In the studio

Today was my first, long anticipated. studio class, Design Fundamentals I, at the Ringling College of Art and Design, Continuing Studies Program. Seven of us gathered to spend the first of four Sunday afternoons learning from Jeff Schwartz, a professor in the Core Studies area. He went over the syllabus -- explaining that we would be learning about communicating in back and white, without words, using the ideas of line, shape, and composition. I enjoyed his lecture on design principles and design elements, in which he engaged the class by asking for our examples, as he elaborated on concepts listed on the syllabus -- just what I was interested in!

Then came the assignments - not only finding and annotating 6 examples of design, 3 good, 3 bad, for next week, but getting out our required materials and preparing 5 white boards (8 by 10) using black paper cutouts for different design conditions. The first two were to be

done in class, the complete set by next Sunday. First, using a 4 inch black square, cut and arrange the black paper so it is not longer recognizable as a square, second, with the same 4 inch square, cut and arrange so that the design an be moved back into the original square easily.

Wow! This was the hard stuff! Any and all creative thoughts flew form my head, and I stared long and hard at a blank white board and 4 inch cutout of black paper. All around me others

were busy clipping and gluing, and I could glimpse interesting and artistic creations. I tried using my sketch-book, but I couldn't see how the ideas from my head would conform to the assignment specs. FInally I just started cutting shapes, quite regular and repetitive-- I wan't even sure which of the two assignments I was fulfilling. Next task, using rubber cement to commit to one particular arrangement rather than constantly arranging and rearranging. I got rubber cement EVERYWHERE - except under the corners of my more ambitious shapes! Again, a sly glance at my neighbors suggested that they had mastered the 4-year-old techniques of cut-and paste! The professor, Jeff, moved from student to student, commenting, encouraging, and, in my case, moving the cut-ots slightly to demonstrate how a slightly different arrangement looked much better. He didn't evaluate, but used a few of the concepts he had introduced. I did hear him suggest to the man to my right that he might like to retry one of the bo

ards after he had completed all the assignments.

So, here are my first attempts :

The square that isn't, and

the square that recombines.

The remaining 3 boards are much more difficult -- I must demonstrate figure-ground and black-white dominance. I'll show you them when I've completed them!

Yes, the experience lived up to my expectations -- and was harder than I'd imagined!

Sawdust Pie

I deliberately came without any cookbooks, so I searched the internet for plausible recipes for my remaining letters. Found something interesting for all but X, so the search must continue.

Today was the S d ay. The ingredients-in-process certainly looked like sawdust, but the final taste reminded me of pecan pie.

Jack gave the Sawdust Pie a 5-pie rating; it w

as too sweet for my taste. (But

I'll help him finish it!)

Now, what to do with the leftover 7 egg yolks?

A week beyond Stonington

It's time to settle into a serious routine. I have a number of small projects in-process: three Academy of Management papers to review, the book chapter on Follett as a giant "with shoulders' to stand on, the business and design convergence position paper, reading the "great books" of design thinking - where I've been creeping along with Schon's Reflective Practitioner for days, if not weeks, and preparing for my editorship of the "May BDL book." I think that's all, but there may be others, and I know there are several waiting in the wings for the moment when they will bust on stage. I need to decide, shall I just keep flitting from one to another as time and interest allow, or should I set myself a schedule to complete them one by one. The very fact that I am reflecting about the suggests that my ad hoc approach of this past week has started to bother me. A different approach is called for.

Multiple realities

Where am I? In the retiree world, sunning myself at the pool, reading the Historian and watching others engage in water aerobics? Or in the academic world, working over the internet to craft a position in the convergence of management and design? Or in the virtual world of the Avatar, far removed from Second Life? My body is in one location but my perception roams alternate realities.

