Reflection

So it is the end of the class and we are ready to take our finals. As I write this, I feel as though it is so much more than that. I know it sounds corny, but this blog seems to have served many different purposes. It was a requirement for our class, but it was another way for me to type down my thoughts that others could read and get a little better idea on who I am.

I know that this is a very superficial way of trying to tell people my story, but it is amazing as to know how many people will be reached by this. Will this blog stop at the end of the course, or will this serve a greater purpose. I was thinking of how the social responsibility of sharing information is key to the success of how we can drive innovation. It may be a thought that was generated by this blog or by someone else, but we can see that the common ground which is the information superhighway is a great asset to us.

I feel as thought this blog will serve as an outlet for me to either vent my frustrations, share my joys and share random thoughts that may inspire. I am not sure if anyone will continue to read my blog, but I hope and encourage those to really continue writing as we are the ones who can drive innovation and we are the ones that can really do something with technology on our side.

This is not my last blog.......

Facebook Experience

So facebook is a great thing, but it can also be extremely awkward. I am going to talk about the good about facebook and then go into my awkward experience. First off facebook has allowed for me to connect with a lot of people that normally would not be fesible, because of the sheer volume of people that you meet in your lifetime. I have also connected with people that I haven't heard from in years and have had great conversations. This is awesome because of the value that I put on relationships, and this gives me another tool to build those relationships.

Now onto my awkward situation. Because of the sheer volume of people you befriend many, but sometimes those "friends" are more like aquaintances. So I befriended someone on facebook. I did not maintain communication via facebook nor any other outlet, but we were still "friends."

Well I later saw this "friend' in person and instead of saying hello or starting a conversation, we just had an awkward stare. What seemed like 1o minutes (really 5 seconds) was very awkward, becasue we were "friends" virtually but not in reality. This just shows the importance of face time that you have with people.

So often we neglect the idea of the human aspect and depend so much on the idea of technology. This technology is something that is a great tool for us, but I have said this time and again, that is cannot replace the tangiblity that one gets with face time. Now it almost seems like a paradox, because some of the face time you get was first intiated by technology, whether it is an email, text, or a message on your wall.

We just have to make sure that we understand the differentiation between reality and things that are tangible and virtual and things that are intangible. This is key to understanding where, business and technology intersect to drive innovation.

Fear?

So the idea of living in fear is crazy. There are so many things around us, and often times we do not even realize that the event occurred until it is too late. The idea of trying to maintain security and maintain sanity is something that needs to be proactive rather than reactive. There are so many tools in place to allow us to be preventative, but nothing is fool proof.

If we spend our lives worrying, we are going to drive ourselves crazy. This is so very true. There are always those people out there that are thinking of new ways to harm, via cyberspace, and everyone is a potential victim.

So the ultimate question has to be asked, "Am I safe?" We can see the trends that many different systems are in place but the reality of it is, is that we are all at risk in one way or another. Let's look at primary schools for example. There are so many different systems in place now to be preventative, based on previous mishaps, but are these systems fool proof? Again the sad reality is that there are still holes, but those holes are becoming smaller and smaller.

If we chose to be ignorant that is probably the worse thing we can do for ourselves. This idea of knowledge is power is just that, we have the knowledge to be preventative and if we just sit on that and do nothing, we cannot blame anyone but ourselves.

Blogging

So during the last class we discuss the idea of blogging and the social responsibility that each person has. We have all heard of the phase, "Knowledge is power." This is so very true as the information that we are putting forth can be taken in so many different perspectives. There was discussion as to the impact that information from blogs can have on an industry and also on an individual.

I want to see both sides of this. As an individual it is up to us to determine whether or not to act on the information given and whether or not to give that information credibility due to the source. We as people want to believe what we hear and so often we are quick to react to information sent without thinking through. So does that mean that the individual is at fault and there is no social responsibility for those that are sending the information?

Those that are sending the information have responsibilities as well to give the most accurate information at that given point in time. This blog for example, I am writing it, but whatever I say here may or may not be true, but it is my responsibility that the information that I am putting down here does not hurt nor disrupt anything. These are my thoughts, but knowing that my thoughts can be a dangerous weapon.

If I were to blog about a retail company and my bad/good experience it may effect someone's perception of that company. Just by putting my own thoughts down. Despite the fact that emotion may play into the way I write, this again is my responsibility. It is amazing how we have evolved and more so how we have become powerful with the click of a mouse.

This all boils down to one thing, RESPONSIBILITY. Not only for those giving the information, but also to those that are interpreting the information read. So please take this blog with a grain of salt if you are going to interpret this wrong.....

How does media work?

We see media around us every single day and we are exposed to it almost every single second in our lives, but what effects does this have on who we process things and how we are really looking at products and services?

