My Reflections and/or Metacognitive Thoughts
From the Start:
Perseverance is what comes to mind when I reflect back on my time spent in the program and my design experiences. The below quote exemplifies how I have grown both personally and professionally as I have moved through the various courses of my program and while completing this Jury.
John Maxwell, a world renowned author, speaker, and pastor on leadership, states in his book Talent is never enough workbook: Discover the choices that will take you beyond your talent (1991) that:
People who display perseverance keep a larger vision in mind as they toil away at their craft or profession. They see in their mind’s eye what they want to create or to do, and they keep working toward it as they labor. (chap. 2)
At the start of my program, I felt as though I was good designer and that the content I was to learn would be only enhancing what I already knew, however, that was not the case. As I write this goal of my Jury, I am amazed at how much knowledge I truly learned about design and how I have personally grown as a designer. Since starting the program, I have held, changed and advanced in three different careers, went from being a 1st Lieutenant in the Army to being a Major and next year I will be eligible for promotion to Lieutenant Colonel and I will also be completing twenty years of Active Federal Service making me eligible for retirement. During my time in the program, I have also sat on many boards, panels and have been an active volunteer in several local organizations. I was the critical link in developing the processes and procedures that were utilized in the establishment the 1st Veterans’ Treatment Court in Illinois and the 3rd in the Nation. I have been a part of the development of so many other programs and services; I cannot even begin to list them all. Design has infiltrated many parts of my life to the point that sometimes I do not even realize that I am designing or was designing something until afterwards when I have time to sit back and reflect. Now I do not believe that the IT program is responsible for all my personal and professional growth and success, however, I do feel that it played an important part each step of the way.
Reflecting back each class seemed to provide me with the knowledge needed to continue to refine and develop my design skills and abilities at the right time. Thinking about all the projects I designed while in the program, I can actually say that every one of them, in one way or another brought me a few steps closer to achieving the educational goal of being a better designer. With each course, I not only changed as a designer, my whole life changed. Now that I am at the end of my program, I feel like I am a proficient designer, who is always moving forward with a design focus of helping others. To still be holding and moving forward, I feel truly blessed and I am humbled. I have learned and grown in so many ways, but the most notable area and what has emerged as my defining “ah ha” moment has been truly understanding design thinking. Learning to be a design thinker has really allowed me to hone my skills especially in the areas of designing as a driver for change, design thinking and communication and collaboration.
Designing as a Driver for Change
Prior to this program, I often found myself becoming easily frustrated with others when they did not easily embrace a new technology or when they could not just sit down and breeze through a new technological process like I could. My frustration makes me laugh now because I could have easily become like Nick Burns, the company computer guy, played by Jimmy Fallon from Saturday Night Live where he pushes his co-workers out of the way because they do not understand technology or embrace it as passionately as he does.
For a quick laugh click here to watch Nick Burns in action on Saturday Night Live
I have always been influenced and intrigued by technology and new productivity tools; however, I now realize that many people across a broad spectrum of society are emotionally frightened almost to the point of death when faced with learning or embracing a new technology. As a designer of change, my goal is to help others overcome the emotional fears of change.
The main reasons I love instructional design is my passion for learning new technologies and the emotional appeal in helping others through my work achieve learning and success. I believe that designing instruction has been and still is the best way for me to achieve these passions and continue to grow. I am thankful that I was able to realize early on in my program that I wanted to design instruction that would have a major impact on others in particular content areas. Therefore my designs were centered in the content areas that I had studied as an undergraduate, which were History, Political and Military Science and Secondary Education. That was why I believe my designs are driven by societal change and my design projects after IT 486 reflected the approach designing as a driver of emotional change in others. I wanted to ensure that my designs made difficult ideas, concepts and products other use simpler. I now strive to create designs where I can easily see the positive beneficial change my instruction has in or on the lives of others. I want my designs to be historical and impact people long term. I am not just designing for a skill, but also for the emotional benefit of moving people and society forward.
