Last week was a bit exhausting – so much thinking between the REC Director meeting and the Ideation Workshop, not to mention other meetings and obligations. But I have to admit that it was quite fun though I wasn't under any of the pressure that the Ideation teams experienced. At one point there was a comment about making time to be creative 1 hour per week – teams exceeded it last week. And the ideas were fantastic! I can't wait to see all of them move towards implementation. My favorite statement of the week came from the ANR 3.0 team in reference to all of UC ANR personnel: "You can't buy a better collection of experts". My favorite formula was the change formula:
(Dissatisfaction × Vision × First Steps × Support) > Resistance
The mathletes amongst us were quick to point out that if any one of those factors is zero, resistance wins. Overall, the week seemed to exceed Resistance but time will tell.
Amidst the thinking was the entertainment, compliments of Jim Farrar and Scott Brayton. If you didn't catch the livestream, you really missed out. My favorite part was that Jim couldn't help himself but to infuse education throughout the Pest Fest (I stand corrected that it wasn't all about bugs!).
Today is CORO graduation. CORO is a UC leadership program. This year Jim Farrar completed the program. Admission is highly competitive. Fortunately, the many talented individuals throughout UC ANR are recognized. As a result, UC ANR does pretty well with CORO participation. Congratulations, Jim! It's great to see Jim's other talents highlighted this week.
The SI Leaders will meet this afternoon to continue discussions about planning structures. Also, plans are underway for an SI conference in spring 2019. The SI Leaders are thinking something a bit different from past events. Stay tuned for details. Finally, during today's meeting, the SI Leaders will finalize a soon-to-be-released RFA looking for projects that build online educational resources targeted at reaching non-English speaking clientele.
Wednesday I have a chance to catch up on some things, including follow up communications with the Ideation teams and a review of the REC rates for the upcoming year. Then it is off to Riverside on Thursday to visit with Eta, Chutima, and group and share our programs with the Global Food Initiative director to brainstorm about how we might leverage our efforts.
Friday is full of standing Zoom meetings. This week promises to be more traditional as far as creativity goes. But who knows, there could be a surprise around the corner.