Yellow Belt Ninja: Quest for the Strategic Guru

This is the framework used for the reflection and goal setting journey of the GE Ninjas and their teams. The idea is that success comes from moving through each of these elements until reaching a constant cycle through 3, 4, and 5, known as “The Zone”. Feel free to modify it as needed. Section 1: 1) Passion, 2) Desire to Improve Section 2: 3) Self Awareness, 4) Goal Setting Passion Desire to Improve Self Awareness Goal Setting Hard Work The Zone

Go through the following guiding questions. You may choose to go through each of the guiding questions individually, as a group, or both. Be sure to cover each one! 4. What are you most passionate about? 1. What inspires you? 2. What motivated/influenced you to be a part of EWB and/or the Global Engineering Venture? 3. What are 3 really important things in your life?

4. Which feedback was easier to remember? 1. What was the last piece of positive feedback you received? 2. What was the last piece of negative feedback you received? 3. Which feedback was easier to take in the moment? Again, choosing whether to this as a group, individually, or both, explore the following questions. 5. What are 3 strengths you possess? 6. What are 3 weaknesses?

We naturally tend to overemphasize the negative rather than knowing what we are really good at. It is easier to remember criticism, but we actually respond better to praise. In fact, it can be pretty hard to get good quality positive feedback. Feedback is a central element in your journey to better understand yourself and how to best leverage your assets as a leader, but it’s important to balance both the positive and the negative. Looking at strengths and weaknesses can be a really great exercise, but we often have a hard time identifying strengths while weaknesses come quite easily. This section is meant to explore both and make people excited about working on their personal development alongside their GE work. The next section will look at your inner asset. What makes you and your team great? What puts you in a situation that will allow you to make change? How can we improve that situation?

Go through each question with your GE Team in a rigorous way. This could also be conducted similar to Section 1, with each question done individually, in a group, or both. This section will result in a giant map. Use pictures, diagrams, and words to represent your discussion! Keep your map and check back later to identify assumptions and validity of your analysis.

1.Identify relevant stakeholders 2.Identify assets 3.Determine interaction between stakeholders 4.Draw it out visually to better see the links 5.Identify goals and objectives of a program 6.Determine the baseline 7.Determine ways to check if you are getting there

Who do you work with? Who do you have access to? Who could you have access to? Who is important to bring into the conversation? Who are you? Who is on your team? Who could be on your team? Who are you trying to influence? Who is the primary beneficiary?

What skills and attitudes do you have that make you special? MBTI Test Johari Window What relationships exist that are beneficial to the work that you can do? Who/what do you have access to that could add or challenge you to be better? Which relationships can you leverage for greater impact?

Examples of systems maps Water systems Digestive system Organizational systems The beauty in systems mapping is that the sum of different elements and components create something that lives. If something in that system were to change, the entire system changes.

Who each stakeholder interacts with, and where does the power in the relationship come from? o You can even label the power relationships What structures exist that shape the scope of influence of certain stakeholders? o Draw boxes to show limitations of influence if no direct interaction exists but influence can occur How strong are the connections between the stakeholders that interact? o Are those interactions positive or negative, effective or ineffective? (You can be creative in representing these)

Analyze the system map that you have created. Reflect upon the goals of the GE Team in the past o Not achieving a goal in the past does not mean failure, it could mean the goal was/is bigger than one year/term or assumptions were not valid (an asset) Set a goal for the development of your team (personal development, size, etc.) Set a goal for the Global Engineering Curriculum aspect of your team. Be courageous!

Reflect upon your motivations for your involvement and what you hope to accomplish. Examine the expectations for your position. What do you need to do for your goals to become possible? What do you need to happen for your goals to be achievable? Where do they align? Set 2 personal development goals for the next months. Set a goal that would indicate success for your involvement with GE this year.

1.How do you interact with the different stakeholders? How can you do so in the future? 2.How do they currently interact with each other in terms of your goals? How can they do so in the future? 3.What is the strength and nature of those linkages in relation to your goals? How do power dynamics play a part in those relationship? 4.What structures or assumptions are in place that you should recognize?

You can use your system's map in the following ways: Use it to educate and inform your plan. Use the strength of certain relationships as a measurement of your progress. Use your systems map to explore new possibilities or opportunities.

1.Share your system's map with the distributed team. 2.Utilize GE City to track your relationships. 3.Strengthen your Global Engineering plan to encompass your vision and systemic thinking. 4.Amplify your strategy to leverage your assets.