After my group meeting I learned two things: (a) I have to further develop my time management skills to have better results from my team. I realize the need of arriving better prepared for a team meeting. For example, I could not visit WebCt during the 24 hours before of the team meeting. Therefore, I did not know what everyone had done before the meeting. It was not totally my fault because I tried to access to the system from two different places during those 24 hours, from the university computer labs and from my job. WebCt has minimal requirements that not all computers accomplish, I guess. In consequence, I need to organize my time better to have more time to check what is on Webct. I cannot trust 100% in a system that I do not know very well. I need to test the systems before to trust them. (b) The second learning was about the transformational process that must exist in order to come up with a good idea. My team was not willing to expend time talking and sharing thoughts to transform each other to come up with the best, more powerful, idea. We, as a team, were complaining about the project and the lack of directions. We were paralyzed by the uncertainty and confusion. However, we were not willing to expend time in the transformation of our minds and bodies to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The meeting was uncomfortable and remained like that. People wanted finish the meeting to leave soon.
After my team meeting finished and my partners left, I went to work with another group. That team was less confuse than my team. They were doing the mission and vision of the business and they seemed really enjoying what they were doing. They were talking, interchanging ideas, brainstorming, and transforming each other. While seeing what they were doing, I was thinking about the assignment that my group had, which was to administrate the survey for the need assessment. I told to someone in the team what I was thinking. She made a pause and began listen to me. By talking with her I change my moods and I opened my mind. By explaining what I was doing I clarify my mind and she saw my point. She replied with a couple of good ideas. We realize that we were getting a consensus. However, we knew there wasn’t the best idea yet. We needed the whole group brainstorming about the point that we just saw. So we presented what we were thinking to the rest of the team. After presenting the pros and cons of our reflection, we come up with the best idea. After 50 minutes of brainstorming and sharing ideas we created the best. We transform each other to make the best prototype emerge from the conversation. It was not a genius who tells us what to do. It was the collective, the implicit knowledge that emerged from each one.

Sin la riqueza arquitectonica de otras capitales europeas, Amsterdam ofrece un concepto turistico diferente. Es perturbador para mi salirme por un momento del sistema sin realmente salir de el. Porque al final del dia, la propuesta liberal y progresista de Amsterdam es puro business, y como tal, controlado por aquellos que no se salen ni un milimetro de las reglas creadas por y para el sistema. Los porros son para mi el instrumento para desentenderse por un rato de la permanente fuerza que el sistema ejerce en cada uno de nosotros. Por eso digo que es perturbador, porque en Amsterdan los cuetes son, como diria Galeano, parte del “engranaje capitalista que todo lo controla”.

I was confused during the last class. I did not know whether the exercise was to plan for a community like Miami or to overcome the challenge of organizing a group of people like our 6180 class. I am not ironically saying this, I was confused. So, I used my confusion to learn about me. Why I am uncomfortable with this mess? Why I need structure? Reflecting on that, I conclude people need structure. Organization coordinates action to achieve goals. Without goals, organizations have not sense to exist. If I belong to an organization, I do because I share common goals with other members of the organization. To share common goals I need first to know the goals. That is a basic condition for a free choice. But, which was my organization in last class? The 6180 course? The operations team? The whole class? Are the goals of these different organizations the same? I need to know the goals of the organization before to decide if I want to belong there.

The organizational leader has the responsibility of establishing the mission and the goals of the organization. If there is not leader, then there is symmetry of power between the participants. If there is not symmetry of power, then the leader has to give the guideline to operate. This means to set up the goals of the organization. Who is responsible for establish the goals of the organization that we were creating at the 6180 class? Instructors? Me? team leaders? Do I have to flow and just learn from the chaos? Do I have to intent to control the destiny of my team? Do I have to intent to organize the class project? Perhaps it is what the instructors are expecting for. I did not know. I was confused and trying to learn from my confusion.

