The following is from a comment submitted to my first semester blog.
Post a Comment On: Ready to get started...
"Portfolio: Conept Statement/Studio Introduction"
Kevin Phillips said...
I just looked at your entire project and it tells a great story! I could easily follow your reason and your ideas came through very clear. Actually, I liked your written portion of the blog explaining the project the most. I could see that you put a lot of thought into your project.I just noticed this blog because it was linked to the Boston Architectural College's website. I am thinking about enrolling into the Dist. M. Arch. program next fall. Do you have advice or comments about the program?
October 11, 2007 6:49 PM
Ken Ballard said...
Kevin, Thanks for the interest in the program and taking the time to review the entire blog. If you are interested in looking at the second semester of work that we have just completed go to this link/site www.kab-2.blogspot.com or http://distancemarch2.blogspot.com/index.html. This program is great for those of us that have been working in the profession for a while (I have 7 years of experience in an office) and can offer a lot for those just entering the profession and wanting to complete school with out taking the time for a traditional 6 month semester. The program, over the last two semesters, has really grown and continues to look towards the next few cohorts to really make a solid foundation in the architectural education realm. My advice to you regarding this program (and I think others would say the same) is… be ready for the long haul. The two weeks leading up to the 10 day intensive is partly an ice breaker for the instructor and other classmates, the 10 day intensive, is just that. These ten days, the instructors and even the admin challenged and engaged us with a clear direction, passion and knowledge. The six weeks after the intensive is where we as students get to really shine. We head back to our respective cities and produce! The blog tool is a great vehicle for the one on one “desk crit” time, except it does even more… the cohort that you will become part of is in many ways another family, and you will not only get great feedback from the instructor but valuable feedback from fellow classmates that are from a perspective that the instructor can not always provide.The classes themselves are set up in a fashion (at least from how I see it) to bring you back to the academic forum while craftily using the skills that you have developed in the office.The student population and experiences that show up at the door are vast! The accumulative brain power is remarkable and diverse. There is plenty to learn from the school and instructors, but there is another layer of education and friendship that is enormous… each other… my cohort, the first cohort, has two licensed architects and several LEED AP people all of which are just as thirsty for knowledge, the degree and architecture.The BAC’s approach to live, work, learn is refreshing…. They see a strong connection between education and work… BAC already has established a professional practice program/reporting system that all their students have to be part of… this program, the Distance M.Arch program takes that ideology to the next level. A program that was greatly needed and is supported by the community, BAC facility and the students… This is something great to be part of.On a different note… this program is intense… it is meant to be intense. Discuss with your family, wife, girlfriend, kids; boss etc anyone that you interact with… because it will affect them. The support and love from people back home will only make this easier and more enjoyable.To wrap this up… because I could go on a lot longer…. This program, for me, has been a top 5 decision! I am very excited about this school, how they teach, why they teach and there overall all commitment to architecture… we were told at the end of the first semester that the BAC is interested in graduating architects, not just students.
October 15, 2007 9:34 AM
10.27.2007
Portfolio: Leadedrship
Peer Mentor Check-In Assignment – “Your Stories.” You can use the opportunity scenario you shared with all of us in addressing question 3. If you prefer to choose something else, please feel free to do that. Workbook Four is based on how you support yourself in leading on major decisions you make that can impact your organization. So, use this as a model of something you will do many, many times in your career. Use question 6 to begin to get into the pattern of creating your story. You don’t need to read much literature on the subject of leadership to find out that the ability to craft and communicate a story is a key attribute of leading others. So, practice on your peer and see if you can create a follower. Once you have completed your check in, I would like each of you to send me an email telling me how effective your fellow peer mentor’s story was in engaging you as a potential follower of them. What did you like about their story and what did you learn yourself about the power of the story in engaging others. Remember to follow the guidelines in your peer mentoring dialogues.
The following are emails to and from Bonnie Gorbaty regarding this assignment:
Bonnie,
It still amazes me how parallel Carli and I's office life/politics/journey ends up being. As I mentioned in Boston, I was going to be at my office less and less over the next year and I was wanting to hand over / give our interns more authority and ownership of projects that they are working on while Carli was wanting to assert herself in more of a leadership role. These two opportunity scenarios, although on the surface different are very much parallel. We both are stepping outside of a comfort zone in order to accomplish a goal: Develop a stronger, well rooted role of leadership within our office. I have stepped out of the active day to day project management role to provide an opportunity for an intern to raise up (hopefully in a manner similar to one that I have demonstrated) and Carli has had enough with the lazy approach her boss has had towards client/consultant relations and start making decisions that she knows to be right.
I have taken a large leap and am still in the air hoping to land on solid ground. A major reason for wanting to expand/grow our interns roles and ownership of projects was to enable them in my apparent absence as well as sink or swim. I grew in my firm by doing... I had to... there was work, only two of us... I had to develop and was given the opportunity at every level to do so. it was not always that way... in the beginning, a friend of mine was there to (at our office) and he was the alpha dog and didn't allow me to do stuff, after he left I was able to develop.
