Clay and Bruce

This was my 4th year participating in the MS Bike Ride from Richmond to Williamsburg.

I ride to support a former colleague’s husband, Bruce, as a part of Team BRUCE (Bikers Ride Until a Cure Exists). In addition, my sister-in-law, Susan, was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in 2006.  I ride to support her as well.  My friend, Sonia, has had MS for years as well, but her spirit is still strong.  She joked about painting flames on her walker.  I ride to support her too.

Multiple sclerosis (or MS) is a chronic, often disabling disease that attacks the central nervous system (CNS), which is made up of the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves. Symptoms may be mild, such as numbness in the limbs, or severe, such as paralysis or loss of vision. The progress, severity, and specific symptoms of MS are unpredictable and vary from one person to another. Today, new treatments and advances in research are giving new hope to people affected by the disease.  I ride…in hopes that there will be a cure.

This year, I decided to go all out! I went for two days and biked more than 150 miles.  You think that sounds bad? Well it is, but it is nothing compared to what someone with MS endures on a regular basis.  Bruce, after whom the team is named, can no longer pedal a bicycle so for the past few years we have taken turns helping him towards his goal of starting and finishing every race.  He has a ‘chariot’ and others of us have the honor of helping move his chariot toward his goal.  We may not finish the fastest, but it is still a great joy just to cross the finish line each year.  In the video below, you will see Bruce and I together starting at 3:05:

http://blog.metrostarsystems.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/MS_Society.jpg

Not only was the physical ride completed successfully, but our support helped the National MS Society raise over $320,000!

Visit the National MS Society website to learn more about Multiple Sclerosis.

-Clay Calvert

The submission period for the 2nd Annual ExchangesConnect Video Contest is now over. The contest features over 160 videos from contestants from all around the world sharing ideas about making their community a better place, and in the process contributing to a healthier, safer, cleaner, and more peaceful world for all of us.  Seeing all of the time, hard work, passion, and great ideas that the contestants put into their videos really makes the team here at MetroStar Systems proud to contribute to the success of this contest.

The contest now moves into the ‘Community Voting’ and ‘Judging Periods’.  Here are some important dates of the contest:

• Community Voting Begins       January 12, 2010 11:59PM EST
• Community Voting Ends          January 26, 2010 11:59PM EST
• Judging Begins                         January 27, 2010 12:00AM EST
• Judging Ends                            February 9, 2010 11:59PM EST
• Winners Announced                March 2, 2010 12:00PM EST

We invite and encourage you to view all of the videos and vote for the ones that you like the best to help the ExchangesConnect team and the judges decide the winners.  You can visit the video contest page to view the videos and vote for your favorites.  Thanks for your support!

Change Your Climate,

Change Our World.

What do you do to make your community a better place?

Enter the U.S. Department of State’s 2nd Annual
ExchangesCONNECT Video Contest!

Enter for a chance to win an international exchange program!

Small changes in your local community can make a big difference in our world.

Your “climate” is more than the air you breathe–it’s the people, places, & relationships that affect your daily life.

Describe in a video (no longer than 2 minutes) what you or somebody you know is doing to make your community a better place, and in the process contributing to a healthier, safer, cleaner, and more peaceful world for all of us. Enter for a chance to win an all-expense-paid international exchange program!

Check out Secretary Hillary Clinton’s video inviting you to participate in the contest:

The deadline for video submissions is Tuesday, January 12, 2010. For more information about this contest, please visit: http://connectcontest.state.gov/contests/change-your-climate-change-our-world

What is Change Management?

Change management is a structured process and a set of tools to effectively managing the people side of change. – Prosci

Critical Change Facts:

1. Employee resistance and ineffective management of the people side of change is the #1 obstacle to successful change projects
2. You can have the best vision, the best training and communications that exist, but if you cannot get your people (the organization) to adopt that change, the initiative or project will FAIL.

