The current step in my ever-evolving life: A job search and a career exploration
When I realized the real estate market would no longer support our current business model, I got to work, figuring out what is next. In September, 2008 I started exploring, which for me included some online searching, and performing informational interviews. I started from Organizational Development, because that was a term I was familiar with. I am inspired by how many people came forward and helped in different ways. The people who expressed their interest in helping and hearing how things are going included 5 family members, 24 friends and 18 new contacts. This does not include the more than 50 people I have met lately in networking. I am grateful to them all. Here is what I learned.
During the first of my 20 informational interviews I identified a name for what I want to focus on - it is called Performance Technology, and the activity is called Performance Improvement. It is an offshoot of training, and is documented in detail at ISPI.org. So then I embarked on a journey to find out how others view it.
To my astonishment, there seems to be three fields that use similar techniques - Organizational Development, Business Administration (MBAs), and Training. While there are people who span these areas, they are generally discrete, and do not interact much, yet they address and solving the same problems. The approaches and tools vary.
I have explored a few of the academic programs in the area, and cannot say I found one that is right in terms of program and requirements. I am still considering getting an MBA as background. As far as I can tell I need to develop my own program - consisting of some theoretical courses, some applied courses, and a hefty reading list. I am actively looking for someone to help me evaluate educational resources for their rigor and application to my needs, to help me identify quality classes, and differentiate between courses that are equivalent to reading a book and those where participating in a class or workshop would bring real added value. If that is you, please email me.
The highest priority for now remains finding work. In contrast to most of the Western World, I ENJOY managing people, so that is one area I am focusing on. As of December 23rd, I had an interview at a Consulting company that works with non-profits and governmental agencies. They have checked one reference, so I hope to hear something positive from them soon. I have applied for a position at Cal, and spoken to people in the department. I have been applying for positions with employee supervision, positions at consulting companies, as well as governmental positions, although I could use some guidance in how to do the latter successfully. Apparently many of the Performance Technology methods are widely used, if not developed, in the military and federal government. Last, but not least, I am interested in developing statistical programming skills in order to qualify for programming management positions.
Performance Improvement: working with employees
I love working with people and helping them achieve their best for themselves and their employers. I would work in coaching, except I like to be more intimately involved in processes, and have more control on how activity unfolds. I find that if you are transparent, and share the organizations concerns and issues, employees will empathize with their managers, and will help with organizational changes, even if they are personally painful - such as layoffs, or reduced compensation or benefits.
Solving problems by looking at Organizations from both
the employer's
and the employee's perspective
I enjoy analyzing operations, identifying bottlenecks and figuring out how to resolve them with minimal disruption to the operation. I have been successful at interviewing small business owners and within an hour being able to help them articulate their current challenges, and formulate a framework of how much time and effort it would take to research the problem and suggest possible remedies. I look at the problems systematically and systemically - I have no preconceptions about where the answers will be found, and what types of solutions will be required. My favorite part of the process is the implementation because of the extreme challenge it poses, and the wonderful rewards of working with employees and managers to solve long-standing problems in as painless a way as possible.
So what have I actually done?
My largest project involved managing 14 employees, including field staff. I was hired to manage the operations of a 5-person operation, and then asked to step in and help with a larger operation, that included 8 employees. From managing the operations I ended up identifying procedural issues that were an impediment to productivity.
I then talked to people in the field in order to figure out how we could improve our operation. Once I identified specific activities we could modify, I worked with management to plan out the best solution, and with the staff to understand that change was coming, and why.
Much of my solution included outsourcing because of the economies of scale that allowed us to gain more expertise and quality control by handing over parts of the operation. This required me to work with the vendor to chart the goals and what would be required from our operation in order to achieve them. Once we prepared our operation to change to adapt to these needs, we moved on to implementation.
This was a great success, not the least due to the fact that we maintained open communications with the employees. At the end, many found more suitable positions, and those who were transferred to the contractor actually thanked us for making their job more workable.
Then I knew that I should pursue Organizational Development. In the end, it turns out that Performance Improvement is actually an offshoot of training, as demonstrated on the ISPI web site.
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Scanner: Plate spinner and Wanderer
"Scanner" is a term coined by Barbara Sher to describe a personality type that is extremely curious, loves to learn and do new things. This goes along with an extraordinary propensity for learning and modifying your world view appropriately. There are many subtypes, and through reading her book "Refuse to Choose" I have identified myself as a "Plate Spinner" and a "Wanderer."
