Complete training before you join the war

Tonight I was reviewing documents that I created and saved in Google Docs, Google's online equivalent of Microsoft Office.  I found this short story and decided to use it as this week's blog post.  The first part of this was written in 2010.

PLAYING WAR
My twelve-year old daughter, Erika,  likes to play with a group of other neighborhood girls.  Yesterday, after returning home after several hours of play, she explained to me that the girls were playing “nerf war.”  Erika looked more like a football player than a warrior with football-like stripes on her cheeks.

In order to prepare for the “war,” the girls devised an obstacle course, utilizing existing playground equipment and fences, as obstacles to go over, under, or around.  The goal was to successfully complete the obstacle in sixty seconds or less.  As of last night’s report, only one girl had completed the course within the target time. 

This morning we continued discussing the obstacle course.  The girls are apparently focused on meeting their time goal on the obstacle course prior to resuming the nerf war.  Erika commented, “You have to complete training before you join the war.”  This reminded me of one of my early work experiences that taught me the importance of proper instruction or training prior to joining “the war.”

DOMINO'S PIZZA
After graduating from high school, I secured a summer job at Domino’s Pizza delivering pizzas.  I had no experience in the pizza or delivery business.  Once I was outfitted with my blue and red Domino’s shirt, I was introduced to my trainer.  The plan, I was informed, would be to ride with my trainer for the entire shift, and then begin delivering independently the next night.

I accompanied my trainer for about an hour.  As we walked back into the store after completing a delivery, the manager said, “Doug, do you feel comfortable going out by yourself?  One of our drivers called in sick and I need a driver.”

Being the confident 18-year old that I was, I said, “Sure!  I’d be happy to.”

I strapped the triangular Domino’s sign on my car, a 1972 Pontiac Ventura II, and readied for my night of deliveries.  Driving around with the sign prominently displayed atop my car translated into a significant increase in my wage, an extra $1.50 per hour!  I wondered at the time why some drivers opted out of utilizing the sign, but I needed all the extra income I could easily earn. 

I spent the rest of the evening trying to find streets and addresses in a town that I thought I knew a town I had lived in for six years!  It was amazing to me how many streets were drawn on the large map displayed at the drivers’ entrance to the store.  I was even more surprised at how many new subdivisions and streets existed that were not on the map!  When the additional confusion of darkness was added to the mix, it really complicated my first shift!

TRAINING IS IMPORTANT
I have seen the same scenario played out in business as well.  In a rush to complete tasks or improve efficiency, adequate time is not allowed for training.  Especially with software, there can be an expectation that users will learn from others or use the help function.

If you are in a leadership position, take the time to ensure that your staff is trained on whatever new processes, procedures, or tools (including software) you are implementing.  If you are not in a leadership position, take the assertive action of requesting training. 

Maps as Prompts for Stories

Many, many books exist on writing memoirs.  One of my favorites is On Writing Well by William Zinser.  His suggestion is to write one story per day based on whatever comes to mind at the time you sit down to write.  After 2-3 months of writing, you can review your stories and see how your writing "voice" has developed.  Sometimes, a challenge can be to think of an event to write about.

IDEAS FOR STORIES

Author Richard Stone has written two books which focus on how stories can have a healing influence.  In both The Healing Art of Storytelling and Stories:  The Family Legacy he suggests that you draw maps of places you have visited or lived.

You can also draw blueprints of houses where you lived, schools you attended, or places you worked.  Because our lives of filled with experiences, often thinking of these places is enough generate many stories.  Family trees are also great for generating story ideas and remembering events with favorite (and not so favorite) aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents.
 
MY CHILDHOOD NEIGHBORHOOD
From 3 to 12 I lived outside of Chattanooga in the small community of Collegedale.   With the ability to visit any part of the planet vicariously via Google Maps, I revisited my old neighborhood and saved the satellite image.  Using an illustration application, I drew some notes onto the map.  As I made these notes, I was reminded of many stories that occurred in my neighborhood.



