Blog post

You are invited

We are planning a new session of train the trainer for March and April. I am excited by the possibilities. It is by invitation only and we haven’t really done it for a couple of years now. Four webinars and two days face to face. We have some interest from some awesome PULSE practitioners and I am thoroughly looking forward to enjoying the deep conversations and thoughtful consideration of PULSE as a training tool. So many trainers go into the business without methods classes in how to teach and the PULSE Professional class or train the trainer program really helps them to understand why and how learning works. We look at the brain and brain science. We look at the body and body knowledge and we look at the heart and heart intelligence too always mindful of how EVERYONE, no matter their perspective, learns. I love the work and the opportunity to spend time with dedicated people who are willing to share what we know about conversations for change… making th …e world more peaceful, one conversation at a time, one conversation after another. Hope you can join us.

testing,testing

The interesting thing about typing a blog on my ipad is that I cannot see the letters. I know they are there because when I publish the post shows up just the way I typed it. It is unnerving when the word count remains at 2. I liken it to speaking into NO listening except that I am typing into NO text.

I know that there are lessons to be learned from this interesting activity. So many situations require us to have faith that our communication is getting through some how although we have no feedback or evidence to let us know or to keep us in the conversation.

I keep typing because somewhere out there there are people who read and give me feedback, who care about the words and thoughts, the lessons that I share here. Thanks for that. I would love to have you suggest topics too. The next few months are about the BEACHs again so if you have questions about reading people now would be a good time to pose them.

Reading people is fun. Are they coming at you? moving away? or moving with you? That’s the first distinction. Are they living in the past, the present or the future? That is the second distinction. Put those two distinctions on a three by three matrix and you have the nine perspectives that people take on the world.

more tomorrow ….

Appreciative Mediation = PULSE

Appreciative Mediation is a term I have begun to use to describe the PULSE Frame as a mediation tool. I have been asked to speak about it at the up coming AAMS conference and so I need to describe it for them and for you.

The PULSE Frame relies heavily on the theories associated with Appreciative Inquiry. AI at its core values the ideas of participants and accepts that the answers to any dispute or issue lies with them. The process of PULSE mediation is very similar to the process associated with AI which is used in organizational development to change the culture of an organization. The similarities in philosophical approach and processes will be explored in this appreciative session on appreciative mediation.

Process

Step one is to prepare for the inquiry by choosing a method such as peer interviews or whole group symposium. The second step is the uncover an affirmative topic. The third is to learn or discover the positive core. The fourth is to search or design a future and the fifth is the explain a plan and implement is the deliver stage.

Philosophy

What I most appreciate about AI is the way that people are held capable of wonderful positive contribution. I appreciate the positive questions and the underlying principles that pulse relies on.

1. The constructivist principle – words create worlds
2. The simultaneity principle – questioning begins the change
3. The anticipatory principle – people move toward an anticipated future
4. The positive principle and the heliotropic theory – people give you more of what gets attention
5. The poetic principle – people choose what they study
6. The Free Choice principle – people own what they choose

All of these principles are accepted by PULSE Practitioners and that makes a difference in how they approach mediation. This session will examine how appreciative mediation is the same as and different from facilitative mediation.

Life in Review

So I’m sitting waiting for my nails to dry and playing with this iPhone thingy. It would be good to learn to communicate with it. I haven’t figured out the cloud thing yet. I signed up, added space and now I can’t figure our how to put stuff there. FRUSTRATING. And then thee is this auto correct that guesses at what I mean. ANNOYING. And the auto matic sentence ender. I feel as if my Freedom of thought and speech are somehow being eroded. Although it is nice to know that things are correct. Even I’d they are not what I intended.
So what is the impact of iPhone on communication. It is part of the story line in my novel… My speculative fiction. What happens when role rely too heavily on machines?
In my day the fear was that calculators would erode math skills and that word processors would erode cursive writing skills. Grammar and typing skills are next???

Who knows. It
May force us to pay Bette artwntion to what
We are doing. Right ?

A Soft Spot for School Administrators

Today I had a nice chat with a school administrator interested in what we do at PULSE. I decided to reprint the email I sent to him because it provides information that others may like to have. Comments welcomed…..

“It was nice to chat with you today. I just wanted to follow-up with a few items as promised. The dates of the 2 day workshop that is an open enrolment opportunity is April 12 and 13 at the Petroleum Club in Calgary. That particular workshop is focused on collaborative teams and the attitudes, skills and knowledge that you will receive from the presentation seem to me to be a good fit for the situation you find yourself in. There may be a mix of industry and government people in attendance. As discussed we will charge you our government rate.

Alternatively we could offer a separate, education focused seminar to you and three or more other colleagues at your campus. You would have greater input into the content of this type of seminar as we would be free to customize the program. As I mentioned on the phone I taught G&T and have grand-son at Janis Academy who is Autistic spectrum. With my experience as a teacher, vice principal and principal before I became a mediator, in the court system and with government agencies and now as a trainer and author on conflict resolution along with your knowledge of the situation on the ground, you and I should be able to find the right combination of questions and answers and opportunities for experiential learning to meet the needs of all of those involved.

