First Reflections on Facebook

When my friend and mentor Loretta Donovan invited me to join Facebook, how could I refuse? She's always ahead of the learning curve and wide open to new experiences in a way that I admire, respect, and want to emulate.

So I joined Facebook. In doing so, I've jumped into a world of light-hearted online interaction. I was surprised to find so many well respected OD practitioners in that environment: Open Space facilitator Chris Corrigan, online facilitator Nancy White, and graphic facilitator Mark Pinto among many others.

Shortly after registering myself, I invited others in my network to join. There have been mixed reactions to the invitation. Some have joined, surprised that they were "allowed" to join (they thought you had to have school emails, or be under a certain age). Some have declined, saying they are already connected through another social networking service like LinkedIn. And a few have joined with reservations about providing the email passwords requested to invite other friends - reservations that I share.

I've been using Facebook for about a week now. Today I created a group for "MPOD and Friends" and invited the MPOD crew (and CIGO and AMOC) to connect. Come and play on Facebook!

Tags: facebook, MPOD

Art of the Appreciative Question

Most evenings I ask the kids to recount the best thing that happened at school that day. They've come to expect it, so the question and answers have grown a little stale.

Yesterday, in an effort to re-energize the question, I asked my eight-year-old, "What's your teacher's favorite thing to do at school?" He seemed truly puzzled by the question for a moment or two. Then he came to life with an answer, "She loves math games!" He went on to describe the games with much relish and excitement, and we reenacted the "brain vs. calculator" game with Dad and his older brother to really get a feeling for it.

It was a nice family moment.

That appreciative question generated a lot of learning! I learned about something going on in the classroom. I also learned that an appreciative question doesn't necessarily need to be about the person you are talking to (my son). It can be something that will elicit thoughts about someone else's joy (his teacher).

Does the teacher really love math games? I'm not sure, but she's certainly inspired enthusiasm in my son! (Thank you, Miss C.)

(edited 11/28/2007 to correct an error)

OD Network Conference 2007

I'll be attending the OD Network Conference 2007 in October. Will you be making the trip to Baltimore? If so, let me know so we can connect!

Tag: OD Network Conference 2007

Nexus II: Let the Games Begin

If you were intrigued by the descriptions of the Nexus for Change conference that appeared on this blog and in many others, you might want to check out the web site. Planning for Nexus II is beginning, and you're invited to join in.

Tags: nexusforchange, nexusII

New Form of Graphic Facilitation

Tag: graphic facilitation