J. Joseph Notes

Reflections on designing spaces for collaboration

2009-04-30T11:46:00.000-07:00

Last week I spoke in two dialogue sessions with faculty from engineering colleges. The theme of my presentations were on pedagogy and technology assisted learning and collaboration.

Central to my idea of pedagogy is collaboration. Why do I put so much emphasis on collaboration? It is because I believe that we are in such a phase of history, one of those rare moments when there are sweeping changes in every spehere of human endeavour. Such changes are reflected as changes in the zeitgeist, as paradigm shifts. The shift that I see around is the recognition of collaboration as the key factor in progress, success and human evolution, and the relegation of competition to a secondary role.

I hope to elaborate on it later.

Some more random reflections are noted here before they get lost in my neuron jungle:

1. There is a need to redesign spaces (within buildings and outside) to facilitate collaboration. Much of the space that we inhabit today had been designed with an outdated paradigm in place.

2. Classroom design inhibits collaboration. Rarely do we find a school or college classroom which facilitates team activities and free expression from the part of the learners. The lecture hall format is so restrictive when it comes to creating a space of collaboration. My own favourite is the U-shaped seating arrangement, with plenty of free space in the room for group activities.

3. Workspace design has to strike the right balance between open spaces facilitating free interactions without hierarchy, and closed or semi-closed spaces for team meetings, loud talk (over phone), silent work and creative brooding.

Presentation on Pedagogy, E-learning etc.

2009-04-13T04:14:00.000-07:00

Updated slides of my presentations on (1) Pedagogy and (2) Technology-assisted learning and collaboration. Here's the link: http://jjosephnotes-education.blogspot.com/2009/03/pedagogy-presentation-slides.html

What makes Kudumbashree tick

2009-03-12T22:17:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, I had a memorable experience. I was asked to give a talk to a group of around 70 women who were members of Kudumbashree, a grassroots level initiative for poverty eradication in Kerala. The participants were members of local self-help groups, belonging to various age groups from 20 to 50 plus.

Since I didn't want to give a lecture or small talk, I opted for a training activity. I gave a simple exercise of making paper boats using plain A-4 size sheets. This was designed to demonstrate the importance of Quality, Cost and Time as important parameters to focus on while running any business. After all, these women were running their own small businesses.

What made the experience memorable for me was the spirit of perseverance and determination that I saw in this group of women with average or below average educational attainments. There were three women in the group who came from different parts of Kerala, with their small kids. One kid must have been around 8 years or so in age, while the other two were tiny tots sleeping on their mother's shoulders.

I was quite surprised seeing these women participating in the training activities, as if they were at home doing their household work, with the children in tow. Once in a while the children would wake up and start crying, and the young mothers would pat them back to sleep.

I could see what made Kudumbashree tick, and still keep making a difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of ordinary people. I am sure, the next generation, the children of these ordinary women will bring about a different culture and work ethos in Kerala.

Walking into the unknown

2008-11-21T21:06:00.000-08:00

It is when you learn to walk in darkness that you learn to face the unknown. I mean it quite literally.

Last night after I got down from a bus near my hometown I walked to my sister's house. It was past 8.30 PM. With tall rubber trees on either side, and no moon or stars in the sky, it was totally dark. I could hardly see two feet ahead. But I had a sense of the road, and just walked. I recalled how many times I had walked in darkness, with not the eyes but the feet giving me the sense of direction. I would be afraid of stepping over a snake or falling into a ditch. I would stamp my feet heavily on the ground as I walked, signaling snakes to get out of the way. Through all these journeys in darkness, my Guardian Angel protected me.

These experiences taught me to walk into the unknown, the unexplored, with only intuition and hope; and sometimes, the faint glimmer of a distant light showing me the direction.

2008-11-05T04:56:00.000-08:00

Happiness is being able to notice the sunshine on a rainy day. It is standing overawed by the beauty of a ray of light that streaks down to earth between dark clouds.

Reflections on maturity

2008-10-29T12:55:00.000-07:00

Maturity is the ability to identify alternatives and make conscious choices among them. Immaturity is acting out of compulsion and going through life as a series of unconscious reactions. Maturity does not give us control over events (not even inner events), but gives us control over our response to those events.

Reflections on leadership

2008-10-29T12:19:00.000-07:00

From miscellaneous notes jotted down during the early months of 2008:

If you want ordinary people to do extraordinary things, learn to deal with what is inside them. What are their dreams? What are their aspirations? What are their hopes and fears? Leaders can inspire only to the degree that they understand the aspirations of those whom they lead. Leadership is basically the art of relating with and tapping the energy of aspirations.
A leader does not complain about lack of support from his followers. It is the leader's task to gain the required support. To the extent that he complains, he ceases to be a leader.
A culture of blaming indicates an absence of leadership, or the presence of leaders who blame circumstances.
What you can do alone is limited. What you can do with a team is unlimited.

