Actually, now that fellow Daynoter Phil does occasional longer posts, I don't know if he has relinquished his title of Man of Few Words. But not much of interest is going on over here in the Seto Shack.
However, there are a couple of sports events in town this weekend. First up is the American style football Hula Bowl (see the site here) on Saturday on the island of Mau'i. It will be broadcast on ESPN at 9:00 p.m. (EST).
The second is the National Football League Pro Bowl (see their site here) on Sunday, ABC 5:30 p.m. EST.
On the other hand, school work has heated up a bit as we try to gather information about how other states handle their retirement systems. My eleven loyal readers know that I am in my last semester working on a Masters in Public Administration. Our final paper is a group effort to help the Hawai'i Employees Retirement System increase operational efficiency.
Right now, we're contacting other state systems as well as starting to contact local state agencies that have dealings with the system.
Speaking of graduating, it's amazing how much it costs. You pay $15USD for a diploma, $55 for a cap and gown, $25 for a hood (that colorful piece of material that hangs around the neck and kind of reminds me of a woolen muffler). Then there's the announcements ($1.35 a piece) and thank you cards ($7.50 per 10). And for the high rollers, a custom matted frame for the diploma starting at $105 and going up over $200. Now if I can only graduate.
Speaking of working in groups, it's interesting they work, or don't work as the case may be. In my first year, we had a class in which we were given a test. The test was a list of about 10 questions dealing with surviving in a mountainous region during the Winter. After answering the questions on paper, we broke into groups and tried to combine the expertise of each group member to come up with a list of answers to the same questions.
The point of the exercise was to show that by pooling the experience/education/knowledge of the group, you would come up with more right answers than you did by taking the test relying only on your own knowledge. Well, you can probably guess the outcome of my group. I scored significantly higher on my individual test than our group did collectively. Now, perhaps this is an indication that I was not very persuasive in getting my group members to believe I had the right answers.
Or perhaps there are situations in which the expected synergy does not occur (see just about any of the current NASA projects). But in any case, all that I learned from that experience was that I should probably rely more on myself than others.
Such seems to be the case in the group I am in now. To me, our task is well defined and doable. If I were assigned to do this at work, I would be able to complete it, by myself, in about three months. But with this group, we will be lucky if it's done in six. And when it is done, the quality will be much lower than if I did it myself. Now, I realize this may sound arrogant and self-centered, but it also happens to be the objective truth.
If it is the reality, I am not encouraged by this because committees are how everyone in large agencies seem to organize themselves to solve problems. While I understand and support the assertion that problem solving should include the stakeholders involved, I'm not so sure relying solely on their input and judgment will result in the optimal solution.
In fact, I wonder if it almost guarantees it won't. It seems to me committees, more often than not, end up being a waste of time and resources. But perhaps I am being too harsh. Perhaps the problem is most committees are not led by people trained in facilitating meetings so the meetings do not stay focussed or disciplined. Or perhaps its something else.
Whichever the case, the next few months will be very frustrating for me. But regardless of how others seem to have problems figuring out what to do, I know what my tasks are and I will remain focused on accomplishing those tasks.
Have a Great Weekend Everyone - Aloha!