The calm before the storm

Tomorrow promises to be the beginning of a major work spell - Ulla and I have three important research papers due in at least working draft form by the middle of March. Together they will define much of the underlying philosophy of the Business and Design Lab, at least from the perspective of the founding director who is the only professor in design management in Scandinavia with an endowed chair. That creates some expectations, but we won't worry about that as we settle into our writing rhythm. - there'll be time for that later. Our mantra has always been "not to embarrass ourselves." It's just that the stakes are getting higher! Ulla's rested after several weeks in Australia, and we plan to start tomorrow at our usual Skype time - 8 am US = 2 pm SE.

Check back this time tomorrow to see if I'm still cheerful!

Settling in

Unpacking the car

Setting up electronics (from the car)

Waiting and waiting at Comcast to pick up a DVR

Purchasing required supplies for the design class I'm taking at the

Ringling College of Art and Design

Filling the fridge (no photo - you know what that looks like)

Checking out the beach (late by the time we got there)

NOT planning for tomorrow

Here at last -

@ 7:39 PM after 1495.5 miles

If you ask what took us so long today, you may be shown all 77 photos that I took at the Kennedy Space Center.

Instead, here are some of the realities that I enjoyed the most:

What every (inner) child wants to know -- where do astronauts go to the bathroom?

If you know about my "day books" you'll know why I was fascinated by this log.

Why substitute a two-dimensional or even three-dimensional representation for the real thing -- even if it is far away?

and finally, in an oblique reference to my own (re) design

Onroad statistics* (southbound)

Length of observation time = 8 hr 10 min, covering 544.4 miles

* Margin of error is +/- 50%

Types of vehicles:

Proportion of sedans to SUVs, trucks, RVs & trailers = 10%

Number of tandem trailers = 1

Number of hybrids = 2

2:43PM, 74F

Number of convertibles = 1

Number of motorbikes = 1

State of origin (out of area):

Most popular = Canada (Quebec & Ontario)

Furthest = Alaska

Number from CT = 1 (us)

In Titusville. Still to go: 171 miles (plus detour)

Dunn for today

Accomplished today: 516.1 m,

8 hrs engine time

(32mpg, 62mph)

Now 47F @ 35 deg 18 min N, 78 deg 36 min W

Schom would be far more concerned with how I frame (e.g., "today's mission accomplished," than what I observe -- see above).

And so, asks Schon, how is this situation unique? How must you treat it because it is different from any other?

Quiz from New Jersey

We're spending the night with "our friends of the most years" and catching up on the careers of our combined nine children: the Ph.D. student, , the engineer, the architect, the screen-play writer, the soccer mom, the high-school assistant principal, the graphic artist, the soldier, the bike store manager. Here are there names -- can you match the name to the occupations: David x2, Karen, Virginia, Mary x2, Paul, Ann, John?

Preparing for liftoff

Draining the water ....

Where does the last box of book go ?

Ah, here!

On the drive I shall reflect on reflection. I've always had the ability to "stand on my own shoulder and comment on myself" as I used to call it. LS said I was a living postmodern. What would Schon say?

Clothes for all occasions

Trying to decide which clothes to pack is always an issue for me, even when I've got a complete (warm weather) wardrobe where I'm going. Going by car tempts me to squeeze in one more item, just in case it's cold/hot/raining/very formal/very informal/none of the above.

All this activity provided me with an opportunity to reflect again on clothes for my new identity.

Do I / should I look like this when I go to NYC? Or maybe with the right bag, I could ....

On the other hand, action associated with style is more fun!

Shorts and a tee shirt will suit me fine for the next couple of months!

Countdown to "going nomad"

We plan to begin our trek south to Sarasota on Friday. It's been a couple of years since we've driven down for an extended stay, and we're preparing in an organized fashion. All the electronics, (flatscreen tv and stereo system from our Fairfield condo) were packed first; getting them south was the first priority. Next my books and work-in-process. Of course I have grandiose plans for reading and writing, that's part of the fun of anticipation. And if I don't finish (everything or anything) -- so be it. I spoke with Ulla today -- she's in Abdu Dhabi en route back from Australia -- and she has thought of new projects to add to our ongoing collection. So I need to find space for a few new/different books! Yet to be packed are essentials like clothes (just how warm will it be?) and everyday electronics (at least two computer bags). If we don't stop finding stuff to take we'll be adding a roof rack before we know it!

