Follow me on my new blog

Follow me on my new blog

I am now up and blogging again over at my new blog: Building and Leading High Performing Teams: A place to discuss leadership, strategy and change management

http://seanbrady935.wordpress.com/

I hope to see you there

Having completed further analysis over the last week or so, specifically looking at creative problem solving techniques and organisational culture, as well as having received feedback on my EBI from TMA 1, I have come to the conclusion that my original concept of using the EBI to reflect on the broad series of change initiatives affecting the Maritime Reserve is probably too unwieldy and nebulous for me to demonstrate that I have been able to make positive changes due to the applications of ideas from B716. Therefore, I am refocusing my EBI onto the major changes the RMR need to be make which are going to be under my control. Thus, my new 100 word proposal is:

The Royal Marines Reserve (RMR) has to redefine its capability due to changes the Royal Marines (RM) are making in response to the SDSR. The RM has to shrink in size, meaning that certain capabilities will be at greater risk. However, by changing the structure of the RMR, in terms of rank and specialism’s, the risk to the RM can be mitigated. Nevertheless, the delivery of this change will be challenging, as it will be complicated by a reduction in regular RM support to the RMR which means that at least one RMR HQ and 7 Detachments will be closing.

Posting over at the FT MBA Blog

I will now be posting some items over at the FT MBA Blog: http://blogs.ft.com/mba-blog/

Distance learning or nearness learning?

I am now seven weeks into a MBA with the Open University Business School and it is clear that the challenge of combining full time work with part time studying is not to be underestimated.  I am not advocating that a full time MBA is an easy option, however, the discipline, time management and dedication needed to succeed in an executive MBA programme is worthy of note.  For me the key to success, and I must caveat that statement with the obvious observation that I have only just started, is foresight, flexibility coupled with a positive outlook.

 However, from my perspective the benefits of studying for a MBA whilst being in a full time job are obvious.  First, I am able to continue with my career.  Second, the impact on my family is minimised by no dramatic change in personal circumstances i.e. giving up work, although it is fair to say that studying part time requires considerable support from family and friends.  Finally, and most importantly from my perspective, I am able to immediately apply what I am learning within my work environment and this enables me to generate learning cycles which benefit me, my organisation and my fellow students.

This process is aided by the fact that modern technology means that I am able to carry around a “university in my pocket” so that via a smart phone or any computer with Internet capability I can access the course, the library and my fellow students.  This has affected how I work and I now actively plan to take moments of reflection to consider how what I am learning on the MBA can help me in work and conversely how what I am doing and learning at work can help me to understand the concepts being taught.  The synergy generated by this interaction cannot be underestimated.

That said, it is less than two weeks before I meet my tutor and tutor group for the first time and I am really looking forward to meeting all of the people I have been interacting with over the last few weeks.

Cognisant that I still on the sunny uplands and that I have not started the real climbing yet I am glad to say that I am really enjoying the course.  There is a long way to go and there will be tricky bits to come, however, if it was easy it probably would not be worth doing!

TMA 1 submitted

I have just submitted TMA 1.

Minor amendments to first draft of TMA 1

Thankfully there only needed to be a few minor amendments to first draft of TMA 1.  I will print out draft 2 and have another look tomorrow before passing it on to a couple of people to read through.  This process served me well when I studied for my MA a couple of years ago.  I only wish I had been organised and disciplined enough to do it during my undergraduate years!  However, I suppose that is what working does for you i.e. you develop a work ethic.

First draft of TMA 1 - Scouting the EBI

I finished the first draft of TMA 1 a few days ago and I have not looked at it since then.  I am now going to go back to it a see whether what I wrote makes sense.  Update to follow later!

Building the B716 bibliography

I am in the process of building and updating my bibliography for B716:

,
Future Reserves 2020 Study (FR20) [Homepage of MOD], [Online]. Available: http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/WhatWeDo/ReserveForcesandCadets/ReserveForces/FutureReserves2020Studyfr20.htmTuesday 24 May 11, 2011]. 

, HM Treasury Glossary [Homepage of HM Treasury], [Online]. Available: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/mpm_glossary.pdfTuesday 24 May 11, 2011]. 

BARROW, C., 2010. The 30 Day MBA. London: Kogan Page. 

BAYLEY, S., , Not Made in England: The lost art of manufacturing [Homepage of The Independent], [Online]. Available: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/not-made-in-england-the-lost-art-of-manufacturing-2278382.html [May/04, 2011]. 

BLYTHE, J., 2001. Essentials of marketing. 2nd edition edn. Harlow: Financial Times/Prentice Hall. 