Designing as a driver of change, real emotional change has been one of the most rewarding things I have personally gained from being a part of this program. I feel that this personally rewarding experience will continue long after I am finished with the program and as I continue to grow as a changed designer. I am always looking for the next piece of technology or idea or concept to improve, so I am best prepared for the next wave of change and in a position to best help others from drowning such a vast sea.
The program taught me how to capitalize on change by identifying technological ideas and concepts that affect change. I also learned how best to assist others when a sea change comes or occurs using current and relevant instruction. This is because each course asked me to think critically and dig deep and use all my knowledge, skills and abilities to produce a deliverable product which make things and life simpler. Thinking back now, I realize how important each of my design projects was in shaping me as a designer of change. My IT 500 Common Access Card (CAC) Instructional Units design project was the most evident in achieving such change and what I felt was very critical in shaping my overall design philosophy of emotional design because of the number of people it positively impacted across such a broad organization as the Army.
My CAC design project for IT 500 stands out the most because it was designed to overcome a real-time problem in the workplace that was causing me and others some serious productivity loss and emotional stress. Through my design project, I was able to put into place a step-by-step instructional guides and practices that increased productivity and lessoned the stress all concerned. Being one of the few solders in my Army unit that had a working CAC and who understood how to properly configure every piece of required software, I anticipated the need for such a guide and I set about design thinking my way towards a solution. As mentioned earlier, this is a good example of design infiltrating my life because now as a result of the IT program, I approach everything as a potential design problem and set about determining if it is something that can easily be overcome with some instruction and a little emotional appeal. I initially approach designing instruction with the view of how it could benefit me and then if I find areas that that can be improved or simplified; I began shaping in such a way for the benefit of others.
These are the rewards that I enjoy the most about being a designer. I feel a real sense of purpose and accomplishment when I see others recognize the meaningfulness of the design and actually can use it in their lives. When my design is successful and appeals emotionally to others, then I feel that my efforts were not in vain and that I was not only designing for the sack of designing or designing for self gratification.
Design Thinking
I like how the term design thinker sings to me because thinking about the design is what I have come to enjoy most about designing instruction. I love brain storming and being a part of the initial design process because I feel it is where my creativity explodes. While brainstorming, I often feel like I am fountain of creativity where I can freely throw around out-of-the-box ideas to be considered and challenged. Being a design thinker has allowed me to solve or put together a variety of solutions behind some very complex multi-dimensional emotional problems.
One such example of trying to solve a very multi-dimensional problem is best highlighted in my design project from IT 500 with Dr.Thomeczek. I feel that it exemplifies my ability to design think because it incorporate both divergent and convergent brainstorming which lead me to several clear design solutions. This project, which was laid out in detail as part of my Jury I, explored numerous ideas in order to overcome a problem that was created largely due to the failed initial roll-out of the new Army Common Access Card (CAC). Being a soldier in the Army and apart of the initial CAC roll-out, I was uniquely positioned to be able to identify, classify and evaluate where the Army’s roll-out had initially failed.
Two of the design solutions brought forth using divergent brainstorming converged together to accomplish the projects intended goal of demonstrating to soldiers how to sign documents using their CAC:
- Easy to follow step-by-step modules that broke down difficult to understand technology concepts focusing on how to install and utilize all components required to properly utilize the Army CAC.
- An Army Knowledge Online CAC Resource and Knowledge Portal within the Army’s Learning Management System contained numerous avenues for soldiers to communicate and collaborate:
- Unmonitored Forums, Blogs and Instant Mail and Video Messaging
- End-User Feed Back and Evaluation
- Message Centers
- Knowledge and Collaboration Centers
- Training and Resources Links
- Membership Directory
- Training Event Calendar
- Surveys and Polls
- Comments Section
- Troubleshooting Q&A Forum
Overall, my design project was a success except it did fail in one area and that was during the implementation phase. It failed because delivering of training was lacking when it came to ensuring instructors knew how to best implement the design properly and gain feedback from end-users to improve the instruction. A specific instructional improvement would have been related to the proper communication of expectations to the end-user by the instructor using the available tools provided within my design project. Looking back now, I think focusing more on the roll-out and implementation would have made a huge difference in the success of the design. I guess you could say I also experienced a failed roll-out and for the same reason why the Army’s initial roll-out of the CAC failed, lack of instruction to leaders regarding the intent. If I had to do it again, I would still have developed the instruction as I did; however, I would definitely place more emphasis on the training of instructors and leadership upfront regarding how to roll-out the instruction and how best to implement it on a much smaller scale as the focal point.