I've speeded up with my reading of Schon's Reflective Practitioner. at first I enjoyed going really slowly, savoring every example. Even though I've had a copy of the book since I took a class in the School of Ed @ UMass- Amherst in the early 90s I think this is the first time I've sat down to read it from cover to cover. I'm making notes after every chapter -- and insisting that I read the whole chapter before I make notes -- which slows down the process more. I'll be interested to read my notes all the way through when I've finished -- will they be helpful, or not?

Real progress

Two significant events happened today.

First, we decreased the number of Apple computers in the house by two. The two oldest (a 170 mac-powerbook from way back when Jack was at the Torrington Company, and my G3 powerbook, probably from my last days at UMass) were packed up for shipping to Apple's recycling program. Now only my G4 and MacPro remain. Tomorrow we intend to repeat the process with Dell laptops.

And, I saw the whole top of the dining table for the first time since we started our sort 'n pitch routine. Is this the sign of things to come?

I hope so!

Perhaps ...

A blog post today. Perhaps not.

Next phase ... perhaps

I've given myself permission to do a "slow read" of the basic texts underlying design management and design thinking. It's a treat not to be rapid-skimming through articles and books to quickly find the quote I need for an argument in a paper. Instead I will read every page slowly enough to understand the author's intentions, and make some notes afterwards.

This promises to be a long process, if my progress with Schon's "Reflective Practitioner" is anything to go by. But I hope I'll keep it up until the next paper crowds in.

And talking of next assignments, I have been receiving emails of late from someone at Umea University in central Sweden about a conference or book project that I know nothing about other than its title of, "On the shoulders of giants," I can only only assume that Ulla committed us to it because her name is also on the distro list. The messages are in English, saying things like, "Here's the template everyone should be following," but the template and other details are in Swedish! I hope I find out when Ulla returns from Australia next week.

Another milestone passed - perhaps

It's been a rough day. I hadn't realized how draining it would be to talk with the newly appoint A-Dean, RP, about what the job involved, as I did yesterday. I'd looked forward to the meeting with pleasure - RP is a great choice for the position and I want to help him however I can. So what was it? Maybe revisiting all the tasks in such short order, together with the retrospective view I had while writing the "ETS to BITE" report on Thursday. My feelings were not "quitter's remorse" - I can truthfully say I have no regrets about having left. Maybe it was grieving for what might have been. And it was also a sense of sadness about the frustrations of hope. RP seems so vulnerable and alone. But I know that evaluation doesn't do justice to either his character or his ability.

So this morning, after a restless night when I revisited my former life in my semi-sleep, I created a "perpetual A-Dean's calendar" with annotations about the various tasks that come under the A-Dean's purview, sent it to him, and turned back to my new life.

Without much success. Herbert Simon's "The Sciences of the Artificial" is hardly a cliffhanger and without a preconceived framework it was too difficult to keep concentrating. Clearly "a weekend" (implying a break from intellectual work) is needed!

What more is there to this redesign stuff?

I'm not the only person undertaking a redesign -- today I read in the Wall Street Journal of the executive who changed careers and put her entire (designer) wardrobe up for sale on e-Bay.

Well, I'm giving my former (functional) wardrobe to Goodwill.

And the "Three Pillars" - Steve, Lynda & Jill -- who guided the Welch College through accreditation have redesigned themselves as the "three wise pillars"

Events of the day

I finished my overdue report on the Welch College change from the ETS to the BITE.

I realized that I need to systematically read the foundational texts in design thinking and started with Herbert Simon's (1969) Sciences of the Artificial.

I made the E pie = Egg and Potato Pie, Indienne.

(Yes, that's a mashed potato "crust." And "indienne" signifies Asian flavor = curry. The filling is "cubed" hard boiled eggs.)

It received a 2 pie rating.

I have H, N, S, V, X, Y and Z pies remaining.