SHORT STORIES

• In the 1970s, a tornado destroyed a house under construction in our neighborhood.  The spiked nailed panels that held the roof trusses together were scattered and could be bent around your arm to make Roman-styled arm bands.
• There were several trails in the vacant lot owned by my parents next to our house.  The back property line was shared with an adjacent cow field, where many games were played with friends.
• My friend Jeremy lived in a duplex at the bottom of the hill.  Later on, his family moved to a house on the same street.  
• My first piano teacher lived a couple of houses away from us.  Despite her best efforts, I was more interested in watching Batman on TV and was more concerned about being back at home by 5:30 to watch Batman than complete a full 30-minute lesson.

UNLIMITED POTENTIAL
As you can see, this mapping technique is a great way to develop stories and remember events.  There are many more stories I could tell just from viewing the map.  I'm sure that if my brother or sister viewed the same map, they could generate many of their own stories based on their experiences.

With just a little effort, I could make a map for other places I have lived:

• Murfreesboro, TN
• Jasper, AL
• Nashville, TN  

I could have easily zoomed out to display the entire city of Collegedale.  Had I done so, I could have shared stories about walking to school, my school playground, and many other events.

I encourage you to think about all of the places you have visited or lived.  Draw a map or create one using Google Earth (or another mapping application).  You'll be amazed at how many events you can remember.

MY MAPPING PROCESS
I used three iPad apps to create the map for this post.

Adventures with Storyboarding

Storyboards have traditionally been used by the film industry as a way to map out cinematography, such as camera angles and acting positions, for many years. Storyboard was introduced by Walt Disney, who used the technique with his creative team to work through stories prior to committing thousands of man-hours to handdrawn panels for animated cartoons.

The film industry continues to use storyboarding as a planning tool. There are several books available that contain the storyboard drawings from popular movies such as Star Wars and Titanic.

Presentation Planning
Storyboarding is also useful as a planning tool for presentation planning. A tip I picked up along the way is to print PowerPoint slides at the small size of nine per page. When you cut these miniature slides out, they are the same size as the 1.5x2 inch sticky notes. Once all of your slides and stickies are together you can tape them on to a whiteboard or wall to easily organize into a presentation. I have done this many times.

Revealing Revelation's Hope
My church is conducting a series of meetings in a month entitled "Revealing Revelation's Hope." The series focuses end-time events as prophesied in the Bible. I was asked to work up an ad for the local Christian radio station. After reviewing the printed brochures for the series, I developed this script that is approximately one minute in length.

Tornadoes, war, hurricanes, earthquakes, terrorist attacks. There are signs everywhere that we are living in unusual times. People realize that we are on the verge of something big. History’s hourglass is almost empty; but, there is a bright future!
Revealing Revelation’s Hope is a dynamic end-time prophecy series coming to Nashville beginning September 6.

During this live series you will learn about the battle of Armageddon, the seven last plagues, the Mark of the Beast, six, six, six, and much, much more.
Revealing Revelation’s Hope will be held at West End Middle School beginning Friday, September 6 at 7:00PM and continue every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday through October 5.

Admission and all study materials are free.

Visit Revealing Revelations Hope dot com for more info. That’s, Revealing Revelations Hope dot com.

Video Ideas
After creating the script, I made a quick recording using my iPhone. My original intention was to send this to the radio station as an example of the pauses and emphasis needed by their professional voice talent. However, while listening back to the recording, I was inspired to create a video that corresponded and illustrated the script.

Storyboard for Revealing Revelation's Hope
In thinking about the video, I decided that an outline was needed to determine which "scenes" would need to be illustrated and what ideas would be best for each scene. My storyboard is pictured below.

Simple Storyboards
A storyboard does not have to be fancy. There are some applications and software for storyboarding, but I have also used 4x6 and 3x5 cards for storyboarding. Moleskine produces a storyboarding journal.