Being able to creatively brainstorm using many out-of-the-box ideas that appeal to the emotions of others has truly emerged as one of the critical elements of my design philosophy. Being a designer, I feel that I am tasked with coming up with solutions and solving some real world problems facing society in real time. Having a political science and military background I am actively involved, informed and passionately intrigued by politics, our political process, and how it determines the outcomes we receive and benefit from as a society. My military background has taught me that no task is to daunting and that no mission is incompletable, except for the one that is never started. Therefore, when challenged by someone to accomplish something that I am interested in and where a solution is not clear, those are the ones that gladly accept. That is exactly what I did when the President of the United States Barack Obama, in his 2013 State of the Union Address, issued a challenge for Congress to send him legislation that fixes or improves the Affordable Care Act his signature piece of legislation.
My most resent out of the box thinking lead to the drafting of a key piece of Federal Legislation known as H.R.3474 - Hire More Heroes Act of 2014 which was introduced in Congress on November 13, 2013. H.R. 3474 if signed by the President of the United States come January 2015, would amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 allowing small-businesses to hire unemployed Veterans’ who already have health insurance through Tri-care, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs or the Department of Defense, therefore exempting them from being counted in the Affordable Care Acts (ACA) employer mandate. This piece of legislation is the first potential fix for the ACA’s employer mandate, which has be postponed by the President several times due to the impact it would have on hiring and the growth of small-businesses across the United States. The employer mandate is set to go into effect January 2015 and could have many negative consequences if not implemented properly and some legislative fixes such as H.R. 3474 are not applied to this aspect of the ACA.
The Hire More Heroes Act came to me while driving home from attending a Veterans’ Homeless Summit at the St. Louis VA Medical Center in summer of 2013. I was so excited about this idea and how it could potentially apply a legislative fix to the employer mandate and provide some relief to small business owners, unemployed veterans’ and the American taxpayer that I along with my staff at the Veterans’ Assistance Commission of Madison County began talking and brainstorming about how best to get what was to become H.R. 3474 out in the public sphere for consideration. After assembling my office staff, who I consider subject matter experts (SME) in Veterans services, a series of brainstorming sessions was held in which we drafted several pages of additional legislative proposals that we eventually hand delivered to each Congressman.
Bringing together SME’s in the design process was something that I learned about while in the IT program, specifically during IT 500 and 510 while completing course design projects. These brainstorming sessions consisted of looking at various parts of the ACA and other programs and services that needed some improved or some solutions applied to them. These sessions consisted of a series of discussion, lots of note taking and drafting out why each idea that we were proposing was worth considering. My sessions with SME’s went on over a period of time and allowed new ideas and perspectives to rise to the surface and be vetted. These breaks in time allowed me to really digest each idea, gather additional information and research the potential outcomes. It was our hope that some of our vetted ideas would peak someone’s interest in the political world and draw attention to solutions instead of just pointing out the problems.