(For new readers I am

on a quest

to make a pie for every letter of the alphabet)

Fragments

Of a journal article submitted last year ... finally made contact with the editor of JIBE (Jeanie and I were ready to pull our manuscript because we hadn't had an acknowledgement of our submission on Nov 20 or any response to follow-ups). Don't know why the editor's emails hadn't reached Jeanie. But good news is that one favorable review back, second pending. Hope it will be in Nov 09 issue that goes to (electronic) "press" at end of month.

Of an emerging framework for a design thinking literature review .... temporarily abandoned the wheel in favor of a classic table for sorting out categories. Need to complete a cursory review of the main themes in the design thinking discourse to define the segments of the wheel.

Of a long overdue report .... really, really tried to stay focused on my report on why the Welch College Assurance of Learning Committee and A-2 leadership decided to switch from the ETS to the BITE to assess undergraduate's knowledge of core business concepts. The AACSB consultant suggested this documentation when he visited last August, and I promised to do it. Lots of searching, finding, and emailing Lynda for reports to create the background for the story. But the story itself is not yet written. I MUST finish it before I meet with Associate Dean Rupendra on Thursday.

Reflecting on the subtext of the story I have yet to write, I see why I have been so reluctant. I put so much energy into the reports, trying to present the data so all possibilities could be considered, yet only the economists would face up to the possibility that maybe the curriculum was at least part of the issue. (They made changes to course content, with corresponding results.) Now, doing my own quick analysis of the FA09 BITE results, the issue is even more striking. Thank heavens I will not be there to try to make faculty take off their rose colored glasses.

Work with no products ... yet

I spent a leisurely (scholarly??) morning chatting with Steve Brown about our individual and mutual research projects. The work-session started with a tour of his "new" old home (rebuilt following a fire almost exactly a year ago (Jan 28) that completely destroyed his previous home.) I was most impressed by how "settled" they are -- Kathy said that was due to Christmas, everything HAD to be ready. On the specifics of work, we talked about the details of the "where to make the charitable donations" article that we dropped after our EAM presentation, made preliminary plans for an EGOS 2011 paper and came up with an idea for a new diagnostic tool during the ride back to Fairfield. Nothing tangible for 3 hours of "work" except a few handwritten notes - but that's the academic life!

My design thinking schema is emerging as a wheel - inspired perhaps by a wine-aroma wheel. I want to get away from the Burrell and Morgan paradigms in a 2x2 matrix that Ulla and I have used up till now to explore the epistemology of design-management connections. After we presented a paper based on this matrix to PhD students in Design and Management from all over Sweden at the seminar last October, several of them told me afterwards it made them feel "uncomfortable" - they didn't know why, but it just wasn't the sort of structure a designer would work with. So, I'm thinking of creating a wheel with the different segments of the design thinking discourse, and see what I can do with that. It's a starting point, a prototype for a new framework.

Lost in the blogsphere?

Far from it -- I'm "lost" in the process of reframing. As every woman knows, this process starts with cleaning the past. I'm physically engaged in another round of sorting and pitching papers from my SHU days while "sorting out" my conceptual map for design thinking. I debated using "creating", but my fragmented thoughts process is not yet worthy of such a name.

Lazy Day(s)

My intellectual work has slowed down -- and maybe that's a good thing. I've have had a number of papers with short deadlines recently, and when that happens I'm thinking about the topic in my subconscious even while doing other things. So, it's nice to take a breather, deal with some adminsitrivia, have nothing to distract me from submitting my EAM reviews (1 down, 3 to go), put some energy into my life's reorganization, and dream about my new identity. I've found some great "studio activities" in the Ringling College of Art and Design Continuing Education Program Spring 2010 Catalog. Now all I have to do is: (1) Decide which course(s) to take, and (2) Get to Sarasota in time for the first class (some start Jan 31).

Identity(s) work -

And not much else!

I now have an official identity at four libraries! (Others are Sarasota Public Library, SHU, and U. Gothenburg.) Apart from obvious reference books, I wonder how many (print) books are held by all the libraries (i.e., same book in each collection, not the total number of books held by all). I don't think I'll try to find out!