BRYMAN, A. and BELL, E., 2007. business research methods. Second Edition edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 

CAMERON, D., Sunday, April 26 2009, , The Age of Austerity
. Available: http://www.conservatives.com/News/Speeches/2009/04/The_age_of_austerity_speech_to_the_2009_Spring_Forum.aspx [Tuesday, May 24 2011, . 

CAMERON, S., 2008. The MBA Handbook: Skills for Mastering Management. Sixth edition edn. Harlow: Financial Times/Prentice Hall. 

COGHLAN, D., 2001. Insider Action Research Projects, Implications for Practicing Managers. Management Learning, vol 32(no 1), pp. 49-60. 

CORNISH, P. and DORMAN, A., 2009. Blair's wars and Brown's budgets: from Strategic Defence Review to strategic decay in less than a decade. International Affairs, 85(2), pp. 247-261. 

FENTON-O’CREEVY, M., 2006. A note on the relationship between academic and workplace knowledge.
GRAY, C., 1999. Modern Strategy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 

LANCHESTER, J., 2009-last update, It’s Finished. Available: http://www.lrb.co.uk/ v31/ n10/ lanc01_.html. 

LUTHANS, F., 1988. Successful vs. Effective Real Managers. Academy of Management Executive, vol. 2(no. 2), pp. pp. 127–132. 

NORTON-TAYLOR, R., Tuesday 23 March, 2010 05.00 GMT, ,
Defence budget facing £36bn black hole, say MPs [Homepage of Guardian Newspaper], [Online]. Available: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/mar/23/defence-spending-36-billion-blackholeTuesday 24 May 11, 2011]. 

RAELIN, J.A., 2002. "I don't Have Time to Think!" versus the Art of Reflective Practice. Reflections, vol 4(no 1), pp. 66-79. 

REASON, P., 1999. Integrating Action and Reflection Through Co-operative Inquiry. Management Learning, vol 30(no 2), pp. 207-26. 

SMITH, M., 2001-last update,
Chris Argyris: theories of action, double-loop learning and organizational learning. Available: http://www.infed.org/thinkers/argyris.htm1 Jun 2011]. 

VINCE, R., 2002. Organizing Reflection. Management Learning, vol 33(no 1), pp. 63-78. 

I will continue to add to this periodically

Draft EBI Action Plan

The table below is my draft EBI action plan

Issue	Liaison required with whom?	Date Required	Outcome Desired	Remarks
Confirm boundaries and assumptions associated with EBI	Line managers (one up and 2 up)	No Later Than (NLT) 14 Jun 11	- Agreement to support the EBI	In progress
Conduct a session of organised reflection in order to analyse the current situation with respect to FR20 and NCR.	CMR HQ	NLT 24 Jun 11	- To analyse the degree to which we have been successful so far. - Identify future strategies to improve our collective performance. - Identify the key next actions to be completed.	Not complete
Conduct some reflective practice to analyse my own behaviours over the period of change.	me	NLT 24 Jun 11	- To analyse the degree to which I have been successful so far. - Identify future strategies to improve my performance.	Not complete
Conduct an analysis of the power, influence and politics associated with the change programme. (internal to CMR HQ and external to CMR HQ)	me	NLT 15 Jul 11	- To analyse why things have occurred as they have done so.  - Identify future strategies to improve my performance.	Not complete
Produce a risk analysis for the EBI	me	NLT 15 Jul 11	- To identify the risks and develop mitigating strategies.	Not complete
Identify opportunities/events to conduct cycles of inquiry (Kolb/Marshall/Pedlar et al)	me	NLT 15 Jul 11	- To analyse opportunities/events in order to learn and improve.	Not complete
Analyse CMR HQ (including myself) to determine whether it conforms to single or double loop learning	me	NLT 1 Aug 11	- To analyse how my organisation conducts its self in order that we can determine how to improve.	Not complete Comment: I suspect that there will be more single loop than double loop.
Update the EBI action plan	me	Ideally every 3-4 weeks	- To ensure that I remain on schedule and maximise opportunities to use the theories, techniques and models encountered on B716 to assist me in developing my EBI.	Not complete

Joining the dots

I have had a good day today in terms of reading and I  have managed to cover a lot of ground on reflective learning.  However, all throughout the readings I knew that I had seen similar concepts before but within a military context.
I now realise that a cycle of inquiry is closely related to a concept known as the OODA Loop or the Boyd Cycle.  In simple terms it stands for:

There is also a more complex version:

In military terms there is always a competition between at least 2 players.  The key to success is being able to complete a cycle of action and learning quicker than the opposition.  We refer to this as generating tempo.  If you can do this consistently you can unbalance your opponent and then hopefully defeat him.

The following link gives a good overview of who John Boyd, the originator of the OODA loop was.  http://scienceofstrategy.org/main/content/col-john-boyd-strategy-group