These analytical brainstorming sessions were critical to simplifying and vetting each proposed idea that was to be included in the design and development framework for each solution. Conducting such brainstorming sessions has roots to the IT program because in every class we were required to brainstorm design ideas and dig deep into analytical process of designing instruction across numerous design models. By the end of October 2013, we had designed a series of proposals and initiatives across a broad spectrum of issues affecting Veterans’ employment, the ACA and student loan repayment programs. Once complete, we set out to get the proposals and initiatives out to the politicians. It was actually provided to Congressman Rodney Davis at the 1st Veterans’ Roundtable Discussion during SIUE Veteran Tribute at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) in November 2013 by my Office Manager Carolyn Lucy-Yarian (CJ). CJ noted that Congressman Davis actually opened the document and read it over at the roundtable. The following week, I received word Congressman Davis’s legislative aide that he liked the employer mandate fix and was putting together a bill in Congress and the rest is history.
Click here to view media related to H.R.3474 - Hire More Heroes Act of 2014:
- Library of Congress: H.R.3474 - Hire More Heroes Act of 2014 Bill Tracker
- The Congressional Bill
- You Tube video of U.S. House of Representatives floor debate and vote over H.R.3474 - Hire More Heroes Act
- Hire More Heroes Act Wikipedia Page
- Remember this Guy - H.R.3474 - Hire More Heroes Act of 2014 Stuck in the Senate advertisement
- Wall Street Journal Post Election Op-ed from Speak of the House John Bohner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell outlining the legislative agenda of the 114th Congress come Jan 2015
- Weekly Congressional Address from Speaker of the House John Bohner
H.R.3474 - Hire More Heroes Act of 2014 passed the legislatively gridlocked U.S. House of Representatives on March 11, 2014 with overwhelming bi-partisan support with a vote of 406-1. The bill was one of few that garnered the most bi-partisan support during 113th Congress legislative session. The piece of legislation now sits in the U.S. Senate and has been named as one of the key pieces of legislation that is most likely to break the legislation stalemate that has plagued Congress the last few years. Senate House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said "Come January, at the beginning of the new Congress, the House will pass the Hire More Heroes Act again, sending it back to the Senate so that it can finally reach the President’s desk." (Marcos, 2014, para. 4)
Hire More Heroes Act appears in over 57,000 Google search results since it was introduced and sponsored in the House of Representatives by Illinois Congressman Rodney Davis. If passed and signed the Hire More Heroes Act will be one of the first pieces of legislation that amends the Affordable Care Act by using the proper legislative process and not an executive order. According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, if enacted H.R. 3474 would save the American taxpayer an astounding $748 million over the first decade of implementation and would immediately begin helping countless of Military Service Members, Veterans and their dependents find employment upon enactment while at the same time provide relief to small business related to the ACA’s employer mandate. What was once a series of brainstorming sessions over some proposals and initiatives turned into the 2nd leading focus in the 114th Congressional session behind the Keystone Pipeline.
Communication and Collaboration
Throughout this program I feel that I have grown exponentially in my ability to communicate and collaborate with fellow designers, subject matter experts and end users. I have benefited greatly from the many projects where I have had to work as part of a combined group of fellow classmates alongside and with the guidance of the instructor. My ability to now sit down and truly understand what others bring to the design table related to their strengths allows me to capitalize on my individual strengths. This ability and strength still continues to be strengthened.
I know that in order to be a successful designer I must work as part of a collaborative team that is made up of designers, subject matter experts and end users. Every course I completed while in the program involved communicating and collaborating with others, some one-on-one and some as part of a larger groups. Each experience brought along with it struggles, however, out of each came learning and what I view as success, even if the design project was not perfect.
What I learned from each collaborative experience is to not get hung up on the design project or job, but rather focus and concentrate on the details of what the end user or client desires to achieve. At first, I always seemed to struggle with design concepts and if it was a good idea or not. By spending more time determining what the end-user or client desires to achieve is more critical then determining if the idea or design is the wrong one. I learned as part of the project design process not to try and change the client’s idea because they may be insulted and thus not desire or value my input. This is true because I know how I feel when someone discounts or dismisses my ideas or when someone wants to change them because they feel that it will or may not work. I also know learned from being discounted that those offering their opinion may not be the best to offer it and therefore, I move on to others who can help. These feelings happen while in the classroom and in the workplace. Therefore, I now try to turn off my tendency to discount anyone’s idea or designs concept because I may miss out on a brilliant idea, a detail I overlooked or on the entire opportunity altogether because of my inability to communicate.
