Through this course, I am
continuing to learn tremendously about myself, others, and the power of
community. I appreciate the opportunity for your feedback and thoughts on my
work, goals, and possible future.
Our assignment is to
first describe our project, then list current constraints (clear, subtle and
private) of project. Once clearly described, identify them as external or
internal. Second, describe what "more" and "better" looks
like.
I am going to use my
Prompt 2 as inspiration. My project idea is to create a team-based wellness
program for families with one (or more) family members with health conditions
that necessitate behavior change. For example, this could be a program for
families whose child has received a pre-diabetes or even type 2 diagnoses.
These conditions are growing in prevalence and lifestyle plays a large role in
halting or reversing the negative consequences.
Constraints:
1) Time (internal and external): The first constraint that comes to mind is the time it
will take to create a program that meets the needs of my clients. This means
identifying possible clients, identifying their needs in creation of the
product, and the piloting, producing, and marketing the product. I've done
projects before for my full time job and spent months working with a team
through this process. I have experience knowing what it will take to do a good
job: many hours, revisions, and hard/focused work. This is an internal
constraint because we all have 24 hours. I do have free time that is available
to devote to the project. On the other hand, I am limited by the time I can
devote to the project given my full time job (see next constraint).
2) Money (internal and external): I am sure I'm not alone in listing money as a constraint. The
last few years my husband and I have focused on reducing our personal debt and
increasing savings. We have a goal to start a family, purchase a home soon, and
want to continue to build our savings and minimize (if not clear) all debt. In
my current situation, I have stability: a fair salary, 401K, insurance, nice
vacation package. I am not going to leave that and don't want to. I am also
continuing to learn from my co-workers and the projects that I work on. As I an
advantage, I have lots of interests and my job gives me ample room to satisfy
my curiosity and knowledge cravings. To fulfill my money constraints, my project
needs to be a side project, at least initially.
3) Extroversion (internal): In previous projects, I've learned the value in working in
a team. For this side project, I'm hesitant to work alone. Not because I can't
do the work; it's because I like the company, the opportunity to brainstorm,
and creating a better product. While working with others does not make things
easier or faster, it does create better products. Ideally, I will have at least
one other person who is interested in working on this project with me. How do I
identify this person? I want to be thoughtful and professional in my pursuit of
looking for a business/creative partner(s).
4) Skills (external and internal): Clearly
I do not possess all of the skills needed to make this project and launch a
product in this e-commerce driven world. My real lack of skill in some areas
and lack of confidence in others makes it scary to start. I am a person who
doesn't like to mess up. I want to do a great job and to minimize mistakes.
This is part of the reason why creating my own Alt MBA program appealed to me.
(Through it, I could spend my time gaining knowledge and skills to then
minimize my struggle later.) There are others though who do have skills that I
would need. The clear path is to find others who can do these skills. Again,
this makes me wonder what is the best way to find these folks? And if I am only
going to spend a minimal amount of time increasing my skill base, what do I
focus on? Do I work on the recommendations given to me by you in previous posts
or pursue other courses, books, mentorships, etc?
What do "More" and "Better" look like?
More and better look like the
opportunity to be creative, innovative, creating useful products that lead to
real change and improve quality of life, and personal learning (marketing,
business, education, e-commerce). Better looks like challenge, contribution,
leadership, relationships, and fulfilling a need.
This thought process makes me know I don't
have to wait to have hours of time to start. If I want to be creative, I can do
that. I need to get started. In the past, I've been able to accomplish much
more than you would think with setting aside 10 minutes a day to study for the GRE.
After 6 months of doing that, I increased my score 20%. (And truthfully I did
not spend much more time than 10 minutes a day to study.)
How can I create time constraints to move me
forward on this creative goal? Once I have a proposal or a start of a proposal,
I can find the right "home" for it- a department at OHSU, a private
company, Kick-starter.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to your
comments.
Reflective Script:
As always your comments and thoughtful and hit to the heart of the matter. I almost regret saying that I don't like making mistakes because I feel like that says something about me. It does. I like the Douglas' idea of reframing as experimentation. I've been able to reframe applying for grants and not getting them as still positive experiments. I want to spend the time to think about how I would reframe a business venture that didn't "work" as experimentation. Going back to an initial thought from early in the program was to have a one time event to reduce the stress of feeling like I have a create something so big out of the gates. I also like Susan's idea of the salon. This is something I've been considering for a few months. I was planning on being more casual about it: happy hour with health and wellness folks. Maybe there is a middle ground there. I want to go back and reformulate my goals. This class has helped me really expand my scope, think more creatively, and challenged. And then there are all of the very practical ideas: AJ's suggestion of the Mercy Corps business class, Melea's business coaching ideas. What am I going to do with all of these ideas that are now in my head?