My postcard-souvenier from the Yale Art Gallery is not a picture - but it gives me a clue in my identity quest. I need a "studio experience". I understand how designers/artists work, and I've worked with some while they were designing. But I've never struggled with the process myself. And I won't have a "real" Business & Design Lab identity until I do. So what to do? I've started to peruse recreation department and continuing ed catalogs. I'm not sure I'll even have a choice other than "watercolors for beginners." (And I haven't even found that class yet.) Technique is not what I'm seeking - it's the struggle and inspiration of the process.

One identity is secure: the Pie Lady is back! I would like to call this the "Xtreme cheating pie," but technically it falls into

the "M" category (mincemeat-pumpkin.) I had plans to make real mincemeat and real English (small individual) mince-pies. But that didn't happen. Maybe next time. This one recieved a 3 pie rating from the Chief Taster.

No scholarly academic identity today -- I didn't even complete the one review I had planned.

Time in New Haven

Today I had few hours to spare in New Haven. First I went to the "Continuous Present" exhibition at the Yale University Art Gallery. It was just one room, with paintings, sculpture, drawings, photography, and video by 11 artists. Each piece, in one way or another conceptualized "time, interrupted!"

I enjoyed it tremendously. Partly because of my own interest in "time" from my early doctoral work at UMass, but also because my own "time orientation" IS the present -- I care little for the traditions of the past, and have no need to expect a "better" future in the way of the modernists. (This reflection may put me at odds with one of my potential re-design role models from yesterday's post.) Each piece was different, and could be enjoyed -- or not -- without comparison with similar pieces. I especially enjoyed Rodney Graham's short film, "City self/Country self." The New York Times art critic found it "visually captivating, but unresolved." Isn't that the continuous present?

It is, according to the exhibition curator's notes. And, according to another scholar, it reveals the artist's multiple identities. No wonder I watched it more than once!

Then I walked past the Yale Colleges on Elm Street and the New Haven Green, remembering with a shock that I had once worked for a consulting firm with offices that overlooked the Green,

and into the New Haven Public Library.

I'd intended to work on my reviews for the EAM that are due next week, but instead I was enticed by all the books. I selected a couple to take with me, but the circulation librarian told me my Fairfield Library card was out of date (it had 2005 on the back) and therefore I could not have the books. No matter that I used it in the Mystic Library a couple of months ago! "The small towns don't pay attention to such details," she said. "We do."

Guess where I plan to go tomorrow!

Role models

Today I tried to find a role model for my new identity. Whom do I admire? As an adolescent my heroine was Marie Curie (I was always a nerd!). But I'm no longer into the scientific experiment stuff. Possible candidates are two women who wear their age gracefully and excel at role-playing, Judi Dench and Angela Landsbury. Knowing that Landsbury played Jessica Fletcher, fictional author of detective stories, for many years, should I look to Agatha Christie - the creator of Jane Marple, the Swedish gang's nickname for me (see earlier bog posting)? Hmm, if I don't want to spend my days writing mysteries, maybe I should search in the "design thinking community." I could pick Robyn Waters, whom I met at the DMI conference in Boston. I admired her skill for making sense and speaking eloquently about the chaos about her. We certainly share a curiosity for examining trends and paradoxes, and I did once aspire to a yellow Hummer with a Smart Car in the back!

Which one shall I select? Stepping back, as an ironist, I do not espouse a fixed identity, instead relying on multiple and shifting identities to be used one at a time as best fits the current mode. All I know is that to survive such fragmentation I must, and do, have a strong moral compass at my core. Does that mean I can choose from among these women according to the task at hand?

So much for simply slipping into the shoes of another -- tomorrow I'll search elsewhere.

And, btw, I finished the 3000 word EGOS paper today (It's 2998 words, including selected references).

Back to "feels like" -2F or -19C

New Year's resolution

A new identity - after I determine who I really am!

My goal is that, by the end of 2010, I WILL be ReDesigned!