Fascinating

And a good case for a Board having a decent amount of face-to-face time.


Until the Vulcan Mind Meld...Building Shared Mental Models


"... when confronted by opinions that conflict with our own, we generally defend our thinking or feign interest in someone else’s mindset rather than submit to the subtle and deep work of testing our own mental models. We rely on and are often rewarded for the repertoire of responses we have developed to familiar stimuli in our environment. We look for the right answer to solve the problem or question, based on our past experience. If well practiced, we can be on automatic pilot and push our way through a workweek of data, expectations, and requests from others without examining or questioning our underlying assumptions."


"Groups hold mental models about their relationships and actions....To be an effective board, members need to know a lot about how other members think. And they need to carve out time for defining their prevailing governance model.  "

Snow!

View from our stateroom veranda!




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This

is why I've been neglecting my blog for a week!




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:-(

My dog died.

Local Group Funding Report-2006

Members are talking about Local Group Funding. Some might want to take a refresher look at the 2006 Local Group Funding Report.

Local Group Services & Funding Report- Linked

Finally, here is the Report of the Local Group Services & Funding Task Force! (You'll need your login and password information). 

I gave the AMC hard copies in Portland. Now, whether any of them will really read it, let alone take any actions...

I am Now Just a Forum Civilian

Letting go of the Communications Officer role means I no longer see all the "Moderator-Only" threads. It feels really strange, after 5 and a half years to be a civilian on the forums.

RVC Replacement

Some people advocate having proper special elections for RVC replacement, and using the Bulletin as the vehicle for the process.

Let's suppose RVC 11 quits today. The deadline is past, but with effort, the call for candidates gets put into the Aug Bulletin. Candidates raise their hands and get listed in the Oct Bulletin (having missed the deadline for the Sept issue).Let's shorten voting for 6 weeks to only 3, add a week of counting and triple validating, and the new RVC 11 starts Nov 1.

Nearly 4 months and only one AMC meeting, in the best scenario.

If RVC 11 waits until mid-Aug to quit, the call for candidates goes into the October Bulletin, ballots into the Nov/Dec, vote validation complete by mid January. Region 11 will have had no voting representation at 2 AMC meetings.

As I see it, there are two issues to consider: Making sure there is someone knowledgeable and able to advise Local Groups and ensuring that the collective opinion of the region is voiced at the board meetings. It is quick and easy to appoint someone to be a regional advisor. It is quick and easy to appoint someone to poll a region's members and ferry their thoughts to the board meetings. It is not so quick and easy to replace a voting member of the board. 

So my question is this: Are RVCs like delegates of the Electoral College, without whom a segment of the membership is uncounted? Do RVCs objectively poll their entire membership and voting accordingly for every motion?

The Backfire Effect

Correcting misinformation with facts strengthens belief in falsehoods. Could this happen in Mensa? Nah... We're too smart.


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Feeling the Tribal Love

So I'm here at the AG. I had been wavering about attending after I lost; unlike Barry, I wasn't to up to facing people who clearly didn't want me.

But time heals and I received more and more calls, emails, and texts from friends and colleagues, encouraging me to not hide in a hole. They made it clear that anyone who actually worked with me or follows what goes on at the national level, anyone who pays attention to the reports and other work I've done... they all know I am too valuable to lose. That's really nice to hear, and with enough repetitions, including from people I don't know well, personally, I pulled out of my funk and decided I needed to attend.

I need to show Mensa that I am not crushed and hiding with my tail between my legs. I need to demonstrate that I wasn't doing all this work and running for office just because I wanted fame, glory, and a trip to Europe. And I needed... the hugs and reassurance from my tribe.

I'm getting that, in spades.

"I'm so glad to see you!"
"The wrong person won."
"Can I talk you into staying on Name & Logo? You're the expert and we need you."
"I voted for you, and I told my whole group to vote for you, too."
"I don't think the AMC is ready for any change, but if anyone can get something done to improve the governance, it's you."
"Woo hoo!"
"I just can't believe what happened with the election... How sad for Mensa."
"Will you do this? And stay on this committee and maybe do....?"
"You are planning on running again next year, right?"
"We neeeeeeeddddd you!"

I am here. And except for a few moments of discomfort, it feels good. I am still raising my hand to take on a few large national level jobs.... Roles that interest me. Projects where I think I can make a difference. Challenges that will stretch me and broaden my Mensa expertise even further. Perhaps I'll let my readers guess and reveal what my new positions are after the AG.


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