Organizational Courage

miscellaneous life

I promised myself when I started this blog that it wouldn't be dry, theoretical or only about work. So here I go, peeling back the Curtain of Oz, so to speak.

In general, it's been nuts at both work and home (usually it's only one or the other!) and I'm waaaaaaay behind participating in this new social media learning community. Need to catch up this week. My goal is by end of week. I'm getting so many great new tools. RSS Popper is my favorite so far (I was using  the Bloglines aggregator which is great, but it's way more fun to have the news come to my Outlook). Missed the discussion on Web 2.0 (bummer!) but am looking forward to hearing the recording.

By the way, anyone know how to upload an icon to Typepad? I'd like to be able to load a cd or book icon, then be able to link that icon to Amazon.

Took two hours off today to landscape, despite being behind. Between Mom in hospice, new step-granddaughter (and traveling to visit both), husband's job transition, and exciting new clients, my brain gets full. Need a breather. They're going to start calling our place the Happy Hosta House, I've planted so many of the darn things. But they're so hardy, and that's what I need right now.

Off to bed. Too much excitement lately.

flashcards on the go

In between holding my new granddaughter Sofia (she's the littler one)

I've been playing around with cellpup, a *free* program for creating flashcards and downloading them to your cell phone. At this point since I have a Treo 650 phone, it uses a Palm OS, and is not java enabled. But the nice people at cellpup are sending me a test version of cellpup that runs on the Palm OS, so I'm looking forward to that.

good stuff free!

If you're like me, that's a header that'll get your attention. And HR.com is a site worthy of it. You have to register (sorry), but the site is chock-full of tips, articles, and blogs from various experts on leadership, coaching, organizational development, and of course human resources. There are several levels of membership. I've registered for the basic membership that allows access to many articles and blogs. For about $300 US you can access their full white paper library. If the free stuff is any indication, it's probably worth it.

PS - I'll be using this header periodically as I find sites worthy of attention (as defined by great content, free or reasonably priced, minimal e-nag sales hype, and well organized). Please send me your suggestions, too!

learning on the go!

Have just fallen in love with a new (to me) technology, mlearning. You can download sound bytes of information, vlogs, and even quizzes to your cell phone for 'anytime' consumption. There's so much great info out there, it's hard to believe I missed it! A lot of it seems to be inexpensive, and there's even free stuff! And this afternoon I'm talking with someone from ej4 about customized elearning. So many options!

Had a fabulous conversation with very cool and knowledgeable Judy Brown today about the social impact of this new technology. She's working with folks who are creating access to education across cultures - for Pakistani girls who aren't allowed to learn from male teachers, to Tibetan shepherd boys who only get to school once/week. This is enormous! Almost too big to think about while I sit in my little home office. I need to get out of here and go change the world! 

fun with Google Trends

Check this out! Google Trends lets you compare key word search popularity. So, just for yuks, since I'm teaching a Leadership and Ethics class, how about a contrast of the searches for rich and ethical? (Um, guess which one is more popular?)  Or how about contrasting searches for profit and social responsibility? The search tool offers information on top cities, regions and languages for each search contrast. It also offers a nifty little key that shows peaks and valleys in the search trend, and top searches for that time period (offering insight as to why the spike or dip may have occurred). What a terrific tool for continuing to be part of the online conversation!