We can't solve
problems by using the
same kind of thinking
we used when we
created them.
To know but not to do is
not to know.
-Stephen Covey
-Albert Einstein
The Collaborative Leader Newsletter
Department of Recreation Administration
Volume 1, Issue 1
California State University, Fresno
November 2009
A Year on the E.D.G.E.: Message from the Director
What a great year we had on the Department of Recreation Administration’s E.D.G. E.
Challenge Course! We provided over one hundred courses to over 2000 participants.
Even in a down economy organizations, recognizing the value of sustaining
cohesiveness and building high performance teams, continue to call on us for leading
events. Ryan Soares, E.D.G.E. Challenge Course Manager, reports that this fall we are
seeing more new groups signing on then in recent years.
L-Jay Fine, Director
E.D.G.E. Program
Desktop Initiative
Initiative is the term given to experiential problem solving activities traditionally presented to teams to
solve on challenge courses. To challenge yourself, each newsletter will include a Desktop Initiative. The
first person or team to send in the correct answer will win a prize ($25.00 value). Send your answer to
L-Jay Fine at larryf@csufresno.edu. The winner will be announced in the next newsletter. Read more…
Fresno Housing Authority
On September 25, 2009, The Professional E.D.G.E. held its largest event to date with 249 employees
of the Fresno Housing Authority. Read more…
The Professional E.D.G.E. Launched
Central Valley companies and organizations have long recognized the value of team and leadership
development and have called on the E.D.G.E to meet some of their training needs. Responding to the demand
for a team and leadership development program aimed at professionals, the E.D.G.E. Challenge Course
launched The Professional E.D.G.E., designed to meet the unique needs of today’s workplace. Read more…
Ryan Soares, E.D.G.E. Challenge Course Manager
For those who have not had the pleasure to meet him, I’m very pleased to introduce our E.D.G.E. Challenge
Course manager, Ryan Soares. Read more…
Team Mindset
Learning new skills, gaining knowledge, and discovering something novel are all experiences most
professionals thrive on. Occasionally we come across an idea that is so powerful and revelatory that it
alters our perception, a change in mindset. Read more…
Resources for the Team Leader
The web can be a daunting place when seeking out pertinent and valuable resources on team
development. A Google search pulls up 225 million web pages. To assist in mitigating some of
your information overload, an on-going feature of the E.D.G.E. newsletter will be to share material
to assist team leaders in their professional development. Read more…
Full Articles
Desktop Initiative
Initiative is the term given to experiential problem solving activities traditionally presented to teams on
challenge courses. To challenge you, each newsletter will include a Desktop Initiative. The first person or
team to send in the correct answer will win a prize ($25.00 value). Send your answer to L-Jay Fine at
larryf@csufresno.edu. The winner will be announced in the next newsletter.
Today’s Desktop Initiative:
Light Switches: You have three light switches (all set in the off position) connected to a lone light bulb
(also turned off) placed in a distant room. Only one of the switches works (the other two are dead). You
will only be permitted to visit this room ONCE. After your visit you must decide which of the switches is
the live one. Before you visit, you may arrange the switches anyway you like, but may not open the switch
box, may not peek into the room through windows, doors or walls, and may not make similar bypasses.
What do you do? Please explain your reasoning. (Thanks to Karl Rohnke and Simon Priest for this
challenge).
Fresno Housing Authority
On September 25, 2009, The Professional E.D.G.E. held its largest event to date with 249 employees of the
Fresno Housing Authority. Ruxana Lotia expressed in an email that “It was the best staff development day I
have participated in at the agency in my ten years of service.” Borrowing from a program design by
L. Scott Miller, Senior Partner and Principal, Action Learning Associates, the participants engaged in a
series of learning activities focused on collaboration within their assigned teams as well as across the entire
spectrum of their workforce. We concluded with an all group activity and the cheers could be heard
throughout Woodward Park.
Special thanks to Mae Mull, Human Resource Director, the wonderful event coordinators from the Fresno
Housing Authority, and the twelve E.D.G.E. facilitators who made this program possible.
The Professional E.D.G.E. Launched
Central Valley companies and organizations have long recognized the value of team and leadership
development and have called on the E.D.G.E to meet some of their training needs. Responding to the
demand for a team and leadership development program aimed at professionals, the E.D.G.E. Challenge
Course launched The Professional E.D.G.E., designed to meet the unique needs of today’s workplace.
