Influence Mapping

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is coming up with an influence mapping tool. The tool was created by Eva Schiffer. It's "an interview-based mapping tool that helps people understand, visualize, discuss, and improve situations in which many different actors influence outcomes." It's called NetMap. It's at the intersection of a game, a mapping tool, a strategic planning tool and something that can be used for community engagement. It looks like something that is both very hands-on, with board pieces, pens and paper, like a board game, but with potential for computer generated network analysis and diagramming as well.

XO

I don't know how many people took advantage of the "Give One Get One" XO laptop offer, but I was one of them. The XO now belongs to my 8 year old daughter and I retain some rights to play with it when she is asleep or simply occupied with other things.

Some thoughts:
1. The interface is not immediately obvious to someone who has used Windows and only occasionally touched a Mac -- that's me. My daughter didn't find it that weird and she had no trouble figuring out how to access the software and start playing some of the games.

2. I was initially able to connect to our home wireless network but it started to fall apart the next day. I eventually figured out from the OLPC website -- using another computer -- that I needed to change some security settings on my wireless network to make it work on the XO. The main challenge was actually to remember my login and password to access the security settings. I had to reset the router and redo the entire wireless network setup, but it's working now.

3. I downloaded most of the existing XO software that wasn't already preinstalled. Some don't work but most do.

4. Things my daughter has been playing:
- The memory game
- Maze
- Jump (a version of peg solitaire)
- Draw
- Story Builder
- Cartoon Builder
- Capture (camera and video)
- TamTam suite of music software

5. Things I have tried:
- One of the first things I tried was to create a memory game. This is going to be very useful to get my daughter to memorize multiplication facts in the coming months. The software comes with some simple addition facts and it's easy to create your own. I might actually show my daughter how to do it herself. The only problem is that I (or she) could do exactly the same thing with handmade cards.
- I loaded a personal photo from a USB key, edited it with the XO, and saved it on the USB key for printing through another computer. I don't know if I can link the XO to a printer directly. Don't need to at this point.
- eToys --- fancy stuff in there... lots more to explore, but I tried the chess game and some of the tutorials.
- Image quiz: Downloading additional questions from the server hasn't worked 100%. I'd like to be able to create the questions and answers to help my daughter review for tests. Again, these are things I can do with plain paper.
- StopWatch -- though I have no idea what to do with it.
- Implode- just fun.
- Plugged in a wireless mouse, which worked instantly and saved me.
- I have not mastered the Journal yet, but I now understand that it's where everything is saved and where files can be accessed.
- Sims City: I have no idea how to play.
- Browsed the web and sent an email.

Some of the things I downloaded are for younger ages and don't have the capacity to adjust to more difficult levels. I might just take them out.

6. Things I don't understand -- a little too geeky for me:
- Turtle Art
- Pippy
- Measure
- Terminal
-Log viewer

7. In the first 24 hours, we turned off the XO by pushing the power button, instinctively knowing that it was probably not the right way to do it. Eventually, we figured out the "right" way to turn it off. Given that there is no manual and no "help" function, these types of first day mistakes should be expected.

8. This is all good fun but these XO are meant for kids in developing countries, to be used in a school and home setting. Yes, most kids will find them easy to play with. Yes, some (fewer) kids will be able to explore the more advanced games and develop their creativity with them (without any help from teachers or adults). However, given the little I know of teachers in most developing countries, getting the teachers to integrate the XO into their teaching isn't going to be simple.

That's it for now!

Chunks, Headings, Bullets and Bold

There is a serious flaw in most of my work-related writing. It's just too long, too complicated, probably too "academic" for the target audience it's intended for. People don't just scan web pages, they scan reports. Unless you've got clear headings, bullets and every key idea is presented at the beginning of a paragraph, you might not get your point across... you might not get read. I like writing for the sake of writing and as a way or organizing my own thoughts but let's face it, in most cases, I'd like a few people to read what I'm writing. So, here's a set of writing resolutions for 2008.

1. I shall write a first draft that is as long as I want it to be.
2. I shall write a second draft that is half the length of the first draft and is presented in a scannable format.
3. I shall be prepared to present the key idea in a 15 minute presentation.
4. I shall be prepared to present it in the form of a two minute elevator pitch.
5. I shall reserve the right to refer to my first draft as the original work and call the rest derivatives.

I'm also wondering if we should start writing work-related reports in free-form haiku format. Let's start practicing with non-work related writing:

Idea, outline, draft, pages, energy, pages, stop.
Plan, pages, scenes, chapter, stop.
Schedule revisions, flow, more pages, stop.
Format, check inconsistencies, stop.
Frustrations, doubt, stop.
Diagnostic: bookus interruptus.
STOP.
Sigh, followed by deliberate deep breath.
Reschedule for retirement.
Relax, read, enjoy the work of others.
... until the next urge to write.

Steve Denning's latest book, The Secret Language of Leadership: How Leaders Inspire Action Through Narrative is out.

He's quite a master on the marketing side of things and I've always been intrigued by his ideas about storytelling as a knowledge management strategy. I had read The Springboard when it was published in 2000. The Springboard focuses on how Denning introduced knowledge management at the World Bank through storytelling. I had met Denning in 1999 for a report I was writing on Knowledge Management at the World Bank and at USAID.

I just received my copy of The Secret Language of Leadership and I haven't read it yet. However, the book comes with an avalanche of "bonus" products from Denning's website, so I am digesting some of the bonuses and other materials that appeared in my inbox after I subscribed to pretty much everything that was offered.

One of these bonuses is a short paper titled "Creating an Organization That is Comfortable with Change." In it, I came across a short discussion of the "idea practitioner", which apparently comes from Prusak and Davenport. The "idea practitioner" is "someone below the very top of the hierarchy who believe[s] passionately in the innovation and [is] eventually able to win support from the hierarchy." Denning goes on to note that "if CEOS can find the people in the organization who are already doing things differently, they can endorse their efforts and encourage others to join them. It will reduce the time they will need to spend on inspiring enthusiasm for change."

This concept of the "idea practitioner" reminded me of a short paper I wrote a long time ago about the power of ideas and how ideas spread within organizations and across organizations through individuals, cells of like-minded people across organizations, and networks.

Miraculously, a hard copy of the paper survived in my basement. Sometimes it is fun to read things you have written many years ago and in the process, remembering a lot more than what is written down.