Interesting Change Quotes:

“We do this (change management) everyday!  No matter if we are aware of it or not, it (change) is part of every project that we work on.” – Melissa Dutmers (Change Manager @ RiverFork Consulting)

“People react to change in a very similar way to the stages of death” – Butch Alligood (Senior Change Management Instructor)

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” – Leo Tolstoy

“Research says that most change management initiatives fail.” – Butch Alligood

“Resistance to change is a natural human reaction.” – Prosci

“Never underestimate the power of the current state.” – Butch Alligood

“We see things not as they are, but as we are.” – Anais Nin

“Organizations do not change, people do.” – unknown

“You can never change unless you know what you want and how you are going to get it” – Butch Alligood

Terms:

• CM = Change Management
• ADKAR = Awareness Desire Knowledge Ability Reinforcement (Prosci Model)
• FUO = Fear of Uncertainty and Doubt
• WIIFM = What’s In It For Me

Why Change Management?

Here is a conglomerate of reasons why change management is important to organizations, businesses & clients:

1. Because your business, products, markets, people, clients and tools will change over time weather you like it or not. To not have a change plan is to invite disaster and failure into the org.
2. CM can improve the success and delivery of projects (internally & externally)
3. CM processes can facilitate better team cohesion and organizational moral.
4. CM can unite people around achieving common goals that mutually benefit everyone in the org.

States (No I’m not talking about Texas)

With any enterprise level transformation or change campaign there are different states.  How things are now is referred to as the current state, how things are after  changes are in the process of being implemented is a transition state, how things will be when a change is completed and your vision becomes actualized is the future state (how things will be).  These notions of state do not just apply to change management initiatives, they are also popular in Business Process Re-Engineering (BPR) and Organizational Design (OD).

Understanding states is important so that you can figure out where you are, what you need to do, and how that will get you to where you want to be. Seems simple right? Well try assessing just your current state when you have 10-20 disparate and/or overlapping changes going on in and you can quickly become immersed in fog!  To put it another way, it’s like trying to play to play multiple songs and instruments at the same time.

Individual Change ≠ Organizational Change

Though they have similar change attributes and processes, what is required to change an organization is not the same as what is needed to change an individual. The differences lay in the strategies, tactics, scope, resources, time, training, communications, leadership, sponsorship, planning and project management. A change that effects one individual in an organization (say for example a compliance officer being effected by regulatory changes) is vastly different then implementing a new computer Operating System (say for example an enterprise wide switch from Windows XP Pro to Windows 7) in a medium sized company with 750 employees.

100% Change is a Myth

(Don’t Confuse Icarus With Reality)

What did that old Greek tale of Icarus teach? Fly too close to the sun and you will get burned (set realistic goals, heed knowledge, lessons learned and advise).  No change will ever be executed and 100% adopted in a organization.  Know up front that you will deal with resistance on may different levels (bottom, middle, top) in a variety of ways (active/passive, direct/indirect).  Prepare yourself for it and have a thick skin.  Remember to keep your enthusiasm for change in perspective, and set reasonable achievable goals.

Also, remember to keep the individual perspective in context because organizations are composed of individuals, and every person will ultimately make their own decision weather or not to support/adopt the change, thus having a tangible impact on the overall change.  Not everyone will get on board with change (for a variety of reasons) and know that some people may actually not be capable of change (depends on what type of change it is).

Many Models for Change

(Do not Worship a Single CM Model)

Change management is a large and growing field.  Several models have been developed to explain change and to give structure to approaching that change in organizations.  From what I have encountered Prosci & Kotter are the two most popular that I have seen in organizations, but that is just my perspective.

There are other models for change out there and I think that the field has some emergent areas which are still untapped.  One of the things that is really important is to know the different models, the difference between them, and which one is the best fit for your organization or client.

Perspectives on Change Will Vary

(No Two Change Projects or Vantage Points are the Same)

One of the central takeaways from everything I have learned over this knowledge crammed week is that no two change initiatives are the same so virtually everyone is written from scratch and adapted to individual organization, it’s unique attributes.  No matter what the change is in the organization everyone has a different perspective or vantage point of that change.  Not all of the stakeholders or team members are effected the same by the change.  So it goes without saying that when you do managing change you must keep in mind individual perspectives and that each person has a unique perspective on the impending change.  Effects on projects, services, will vary

Perspective 1 (Direct/You are looking straight at it)

Perspective 2 (Indirect / It’s right in front of you but you don’t always see it)

Same clouds and vista but completely different ways of looking, seeing and interpreting them.  Change is the same exact way and using cloud as a metaphor for change can carry many parallels.   Clouds look a certain way then you move or they move and the way they look can completely change from moment to moment.  They are dynamic, like your people, you business, the demands on your business, and the markets you work in.  Just like there are many different types of clouds (cirrus, stratus, etc) there are many types of organizations (government, non-profit, NGO etc) The more you understand about change and how to manage it, the more agile, adaptive and responsive your organization can be in any situation.