The Professional E.D.G.E. (Experientially Designed Group Effort) is a solution-based, experiential
education program operated by the Department of Recreation Administration in the College of Health and
Human Services at California State University, Fresno. That’s quite a mouthful so let it suffice that we’ll be
referring to our program as The Professional E.D.G.E. We deliver hands-on learning where skilled
facilitators draw out the learning with direct application to the work environment. Through a series of
experiential activities tailored to meet your specific needs, The Professional E.D.G.E. works to develop
your team to maximize contributions of each member.
We tailor programs to meet specific training needs. Our focus is on education and development of group
processes and collaborative leadership through experiential learning strategies. As such, The Professional
E.D.G.E. specializes in two types of programs:
Jumpstarting:
This one-day program is designed to jumpstart your new team or to reenergize an existing one. It is also a
great method for developing up and coming leaders.
Action Learning:
Action Learning:
The second program, based on an action learning model, furnishes the team with a real-life performance
challenge or task, something best tackled collaboratively across disciplines or departments, while team
members concurrently learn effective team and leadership processes. The results are two-fold: your
organization reaps the reward of a collective approach to solving a relevant problem while participants hone
vital team and leadership skills, thus contributing to the very vitality of the organization by fostering a
succession plan for future leadership.
Proceeds from The Professional E.D.G.E. go into a university trust account directed to serve faculty
development and student services in the Department of Recreation Administration.
As we launch The Professional E.D.G.E., a number of marketing tools are being developed including a
DVD showcasing the benefits of this new program which has been developed by Justin Butchert, an
E.D.G.E. facilitator. We also look to you for any suggestions on marketing The Professional E.D.G.E. to
the community.
Ryan Soares, E.D.G.E. Challenge Course Manager
For those who have not had the pleasure to meet him, I’m very pleased to introduce our E.D.G.E. Challenge
Course manager, Ryan Soares. He comes to us with several years experience in the outdoor recreation retail
and banking (branch manager with Wells Fargo). Ryan has done a remarkable job training staff, facilitating
courses, and managing clients. We are very fortunate to have him on board. He is currently working on his
master’s in Recreation at California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo and is an avid hang glider,
runner, and climber. Ryan and his wife, Traci, a school teacher for Clovis Unified, live with their two dogs
in Clovis.
Team Mindset
Learning new skills, gaining knowledge, and discovering something novel are all experiences most
professionals thrive on. Occasionally we come across an idea so powerful and revelatory that it alters our
perception, a change in mindset. These rare experiences deserve significant reflection and should not be
cast away. Revelatory thinking has its roots in many religious origins but need not be that profound to be
life-altering. Recently I had a tennis lesson where the instructor convinced me to focus on the stroke and
forget the opponent. The goal in tennis, he said, is to get the ball over the net and let your opponent make
the mistake. A simple concept, but world changing nonetheless. Raised on the best defense is an offense
mentality, it seemed only logical to attack the ball and my opponent. Simply changing that mindset has
improved my game markedly.
How does this apply to teams and leadership, you ask? Think how often we are trying to impress, out
perform, or one-up our colleagues and team members. Too often we view our teammates as competitors.
We suffer envy for the successes of those closest to us, not those we can’t relate to. It takes a leap of trust
and a change in thinking to recognize that you and your teammates are on the same side and share in a
common goal. Next time you are in a meeting or team setting and antagonism rears its ugly head, remind
yourself that you are all in this together. Granted, this simplistic message belies the complexities of
relationships but a change in mindset needn’t be rocket science just focus on the ball, not your opponent.
Resources
The web can be a daunting place when seeking out pertinent and valuable resources on team development.
A Google search pulls up 225 million web pages. To assist mitigating some of your information overload,
an on-going feature of the E.D.G.E. Newsletter will be to share material to assist team leaders in their
professional development. In this segment, two resources will be addressed—both of these use email so it’s
highly recommended that you set up folders before overwhelming yourself with daily emails.
The first is a wonderful tool called Google Alerts. Creating a Google Alert is simple and can be used for
any topic. How do they do it? I recently used the term collaborative leadership and now receive daily
emails with about 4 to 8 links. Each link is accompanied by a descriptive paragraph, allowing me to selfselect only those pages which I would find most valuable.
Another resource which I’ve included in my daily reading is a blog created by Harvard Business,
dailyalert@email.harvardbusiness.org. Although a fervent skeptic in the value of most blogs (this
newsletter makes me a potential culprit), the authors are renowned experts on business and leadership. Each
day I’ve found at least one article pertinent to my understanding of leadership and, hopefully, the betterment
of The Professional E.D.G.E curriculum.