Pilgrims's Process

Getting Them Off the Island

In writing about my job, I mentioned before that I lead a group of about one hundred contract workers. Well, that’s not quite true. There are about one hundred on the roster, but after holding a mandatory training I’m down to about forty.

The training went well, I believe, and one big part of it was vision casting. Now that the grand vision has been laid out, though, the work begins of getting us from point A to point B. Together.

Because of the constraints imposed by geography and time, getting forty people to the same place at the same time is nearly impossible. I held four separate training sessions this time around, so I’ve yet to see it happen. To bridge this gap, I’m trying out using Ning to get everything centralized. I refer to it as “The Network” and told my team that everything they need would be there.

To kick off using it (in addition to telling them it was mandatory requirement to be eligible to work), I scheduled a retraining for a certain curriculum and put it on The Network using Doodle (I like free stuff). In the email I sent out, it simply pointed them there. How do you get people to use technology? Show them the value by constantly driving them there.

Hopefully this serves to pull us together. Any ideas or suggestions to assist this are more than welcome.

Let your mind soar and your materialistic heart run rampant

The only reason college exists is to help you get that Porsche.

Turning One

Little E turned one yesterday.

What an odd experience that must have been – everyone you know shows up at your house and stays for a while, you get to eat a very large piece of cake after everyone gathers around you and sings while looking at you and putting fire in your face.

He was sleeping so soundly this morning that even putting my cell phone on his stomach and calling it (vibrate and full ringer) didn’t phase him.

Happy birthday, son.

First class

After several calls to CSULA’s hypertension-inducing automated phone registration system, I am now ready to begin taking classes.

Kim and I decided that one class for the first quarter would probably be best as I’m still adjusting to my new job. Also, I’m a little out of the game, so to speak. I was going to take two classes: symbolic logic and a seminar in ancient philosophy. I decided on the latter. The seminar will address practical reasoning in Aristotle’s ethics.

So, next week, armed with the complete works of Aristotle, The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy and my computer I will finally begin my Master’s degree. I feel somewhat quixotic about this, as if I should head off towards both class and the sunset with my satchel…

I’m sure the reality of the situation will sink in soon. But, until then, “La mejor salsa del mundo es el hambre”

Administration and Academics

Today, Kim wins the “wife of the year” award.

One thing I have a difficult time with in my personal life is administrative tasks. Forms, signatures, processes, payments, registration, and other such administrative tasks generally stress me out. I’m actually pushing a lot of paper at work right now, but, for my job I’m creating a system so that nothing falls through the cracks. I need to do that for my personal life.

That being said, it’s easy to see why I’m not yet registered for the classes that start the week after next. Kim offered to help me out since she’s exceptionally talented at this kind of thing and today drove out to CSULA to not only drop off my registration fees, but also to bring me some Kogi BBQ. Short rib burrito? Yes, please.

Like I said, wife of the year.

Moving Forward

Yesterday, I ran a training session for some of our employees. One of my job responsibilities is to manage (I prefer “lead” ala Seth Godin’s Tribes) a group of about one hundred contract workers. This was my first training that I’ve done in this role and I will do a couple of more next week.

Wanting to make sure we were all on the same page, I thought it would be good to address our vision as a team.

A definition that I like for vision is “the future we hope to see” (I believe someone shared that with me on Twitter). It seems important that the vision be clear in everyone’s mind. If it’s not, how do we know if we’re successful in what we do?

I think sometimes we mistake movement for progress.

“Are we moving forward?” is a common question to ask in evaluating effectiveness. The question that needs to be asked in order to answer, however, is “Where is forward?” If we don’t know where we’re going, it’s going to be difficult to know if we’re getting there.

Assuming that everyone knows the direction we’re supposed to be heading will create an environment similar to a children’s soccer game rather than a running club. The location of the ball controls all of the children. The location of the destination guides the pack.

Getting all of these geographically disparate (all over Southern California) people running the same way and keeping them going will be a difficult task. I have some ideas to accomplish this, but if you have any suggestions, please share.

Redeeming the In-Between Time

That was my only New Year’s resolution for this past year. I want to have the mentality that I will be productive in the little “in-between” times: five-minute breaks at work, lying in bed at night, waiting to pick someone up, etc.

It’s working nicely for reading. As I begin school at the end of this month, this resolution will become a requirement.

I’m actually going to have to make more in-between time. So, another common New Year’s resolution is quickly becoming a requirement for me: getting up early.

It’s a sink-or-swim time of life.

And I like it.

Wordplay

It’s easy to get distracted by words.

When I talk with someone, sometimes I miss both the heart of the issue and the heart of the person.
It’s easy to succumb to someone’s verbal defense; however, something I have difficulty remembering is clever and articulate words may merely be a smokescreen. People may argue for what they don’t believe (or don’t realize they don’t believe), and they may do so confidently.

“[Jesus] doesn’t answer the question because that’s not the question. Those are the words. The real question was the questioner. Jesus has this incredible way of not being distracted by words. He answered the questioner. And if we can do that too, we do his work. That’s the only way we can do his work, by talking to the real person inside, not the mask and the tongue and the words that the person manipulates.” – Peter Kreeft p. 91 Two Tasks of the Christian Scholar

“Everyone answers truthfully in their own mind” – Dr. Thom Wolf

A New Chapter

We can’t seem to get away from change.

In the last two years Kim and I have:

• Gotten married
• Moved twice
• Had a baby
• Gone through three jobs
• Traveled – in the States and internationally

All this began three weeks after I moved back from Turkey to the US.

Now, we’re setting out on another new stage of life. I am about to start school to pursue an MA in philosophy, and, hopefully, a PhD at some point. I’m working full-time for an educational services company. Between family, friends, church, school and job there isn’t much spare time to be had. I would love to share my journey with far more than I have the capacity too. Time and geography are both limiting factors, but my hope is that this blog will facilitate some small form of life sharing.

So, dear friend or family member, this is for you.

Thanks for coming along,

Derek