Category Archives: Fun

Listening, Leadership, Action or Exit…

June 26, 2023 By in Change Management, Fun, leadership, Learning, Strategy, Teaching Leave a comment

I experienced the euphoria of convocation again this season and I’m a better person because of it. I witnessed and shared in the feeling of pride among the graduates and the community. Its a beautiful thing – finishing. Accomplishments need to be celebrated together, as a community, especially after too many years apart. It was wonderful. And it seemed different this time compared to a few years ago, pre-covid and pre-ChatGpt. The human side of the experience was noticeably more powerful.

There’s a lot being said about artificial intelligence these days especially in education. There was nothing ‘bot ish’ about this convocation. Where ChatGPT seeks to predict, the behaviour I observed at convocation was quite unpredictable – at least less predictable than pre-covid, and pre-ChatGpt. I’ve seen it in business meetings too lately. People didn’t hold back at convocation and they don’t seme to be holding back in general. Fear and futility are the two most common reasons for people not speaking out in organizations. Could it be that people want to speak their mind and they are less afraid of the consequences? Could it be that they are bustin’ out? I think so, and its likely that they expect their feedback will be heard and acted upon.

Lets assume there is a shift underway towards people wanting to speak up and speak out more. What would organizations and leaders need to do differently to succeed in that new world? Well, they would probably need to get better at listening. And they seem to be trying. I have repeatedly observed increased effort among leaders to actively listen in large face-to-face settings. They are listening for what the future holds and how to get there first. They are listening with innovative tools like Design Thinking. They are listening for for what customers say, think, feel, and do. They are listening to find solutions. That’s what (good) leaders do.

The tools we may need now more than ever (i.e. more than ChatGPT) relate to human communication and relationships. Increasingly I apply the Haven Communications Model but alas I am a novice. Purposeful human centered interaction is as important as it is unpredictable now. Design Thinking including applying related tools made available from IBM are very appropriate now as powerful listening frameworks. These real intelligence tools all require work. Artificial intelligence could not predict what I felt at convocation nor what I chose to share in large group problem solving meetings. AI can’t make judgements and have a sense of timing, or nuance, or fun. That’s where we humans come in. Hi, its me, I’m the problem its me. As machines get better with the easy stuff we humans need to get better at the tough stuff, the human stuff, the full catastrophe.

In a few years I’m confident that society (and my students) will have figured out how to get the most out of emerging AI tools like ChatGPT. I’m also confident that in a few short years the currently evident abundance of leadership listening will wind down. By then followers will expect that their leaders to take action – to change and improve. Better an OK strategy well executed than a perfect one not done. “We value your input and intend to take action based on your feedback.” These are important but dangerous words for leaders post-covid and post-ChaptGPT. They may be met with a follower’s response, “Thanks for asking, and for listening, now where’s the action and the payback?” If followers see no action or results after speaking up they will inevitably reach one of two conclusions. “I won’t waste my voice anymore,” or “I’m gone.” That’s not the kind of graduation leaders are typically looking for these days.

Who Ride White Horses

April 5, 2021 By in Family, Fun Tags: , , Leave a comment

Here’s another gem from the family archives. My mother, Ann Marie Fauteux was a writer (and a teacher). Among her most famous works was, “The Ballad of Bordeaux Jail,” a poem set to song by Alan Mills which generated quite a stir in Montréal during the 1960’s. She is less known for her writing under the non du plume (pseudonym) Rebecca. I have no idea why she chose that name. Here is one of the Rebecca poems entitled “Who Ride White Horses,” as published in the Montréal Gazette (Photo credit An Ax to Grind: A Practical Ax Manual – Federal Highway Administration).

Expo ’67 Hype Hope and History

April 5, 2021 By in Family, Fun Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

Expo ’67 was an amazing chapter in Canadian history. I remember the crowds and the great feeling of pride and accomplishment even as a seven year old aspiring Canadian. My father, Robert Fauteux was Commissioner of the General Electric Pavilion at the fair which was a position of some importance. In the year before, my mother, Ann Marie Fauteux was busy editorializing on the Expo ’67 hype being generated by government advertising. In her view it was over the top, an opinion shared by many. Despite her public complaints my father was appointed to the role of commissioner and my mother quickly embraced the opportunity! Following is a poem which was published in the Montreal Gazette in 1966 as part of a regular column where my mother was sometimes featured.

Photo credit: Michael Rougier Time Life Pictures Getty Images

A poem by Ann Marie Fauteux

A Fauteux Montréal Lament

April 5, 2021 By in Family, Fun Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

The debate about government fees and taxes has raged on for centuries. In the 1960’s, as the Montréal Champlain Bridge was nearing completion, Ann Marie Fauteux (my mother) wrote a poem about the proposed bridge toll. She lamented the apparent community acceptance of the toll by comparing it to a famous French Gaston-Alphonse cartoon. My mother loved to write. She was always in pursuit of a well twisted phrase and a clever word.

Image Credit: Frederick Burr Opper – American Journal Examiner

A-Tisket, A-Tasket, For Pete Sake Hit That Basket

Ann Marie Fauteux

Now Montreal’s an island fair,
Surrounded by a moat.
At one time just accessible
To owners of a boat.
Until the ruling party built
A road across its span
To ease the pain and burden of
The weary motor man.
To ease the pain and burden more,
They charged him “twenty-five”
In view of all the benefits
The driver would derive.
They never thought of profit when
Requesting this donation,
But just to let us share in a
Togetherness relation.
Togetherness means harmony twixt
Man and his Regime,
You pay a round, I’ll pay a round
– A Gaston-Alphonse team.
But something just occurred to me,
It may be splitting hairs,
Where’s all this money coming from
That governments call “theirs?”
Now if it comes from whence I think,
And here my point is moot,
Then aren’t we paying our share, and
The government’s to boot?
Men go to work each morning just
To pay the tax they owe,
I don’t see why they have to buy
The road on which they go.

Windows or Mac?

December 29, 2015 By in Fun, Learning 1 Comment
Windows or Mac?

There is a lot wrapped up in your platform of choice, your OS.  The answer to the question Windows or Mac, I think, says a lot about a person.  Having just spent the best part of two days upgrading my multiple devices to Windows 10 and Office 2016, my loyalty was challenged.  As with all ‘upgradeathons,’ I had my moments cursing the many teams of Microsofters who put all the pieces together.  In the end it all worked and seems to have been worthwhile. I remain a Windows guy.

Our household enjoys a Mac culture too.  We’re eclectic!  I still can’t live with it all ‘under the covers.’  Where is that file?  Where is it stored?  And where’s Ctl-Alt-Delete in all of its beauty?  How do I force close an application?  These are important things to know!  Alas, with my Mac experience, these questions lay waiting for answers.  It seems to work, but how it works remains a mystery to me.  A mystery I cannot accept.  It seems I need structure and control.  I must not trust the ‘Mac OS.’ What does that say about me?  Hmmm….

Now then, boxers or briefs?  Hmmm….