As part of the program Design thinking for innovation, I have been asked to read the following books which I also will recommend to anyone who is trying to change the way they think.
A Whole New Mind -Daniel H. Pink
Drive -Daniel H. Pink (Great movie RSA Illustration of some of the book Drive
Change By Design -Tim Brown (also check out his talk on ted.com)
7 Habits of Highly successful people
Malcolm Gladwell
(speech by Nigel Marsh on ted.com)
some discussions in class included how to have employees become more effective and how to become a more efficient employer
to become said good boss it has been said that one need to do three things
1. let the employee have some AUTONOMY -the ability to do something their own way, freedom to think or innovate.
2. MASTERY - practicing a certain skill until you are very good at it.
3. having a sense of PURPOSE -If your employee is not aware of the end purpose they will lose interest in the project.
Also included in the discussions/class lecture for yesterday and today was the 29 ways to stay creative, and an assignment to write a personal SWOT statement (SWOT stands for; Strengths,Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) We did this Assignment as part of DESIGNING YOUR LIFE, a way to help each of us see who we are and help us decide how to achieve our personal lifelong goals.
DAY 1 and 2
DAY 1 and 2
4 hour flight from Salt lake to DC then a 7 and a half hour flight to Geneva. we got our bags and then traded money and validated our swiss passes, then we got on a bus headed for the au bel air hotel (our home for a month) we met Dominique and his wife and they welcomed us and helped us get settled we then had Lunch salad, Spaghetti, and for desert chocolate pudding we had an hour respite. and then we went on a 2 hr hike to the top of the mountain it is a beautiful green country and I took 150 pictures of things I experienced the first day we walked back, I had a shower and (we were going to have a movie but everyone was having a difficult time adjusting to the new time (we are now 8 hours ahead ) then it was off to bed, ( I did not sleep well, I got up at least 4 times in the night because I just couldn't get myself to go to sleep.)
Day two today started at 6 am with breakfast (all kinds of good breakfast things) and our first run the the cog train up hill about 900 yards :( tough but my calf muscles are going to be so awesome after this. we went to Aiegle and switched trains then we took the train to another city .... I don't know which and we went to the Olympic museum it was awesome, for lunch I bought a small quiche a yogurt and a carbonated grapefruit juice. I think it was 3.5 swiss franks and was really good. we then went and had a steamboat ride across lake Geneva. I did the haka, used the restroom on a boat for the first time. we then went to a 14th century castle where we read lord Byron's poem about the castle from the dungeon it was written in, and we wrote our own epic stories. we then had some free time to explore the parts of the castle that would not be covered on the tour. I mostly hung out with Emily and Russ Scow, who have been very good and kind to me on this trip. we spent our free time hiking all the steps to the very top of the tower and we took a lot of pictures (today I think it was over 400) then we rode the trains home had dinner and had a meeting about what we will be doing for the next three days ( we are staying in a Monastery in the swiss alps for the next three days we will be crossing the alps in the same place Hannibal the conquerer and Napoleon bon apart crossed, we will be staying hight in the swiss alps and doing some meditation and some self exploration exercises ) then I don't know what but it sounds interesting, I will post more details when I get back, until then
Day 3,4,and 5
We got up early and like the other two days, we had a wonderful breakfast and headed to the train, the train took us to Matigni where we jumped on a bus that took us up to the foot of the alps, they stood before us a massive, impressive site they had protected switzerland for thousands of years, and very few had dared to cross them, a great warrior from carthage named Hannibal, nearly sacked Rome by being the first to try and move a major force over them, and the first ever to move elephants through them. Later Napoleon used them to cross into italy with a sizable force of his own. Before I continue with my story let me tell you, this is no small mountain pass, this is a steep treacherous pass, and many have been killed by Avalanche, freezing to death, and just getting lost, the pass was so ominous we had to keep to the road, and stay in small groups to make sure we made it to the top of the pass.
It started to snow as we put on our snowshoes. The ascent to the top took hours, but even in the snow it was breathtaking. There were 3 check in stops on our way up the mountain. Visibility stared to get restricted, and the only sound was the slow and steady crunch of our snowshoes in the fresh snow, and the occasional yodel from our host and hiking guide Dominique. after an exhausting 4 or five hour hike we made it to the top of the St. Bernard pass. there before us was a medieval monastery, that housed a group of monks who dedicate their lives to helping people cross the treacherous path. we got out of our wet cloths and a warm lunch was waiting for us, .....to be continued