The products and services that are being reached out to us seemed to have us desensitized, but what would happen if we just had not media that exposed us to these things, our social norms would not be norms any more and it may cause panic.

So how does this relate to media and why do I care? Media is a tool that is used to reach out to an audience that may not be able to have been reached before. This blog that I am writing, may have not a single person read it, or it may have someone in China read it right after I post it. So this idea of different media outlets directly effects me because of what seems to be changing in technology and how we use it is normal.

The absence of such media would be slowing of the progression of how we are going about our lives. Now does the absence of media mean that we cannot live, absolutely not! Jeff Goldbloom said it best in Jurassic Park ,"Life finds a way." Yes, life does find a way, and that way is media and how we use it to our advantage.

Speed of information is so quick we forget to process it sometimes, but if there is no media, what we have deemed to be normal would not be as such and it is in our human nature to find a way to be productive and evolve. We are in our MBA program to evolve our thinkings and how we innovate the business world. Technology has been a tool for this progression, but we cannot forget how media plays a huge role in this.

Knowledge Management vs. Knowledge Exchange

I was ask the question what differentiates knowledge management vs. knowledge exchange. As I answered and then found that there was a different definition, I still was not convinced. I saw it as a point where I had to really ask myself do I accept the terms that were given in class. Looking back on it, I do agree with the statements that were given, but I believe that the semantics were what were hanging me up.

I found that the idea of knowledge management is the hub of information, but the idea of knowledge exchange cannot happen without knowledge management. This is a bit of a paradox, as we have seen that the idea of knowledge exchange is the place where innovation comes into place and allows us to develop new frontier lines that will give us an advantage. Many things that we have seen as we have progressed in society and in technology that there are things that complement each other and without these things we truly cannot have a competitive advantage if this systems are not there to support each other.

As far as the class goes, I still firmly believe that knowledge management is something that is necessary for knowledge exchange to exist, but the importance of knowledge exchange allows us to set new innovations.

Remember tokens?

So this weekend I was at Dave and Buster's and as I was there I was remembering my childhood and a place called Circus Circus. I remember putting in dollar bills to get tokens so that I can play games. I would play skee-ball and various other games to win tickets so that I can spend those tickets on a worthless prize that I never kept. I must have spent a fortune playing these games all for those tickets. Well I found myself as a 5 year old child again, but this time it was different.

Instead of pumping in dollar bills to get tokens, I had to buy a card which cost 2 dollars and then add "chips" to the card for a monetary amount and then I was off like a little kid playing games. This idea of the card was genius!! With something tangible like tokens you have a sense of how much you are spending, but with the card, you have no idea and you just keep playing until you are done with all your "chips" then you go back for more.

I see all these kids around with cards in their hands and using them as I used to use tokens when I was a kid. They have no idea how much the game cost to play, this is genius by Dave and Buster's as they have gained a competitive advantage on the intangible. To cost of the card to the consumer is way more than the cost to D and B, so they are making a huge margin right there, but the upfront cost and maintenance is minimal compared to what they are bringing in on the charges.

Dave and Buster's has really used technology to their advantage and I have to applaud them. Really innovative.........

Technology = no arms?!?!?!?!?

This is just a random blog, but I figured it had something to do with technology so I am writing it. So yesterday I was at a company and I had to check in to the front desk. The lady there was extremely nice and greeted me with a smile, but then randomly would start talking......I figured she was talking on the headset she was on, but man that is confusing.

So I have a bluetooth headset that I use when I am driving or when I need to have long conversations (mainly with the lady discussing why I am at school so much). Any case, I know how they work and to answer a call majority of times you have to put the button on the side of your headset to answer, if not you have an auto answer thing, what I just think it is weird. So as I was looking at her confused whether she is talking to me or someone on the phone, I figured she had an auto answer.....well she did, but not what you think!!!

The actual telephone that she was using had this mechanical arm that would lift the receiver off the hook when the phone rang and hang the phone up when the phone call was done. This was amazing and I just sat there staring, the lady probably thought I was crazy, but in any case I was sitting there like a 5 year old kid enj0ying this mechanical arm go up and down and up and down and up and down...........you get the idea.

This made me think, with all the technological conveniences that we have in our lives, have we forgot to use our basic human functions. I am not saying that the lady forgot to use her arms, but seriously, we often rely so heavily on technology that we find it to be a necessity in our lives. The question is, when you leave your house and forget your phone on our dresser, does it feel as though you have lost an appendage? So times move and times change, we see the need out there, but in the time of these changes our views of what is a need and what is a want is clouded by what is convenient.

Technology has allow for us to do many great things; share information faster, save millions of dollars in planning, and the list goes on and on. But business innovation is driven by us with the aid and understanding of technology.

But in all seriousness.......is it too hard to put the button on the side of your headset?!?!??!?!?

Information Change?

