Corey: Hey, I really appreciate you having this chat with me today.

Mary: It is my pleasure.

Corey: You look really nice today.

Mary: Thank you.

Corey: Most people come dressed much more casually for these.

Mary: Well, I’m pretty traditional English.

Corey: So you are. I do appreciate you dressing up though.

Mary: Are you hitting on me?

Corey: What?!

Mary: I’m seeing someone.

Corey: I’m married. But, now that you opened the door, is it that chimney sweep guy?

Mary: Hey, I mentioned to your producers that I was not going to talk about him.

Corey: So it is Bert?

Mary: I’m done with this interview.

Corey: Wait, we haven’t started the interview yet. Please sit back down. I will stick closer to the script.

Mary: Closer? Have you actually ever interviewed anyone?

Corey: Yes, of course.

Mary: Who?

Corey: My first guest was Mr. Bilbo Baggins.

Mary: He isn’t even a real person.

Corey: No, he is a Halfling. A Hobbit.

Mary: What is a Hobbit?

Corey: It is an honor and a pleasure to have the great Mary Poppins on my show.

Mary: Show? Where is the camera?

Corey: Has anyone ever told you that you look strikingly like Maria from The Sound Of Music?

Mary: Honestly, No.

Corey: I mean the similarities don’t stop there. You both take care of children, you both sing songs that get stuck in your head and…

Mary: I have no idea what you are talking about.

Corey: Have you always been magical?

Mary: As long as I can remember.

Corey: I totally wish I could clean a room with magic.

Mary: I’m sure you do.

Corey: That was kind of rude.

Mary: Have you listened to any of this interview?

Corey: Does a spoonful of sugar really help the medicine go down, the medicine go down?

Mary: Yes.

Corey: How do you spell Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious?

Mary: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Corey: I was hoping you would sing it.

Mary: Have you heard the song? I don’t spell it in the song.

Corey: Oh. Sorry.

Corey: So, again, I would be not honoring my listeners if I didn’t ask about your relationship with Mr. Chim Chim Cher-ee himself.

Mary: What listeners? Nobody is recording this.

Corey: Ok, can I call you a cab or did you bring your umbrella?

Mary: Good Day Sir!

Corey: Let me say Mr. Baggins, that I have been a huge fan of yours for a long time.

Bilbo: Thank you. Please call me Bilbo.

Corey: Ok, Bilbo it is. I must say Bilbo, I really thought your feet would be bigger.

Bilbo: Hahaha. Yes, I get that a lot. The movie adaptation of my journey really took some liberties there.

Corey: Do you consider yourself a super hero?

Bilbo: I did for a while there.   Ultimately it is why I decided to give up the ring.

Corey: Really? Interesting. You gave up the ring because of that? I thought it was because it needed to destroyed so it didn’t fall into the wrong hands.

Bilbo: That is all BS. We could have easily used the ring to take out the Great Enemy. We could still have it now. I would be considered….(long pause)

Bilbo: Let’s not talk about the ring. I’m still a little pissed about it still.

Corey: Sorry, no problem. I didn’t mean too. (interrupted)

Bilbo: Ok, move on.

Corey: What was it like to travel with elves and dwarves?

Bilbo: It was a rocky start with the dwarves, but over the journey we truly became friends. Great group really.

Corey: And the Elves?

Bilbo: Did you even read my book or did you just see the movie?! I’m not even going to dignify that with an answer.

Corey: Wow, you really are still pissed about the ring.

Bilbo: Yes, but I also get pissed when people ask me questions about the movie rather than my book.

Corey: I forgot that Legolas was not part of your book.

Bilbo: No sir. I know him though. Talk about a dude that likes himself a bunch. I heard that he begged to be represented in the movie so people would still love him. It may just be a rumor though.

Corey: What about Azog and the pack of orcs that were chasing you. What was that experience like.

Bilbo: Common man. I am seriously questioning why I agreed to this interview. I have to stop responding to tweet requests for interviews.

Corey: Haha! I was only kidding on that one. I know they were not part of your book.

Corey: I will however ask you about the goblins.

Bilbo: That was an awful experience really. The smell was…it was…lets just say the worst I have ever smelled.

Corey: Your story is really a coming of age story. I often tell people you are my favorite literary character of all time. From your sheepish start to your heroic finish, I truly became a fan.

Bilbo: Thank you for that. It was a difficult journey to say the least. I at times had to wrestle with my own decision making to ensure that I was honoring and true to my team. In the end I decided it would be better to live this adventure with them than die dreaming of the adventure I could have had. The only way to do that was to face my fears and move forward.

Corey: Just a couple of more questions.

Corey: Smaug. Lets talk about Smaug.

Bilbo: I have been waiting for some questions about Smaug.

