...Do You Hear What I Hear?

Some may recall the song that contained the lyrics..."Do you see what I see...." An interesting question to ponder...let me alter that a tad and ask, "Do (Did) you hear what I hear (heard)" yesterday at the Coffee with the Chief presentation? I would love to hear from all of the folks in Technology Services group what they heard yesterday.

It seems many folks interpret the written and spoken word differently. I've often wondered whether that is an innate condition, one that is exhibited due to sociological differences, gender based, or just purely out of the fact that we want to hear only what we want to hear....?? But if you pay attention, not everyone will tell you they heard the same thing. I believe that part of what you hear, is based upon how well you know the person doing the speaking.... Think about that for a minute, we'll revisit that momentarily.

Staff for the most part yesterday, from my observations, were attentive and engaged. That's a good thing when you are in the CIO's company. I am intrigued at people and their behavior in general and it was like a new movie release yesterday for me. A chance to watch people and see how they react to what the CIO was saying. ...And yes, there were reactions. I observed behavior indicative of: acute interest, excitement, engagement, dis-interest, disgust, and even opposition. ....and just to answer that question up front--NO, I am not a trained behavioral scientist, nor do I play one on TV.... Just my opinion and what people's facials, body language and tone spoke to me.

Now back to what you heard and how well you know the person theory....While some have known the CIO longer for more years than I...I feel like he and have have that "special" connection/bond that enables you to communicate on a higher level. Is that possible you might ask?...I'd suggest you consider the relationship with your spouse (provided you have one, and have been together for more than a few years). Don't you sometime anticipate what they will say or what they "mean" when they say something.....even if that isn't what exactly what they said? Or consider your relationship with a close family member, brother/sister, parent, etc.....aren't you sometimes able to glean something out of their words that others may not...
I would offer that all of us at one time or another have experienced that.

Sometimes we hear ONLY what we want to hear. Our predisposed attitudes won't allow us to hear, (even outright facts), what is being said. Our attitudes play an important role in our ability to listen objectively to pick out facts, exaggerations, and things in between. So where were you yesterday? Were you open minded or predisposed?

What I heard, relative to Tech Svcs in brief:
1) Budget approved soon, dollars similar to this FY.
2) IDF a big deal, lots of money and will require lots of staff time
3) Office 2007 coming, split between two FY's.
4) Exchange/Outlook coming (still considering joining forces with ITSD to host)
5) PC Drop Ship: proud of the work done to date, looking forward to costing advantages and staff time savings
6) Working harder and smarter MUST be a way of life for us.
7) Not disappointed in progress for Dev Group---notice he did NOT say it was great either...we've got work to do.
8) VOIP--implemented a few spots, more to come, integration and value should be apparent
9) Performance reviews will reflect honest performance/evals, not sugar coated
10) Telework---something we're working on...adds value on numerous fronts

etc., that's a few of the highlights that stick out in my brain. Did you hear the same things?? What is your "take-away" from the presentation? Was it just information....or do you now have "ownership" in some things? A key here....you hear what the big guy thinks, he laid out some direction...now how do you fit in? How will (notice I didn't say "can") you help move Conservation forward?

Is that what you heard?

TAFN