Last Updated: 6/25/2008 4:55PM

Along the way I have met some wonderful individuals, many of which I will never forget and would like to thank for listening and providing a helping hand. Along the way I have seen people wanting to connect to one another, wanting to share their experiences. Along the way I have seen individuals in unthinkable situations that many of us would considered impossible, yet they continue on. Along the way I have seen the resilience of the human spirit, the good in all people, and the beauty of this magnificent world that we live in. Along the way I have been able to reflect on my life and have seen myself grow as a husband, father, friend and individual.

As I get back to business, I can only hope that many of the experiences do not fade away, but become a reminder of how fortunate we are to be where we are.  To treat all individuals that same way we would like to be treated and to always tell your loved ones how you feel about them.

I would like to thank my wife and kids for helping me achieve my goals and for their endless support, with out them I would be an aimless soul in this world.

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The wedding was held in the heart of Denver, Colorado, which gave me and my family a chance to explore the city and learn a bit more about the Midwest.

Since I traveled with my family, I was looking for activities that I could do with my wife, daughter (11) and son (6) around the city. After looking through tons of websites and brochures, we decided to take the kids to the “Denver Art Museum” which contained a lot of activities for Kids along the museum and it had a very cool architectural design which we all enjoyed. We also visited local sites, such as the US Mint, Colorado Capitol and while on the city there was a “Taste Of Colorado” Food and Music event. The city life is great for families since there are even more activities, such as the “Children Museum” and the “Denver Aquarium” and many parks to visit. In addition, there were plenty of bars and places for singles and couples to enjoy.

Outside the city, we decided to travel to the “Rocky Mountain National Park” (about 1.5-2 hrs from Denver). Driving towards the mountain was one of the most beautiful sights. Along the way, we could easily see plenty of wild life in its nature. In addition, there were plenty of shops selling all sort of things, such us Indian artifacts (I convinced my wife that we must get a Navajo Bow and Arrow Set ), clothing, food, etc..  Make sure to purchase drinks, since you will be thirsty most of the time, especially when hiking a trail at the National Park. The information center at the Park had great trails to hike for families and adults. Hiking was a great experience for the whole family, since it helped us appreciate how people back in the day, used to live (museum history and trail experience reinforced how hard it could have been. Kids really appreciated). We have been to the “Shenandoah National Park”, since it is close to where we live, however, the “Rocky Mountain National Park” is a much better experience for families and couples.

Will post pictures as soon as possible.

At the conference, I learned about a few topics which caught my interest. The Silverlight presentation on General Mills, displayed some great capabilities of Silverlight. In addition, there were plenty of session in regards to Business Intelligence which opened my eyes to the possibilities. There is a lot technology left to learn.

The city of Seattle has a lot to offer, the Space Needle, the Public Market, Ferries, Arts & Crafts and many other places of entertainment. One thing that I enjoyed the most, was my introduction to Sushi (specially the Salmon Sushi at Umi).

Will post picture soon.

Berlin has a lot of history, which can be found in the center of the city (easily accessible by Subway). One thing that was surprising is that during the week, most of the stored closed between 7-8 PM, which was kind of painful since the SharePoint Conference run until 6PM.

As many of my friends know, I do not drink, however, I had told some of my friends that I would drink one on their behalf. Since I do not drink, I did not know what type of beer to ordered. Hence, I asked the bartender what would she recommend. She recommended to have a hefeweizen beer with Banana Juice. I was extremely surprised that there was such a thing as banana juice and gave it a try. The drink was extremely fruity and thick, which I love and have made ever since using Banana Nectar.

I would certainly recommend this city since it has a lot of historical places, out of this world food and drink and specially extremely friendly people.

auf Wiedersehen