Corey:   What was it like to come face-to-face with a freakin’ dragon?!

Bilbo: HaHaHa! I was tested there for sure. It was life changing. Dragons are super intelligent and very nasty. They are like super villains really.

Corey: Yes, Smaug was impressive.

Corey: The final battle was awesome.

Bilbo: I think so now, but in the moment, it was horrible. As you notice, I am not the biggest fellow. This was the most intense time of my life. I was happy we prevailed, but didn’t think I was going to make it out alive.

Corey: In the end, you made off with quite a bit of gold.

Bilbo: I did ok.

Corey: Just ok?

Bilbo: Maybe slightly better than ok.

Corey: Come on Bilbo, how’d you do?

Bilbo: I made off like a “burglar.” Get it, burglar. HAHAHAHA!

Corey: HA!

1. Set Boundaries. Working from home seems like the ultimate flexible job. But, if you don’t set clear boundaries with family, you can find yourself in a situation where you are not getting your work done. You still have a job to do with excellence.
2. Establish A Routine. What time will you start working each day? Where will you set up shop? When will you break for lunch? When will you quit for the day?
3. Rub It In. Yup, it is great to let folks know you now work from home. Nothing better than to hear someone say, “I could never do that.” Those are the ones who are the most jealous!
4. Stay Connected. Working from home does not mean you have to feel like you are on an island. You have all kinds of tools that can help you build relationships and connect with your colleagues regularly.
5. Know Your Weaknesses. Yes, we all have them. With this, I mean know what distracts you and remove them. If you can’t remove them, you will need to remove yourself.
6. Find Alternative Work Spaces. I love coffee shops. The only thing that distracts me there is an empty cup of coffee! The key is to find places that you can be comfortable, a place that doesn’t care how long you stay, and a place that has great wifi.
7. Invest In Pajamas. However, you can dress as casual as you want. If you have video-conferences, you can rock your “clothes mullet.” Business on the top, party on the bottom!
8. Engage Social Media. This sounds like a distraction, but it is an avenue for you to network, share your expertise in areas, and learn.   There are excellent articles, blog posts, and conversations that take place that are growth centered.
9. Communicate Regularly. People you work with need to know what you are working on. Similar to #4, this one is more focused on communicating work projects, not networking. Don’t become “out of sight, out of mind.”
10. Enjoy It. Nothing more to say, but congrats on landing a remote position. Be great.

For those of you who have had the opportunity or currently work remotely, please add to the list.

• Ability to work from anywhere
• Fantastic “office” environment
• Fewer meetings, committee assignments, etc. so you can accomplish more during the workweek
• Learn quickly who has the best coffee and wifi in town
• Flexibility in meeting family needs

• Anywhere you go, you can work
• If you aren’t getting along with the people in the “office”, you may need to seek counseling.
• People often question “What do you do all day?”
• Judge every place you go by the quality of wifi
• Family thinks you can be flexible to meet all their needs

All around us are technologies that seem to be past their prime, but are still widely used today.  Here is a list of 7 technologies that are relevant and old school simultaneously.

• Email.  “Shoot me an email” is business language, no longer hip.
• DVD/BluRay.  We still rent and buy them, but streaming is becoming king.
• Skype.  I recently mentioned it and someone asked me if it was 2005.
• Watches.  More of a fashion accessory than a needed piece any more thanks to cell phones.
• Bluetooth earpiece.  I am all for hands free driving, but please, leave it in the car.
• CDs.  Both for music and for computers.  Yup.  You know who you are.
• Cable TV/Satellite.  Not because of technology itself, but that fact that we can pay for only the channels we want.

Feel free to add to the list.  There is nothing like technology to make us retro so quickly:)

I have read countless articles over the years about what not to say at work.  Things like:

• “It’s always been done that way”
• “I’ll Try”
• “That’s not my job”
• “I hate…”
• Put in your favorite here ___________

Obviously these are things people should avoid saying.  The challenge is getting people to avoid thinking this way.  If you are a Stinker Thinker, here are some things you can do:

1.  Hang around more with really poor employees.  You will look like the rockstar of the bunch.

2.  When things are getting really difficult, use up a bunch of your sick days.

3.  Plan your vacation around the time when you know things are the busiest.  This will keep you off the implementation team.

4.  Find scapegoats.  You need to have a 1/2 dozen folks at work that you can blame to make you look good.

5.  Become really good friends with your boss so that you can get the easy tasks and not get fired.

Did that help.  No?  Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.  Here are some good ones. 🙂

1.  Spend time at work with positive people who accomplish goals.  If you really watch and ask questions, you will learn how these rockstars get it done.

2.  Train yourself to search for the silver lining in all things.  This will be challenging. Sometimes you just want to be mad.  The problem with that is you drift back into the negative.  Find something –even the smallest thing– that will be a benefit.

