I felt like my set was stuck in an upside down loop of the Capstone coaster last week. Confronting James and airing our frustrations and working on how we manage our relationship with him as a client was helpful. I think that we asked questions that helped to change his thinking. He also has helped us – we were paralyzed – afraid to go in a new direction without making sure it was okay with him. Meeting with him again on Thursday helped confirm our direction. He is also asking questions of us to change our thinking.
The Capstone course is a lot different than I expected it to be. I am grateful to be a part of it rather than writing a thesis. The experiential learning is deeper than I think writing a thesis would be. It is also real-world experience. At this time, I have no desire to start a consulting business but the skills can translate to my job with how I manage relationships with three of my clients basically. I work for three program directors, none of whom in the org. chart are my supervisor, but still oversee what I do. The more I think about it, the more I realize these relationships are like a consulting relationship.
As I said in class, I have learned how to lead a confronting conversation. In the past I probably would have let someone else take the lead but I am comfortable doing so now. I am also getting the chance to practice the art of asking the right questions.
With the help of one of my set-mates, we filled the role of informal leaders of our set last week. I had emailed everyone to get their opinions and thoughts in an email to update our professor. No one responded all weekend, it was like everyone fell off the face of the earth. It was also the first nice weekend in a while so that may have contributed. One of my group members called me and we worked out a game plan to call everyone and get everyone moving.
Our set is meeting outside of class today – I think that we are going to need to meet on a weekly basis outside of and during class time. We are running out of time and we seem to work better when we are all present and able to ask questions.
