Road Warriors Guide to Dallas Dart

Posted on by February 13, 2017
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The other day I was at the airport and my wife was delayed in coming to pick me up. I decided to try an experiment by using public transportation. Here is the story of this experiment.

First, I had to catch a shuttle to the South Remote parking. At South Remote, I had to catch a shuttle to Trinity Rail Express. Then, you must buy a ticket. The ticket descriptions must have been written by the same governmental group that writes the IRS tax directions. The ticket description was confusing. I made a decision using my best judgment and purchased a ticket for $3.50. There are only 2 trains to get on for the Trinity Rail Express. One train goes West toward Fort Worth and the other train goes East toward Dallas. Be sure you are on the correct side of the tracks before the train arrives. After getting on the train, I was pleasantly surprised by the comfortable seating and the table where I could rest my laptop or even plug in devices if I needed to. Some of you might ask…why should I buy a ticket, nobody ever asks for it? Well, if you are caught, it’s a fine and I actually witnessed Dart police issuing citations.

I took the East Trinity Rail Express train toward Dallas. After several stops and several eclectic people along the way, I arrived at my stop at Union Station. I departed the Trinity Rail Express. I looked around to discover which of the next trains would take me to the Lovers Lane station.

It looks like I need the red line towards Parker. Next, I’m curious about what time the next train leaves.

I take the Red line towards Parker. I see several interesting characters including one person who is talking to themselves. She seems kind of happy crazy which is so much better than angry crazy. She asks for some guys leftover hamburger and he gives it to her. That was a nice gesture. Here is a picture of the interesting characters that you might meet.

I arrive at the end of my journey. It took around 2 hours from airport to Lover’s Lane station. However, if I had parked at reduced parking, it would have taken me approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes by the time I took the shuttle and drove home. Parking at airport would have cost 12.00/day for 3 days plus gas to drive home. The public transportation option cost me $3.50 and took 2 hours. Plus I got to read and surf the net during the drive home. The taxi from the airport would have taken 30-45 minutes depending upon traffic and costs $30-40. I think the experiment paid off.

Hope this post helps to educate other road warriors!

Picture Your Job

Posted on by February 13, 2017
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To manage your priorities, you must begin with a firm understanding of what your priorities are. Follow the directions below to create a picture of your current major responsibilities and of the relationships among them.

On a piece of paper, jot down your current major responsibilities, grouping them in categories.

Here is an example of a mind-map that I did for my work responsibilities related to the creation and marketing of MyMeetingPro, an app that runs on the iPad and iPhone to help run simple effective meetings. http://www.MyMeetingPro.com

By the way, I used an app called MindMeister to create this diagram. Your diagram doesn’t have to look like this one in any way shape or form. Be creative. Write your job title in the center. Group together related tasks. Draw lines and use arrows to show relationships. If you want, use symbols, pictures, and color to add impact. Have fun!

Don’t worry about neatness-think of your picture as a work in progress!

What are some of the criteria you will use to identify your top priorities? Examples may include impact on the work group, impact on customers, financial impact, personal interest in the work, bosses expectations, opportunity of development, etc. List several the criteria that you use in determining priorities.

Now using these criteria, select 3-5 top-priority tasks or responsibilities you included in the picture of your job. Put a circle, star, or number next to these top priorities.

If you have questions, comments, thoughts, or observations, place them in the comments section. I look forward to seeing you on May 15.

If you would like to stay in touch, you can bookmark this website, or join me on my facebook group dedicated to the eradication of bad meetings by clicking here.

You can also follow me on twitter, facebook, or linked in by clicking Follow Me on the far left hand side of this page.

Facilitating Meetings Is Like Herding Cats

Posted on by February 13, 2017
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Sometimes our meetings may feel like herding cats.

Remember a meeting is two or more people getting together with a desired purpose or outcome.

The other day, I struck up a win-win bartering agreement with a friend of mine. I agreed to teach him what I knew about Twitter and building a Twitter following in exchange for solving a challenge around my website at http://www.Jackofalltraining.com. Two other friends overheard the conversation and decided that they would also like the information. Everyone agreed on the time and location at a local restaurant.

Three of us arrived on time and one person had not arrived yet. We tried texting and calling the fourth party and we decided to wait a few minutes to see if our fourth friend was coming. After waiting around 20 minutes, we began our discussion and ordered food. The fourth friend arrived, was playfully scolded by the other 3 and replied that he had never made the commitment to arrive on time. As is sometimes the case, especially with men, we are frequently unsure what part of communication is real or just playfully busting chops between male testosteronies. I rarely know!

Little did we know, but we had different expectations regarding.

1. Whether it was a come at your leisure meeting or a “punctuality matters” meeting.

2. Whether we would conduct discussions during eating….or wait till afterwards. Once again, different preferences existed.

3. Whether we would be playful…and interrupt with tidbits of humor or be strictly business focused.

As most meetings go, we just began our discussions. Nobody discussed their expectations…we just began this free-for-all.

I’m going to attempt to recreate some real dialog from this meeting to give you an idea. “So if I decide to tweet about some belly button lint that i found today….how would I do it”.

What was the real message……was it….”I don’t really see the value of twitter?” or “I thought I saw the value of twitter, but now I don’t or “I came here to be a clown and have a fun time”. I felt puzzled, If he didn’t see the value, why was he at this meeting. This meeting was in fact voluntary. I ignored the comment, smiled, and assumed that it was just playful male communication.

As is normally the case, nobody inquired to the real meaning……why….cause we just meet! Perhaps some inquiry was called for…..such as: “When you are commenting about tweeting about belly button lint, are you saying that twitter is not useful to me? or just having fun?”

I would suggest that when you start a meeting

1. Articulate your desired result.

2. Listen to others desired results.

As you conduct the meeting.

1. Inquire into puzzling messages to discover the real message.

2. Make the undiscussable discussable in a way that preserves the relationship

3. Add value at every interaction.

4. Practice good facilitation skills to maximize the results you’re after.

And finally, if you’re my friend…..realize that someday you may become a blog post.

Welcome to The Center for Organizational Learning

Posted on by February 13, 2017
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Hello and thanks for visiting the Center for Organizational Learning website. This business was founded in 1993 by Dale Perryman. In 1993, Dale Perryman was working for ARCO Oil and Gas Company in downtown Dallas. During a corporate downsizing, Dale walked across the street to Thanksgiving Square to reflect upon his career options.

At this time, clinic Dale envisioned what would eventually lead to his 19 year career path.

Dale has been heavily influenced by Steven Covey and has taught the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People for 25 years. In fact, he probably has more experience teaching the course than any other trainer in the world. Dale has also been heavily influenced by Kenneth Blanchard creator of Situational Leadership and Peter Senge author of The Fifth Discipline.

This site lists trainers (primarily Dale Perryman) although Dale has plenty of colleagues that he can access if he runs into projects that require extra resources.

The site describes services including custom workshops, apps, assessments, coaching, product development, and non-profits. The resources include the jackofalltraining blog, and articles.

If you find anything interesting, contact us and let’s discuss the possibilities of working together.