's where I think the roads are bumpy:

Anyone can tell people what the problems are, and maybe even how to solve them. Your challenge is to pass on the best of what gets you excited about the problems and solutions. This is what inspires people to want to learn and do more. You're sharing the value in what you see for the circumstances around you and the community. To make it relevant, you have to address the triple bottom line of sustainability: people, profit, and planet. Eventually, you'll attract outsiders who seek silver lining (or maybe delicious water from a Great Lakes sub-watershed) in whatever state you're in.

Oh, since the story can't be listened to on the radio right now, in the mean time I'd like to recommend that you listen to The Who's song about my generation as you wait.

Are you ready for it?

Let's revisit one of my previous posts, the one about shyness.

I had pointed out three possible conditions that contribute to why we feel overwhelmed when exposed to a new experience.

     1. We were unprepared to receive the incoming information and stimuli; as such, our stable              household environment became a new environment
     2. We did not know how to discern what was pertinent to us as we experienced it
     3. We had not yet learned how other people express and convey important information

When these conditions are true, everything appears to be a threat, and we respond with the fight or flee response.  I'll admit that it's possible to have more conditions, but for now, this should be sufficient to think about.

The funny thing is that being exposed to new forms of communication is often like this as well. We hear strange contemporary "music" that comes across as dissonant noise to us, while other people call it a profound masterpiece or social commentary. Our immediate reaction is to abhor it if we cannot get past point two or three. Once we can ascertain these things, we can finally make our judgment calls on whether or not the music or people are good or bad.

There's a case study done by Radiolab about Stravinski's Rite of Spring which examines this phenomenon from a neurological point of view.  People weren't ready to hear these strange sounds, and regardless of when the music would be introduced  

12 tone music dedicated to Schoenberg

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with Arnold Schoenberg, 12 tone music is one of his claims to fame.  (Assuming I understood correctly) Schoenberg felt that all twelve notes in the Western music scale should be treated equally, and devised a set of rules for composers to use that would make them appear in no particular order.  For listeners, the 12 tones aren't always received with equal regard when played together in this asequential sequence: http://youtu.be/fy6t8yXPcSQ


Here's my current list songs in twelve tone [tone deaf?] music hits dedicated to poking fun at Schoenberg...

Schoenberg's Reel
The Happy Birthday Song according to Schoenberg


If you want to hear a detailed, likely much more accurate story about 12 tone music, this person describes it at length in about 7 minutes: http://video.nytimes.com/video/2007/10/12/arts/1194817121260/12-tone-music.html

From credibility to cohesion

As I was writing a cover letter for an internship, I began to write down what I've experienced as an employee, head of a string ensemble, Co-President of a debate team, Boy Scout, and anything else I've been through where leadership applies. Since most of this was copied and pasted out of my letter, this may be my pithiest post yet. However, I may be tempted to deliberate further.

I have learned that credibility—much like talent—is only a beginning. No matter how good it may be, hoopla can expire. Especially when showing off prior accomplishments won't do your job for you. The delegation of responsibility is an implementation of trust, and when the designated individual successfully communicates reliability, organizational cohesion ensues. Whether working with colleagues as the Co-President of the University of Michigan-Dearborn Debate team, or employers as an ensemble liaison, this process cultivates a conductive working environment and promotes healthy interrelationships. When conflict arises, it interferes with this ongoing exercise of trust, someone—better yet, everyone involved with the issue at hand—needs to find ways to amend their problems, and the best thing to address that there may be a problem in the first place is once again, open communication. Honestly telling someone what's going on. In some cases, it may even require utilizing some self-disclosure.

Ideas come faster than explainations...

It's true isn't it? Usually, it isn't a bad thing as we are either forced to think twice before speaking, or commit and explore that which we have not yet defined or understood.  When should we wait?