I tried to explain to myself why the confusion. I identified several fallacies, sort of contradictions during the course of the lecture. The disclosure of these contradictions helped me to pacify my anguish. I realize that many of my anguish were produced because I was living on the illusion of having the power to achieve a consensus. I thought the class was free to decide the project. However, it was not true. That it is not possible because this is a course not a group of friend. And the professor has an agenda for this class. For instance, what If we (the class) define a project whose goal is to bring relaxation to the 6180 students? I mean, what if we create a project where part of the outcomes is to reduce the stress of 6180 students by reducing the amount assignments. Probably, we cannot implement that project because it does not agree the expectation of the professor. Therefore, there is not freedom to define the domain of our project because the professor has always the control of the system. I was confused because I did not know whether the dynamic of the activities considered the professor could lose the control of the system. I don’t think so. Any organizations, goals, or outcomes produced by the systems/teams created inside the 6180 course have to agree the agenda of the professor.

From the last class I learned about asymmetries of power within organizations. To pursue consensus among individuals must exist symmetries of power among who participate in the creation of the consensus. Otherwise, the weak are manipulated by the powerful. The search of consensus without symmetries of power is a strategy of imposing an agenda silencing potential adversaries. Facilitators of consensus have to be very sharp to identify this phenomenon because they usually are hired to create consensus around preexisting agendas. Often, the preexisting agendas belong to whom pay for your services. Misread the conditions for consensus might confuse the participants creating potential boycotts against the facilitator.

I was thinking over my car who rude can Miamians be. And my conclusion was they can be very, very rude. I was thinking about this when somebody ahead of my car couldn’t move because nobody was willing to let him moving forward. Even in countries like Chile we know cars move one after the other when coming from two different affluent of a street. This was at FIU, so it is not about low level of formal education. Five minuets later, somebody behind me desperately honks pushing everyone to move faster even though 8th Street was crowded. Couple of minutes later I almost crush somebody who turn right in front of me when the light was red. What happen here! I though. Miamians do not care about others even though most of people are others. I do not want to be a Miamian. Luckily, I am not a Miamian.

Suddenly, I realized that I feel embarrass of being a Miamian. Something happens to me when I have to tell that I live here. That is not right, I said to myself. I spend beautiful moments of my life living here. I do not want to be embarrassed about where I live during my youthfulness. I want to do something. I want to make people feel proud of living in Miami. I dream with a diverse, modern, educated, respectful, sophisticated, rich, joyful, and nice city. Be nice, be Miamian I repeat myself. Let’s recover the proud of living in the most diverse and respectful city of the world.

I know all problems are opportunities to who solve them. I know there are many people in Miami who would support an initiative to get back the proud of being a Miamian. For instance, we have a recognized entrepreneurship center at FIU who could contact us with business owners and CEO’s willing to invest in a nicer Miami. It is a big issue convinces some talented people to come to Miami just because the cultural shock. I know student organizations at FIU have a lot of money they do not know how spend it. FIU students are so busy, they only have time to complain against the world and there is no time to make the world better. Therefore, there is money waiting for people trying to do something. The president of the university will be proud if a campaign to make Miami better starts from FIU.
We will contact these people to request their help and found to finance our campaign. We will create a foundation to permanently work in education to civility. Part of this project will be to leave an organization able to implement in the future initiatives to cultivate the respect and love among Miamians. It is time to do something for somebody else than ourselves. It is time to something not only because somebody in our family die or because is cool to do it. It is time to do something just because we care about our community and we can have fun do it.

We will start getting funds and developing a campaign to show people how to be nice with others. We will start at FIU. Every corner of the university, especially every parking garage, will feel our energy. We are going to change the culture of FIU to later on change the culture of Miami.

Next steps
We will define 100 ways to stop being rude and an instrument to measure yourself how rude you are. Many Miamians will measure themselves to see how rude they are. Just playing with the rudeness-meter we will create. Then, they will receive short tips to stop being rude. Things like turning when light are red and there are many miamians needing to go home just like you. Or when you do not leave the supermarket cart where correspond. Or when you drives very slow because you are on your cell phone. Etc.

Imagine many people assessing themselves to see how rude they are. Imagine a web site making rankings about where live less rude people. Imagine going to the news to tell the story of bringing Miami’s proud back. It is not about do something. It is about to sell a good story behind what we do. This is what I am trying to do here. To create a story around our project that makes sense to our community. It is about being able of showing a future and moving the people toward the new direction. What I am learning through this reflection is that probably the story is much more important that what you do. It is not what you do; it is the narrative that you create around what you are doing. I feel now much more engage with our “Be Nice” project. Be nice, be the new Miamian.

I am looking forward to enrich this narrative with the rest of the class.

What about Be Nice using the symbol of Nike in it? If Nike gives us money of course