A500.3.3R.B Organizational Leadership as a system

Reflection on defining the organizational leadership as a body of systems, not a as body of information.

Reflecting on organizational leadership as a body of systems can be broken down into fundamental question: is the discipline of organizational leadership a system or simply a body of information? It is my opinion that it is a body of system.  Breaking down organizational leadership into a working definition indicates a body systems embedded in the discipline.  It is important to look at the subject into two parts (systems) that once combined demonstrates, a complex organism that moves towards a single goal.  To elaborate, use the definition of organizational leadership, that was previously identified in this weeks discussion, one can see that it is not just simply a body of information.  One of the best definitions for the first part (system) is leadership, the US Air Force 1948 definition of leadership, the “act of influencing others to accomplish the mission (Air Force, 2016).” The next key part of the subject is the organization itself, the easy definition for this part is, “a company, business, club, etc..that is formed for a particular purpose (Organization, 2011).” Putting the two words together as a single unit for organizational leadership, “the act of influencing the company towards a particular purpose.”  Illustrating the body of systems further, the art of moving an organizational to a purpose requires certain skills, development, logic, vocabulary, and internal systems or engines (Noisch, 2016) that keeps both the leader and the organization on a single track, thus this cannot simply be a just a body of information.    

Fields change and are diverse and the art of the organization changes with tide while bodies of information often remain data points and are not fluid and change slowly.  How does a company like Apple grow exponentially in ten years?  The company was guided through good leadership that used all of the systems to gain the competitive edge and evolved.  If we look evolution as not just simply a data of information, we seem to miss the newest change to the subject.  Arguably, everything changes humans, trees, and island are form, all of this part of the systems that make up evolution (Introduction, 2016).  An example to evolutions systems, are latest viruses, that have mutated past the point of known sciences (Evolution Resources, 2016).  There are so many systems (or sciences) that are used to understand how a simply organism can mutate to devastate a country.  Compared to a static body of information, the idea of a cure would never appear clearly.  The art of influencing a organization is very similar to this, how any systems are used to move the organization, and how has it changed since the inception of the organization.

Some of the systems that make up a successful art of the organization are: leadership, management and interpersonal relationships, to name a few.  Elaborating the Apple question further reveals how the later used his body of systems and the growth of the organization created a worldwide culture.  Apple was losing its competitive edge in the personal computer business and the stock was plummeting.  Steve Jobs one of the Apple creators, took a gamble and created a small device that a person can play music, game, talk on the phone and check email at the same time.  The amount of systems that were used in this, are overwhelming: leadership, marketing, communication, management, relationships, etc.. Almost over night the business sky rocketed.  Steve Jobs used his art of influence to move the entire body of systems inside of the organization toward a single goal, not just looking at the organization as bod of information.  

References

Air Force Doctrine (2015). Volume 2 Leadership. Retrieved August 17, 2017, fromhttps://doctrine.af.mil/dnv1vol2.htm (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)

Evolution In Medicine (2016) Evolution Resources from National Academies of Science Retrieved from http://www.nas.edu/evolution/EvolutioninMedicine.html

Introduction to evolution (2016) Understanding Evolution. Retrieved from http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/0_0_0/evo_02

Nosich, G. M. (2012). Learning to think things through: A guide to critical thinking across the curriculum (4th edition). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Organization. 2011. In Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved August 16, 2016, from

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Fact (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)

A500.2.3 Your Story

My standard reliable.

         My story of reliable starts thirty years ago; growing up well below the standard of living in United States but perfect for South Louisiana, in a small double wide trailer, sitting on stilts against a quint bayou, if you wanted to eat it you grew it, shot it or traded for it.  My story of reliability starts on those banks and morphed into my steady standard, that exists in my life today. My self-sufficient family relied on each other to pick the crops, to hunt with my dad, to getting the morning eggs at a very young age.  To understand this story and how it has shaped me in the man I am today, we have to look past the idea of rich vrs poor, educated from non-educated, to concepts at the root of the bayou of family and culture.

     At five years old my dad and I went hunting, as I walked with him carrying the hunt for the day.  Fast forward a few years and my mom would relied on  me to pick peaches or blueberries for the pie that night. I did these things out of necessity and because she knew that I would do them with gratitude and thoughtfulness.  It was during my teenage years that I learned even more about reliability, I would spend my weekends working on the farm, not because I had to but because it was the right thing to do.  Giving up my freedom to spend time feeding my family, instead of playing with school kids I drove the tractor or picked up pecans and sold them for money for my family.  During my years in high school, I was the team captain at my local track team and got up earlier then most and drove the local high school bus (sometimes without a proper bus driving license) to pick up the team to head to the track meets or drop people off after school so that they could have a ride.  Most people would say that I would give my shirt off my back to help, and relied on me to do so.  My team and family relied on me.