"Begin whatever you're doing by remembering that you are here and you have been given a gift."
Reflective Script:
As always your comments and thoughtful and hit to the heart of the matter. I almost regret saying that I don't like making mistakes because I feel like that says something about me. It does. I like the Douglas' idea of reframing as experimentation. I've been able to reframe applying for grants and not getting them as still positive experiments. I want to spend the time to think about how I would reframe a business venture that didn't "work" as experimentation. Going back to an initial thought from early in the program was to have a one time event to reduce the stress of feeling like I have a create something so big out of the gates. I also like Susan's idea of the salon. This is something I've been considering for a few months. I was planning on being more casual about it: happy hour with health and wellness folks. Maybe there is a middle ground there. I want to go back and reformulate my goals. This class has helped me really expand my scope, think more creatively, and challenged. And then there are all of the very practical ideas: AJ's suggestion of the Mercy Corps business class, Melea's business coaching ideas. What am I going to do with all of these ideas that are now in my head?
"Begin whatever you're doing by remembering that you are here and you have been given a gift."
Hey Maggie!
ReplyDeleteThrilled to see you thinking about this idea, it's a good one.
So, something I just realized as you were writing about your employment situation: you may want to consider your employment contract. Typical work-for-hire contracts dictate that ANY work you do during the duration of your employment is the property of the employer. It seems crazy and stupid and weird, but you're talking to someone who currently does not own a trademark for something she invented because of this kind of contract. If this project is in any way related to your day job ("Health field"), then this may be something you'll want to consider.
That said, your employer sounds like a pretty cool one (or at least one that's good for you). So hopefully there's nothing to worry about :)
In terms of finding people to help you, I totally think you can find the people you need. PUGS has a great community, and I bet once you put it out into the world what you're looking for, good people will find their way to you.
• What are the specific skills you need? In addition to your network, you may want to check out something like Skillsesh: https://www.skillsesh.com/
• Do you have a budget of any kind to pay people? Or would you be able to compensate people after your first workshop?
In terms of finding a date, I've found that finding some kind of national holiday / bigger event to target can be helpful. For example, I'd been wanting to write a blog post thanking my teachers a few months ago, and then I realized that Teacher Appreciate Week was the first week of May. So I managed to use that as a deadline and then create my writing schedule from there.
Maybe there's a marathon, or a health day, or something that you can work towards meeting.
Good luck! Go Maggie Go!
Hi Maggie! You mentioned that you are a person who wants to do a great job and minimize mistakes. What if part of this process is about letting yourself make mistakes, maybe even embracing mistakes and trusting that it will move in the direction it's supposed to? Do you have a deadline for a proposal? It might be helpful to reach out to a place like mercy corps (I took a business class with them) and connect with some sort of mentor who could help you clarify your vision. It sounds like you have many of the skills you need. I think in time, the more your idea is developed, the people you want to work with will emerge.
ReplyDeleteHi Maggie,
ReplyDeleteMy vote is for your to start your own wellness business. You have done it already just within the walls of OHSU. It makes your PRIME for doing it yourself. Can you imagine waking up each morning and going to an office of amazing creative thinkers and healthcare practitioners who are charged up to create this product with you? I see grant funding for it and I see you taking out a business loan to create it. The access you have to OHSU is enormous, there is a lot of leverage there.
I also see a lot of edtech application here. A phone app would be amazing to build as a support of the curriculum. And you could gamify it - design a series of games or just one game for each the entire curriculum. Its endless. You can write all that up without any technical know how, just brainstorm the games and start to share them to generate interest. By building a first draft of your curriculum and any technology you can dream up to support it will allow folks to strongly connect to it and more confidently say yes to be part of your team.
And lastly, you could start with a few "salons" or dinner parties at your house with the focus of brainstorming your pilot. Invite lots of different people and make it fun - there is not telling what could emerge from connecting to your friends and even a few choice current colleagues at OHSU.
Maggie - you've thought big and I like that. Now it's time for you to execute small. I hear you saying that you don't like making mistakes. What if you could reframe making mistakes as learning? Or as experimentation? After all no science would ever get done if people were afraid of making mistakes.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the fear of making mistakes?
What if you found ONE family to help and started there? Or as Susan suggested, invite people to a salon and form a small community?