We have learned that the way that we gather information is changing, but let's step out of the box for a sec and think about the actual information that is being sent across via all different mediums. Does the information change because it is more abundant? Does it change because we now seek for more because we can?

The idea of the information changing is not that the facts are changing, it is based on the way that we synthesize the data and how it materializes. The way we receive information and the way that we collect data is moving fast and faster as more technology becomes available, so what does that mean for information to us?

We need the information framed in a way that we are able to look at it and process that information quickly so that we can move on to the next thing. This allows for us to streamline and be more cost effective, but there may be some fallacy in this. Because we are moving so fast we trust and believe that the information that we are gathering is truth and we leave it at that. I am not saying that we should question everything in our lives, because that will be counter-productive in how far we have come, but we must understand that the idea of something framed may create some danger.

We briefly discussed this in class as the dependency of technology is to compliment not supplement our human behavior. This idea of change is great, but there must be a core foundation as to the direction we take this change.

Differences.....

So with the idea of the way we see things, I am actually looking at different perspectives on education. I have recently switched my MBA program from the University of St. Thomas to Carlson's program and the common question is, "What is the difference?"

To answer this would literally take about 20 pages, but because I know that the attention span of most of us (at least for me) is limited to about 2 pages because of the amount of course work that we have going on. There are key differences that differentiate each program, neither good nor bad, but different.

Teaching styles vary and the way that perspectives of different cases are viewed vary a lot. I have seen that the Carlson School has a more mature set of individuals that contribute a lot of work experience, where as the program at St. Thomas has many people that are straight from undergrad and they have a different perspective that is more based on a textbook approach.

Why am I bringing up these differences? The answer to this is simple, often times we become so engulfed in our own view point and our own way of thinking that we forget to take a step back and look at the macro view of things. As future leaders we need to be strategic in our thinking, but also in our delivery of our thinking. If we are so set in our own ways and we see things from such a narrow perspective we forget to see that being effective means to think from the stand point of somebody else.

As technology has allowed for us to communicate faster than we ever have before, we must also see that slowing down and thinking/looking from a different stance may be the most efficient for us to be progressive.

Culture?

What is culture? Dictionary.com states that culture is, "The behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group."

The idea of culture seems to be changing as things become more and more global. Approaching problems and situations is ever changing especially as we are integrating the ideologies of other cultures.

We have come to the conclusion that we are becoming more and more global and this in itself is creating a new culture. Being global does not necessarily mean that we have to go cross continents, but it can be our next door neighbor. So what does this mean? A culture of information sharing and the way that we do so has allowed us to differentiate ourselves and allow for use to integrate our ideologies, but this does not come without barriers.

Such barriers such as language and cultural differences need to be understood and we must be sensitive to this in order to be productive. It is because we have come to understand culture is why we have redefined this and more so created a new culture that is always changing.

This seems to be a paradox, but on the contrary, it is what we have come to see as the status quo. Change is what we are about and knowing this has allowed us to break the walls of what we see as our own, and embrace others and allows for us to think outside the box. This culture of change is what we are continuing to define on a day to day basis.

Valuable......

After class many thoughts came to mind, but I am going to write about one. We looked at a model of an iceberg and saw that the value of something goes deeper than that of the surface. This is true in everything that we are doing in the MBA program. Many times we are taking classes, because they are required, and they may seem arbitrary but these classes that we take create value for us.

Why the heck are we in the MBA program, and why do businesses look for an MBA to fill particular roles? These questions are answered through this model, we are trained and we may not know it now, but we have added values that will benefit the company. These values are a firm foundation of how we are set apart from others.

Now does this mean that we have a free pass, absolutely not! We have the tools at our fingertips through our education and social networks we are able to strive to achieve the best, but the idea of being the best has no clout unless back by perseverance and determination.

Each individual has his/her value that they bring to the table, if there was not this value, life would be mundane.

What makes you special?

During the class we were asked to tell something that makes us special. There were many different personalities and experiences that set people apart. There was a greater takeaway from this exercise. We are all unique and we are all special in our own way, but we need to look at things from a macro perspective.

Everyone has their own "flavor" that they add, whether it be in a business situation, a social situation or a family situation. This is what makes things interesting and more so getting these things allows us to understand so many different aspects better. As technology grows and as the idea of globalization becomes more and more apparent, if we are blind to understand the learning and perspective of other cultures that make situations unique we will never be able to achieve greatness.

Change is always happening, by the time I am done with this blog, there will be something that has changed, but understanding that change and embracing that we are able to set ourselves apart.

The exercise allowed us as a class and now a tighter "family" to understand each other and the qualities in which each person brings to the table. We are now able to see each other in a different light and see things from all different perspectives. I am very excited about this class, because it will bring in those perspectives and also allow for us to think outside the box.