New Agora Paper: Gaining consensus in projects

The problem with any group of stakeholders in a project is building consensus on the correct course of action at any given decision point. But getting that decision “right” is even more vital than gaining group agreement. To that end, one SDP process called 2-phased WebScope methodology could be an invaluable tool in analyzing innovative ideas or technologies. Consider the Virtual Retinal Display (VRD) technology that already exists but is still very expensive and has not moved to the mass market. The WebScope methodology could be used to facilitate discussions among experts on whether the VRD is ready for the general market or what other improvements might be needed to get there. A triggering question to initiate discussion could be as simple as, “What does the VRD need to move it to mass production?”

Other “Forces” to beware of during project development?

Social and Political: Never underestimate the power of conformity. Failure to use the SDP process or similar methodology can produce undesired results. At one end of the spectrum you could have a powerful personality in the group who dominates discussions and gets the group to adopt his/her point of view.  At the other end of the spectrum you could have a group members that try so hard to minimize conflict you wind up with a product no one really wants or supports.

Check out my blog here:

http://conservativevaluesrule.blogspot.com/

Here is the New Agora paper

http://www.ctudoctoral.net/mod/resource/view.php?id=29430

TED Talks

Fetal Learning

We have known for many years that the first few years of childhood greatly influence how and what we learn later in life. Check out this TED video:

http://www.ted.com/talks/annie_murphy_paul_what_we_learn_before_we_re_born.html

Everyone has heard about playing classical music to a pregnant woman’s belly to instill an early love of music, but now there is actual research that shows the life of a fetus in the womb is already playing a role.  Turns out that a much more primeval kind of learning is going on.

The kind of nutrition the expectant mother consumes has a direct effect on the development of the child than anyone would have thought. Children born at the end of WWII in Holland shared their mother’s hunger as the population experienced near starvation prior to liberation by the allied forces. Those children would later exhibit much higher incidence of obesity, diabetes and similar disorders. The conjecture is that their bodies were conditioned in the womb to prepare for a world of scarcity and privation, but were born into a life of plenty.

Other experiments showed the dietary preferences of the mother were transferred to the fetus as well. One study showed that women with excessive weight gain during pregnancy had children with a much higher risk of being overweight by the age of 3. All  very interesting stuff- sheds a whole new light on the hot-button issue of when life begins.

Horizon Report

Electronic Books - I have to admit I have been resistant to this idea. I have always liked to read, and I like my paper books. Holding an iPad/eReader/Kindle (or whatever) just isn't the same. The text isn't the same (though digital "ink" is making it much better), not to mention I like the look of my nice leather hardbacks on my shelf. However, I gotta say the ease of access and storage is making me rethink this. I have a lot of books. More than I can currently keep on shelves, which means they are in boxes (which also means they are undoubtedly getting damaged). Over the years as we have moved from place to place I've also lost (or my wife threw away) a number of books.

Or I could store every book I've ever owned on an iPad, back them up to the iCloud and have access to any of them at a moments notice. Intriguing and tempting …

Which leads me to the trend of technologies increasingly using and moving to the cloud. I started using cloud based backup storage about three years ago. It was cheap, relatively easy, and I didn't have to mess with constantly updating my external hard drives anymore (i.e. always needing more space). Not to mention that local backups don't solve the problem of catastrophic failure (i.e. your house burns down). While most IT businesses have (or should have) plans for recovering from such events, most people didn't.

Now all my data is stored away from my house, my storage space is adjusted when I need more and I can access my data whenever and wherever I need to. I was on vacation a few months ago and wanted some old pictures to show friends, so I just logged in to my account and BAM, there they were.

What the Heck!

Trying out this blog...