However, the template for storyboarding is simple: draw a series of rectangles.
Originally, my intention was to find video clips for each of the disasters at the beginning, but ultimately decided to use photos instead. Since I had a clear concept of what I envisioned for each scene, and because I was working alone, I did not need elaborate or large storyboards.

Video Process
Initially, I created a test video using the original quick recording made with my iPhone. After sharing the video with the planning team, I realized that I wanted a higher quality recording for the narration and needed more "hopeful" music than the "X-Files" genre soundtrack used throughout the entire video.

I was satisfied after re-recording the narration and contrasting the somber "X-Files" soundtrack at the beginning - during the disasters - and a brighter soundtrack during the second part of the video.
The resulting video is available on my YouTube channel and embedded here.



Do-It-Yourself
Whether you are planning a presentation, creating a one-minute video, or a feature-length film, I encourage you to utilize the storyboarding technique to plan your key points and illustrations. Even if you are not using visuals as part of the presentation, adding a visual element to the planning process will be beneficial.

Douglas G Pratt, 2013

Project Imaginat10n

Project Imagination

Canon, manufacturer of photography and video equipment, has launched creative venture named "Project Imagination." The concept, in association with actor and director Ron Howard, is to create a short film based on submitted photos. For Project Imagin8ion, the film was based on photographs submitted in eight general categories. For the second film, photos were submitted in ten categories. With Project Imaginat10n, the contest for the second film, photos were selected by celebrity directors and a scriptwriting contest was also part of the project.

Themes for Project Imaginat10n

Project Imaginat10n has ten themes.

1. Setting - Any location or environment.
2. Time - Time of day or within history.
3. Character - Anyone or anything.
4. Mood - Conveys atmosphere tone or emotion.
5. Backstory - A history that promotes fuller understanding of the narrative.
6. Relationship - A relationship between anyone or anything.
7. Goal - Whatever the character is pursuing.
8. Obstacle - Anyone or anything in the character's way.
9. The Unknown - Anything unexpected.
10. Discovery - A key or pivotal item, place, or truth that is uncovered.

Adaptable for Presentations

I believe that these same themes can help you create a presentation with more impact. Give some consideration to each of these elements when creating the content and narrative for any talk or presentation you are preparing for.

A presentation is a story. Within the business world, many have still not learned to appreciate that facts and data alone do not generally move people to action. It is the meaning related to the data that can motivate decision makers. Thus, telling a compelling story is vital.

Create a Planning Sheet

When planning a talk or presentation, take a sheet of paper and write down each of the themes. Write a sentence or paragraph that describes each theme as it relates to the presentation. For example, if I am doing a project presentation for continued funding, in the "Time" theme, I would provide a history of the project. Any events (funding, competing projects, etc.) that have impacted the project would be listed under Obstacles.

Douglas G Pratt, 2013

Repost from Elliott Masie: 99-Second Talks

Elliott Masie is the founder of The Masie Center which focuses on how organizations can support knowledge and learning within the workforce.  Elliott's Learning conference, held annually, features seminars, keynotes, and presentations on the newest paradigms, processes, and gadgets to help improve workplace-based learning.

On July 13, Elliott posted about something new for this year's Learning conference:  99-second presentations.  The full text of his post is below.  As you read, think about what information you could deliver in a 99-second presentation.

Adjusting presentation content
A brief presentation must be designed differently than a longer one.  You can't simply squeeze 30 minutes worth of content and narrative into 1 minute and 39 seconds.  Dale Carnegie, most famous for his book How to Win Friends & Influence People, also wrote extensively about presenting.  You can download a copy of his "Effective Presentations" booklet from DaleCarnegie.com.  The booklet contains many simple presentation tips.

99 Second Talks ??
Yes, we are inviting our Learning 2013 participants to present several 99 Second Talks!!

In the age of "compression", we decided to experiment with a radical format - focused and high energy 99 second presentations - with a single graphic.

