Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Feb 22, 2007

Hey

We are just working on the website! We watched a movie today, very interesting. Tech group is keeping it real in the comm 250 hood. Anyways, we will just keep pushing forward and doing things to better the company, in some way or another!!

JP

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Feb 20, 2007

Hey things are starting to move along. I am just grateful that the blog is starting to function as intended. Technology is at the leise of the other groups, here to help in any way we can. I think that our next project is to get a website up and running. We'll see how it goes. Ate mais!!!

Justin Pitcher

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Feb 8, 2007

After today's class, i think it is easy to see how hard it can be to organize and communicate with so many viewpoints and opinions. However, at least we are talking and discussing them now so we can work with them. The technology group is at the mercy of the others; we work when we are needed. After reading the article on blackboard, we learn that for success to happen, we must experience some form of inconveniance. The thoughts that came to my mind while reading were the two facts that one the natural man is lazy and not submissive to the will of God. Second, that is why we are here, to grow, to learn, and to be uncomfortable. Our goal here is to submit the flesh to our will, which should be the will of God and thus, be worthy for the eternal blessings that God has in store for us. May we keep that in mind and continue towards that goal. And, may we handle the inconvenience in class and learn and be patient.

Wednesday, February 7, 2007

Feb 6, 2007 blog

I felt pretty good about today. However, we do need more time to work in groups. We, the technology group, needs some time to get all the blog confusion settled and solved. The ball is slowly moving on!!
Justin P

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Feb 1, 2007

Today was actually pretty good. Once we get everything going, the class will become more organized and interesting. We just need to work together and help out where needed. This little project should turn out nice with effective teamwork. We all have our own little part to do, and we should focus on that for the benefit of the whole. With the help of "the Divine Center" and the seven habits, we can incorporate learning and improvement into our groups and personal lives.
Justin Pitcher

Thursday, February 1, 2007

Jan 30, 2007

Today we discussed the Divine Center, a book written by Stephen Covey. All of our lives should be concretely based on the divine center of God and Jesus Christ. It doesn't matter what we do if here in this life if it isn't for the progress and further establishment of God's kingdom. With our priorities straight, we can actually have unselfish purposes in our everyday activities here, especially here in school. We must remember that this isn't our education, its God's and used for His work.

With that, we discussed further the class project, we got into our teams and planned out further activities. One key principle learned is that as sub-divisions of the whole, we must do all we can to optimize the whole and sub-optimize the parts of the organization. And by so doing, we can contribute for the best of our constituents (stake holders).

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Jan 25, 2007

I found it rather intriguing analyzing the problems of the Columbia mission while working with the technology group. We discussed the facts that while certainly evident that there were significant technological problems, they were overlooked and not given much importance. It wasn't just in this case, the article discusses several past complications that weren't taken care of either. With that in mind, a lack of awareness and communication each caused this breakdown, a serious technological problem occurred, and 7 innocent lives were lost as a result. Technology needed to be updated and better handled in this situation. There were technological problems, but the consequences thereof could have been avoided if taken care of earlier and upgrades were made through sufficient and efficient funding.

Our poster discusses these matters. We placed a space shuttle colored in retro sixties colors to symbolize the out-of-date technology used, we placed some bugs "beetles" signifying the sixties band, a peace sign in red and inside of the o-ring, we placed an o-ring-broke down in the challenger and a depiction of the weak panels that protected the foam, and we placed a marijuana joint also representing the sixties. The two men with a math problem in the middle represent the lack of problem acknowledgement, they are facing outwards with their backs to the problem, and below that is a stone wall representing the "stand still" and lack of communication pertaining to the matters. The money represents the significant costs involved.

http://jpitcherblog.blogspot.com

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Jan 23, 2007

Today we discussed the five engines of organization: people, organization, market, technology, and capital. Upon learning about these five, we received the new project that we will do with the other org comm class. We each chose an engine to be apart of and we will help and provide insights for the other class in their duties and assignments with the university. I happened to choose technology because of my interest for such.

We also talked about how to organize and run businesses. One factor that needs change is our fear of change. How often do we seek for the better situations and outcomes, yet we are hesitant to make the necessary changes to attain such. I think we are so afraid of change because we are used to our current situations and aren't ready for the work needed and the effort to expand out of our comfort zones. I am reminded of God's plan for us here on this earth, we are here to change and progress, not to stay as we currently are. Such a plan requires work.

Another concept we learned about was an adhocracy-the managerial concept where nothing is set in stone, and people and resources are allocated properly and efficiently. With such a type of organization, one must have skill sets and quick studies to be able to survive in several areas and be able to contribute effectively.