     Almost seventeen years ago my reliability evolved rapidly, when I walked into the recruiters office.  At first my story was about starting a small Cajun family with my Air Force money.  There was some limited critical thought, but this changed on 9/11, my thoughts got deeper. I wanted to serve, I wanted to help, I wanted to get involved any way I could.  I believed that my family depended on me again, this time to defend the greater good.  I volunteered for the first assignment to the Middle East that I could get.  This was at the sacrifice of a best friend, she tried to talk me out of it but understood the standard I had to do it, it was part of my culture.  After that experience in Afghanistan in early 2002, there was a deeper desire to do more to reach out.  I transferred jobs to selective manned counterspace unit and spent the next decade and a half being that "guy", that a squadron commander could call anytime for any trip.  I ended up going back overseas to a variety of places for thousands of days, sometimes on less than a day's notice or a gratuitous smile.  Seven more times I went because they depended on me to do it.  There was never a "no".

             Eventually this "no" wore me down and my reliability was taken for granted.  The commander's knew I could be counted on to take all the missions, anywhere, anytime all the time away from my family, any and everything I would do for the Air Force, for my brothers in arms, and my nation.  My reliability had to evolve again, after those trips, I sat down and starting thinking on a much deeper level.  I had to learn to say no, I had to learn to let go of the persona of that " go to guy".  I had to learn that it was not about the actions one takes but by the strength inside to understand what is most important, yet another evolution from reliable; steady.  I need to be "steady" in my friendships, in my job and in my life.  All those years of been the dependent now I needed to be a constant and continuous to myself, psychologically and physiologically.  I went back to school, several times, I got a nice window desk job, and now represent high levels of Air Force Space Command and report straight to General officers'.  I even got my own phone that I do not have to share or wait for a satellite connection.  This hopefully displays a visual for my life, for my standard and the how it has evolved over time, after I reflected on what direction the standard needed to take in my life.  Demonstrating to the younger generation and my family how reliability can evolve from dependable to steady.  Hopefully in the long run this standard and its evolutions will help me transition to my next life evolving along the way.                               

A500.1.5 RB_Mosley

The traits of quite reflection of intellectual traits.

During the past few days, I have had to reflect on traits of intellect for critical thinking.  Critical thinking is a way to purposeful process to solve problems from everyday life to complex problems.  Paraphrasing Richard Paul, he further elaborates on critical thinking as a process that analyzes, assesses and transforms to reach higher thinking (Paul no pg 2007).  The highest order of thinking is thought that is explicitly reflective and effective resulting in transformation (Paul. ELder, “Three Level of thought”).  This requires common virtues that hold true throughout the reasoning process to ensure decisive quality results.  Take for example admiring great art works, like Van Gogh’s Stary Nights or Esher’s Stairscases, key values are needed to understand what the definition of the work means.  It does not mean looking for fault like a critic but instead removing biases and opinions to understand (Noisch pg 13). 

One of those key values to understanding the higher order thought is intellectual perseverance (Paul Elder, “Intellectual Perseverance vs Intellectual Laziness”). Standing firm in intellectual principles and truths even faced with difficulties and challenges from critics, from faulty reviews, or insufficient data.  In my current occupation there are many that will dissuade me, or challenge without rational thought.  I have been persuaded by other opinions, fell into operational conformity and group-think.  These fallacies do not lend me to be a higher thinker, to solve real problems or concepts.  In order to reach the highest level of thought, I must understand how to preserve my own thoughts through perseverance.  My educational challenges of a career Airmen, is a good example of this.  I could stop trying to learn more and stop sharpening my leadership skills but instead I preserve through preserving my goals of understanding and defining the art work of my life.  

References
Nosich G.M. (2012) Learning to think Things Through; Critical Thinking across the curriculum. (4^th ed) Columbus , Oh Prentice Hall

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Paul, Richard (2007). The Critical Thinking Community; The 27^th Annual International Conference on Critical Thinking. Retrieved August 14, 2016 from http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/critical-thinking-in-every-domain-of-knowledge-and-belief/698

Paul, R. Elder L. (2014) Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking: Concept and Tools (7^th ed.), E-Reader Edition, Tomales, Ca. Foundation for Critical Thinking