In IT 510 with Dr. Knowlton, I learned to appreciate the importance of being able to work alongside others and truly parse out design details. Each of these experiences was invaluable in my development and continues on in my work today. Working with others and digging deep into the details is important because dismissing that one person or detail could mean a learner or consumer not fully understanding the instructional intent or the product resulting in failure. As a result of IT 500, I no longer design inside my own little communication bubble; I now look for connections across a very board spectrum of people and experts to truly understand the intent of the design and what details are needed to be successful. This skill is highlighted in creation and development of the Hire More Heroes Act and my ability to bring people together behind a single goal and objective.
I fondly remember when we had to come up with our design project for IT 500 and it took me what seemed like an exurbanite amount of time selecting a design project. This was a frustrating experience for me because I thought just about everything could benefit from a little instructional design making it better or more user-friendly. However, it seemed like all my ideas were either too easy or too complex. Now I realize that back then I was simply over thinking the entire purpose of design process from the beginning. I was over thinking it because I was focused on design as being easy and complex in terms of design as it related me instead of what others needed.
In the end, I selected a project that came about from my developing relationship with the IT Specialist at the Jr. High School I was teaching at. The project I selected came from me asking him one simple question, what can I help you with? With that one question a design need was immediately identified by him and selected by me. It was my first true collaborative effort as a designer with a SME and one that needed my help to boot. It all came about when I reached out in a way to help others instead of myself.
I have matured so much that I now look broadly into the community and society in order to reach far beyond what I just believe the learner or intended audience needs to that of what they feel needs to be learned, solved and designed.
In Conclusion: Boy does it feel good to type this!
Everything I needed to be a good and successful designer I have picked up at different times in different courses along my journey towards completion. However, it took perseverance, against what seemed like overwhelming odds at different times, to finish some of my design projects, this Jury and the program.
With each adversity, however, I forged ahead and after each one I was able to regain focus toward achieving my goal of completion. I now feel that all the knowledge learned through every course, some more than other, was for a reason and that reason was to ensure that I was properly equipped to just step out on the edge and begin my next design project. Each course and design project was a journey that kept me straight on the path that would provide me the freedom to experiment with my own theories, ideas and readily implement my own design solutions. Designing as a driver for change, design thinking and communication and collaboration were just a few many examples of how I have matured throughout the program.
What I learned the most from the time spent in the program was perseverance. As I write this, I can hear Dr. Knowlton repeating over and over "can you give just little more here” and I can see the look of understanding on Dr. Thomeczek’s face as she graciously waited patiently for me to overcome the many trials I faced throughout my time in the program. I felt Dr. Knowlton’s stern pushes and Dr. Thomeczek’s soft nudges both of which helped me persevere and make it through difficult times at different times. Each helped me tremendously expand creatively and achieve more.
I now realize wholeheartedly that my perseverance to finish despite all of life’s difficulties and challenges is how I have matured. It is what drove me to be a designer, helped me through difficult design projects and what will sustain me to as I grow and become a better emotional driven design engineer. Lastly, I am just thankful; thankful for just being here, finished with my jury and to be writing this last sentence.
Image Source:
jscreationzs / FreeDigitalPhotos.netCitations:
Marcos, C. (2014, November 11). House to vote on 'Hire More Heroes Act' again in new Congress. Retrieved November 12, 2014, from http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/223630-house-to-vote-on-hire-more-heroes-act-again-in-new-congress
Matthew Wilder - Break My Stride. (1983). Retrieved May 22, 2014, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oj8s1u61AM
Maxwell, J. (2007). Passion Energizes Your Talent. In Talent is never enough workbook: Discover the choices that will take you beyond your talent. Nashville, Tenn.: T. Nelson.
Songfacts, LLC. (n.d.). Retrieved May 22, 2014, from http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1400