We will have a countdown clock - to keep the story to just 99 seconds - with a single graphic.
Imagine 99 Second Talks on topics like:

• 3 Tips for Managing a Boss Who Doesn't Listen
• How We Went "Greener" in our Learning Department
• Summarizing That Great Book - in Under 100 Seconds

We will present 99 Second Talks interspersed during a few of our General Sessions, as openers for some workshops and a few will be viewable right on your mobile devices during Learning 2013.

Read the original post:  http://www.learning2013.com/blog/item/a-99-second-session.html

Details

Mars Climate Orbiter

The Mars Climate Orbiter Mission objective was to orbit Mars as the first interplanetary weather satellite and provide a communications relay for another craft which was due to reach Mars in December 1999. The Mars Climate Orbiter was launched on December 11, 1998, and was lost sometime following the spacecraft's entry into Mars orbit. The spacecraft's carrier signal was last seen on Thursday, September 23, 1999.

An investigation board was convened and determined that the root cause for the loss of the spacecraft was the failure to use metric units in the coding of a ground software file used in trajectory models. The software application required that measurements be in metric units but the data files were in English units. The planners assumed that the data was in metric units.

Isaac Peral

Earlier this month, a newspaper reported that a Spanish submarine, the Isaac Peral, was 70 tons heavier than expected. Still under construction, officials believed that the submarine would not be able to resurface once launched.

Officials went on to say that the overage was due to a misplaced decimal point during the design process. The cost estimate to resolve the problem is estimated at $14 million, which will be paid over three years. This is in addition to the $680 million already invested!

Don't Hint and Hope

In business, it is critical that communications be clear and understood. Assumptions can have drastic consequences. When communicating with others be concise and clear. Checking to see how your message is received also lessens the likelihood of mistakes or misperceived communication.

Douglas G Pratt, 2013

Classic Fairy Tales

When the wonderful happens, when a holiday abroad is a splendid success or an unlikely romance ends happily, we commonly exclaim it was "just like a fairy tale," overlooking that most events in fairly tales are remarkable for their unpleasantness, and that in some of the tales there is no happy ending.

The Classic Fairy Tales is a revealing book about the most popular fairy tales that most of us were introduced to as children, through bed time stories or Disney movies. What makes this book, written by Iona and Peter Opie, interesting, is that the authors reprint the tale as it first appeared in English. Additionally, the authors provide a historical context for each fairy tale, including parallel tales from cultures around the world.

The Classic Fairy Tales includes 24 classic fairy tales from Jack and the Bean Stalk to Cinderella to Beauty and the Beast. Most of these will be familiar to the majority of readers. The book was published in 1974 and is reprinted from a 1980 edition.

Often beginning as spoken tales before being transcribed, these fairy tales reflect the norms and values of the time. Thus you may find original stories where the brides were only 14 or 15 years old when offered for married. Many of the tales include "wicked" stepmothers because at the time, women frequently died young and widowers with several young children immediately needed a wife to assist with parenting. Wells also play a prominent role in many of the fairy tales because this was the "water cooler" of the day. People gathered around the wells to share stories, interact, and gossip.

The magic in the tales lies in people and creatures being shown to be what they really are.

Usually the tale is about one person, or one family, having to cope with a supernatural occurrence or supernatural protagonist during a period of stress. The hero is almost invariably a young person, usually the youngest member of a family, and if not deformed or already an orphan, is probably in the process of being disowned or abandoned.

Unlike the contemporary, rewritten versions of fairy tales, most of the original tales contained very little magic. Enchantments (spells) were often temporary. Additionally, as the authors point out in the introduction, some of the tales do not end happily.

In the most-loved fairy tales, it will be noticed, noble personages may be brought low by fairy enhancement or by human beastliness, but the lowly are seldom made noble.

This is not a children's book. It is very educational in terms of the forgotten history and evolution of the classic fairy tales. In a large sense, this book serves as a reminder that how we recall stories today was not always the case.

All of the quotations on this page are from the introduction.

Douglas G Pratt, 2013