Our training always involves using the tools to teach the tools so everyone comes away with applicable and timely tools to put to immediate use. they come away with an understanding of what to do, how to do and why to do it. They come away with a protocol, and a process for effective and meaningful conversation … no matter the purpose or the participants. Students, parents, staff will all respond differently when you put these simple principles to work. AND we include 30 minutes of follow on coaching after the program.

I also want to mention the webinar series that begins in February as an alternative or a supplement to the two-day face to face seminar in April.

February and March we are also offering Mediation Certification with the Alberta Arbitration and Mediation Society. The first 4 sessions are webinars that provide the basic Concepts that support mediation and why it works. Than the Concepts course is followed by three days of Practice, where you would practice the skills of a mediator with the guidance of qualified mediator coaches. As I mentioned, these courses lead to certification with the ADRIC.

The Sociology in the Workplace seminars I spoke about are being given to sociology classes at Mount Royal University Monday and Tuesday of next week. The same presentation has been given to the Calgary Change Management Think Tank where it was entitled … “What gets you up in the morning?” I think this could provide your staff with a nice introduction to another way to consider or filter the behaviours they see in the building. I would offer you that one hour presentation for free for your staff. We only need to find a time that works. As I mentioned it provides a sociological construct based on a three by three matrix of people and how they relate to others and the world. People are moving with you, away from you or towards you. They are also oriented to the past, the present or the future. put these 3×3 on a grid and you have the nine sets of Beliefs, Expectations, Assumptions, Concerns and Hopes, the BEACHs of the human experience in society.

Finally I want to mention our Principals; Faces of Change book. I will drop a copy by your office Monday or Tuesday. There is also a five-day seminar that we have developed to accompany the book but it doesn’t sound like a perfect fit for your situation at the moment. I would appreciate though, if you could read it through and provide feed back as to the value it has for school administrators and ways the you could see us distributing it to other principals.

I am excited by the possibility of working with people who are on the ground in education. Over the past number of years I have worked with government departments here and in the US but my heart is still in education. If there is a way that I can help make that path easier for you, your colleagues, the students and parents at your school I would be honoured to be invited to do so.

Thanks again for the call ….

—
Dr. Nancy Love

nancylove@pulseinstitute.com

www.pulseinstitute.com

403-614-2692

Calgary, St Albert, Vancouver

Sustaining Motivation

What are your tricks for keeping the resolutions, the promises you make to yourself?

For me it is about not sleeping until you have completed your list. That is not always easy, especially when your day kind of gets away from you and the demands of other people take priority. That is something I am working on this year – maintaining my own agenda. When crisis is constant you can become numb to the emotional spikes and maintain a stable emotional environment but sometimes actually getting your STUFF done becomes pretty much impossible. There are just not enough hours in the day, days in the week and weeks in the month.

This year is about committing to the STUFF for me. I want to get things done, to know what needs done and to ensure it happens. I want to set a calendar and meet the deadlines I set for myself, without being sidetracked and without feeling any guilt. This is a serious goal and could be difficult to achieve but I’m on it. Days like today make that kind of promise to self more difficult to keep.

I spent most of today working to print business cards for our St Albert Office. Tomorrow I am attending a Chamber of Commerce luncheon and wanted to be able to network with cards that featured the Office and not just the PULSE Institute. First delays while the web provider sorted out their problems as I was trying to set the email that would be on the card and then the printer not quite responding and then me not knowing how to set up the business card printing, made for a long day spent fighting with our supposed friend – technology.

Writing is a big part of my goal this year. I need to carve out the time to write this year like I did when I was writing my dissertation. If anyone has ideas about how to guards that precious time alone that it takes to create the works that others can respond to and help to edit and rewrite. Step one is lonely and necessarily so. I’m okay with that. Just need to force myself into isolation and I need to write to you everyday…

PULSE and the BEACHs 2012

Next week I am heading to Hawaii for three glorious weeks of writing. I want to thank all of you for responding to the writing on the blog and providing valuable feedback for what will be the BEACHs book. Any further comments you have on the BEACHs would be welcome and timely right now. I am working hard to complete this two-year project. There have been distractions and set backs and …well you know what its like when a project is not your first priority… it just doesn’t happen. I guess I have been waiting for the book to finish itself…. That is not happening so I am off to commit my time in the sun and on the BEACH to the completion of the book.

It is not a hardship to write in Hawaii. It is such a beautiful place. This year getting away from Canadian winter isn’t as compelling as it usually is. It has been mild. But there are no BEACHs here in Alberta. NONE.

2012 will be a great year. Leap years often are for me. It is a purple year. A year of peaceful productivity. I am so looking forward to spending more time with you on the blog, in our new Red Team – Green Team webinar series and in person when I can. This first month is about organizing and setting goals, which is critical, and about planning the year using the PULSE Frame so that the goals are achievable and the plans are sustainable.

Evaluating the ongoing projects and setting milestones for them is important for me. Also important is the addition of a new project or two that will add value to what we already do. I have made lists of things I want to know more about, things for completion and things to begin. I need a new five-year plan this year, too. Not sure what that will look like yet but it will definitely include more time here in the office in St Albert. I really like it here.

Hope everyone had a great holiday season. Happy 2012.