A632.9.3.RB_HansardCarey

One of the best decisions I have ever made in my life was marrying my husband. I remember when he asked me and how wonderful it felt to say yes and think that we would be able to share our lives together. There was no back and forth decision making necessary in that situation. It is not as if we had discussed it ahead of time, I just knew it was what I wanted. Baba Shiv talks about being confident in your decisions because if you are not, this can have a negative impact on the way that other people respond. Because I was so sure and quick to answer, my husband was also confident that he had made the right decision for both of us. A positive outlook on the future, on my husband, and his family were helpful in being so confident. Obviously, when you are a young couple in love there will be passion which is a strong emotional reaction. In addition, excitement about the future and planning a wedding played a part in the emotional part of this decision. March 25^th we will celebrate our 18 year anniversary and although there have been rough patches, I know I made the right decision for me and have never looked back.

A major life decision that I made that I was not as confident about was my decision to leave teaching and come to ERAU. I am not a spontaneous person in that regard. I had been at my previous job for 18 years, married for 16 at the time, and lived in the same house for 15 years; a stable person by all accounts. One day, a good friend tried to get me to come to ERAU. I was afraid to make the change and although I thought I was ready, in the end, the emotions of fear, anxiety, and uncertainty I was feeling were enough to keep me from making the leap. However, when she approached me again 2 years later, I was ready. I was emotionally done with public schools. It is all about the parents and students, meaning that they control the schools and teachers rather than the teachers and schools being able to make rules and lessons that work for the betterment of the school. Having said that, I still felt all of the same emotions I had before, but this time, they were amplified because I knew I wanted to leave. As you already know, I left teaching to come to ERAU. I am still not 100% confident in my decision, though. I have learned so much more here about technology and professionalism working here than I did at the school; however, I have also seen many people be let go here since I started 2 years ago. My friend keeps telling me it is because they were underperformers and that everyone is thrilled with the quality of my work and that will not happen to me. But, the thought is always in the back of my mind. Professionally, I have more confidence in the decision than I do personally. The growth I have experienced makes me more employable. Personally, I do not feel as secure here as I would like to but I feel like I have a lot more freedom here than I ever did in the school system.

Reference: Shiv, B. (Performer). (2011). Brain research at stanford: Decision making. [Web Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRKfl4owWKc

A632.8.3.RB_HansardCarey

The Cynefin framework is supposed to be a sense-making model according to its creator, David Snowden. I understand that situations are different and going from the chaotic to simple, complex, and complicated could be helpful in decoding which technique should be used to deal with them. According to Kurtz and Snowden (2003) the Cynefin framework is designed to be used, “ to consider the dynamics of situations, decisions, perspectives, conflicts, and changes in order to come to a consensus for decision-making under uncertainty” (p. 4).  There are two sides to the framework, one side is considered and ordered domain and the other un-order. In my dealings, I have operated in each of these quadrants at one time or another.

In dealing with the impending upgrade to EagleVision, we have been in several of these quadrants, mostly in the middle of the quadrants known as disorder, but we have also been in the ordered and un-ordered quadrants. For example, we began in the known quadrant by understanding that Java was necessary to attend sessions in the new version. We prepared documents explaining how to upgrade while operating in this zone. Suddenly, some wonderful people with nothing better to do decided to hack Java and then, we were thrown into an entirely different are of the framework, disorder. After briefly operating in the area of disorder, we finally were able to allay some of our fears while Java updated to a newer, supposedly securer, version moving into the complicated realm. What we did not know, though, was that their vulnerability would cause problems with browsers, as well. Some newer versions of Firefox, for instance, would automatically disable Java and the user would have to click on an obscure icon on the address bar to enable it. Each time we think we have the right path figured out, an unknown leads us in a different direction. In this instance, the framework proved helpful in decision-making during the process. We were able to sense what was happening based on feedback from users in the field trying to log in to the program. Once we had that data, we analyzed it by creating a panel of experts to determine why the problems arose and what to do about them. Finally, the experts were able to respond with the best course of action and disseminate this information to the field. The experts were able to make decisions based on the facts that they were given regarding the Java problems. Although the situation remains somewhat fluid, we are able to move between the two quadrants and make timely, prudent decisions.

Another example of this is trying to decide which school my son will attend next school year. We have been in a state of indecision for many weeks. . We have been in the complex quadrant of flux and unpredictability. There is no right answer and we realize this. However, the path he chooses now will ultimately affect his future. Increased communication is an aspect of this quadrant that I have utilized with my son. I have tried to put patterns in place to understand his feelings about the situation. Even though this quadrant calls for time for reflection, this has not been a luxury afforded to us by the school system. Unfortunately, we have to make a decision by March 15^th. Through communication and careful reflection, we will come to a decision and move into the zone of known unknowns about the next school year.