Saturday, September 18, 2010

MAC Week 3 Comments for Dana Kohls

"It was difficult for me to choose between chapter 7 and chapter 9 of this weeks readings. Ultimately, I chose chapter 9 to write about: Lighting a Spark. The quote in the opening story struck a cord with me; "Certain things are better done in person." When conveying passion for a subject it is always better to do it in person, that way the audience has a feel for your expression, tone, excitement, interest and these elements draw them in. This is especially true of technology leaders. Often times we feel that we are not heard and that we are swimming upstream, so the subject and the change we are trying to implement deserves our attention. When we display our knowledge and passion in person we have a greater chance of being heard and understood. This is why I don't have serious conversations via text or email. The tone is so difficult to tell and the affect is non-existant, so it has such great potential to be misunderstood, not taken seriously or even ignored."

Dana, I was also torn between chapters 7 and 9, however I chose to write about chapter 7. I am glad I did. You have expressed beautifully the "spark" that is best conveyed in person.

Just this week we have had an incident in our school, where a staff member sent out an email with suggestions for improvements to the school website. I'm sure her intent was to be helpful, but unfortunately the tone was misconstrued. Ruffled feathers all around! You are definitely correct that tone and intent can easily be misinterpreted when relegated strictly to print.

No comments:

Post a Comment