3.  Step out of your comfort zone regularly.  Volunteer for things.  Look, we are all “busy” at work.  We do however have time for projects that can make our jobs exciting.  This way when change comes you are on the front side of it.

4.  Find a new job.  I mean this.  Life is too short to be miserable in your job.  It may take some time, but in the end a change of scenery may be just what you need.

I am not an expert on this subject, but I do play one in this blog post.  If you have ideas to help folks, please share them.  Happy people are productive people.  Those are the folks I look to have on my team!

Here are 10 things I have learned through parenting that I have adapted to my work life (in no particular order).

1.  Things are just not going to go as you planned.  Deal with it.

2.  There are just some nights that you aren’t going to get any sleep, but the job needs to get done.

3.  Positive reinforcement goes further then scolding.  Sometime corrective action needs to take place, but don’t let it be your primary method of behavior change.

4.  Some activities get messy and may take awhile to clean up.  That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it.

5.  Vacations are awesome.  Use the time.

6.  The day can only get better after a morning dirty diaper change.  Change can be a good thing!

7.  Despite what people think, yes, you can get work done when you are constantly interrupted.  It just takes longer.

8.  It is better to be honest than be caught in a lie (except with Santa of course).  Just own up to mistakes.

9.  Laughter heals.  It also brings teams together.

10.  Sometimes you just need a stiff drink.  Yup.  It’s true.

Please feel free to add to the list.

I envision a future where we have a world university where students from all over the world come together to learn and collaborate in dynamic online environments.  A future where companies partner with academics to develop a curriculum that teaches both the why and the how.   Projects drive the learning to prepare a world ready and job ready graduate.  Creative and critical thinking skills are put to the test on real world projects where students are being mentored by industry leaders from across the globe.

The reality of it is, we don’t need it to be a university at all.  This kind of effort can exist in a collaborative partnership between academia and the private sector.

Can you imagine it?  Can you see a world that prepares people to solve global problems together rather than in their own silos?  I may be dreamer, but I believe this will be actualized.

I have been watching the MOOC movement for the past few year.  For those who don’t know, MOOC is “Massive Open Online Course.”  The MOOC began in 2008 (I think) but really started to become popular in 2012.  MOOCs are designed to bring free learning to the masses.  While it will be a long time before all formal learning is free, MOOCs are pushing the boundaries and disrupting Higher Education.  Just look at what Arizona State University is doing.  If you want credit, it will cost you about $200 per credit hour, but if you just want to learn, it is free!

This makes me wonder where MOOCs will take us.  Are MOOCs the future?  I think they will be part of the future.  What they are doing is ushering in change.  Students will begin to demand lower cost educational options.  This alone will cramp the style of traditional higher education.

What about higher education accreditation?  Talk about a system stuck in the past.  As colleges and universities begin to make changes to meet the growing demand of a new style of learner, how will accrediting bodies learn, adjust and change?   Maybe they need a MOOC course to prepare them for this.  HA!

I think the verdict is still out there on MOOCs.  I don’t think they are a fad, but they need to be able to deliver on the learning outcomes and employment.  Some things to ponder….

• Are MOOCs moving Higher Ed to a personalized or customized education model?
• Are MOOCs able to prepare people for the workforce?
• How do MOOCs value or undervalue the role of a teacher?
• Can universities handle massive or will they be offering an OOC?
• Do crocs really need to do a death roll?  Just checking to see if you are reading:)
• Do developers of MOOCs give up intellectual ownership with the course content?

I’m sure there are plenty of pros and cons to MOOCs and plenty of people on either side of the topic.  Ultimately, I am glad they are here.  My hope is that we see them begin to prepare students and under employed people for careers.  Maybe even a better way to certify learning beyond higher ed accreditation.  Time to share the wealth and open learning to the masses!

Here is a list of things I ought to do, but most likely won’t.

• Exercise regularly. It’s the regularly part that I seem to struggle with.
• Eat healthy. It just makes me grouchy.
• Save more, spend less. Spending is just way more fun.
• Stay in touch with people. I say I will do this every time I talk to someone I haven’t talked to in a long time. To my defense, if you were better about it so would I be:)
• Be patient. Just not gonna happen.
• Move out of Phoenix. We just have it too good here.
• Spend more time with friends. The generations before me could do it, why are we all so busy now?
• Get to the theater more. I love the theater. Yes, I really do. I never think to look up to see what is coming to town. Did see Eddie Izzard recently. That counts.
• Drink less coffee. Oh, but I love it so.
• Stop measuring things with wins and losses. Problem is, I just hate to lose.

Can any of you relate? If so, let me know. If not, see bullet number 4. I will be in touch. LOL!