Reflection on evolution

2008-10-29T12:12:00.000-07:00

Evolution is the process of perfecting God's human nature.

Reflections on Quality

2008-10-29T12:01:00.000-07:00

Here are some of my reflections on Quality. (These are from my notes dated 28th January 2008.)

Quality appears when arrogance diasppears.
Quality appears in subtle ways. We must be receptive.
Quality is the result of a caring attitude. 'I care, therefore I ensure quality.'

Reflections on wind blowing through the reeds

2008-10-29T11:32:00.000-07:00

Lily asked me, "What do you mean by those words in the header of your blog?" She was referring to the lines:

"When wind blows through the reeds there is music.
Wind is transformed to music by the reeds."

I meant it to be pure poetry. But I can't be a poet writing only two lines. So here are my thoughts:

We are like the reeds. We merely give some form to the ideas that are part of the zeitgeist. We may express these ideas in the form of literary works, scientific discoveries, artistic expressions etc. But can we really claim the copyright for our creations? May be not. We are merely instruments (reeds).

When our consciousness is tuned, we get the ideas. Or rather the ideas get us. And out of some impulse, we express them in some form of creation. When our consciousness is not tuned (when we are distracted, agitated, defocused ...), the ideas are still there; but we do not notice them.

I also mentioned that the wind stands for the Spirit. The Holy Spirit, who inspires.

Spirit speaks through dreams

2008-10-13T11:10:00.000-07:00

Joy is energy finding its own gradient; being able to do things as expression of the natural flow of energy from within you.

Beware when you have to psych up yourself with positive self-talk. Probably you've got to stop and listen to yourself rather than talk to yourself.

Your pep talk is the voice of your ego. Become silent and wait for the voice of your guiding spirit to become discernible. Like a stork waiting for fish to come to the surface of water, wait patiently for the voice of the inner spirit, your true self.

Spirit doesn't impose itself. Its waits till you are willing to listen. You can't listen by exerting yourself with will power. You can't listen by trying too hard to concentrate. You can't push yourself into becoming willing to listen.

It is often in sleep that we stop trying, and become truly willing. Spirit then speaks to us through dreams. Listen to your dreams. They've got something important to tell you. Again don't let your ego interpret your dreams for you. Wait like the stork ....

Majid Majidi's films

2008-10-12T09:06:00.000-07:00

Recently I watched a part of Majid Majidi's 'Children of Heaven'. (In the original Persian version, the film is titled Bacheha-Ye aseman.) Anyone who has watched films by the gifted Iranian director, would understand what it means to be touched by films. No exaggerated emotions, no special effects. Above all, no lies and no over-idealism. Majidi's films are about life as it is. Yet it is no documentary. It is art.

I missed the first part of the film. I later read up on Majidi's films and have become a fan. I plan to watch more Majidi films in the near future. Such perfection of cinema as art, I have seen only in a few others. Certainly Satyajit Ray was one among them. And Charlie Chaplin, who was the ultimate master in presenting pathos with humour and wit.

Lessons from the circus tent

2008-10-12T01:54:00.000-07:00

Circus is one of the greatest forms of service. It is the spirit of service and customer delight which every other organization must emulate. Sustained peak performance is best seen in a circus show. The peak performance is not a once-in-a-while happening, but repeated show after show, day after day, without rest.

Last month, Lily and I took our children, Ron and Ria, to see the Great Bombay Circus at Putharikkandom Grounds at Trivandrum. Great performance and teamwork! What endurance and spirit of service!

It had been raining since morning. And when it rains in Trivandrum, the place is quite a mess. Many of the tents where the circus staff were staying had been drenched in water. Rain water was dripping into the circus tent through gaps in the large sky-like circus tent. Some members of the circus crew were trying to pump out water from the wet areas. There was no sense of helplessness, but the spirit to get on with the performance. The show was not delayed. The matinee show started sharp at 4.00 P.M.

Everyone – the management, the performers, the animals – all of them took the reality of Kerala rains as a part of the game. They seem to have trained their minds to focus on the performance, rather than on the hardships. They travel from place to place. Every place gives them new challenges. ‘We are here to entertain and delight the viewers; not to complain about the rain, snow or heat,’ they seem to be saying. To serve without complaint, to serve as a team, to serve to delight by great performance of one’s duty is at the core of the spirit of circus.

Circus is the art where human beings and animals work together, every day without rest, to entertain children and adults of all ages. With so much to learn from the circus tent, and so much entertainment value, I hope this art form is sustained, supported and nurtured.

Purpose of this Blog

2008-10-12T01:09:00.000-07:00

To share my observations and reflections on various topics. The ideas expressed here here are work-in-progress, or part of an ongoing process of inquiry and clarification.

When wind blows through the reeds there is music. The wind and the music do not belong to the reeds. They belong to nature and to everyone. Wind is transformed to music by the reeds. But if it weren't for the human spirit that resonates with nature, it would still remain wind.