Friday, January 19, 2007

Comm 250 blog Jan 18, 2007

Jan 18 2007

Todays class was interesting and we discussed several things pertaining to both secular and spiritual issues. The game musical chairs was provided and used as an object lesson. It was interesting to see how the "unwritten laws" took over and intstantly it became a competition to win the seat and beat the fellow classmates, the lesson being the fact that often times competition can become a negative thing where there has to be a winner and a loser. Does it always have to be like that?

There are shared several thoughts and opinions on competition, in all aspects of life. In my opinion, it isn't necessarily a bad thing. The entire system of capitalism is based on competition and through such comes better quality and new improvements in research. However, there exists in the business world greed, and that is where it becomes a negative aspect of life. We discussed the 5 cancerous C's in class: competing, complaining, conflict, comparing, and criticizing. I think competition falls into this category when people are no longer treated as people, but as enemies with name calling and "stone throwing."

Now, it certainly is best to find the "win-win" situations over the "win-lose." But, as discussed, such requires high courage and high consideration for others. In many cases, selfishness takes over and our thoughts and desires are only focused on things that benefit us and not others. These principles applied to the Columbia case in the fact that there was both structural flaws and selfish attitudes; no one really wanted to take the blame nor responsibility. And it all came down to the fact that the workers in the end were thinking about themselves and not working completely as a team for the benefit of the astronauts, resulting in the loss of 7 lives.

Spiritually, we can learn from these principles as well. As we discussed in class, the apostles live and work at a higher level of courage and consideration. The ultimate example is the Savior and His attitudes towards all mankind through His actions. We all are striving to be more like Him and to attain charity, the pure love of Christ. This love would be for others, not for ourselves. As in the city of Zion, society and life would be best for everyone if selfishness was diminished and we lived "as one" one with another. After all, that could be considered the law of consecration.

If there's less unselfishness and more win-win situations, there will exist a stronger feeling of family or team and the organization will run as such. All will be blessed and happy, and the jobs will be done.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Jan 16, 2007

3 things learned:

1. The main theme of the discussion in class today was the impact that shared love can have on an organization.

2. Most companies believe that there are just three types of management: beat-em, butter-em (bribe), or control and focus. We discussed how a simple love and understanding shown to an employee can change attitudes and behaviors dramatically.

3. We discussed the four quadrants on the graph of courage and consideration. The ideal situation is to have a win win outcome for ourselves and for the persons around us. We can use our talents to better the results and become more trustworthy and respected by others.

4. Perfect love casteth out all fear.

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Jan 12, 2007

Three things learned today:

1. I learned today more about the article on the Columbia disaster from the comments of other class mates.

2. We went over names, so I was able to learn and memorize more of my fellow classmates names.

3. We discussed more of the expectations of the class; we will receive points for participation as we open up and provide some of our own personal insights.

5 questions from the Columbia reading
1. Even if nothing could have been done to fix the problem, how would the situation be different if there wasn't a breakdown in communication?
2. Where do you think the breakdown in communication first became apparent?
3. What solutions can be presented for the possible problematic scenarios?
4. Do you think it was a problem with the organization? With the persons? Or both?

5. Do you think that improvements have been made and proper corrections by those involved? Was there enough attention given to fixing this?

Tuesday, January 9, 2007

Journal 1-9-07

We learned today and discussed the organization of the church. Often times, we take our time and experience in the church for granted, we grow up with the organization and don't realize how successful it is. The quote "Fish discover the water last" seems to sum it up.

Bro Adams also discussed the fact that the organization and the success thereof depends on the trustworthiness of the individuals. We also did some good team work and were able to discuss some of these principles.

Communication really is one of the major principles in an organization, failure and miscommunication can affect the whole company.
Justin Pitcher
Bro Adams
Intro to Org Comm
BLog


1-4-07

Best lessons in Leadership came from...mission, parents, teacher and other callings in the church

Best lessons in communicating...mission, school-projects, sports teams-recreational activities, talks in church

Organizations
football-teams, zones/districts, church-elders quorum, bishopric,school-byui, skyline, jobs-edwards, rocky mountain fence, political party-campaign trip, scouts

Insights
to work with a team, patience, seeing someone else's viewpoint, hard work

The traditional American Hot dog is a scrumpscous meal because its cheap and tasty.

Places I've lived
Idaho Falls, Brazil

Achievements
mission, 315 lbs bench, travels, academic awards,

Industries
FBI, businesses, sports,

Goals
Bench 405, successful business man, get married