I found myself doing similar things with our interns now and identified several ways to get out of it... give them more opportunities, expect more from them with less input from me (but with practical guidance) and just let them learn. While this was starting to develop our office had an opportunity to be part of a major project in town (Las Vegas Convention Center addition and remodel) and I was extremely motivated to get this work. We ended up getting this work and I saw a way to easily hand over a lot of ownership.
This all falls into accord to what we are talking about now... How have I made a leading decision that can have a major impact on my office? this new job has great opportunities written all over it, from putting our office on the map, a great learning experience for myself to teaching others (our interns) to believe in their talents. I feel that by being the major go-getter for this LVCC job and along every step of the way telling my boss and co-workers that we/I can do this I have made a decision towards excellence and mentorship with this job.
Carli has also decided to buck the norm and do what she believes and knows is the right way to do things... She admitted to me that in order to better establish herself as an emerging leader in her office she may need to make some decisions that make others uneasy. She is actively making a conscious decision to handle client/consultant relations in a way that might be a bit strong, but I feel appropriate. This type of affirmative decision making can lead to great things fore her as well as have others take notice of her ability to make a change.
These types of actions that Carli is pursuing and some leaps of faith that I have undertaken will, I feel, empower others to act upon what they have witnessed... A strong and bold move in the path of uncertainty with all the confidence of success and growth.
I can go into this a bit more if you would like, cause I find this aspect of architecture and leadership quite fascinating and important in a individuals personality, career and unintentional mentorship development.
Ken Ballard
Wow, Ken. This is simply a breakthrough for both you and Carli. I look for the breakthroughs in this course where an individual is ready to take those daring steps you talk about below and do it with the resolve we talked about at our group intensive. You move forward despite doubts or fears. My hats off to both of you. I would like your permission to send this to Curt and Tom Parks at the BAC. Let me know if that is okay. This is the first email of this nature that I have received and I think it speaks directly to what we are trying to accomplish with this course.
Bonnie
The following are emails to and from Bonnie Gorbaty regarding this assignment:
Bonnie,
It still amazes me how parallel Carli and I's office life/politics/journey ends up being. As I mentioned in Boston, I was going to be at my office less and less over the next year and I was wanting to hand over / give our interns more authority and ownership of projects that they are working on while Carli was wanting to assert herself in more of a leadership role. These two opportunity scenarios, although on the surface different are very much parallel. We both are stepping outside of a comfort zone in order to accomplish a goal: Develop a stronger, well rooted role of leadership within our office. I have stepped out of the active day to day project management role to provide an opportunity for an intern to raise up (hopefully in a manner similar to one that I have demonstrated) and Carli has had enough with the lazy approach her boss has had towards client/consultant relations and start making decisions that she knows to be right.
I have taken a large leap and am still in the air hoping to land on solid ground. A major reason for wanting to expand/grow our interns roles and ownership of projects was to enable them in my apparent absence as well as sink or swim. I grew in my firm by doing... I had to... there was work, only two of us... I had to develop and was given the opportunity at every level to do so. it was not always that way... in the beginning, a friend of mine was there to (at our office) and he was the alpha dog and didn't allow me to do stuff, after he left I was able to develop.
I found myself doing similar things with our interns now and identified several ways to get out of it... give them more opportunities, expect more from them with less input from me (but with practical guidance) and just let them learn. While this was starting to develop our office had an opportunity to be part of a major project in town (Las Vegas Convention Center addition and remodel) and I was extremely motivated to get this work. We ended up getting this work and I saw a way to easily hand over a lot of ownership.
This all falls into accord to what we are talking about now... How have I made a leading decision that can have a major impact on my office? this new job has great opportunities written all over it, from putting our office on the map, a great learning experience for myself to teaching others (our interns) to believe in their talents. I feel that by being the major go-getter for this LVCC job and along every step of the way telling my boss and co-workers that we/I can do this I have made a decision towards excellence and mentorship with this job.
Carli has also decided to buck the norm and do what she believes and knows is the right way to do things... She admitted to me that in order to better establish herself as an emerging leader in her office she may need to make some decisions that make others uneasy. She is actively making a conscious decision to handle client/consultant relations in a way that might be a bit strong, but I feel appropriate. This type of affirmative decision making can lead to great things fore her as well as have others take notice of her ability to make a change.
These types of actions that Carli is pursuing and some leaps of faith that I have undertaken will, I feel, empower others to act upon what they have witnessed... A strong and bold move in the path of uncertainty with all the confidence of success and growth.
I can go into this a bit more if you would like, cause I find this aspect of architecture and leadership quite fascinating and important in a individuals personality, career and unintentional mentorship development.
Ken Ballard
Wow, Ken. This is simply a breakthrough for both you and Carli. I look for the breakthroughs in this course where an individual is ready to take those daring steps you talk about below and do it with the resolve we talked about at our group intensive. You move forward despite doubts or fears. My hats off to both of you. I would like your permission to send this to Curt and Tom Parks at the BAC. Let me know if that is okay. This is the first email of this nature that I have received and I think it speaks directly to what we are trying to accomplish with this course.
Bonnie
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