As a plate spinner I have multiple interests and I keep coming back to them, keeping all the “plates” in the air simultaneously. The most clear manifestation of this is that I am currently involved in a job search, a quest to chart an educational path to my ultimate career (the one I will have when I grow up), studying to read torah (the scroll has neither vowels, nor punctuation, so you have to memorize the music), and of course I have been knitting, working on many different projects, and even occasionally finishing one. As I write this I am preparing to go to weekly Israeli Folk dancing, and this weekend I will usher at the Zellerbach Theatre. Did I mention I have been enjoying networking and spending time with my two teens? OK, call me hyperactive, but it is the only way I know to live.
Being a Wanderer is about being interested in a specific aspect of everything. For me it is: what is the challenge? So, for instance, I discovered that the challenge in sign language is developing the dexterity to move your hands fast enough to be fluent. I just discovered that you can have an accent in sign language, too, which I think is fascinating. While I am not interested in mastering sign language, when it relates to business and people, I tend to be interested in possible solutions, all the way through implementation. When I performed a traditional job analysis for the Educational Director at my synagogue, and discovered that the position includes 130% effort, using 3 distinct skills sets - educational, managerial and administrative - my immediate reaction was to try to carve it up so that we could end up with manageable effort, for which we could find a mere mortal who could successfully perform the 100% position we could afford.
I am interested in business and management. After I completed my masters in Biochemistry, when my son was still a newborn, I took some Open University classes. I thought that one day I might pursue a business degree. I was fascinated by the quantification of human, emotional activities (such as shopping) in Microeconomics, and learned things in Social Psychology that I still use today. I also looked for work managing staff but was probably too young and inexperienced. After 4 years at UCSF, I was hired at a medical device startup. I started thinking about the field of decision making – which I learned about from a Stanford project in patient decision making regarding their care at the Breast Care Center at UCSF – as it pertained to clinical research in medical device startups and pharmaceutical companies. My second position at a medical device company focused on introducing compliance with international standards into existing research studies; the 5 direct reports, medical and psychology students, were mentioned during the interview as an aside. I worked at creating a team using team building exercises and excursions, and continued to use those skills in my position at UC Berkeley. I enjoyed team building, and coaching my employees; but I also enjoyed figuring out how to make the operations work better for everyone.
This led to my recent exploration of Management Consulting, Organizational Development and Performance Improvement, another facet of business. While each of these terms has different meanings to different people, I have found at least one for each that resonates with what I would like to do.
To summarize, almost any topic can pique my interest. Once I understand what the challenges are, I address them with skills I enjoy using. And for me, that is the essence of being a scanner.
A classic demonstration of my outstanding learning ability, is the "I have, I need" statement. I went to an IMC meeting in November of 2008. One of their networking exercises was to write such a statement and use it with people at the meeting. I found it helpful to articulate my networking goals, and I promptly used it the very next day in my networking at Mt. Diablo ASTD:
I have experience in:
- administrative and employee management
- organizational work
- performing research, analysis, data gathering
- computer applications
- and much more, as befits my scanner personality!
I currently need employment. It could take the form of full time or contract work providing support services to consultants, full time work managing an office or an operation, or even an entry level SAS programming job. I am very effective at figuring things out, and therefore need minimum direction. I am sensitive to priorities and know when to ask questions to make sure I am always on the same page with my client/employer. You can always view my online resume.
I enjoy working in the business world, where the question is usually "How can I do this?" rather than "Can I do this?" I want to be involved in efforts where you can measure the outcomes, and provide excellent service to your clients. That said, I am drawn to the non-profit sector, and have returned to it again and again.
My ultimate goal is to work in Performance Improvement (see ISPI.org) either as a consultant or as a manager who spends 2-4 years improving a single operation. I am seeking help in charting an educational path, and adding to the 3 operations I have already improved. My biggest achievement in this area was re-structuring a survey research project to complete more surveys with tighter quality control for half the cost.
While I am working on my job search, I have become active in job networking groups, and am working on improving my presentation skills by facilitating workshops and meetings.
I will be revising this statement as I learn new information and as I change my perspective and my goals. Email me yours or send comments to this one.
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