AGS Saturday Seminar 22 March 2003
"Success"
Gold, or Love, or
Shangri-La - What is "Success"?
Or rather, What do
you mean as "success" ?
We had a great
time at our Milton Dawes Seminars in November,
but were they
"successful" for you?
Four months or so after the AGS November 2002
"Success Seminar Series"
(aka "Milton Down-Under"), a group of
participants gathered to ...
... share
recollections of the event,
consider what
we can draw from it, and
resolve how to
move on "successfully" !
This little collection of notes by Robert does not
purport to be at an "official AGS record"; just some personal
impressions. It is in three sections:
1. What was
meant to happen,
2. What did
happen, and
3. Some
Reflections.
Please feel free to dispute and contribute material
and recollections.
Robert James.
ooo000ooo
"1. What Was Meant To Happen -
the Agenda"
Like any battle-plan, Robert's Agenda was not followed
particularly closely, but for what it's worth, here it is (was):
Recollections from
the Seminars
Video snippets.
Discussion of the
experiences
How much did we
forget?
*** Morning Tea
Break ***
What did we like
most ?
What was not so
successful - Why?
How would we do
such things better in future?
Admin matters:
Finance, Venues, Promotion
Materials, Time
and Travel, "Corporate Identity"
*** *** Lunch ***
***
Some personal
philosophies, experiences and case-studies
A "mainstream
Success Program" - Covey's "Seven Habits"
Other notable
"Success" writers, teachers and practitioners
Why gs - What does
it particularly have to offer?
*** AfternoonTea
Break ***
Plenary Session -
Shared Reflections
What do we
remember from today?
Was it (why?)
important for me?
How can I use it
in future?
ooo000ooo
2. "What Did Happen"
The Institute
generously funded the production of a video tape record of the November
Seminars. David has been strenuously
working to have it edited and polished to produce quite a nice three-hour
product to work with.
Laurie, Betty and
I (Robert) watched the edited video tape in Canberra on January 18 ("the
day of the Canberra Firestorm"), and were discombobulated by the amount of
material which we had "forgotten" (or not absorbed at the time). This reinforced the value of having a record
to refer back to, and inspired us to include a brief review of it in the March
Seminar.
On Saturday, we
viewed just small sections of the video, interspersed with discussion,
recollections, introspections ("... Oooh - That's not me, is
it?") etc. These were fun and a
valuable revisiting of the experience.
We could have spent all day watching the tape and recalling the event,
but, alas, we had to be content with snippets.
The tape is available for circulation among members to re-view at
leisure.
Urged-on by
Robert's anxiety about "the Agenda", we proceeded to consider how
effective the Seminars really were in terms of sharing insights and experiences
which could really become a useful part of our lives. We each recalled special moments and personal interactions with a
lasting impact. But was it worth the
time, the money, the opportunity cost?
Could we achieve better results another way .. ?
David's financial
management and reporting of the promotional costs and outcomes revealed that
newspaper advertising, PO Box leaflets and letter-box drops were not very
effective at all. The only promotional
effort with worthwhile success was via personal contact.
There were
differences of opinion on how effective the Seminar Series was in terms of a
promotional vehicle for introducing g-s to potential new members, or for
assisting lasting change in the lives of "the converted". However, all agreed that Milton's serene
demeanor and sparkling engagement with life and culture, were a pleasure to
share and an inspiration to guide our g-s living and teaching.
*** * ***
After lunch, we
considered a "mainstream Success program" - the "Seven Habits of
Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey. We were impressed not only with Covey’s “packaging”, but with his
use of expressions like
"The map is not the
territory" and
If you want quantum-leap changes, work on your paradigms."
Doesn't this sound
rather like the "P1-T1" diagram"?
We compared
"P1-T1" against Thoreau's statement:
"For every thousand hacking at
the leaves of evil,
There is but one hacking at the root!"
Is the metaphor
more effective than the diagram, in building awareness of this fundamental
principle? Who knows, but it was
sobering (and fun!) to wonder about it and share ideas.
We considered
Covey's assertions regarding the "Character Ethic" vs the
"Personality Ethic", the "Power of the Paradigm", and
"Principles vs Values". Our
time ran out before we got into "personal case studies", arguably the
main objective of today's Seminar!
The "Personal
Paradigm Shift" exercise was left as homework, and we moved into
Reflection Time to finish-up.
3. "Some
Collected Reflections and Resolutions"
From the November
Seminar Series:
"I got what I wanted, and I got
what I was afraid of."
"Didn't really show us how we can
enhance g-s in Australia"
"I can operate more flexibly at
the non-verbal level than at the verbal level."
"Perhaps I'll try to use more
"could" (a matter of
potential) instead of
"should" (a matter of
judgement)
from now on."
"The drumming was
awe-inspiring"
“I loved the ‘non-verbal experience’
walks.”
From today:
"Fun to organise,
Rewarding to facilitate with such a
rad group, and, as usual,
Frustrating
but gratifying that participants become excited and introduced ideas beyond the
scope of the Agenda".
"We're holding the key already;
It's about time we used it in the lock!"
“I think we raised more questions than
answers!”
Things to do:
Forward our financial reporting and
promotional analysis to the Institute.
Write papers addressed to the need for
eg:
... "Introduction to G-S",
... "Stress Management for HSC students",
... "Bullying in Schools".
... etc.
Consider always, how to use g-s to
build your own concept of "Success"
in personal, family and community
life.
Come along to David's Seminar:
"Problem Solving" on April 13th.
" ... improve your problem solving skills.
Develop your ability to cope with errors. And enhance your creativity via the
use of GS formulations. We will also do a little 'time-binding' from other
disciplines."
ooo000ooo