Just Plain Bill

Pareto Principle

I’ve always liked the way the name Vilfredo Pareto sounded, the Italian economist after whom the Pareto principle is named. The smooth, effortless, flow and rhyme of the gentleman’s name invokes imaginings of a colorful dance step, or perhaps a recipe for some delicious pasta!

And I’ve always believed we can continue to learn far beyond the end of formal education. I was blessed with the opportunity to learn a great deal while working with the Quality Circles program during my employment with Bank of America in the early ‘80s, The Pareto principle was just one subject we mastered as we taught employees various strategies and reporting skills related to this bank-wide program of quality improvement.

I pondered how this 1800s principle might apply to this day.

I know I’m continuously fascinated by how 20% of the students I teach, whether youngsters or adults, are often responsible for 80% of "problems": Lack of respect for authority, relentless talking or touching others, talking back, failure to follow directions, etc.

One more thing I know for sure is that 80% of my efforts in creating at least one blog per week is usually tied up in its last 20%, the final details, discovering just the right way to get my point across – before realizing once again that when all is said and done that it’s you, my reader, who will make the determination whether I’ve been successful. 

Just Plain Bill

Does the quality of your writing

reflect your level of intelligence?

I have always asked that question of my college students through the years, while teaching business writing courses in traditional classroom settings. My course is now online and it seems the only way I currently have of “assessing” their competency and relative “intelligence” is through the over 75 written assignments they submit, and their responses to 17 discussion board topics.

Online instruction is a major change for me. From public school children as young as first grade, to adults in corporate America, to traditional and non-traditional students in institutions of higher learning, I’ve taught face-to-face for over five decades.

As I first began my efforts to impart wisdom and skill online, I immediately noticed the “absence of presence” (to coin a phrase) - the lack of non-verbal communication. Missing are the overt and subtle pronunciation differences, the accents, and the intonation in my students’ speech that accompanies the actual words – the presence that rises above what I can only read on a page.

All this means a great deal to me, especially as I consider the tsunami of online courses now available. More importantly, my face-to-face teaching opportunities are gradually morphing into the online format, as I remain committed to the profession, accepting more responsibility for facilitating the education of even more students in the months and years ahead.

I love to teach. I’m confident I’ll get better at doing it the online way. I’ll add, in some way, to the simple, encouraging comments I make on each written assignment. I want each of my students to experience the joy I’ve experienced when a thought clicks as the words come together. I will strive to provide just the right feedback that influences change, or growth, or an “ah-ha!” moment for each.

That is part of the return on my investment as a teacher.

Just Plain Bill

“Never won anything before”

I must admit that I was surprised when a student in one of my college classes shared with me that he’d “Never won anything before” when informed he’d won a gift card for responding to a challenge question in my online course.

I guess many of us take our triumphs for granted when we “win” something, whether it’s a contest or a prize of any type, and we probably think that “everybody” wins something during his or her lifetime.

I know I often say that I “didn’t win” something when that something is substantial, like a lottery or a vacation, or when my candidate is unsuccessful in an election, and especially when someone other than me wins those Publishers Clearing House millions for life.

When I hear of someone else winning, I guess I just chalk it up to chance - those random acts that seem to go on around us - without too much thought about whether we’re just lucky, or not.

When I was a competitive athlete in college, I remember rationalizing that when I “won”, it was a result of my skills and preparation, but when I “lost”, it was due to bad luck. The thought my opponent might be more skilled than I occasionally occurred to me – but it was hard for me to admit. After all, I had statistics to support my rationale! My overall won/loss record was 78% over a three-year period (including winning a conference championship), which I attribute more to my skill and experience, rather than my own “luck”, and in retrospect, I’m sure that my objectively suffered.

Not that I’ve ever taken lightly the results of the competition I include in many of my teaching activities. I’m now determined to pay more attention to what the possibility of “winning” holds for my students and what it does to support the degree of their engagement and participation. After all, I’m engaged in the most important endeavor, sport if you will, that influences the contributions towards a better world that my students, my fellow learners, and I are about.

Just Plain Bill

Do you know how to iron?

 (And other thoughts about 

becoming the man I am)

There’s one major advantage of growing old, besides being able to continue seeing the world evolve, with an open mind, and while holding on to an active sense of humor. That advantage is that we seniors, and I loosely define that group as those of us over 65, have most likely picked up some invaluable knowledge, experiences, and skills during our lifetimes, such as:

·     Having no frozen foods, only fresh, before freezers

·     Changing spark plugs and points

·     Hanging clothes outside on a clothesline to dry

·     Shining our own shoes

·     Changing our own oil

·     Many neighbors using ice boxes instead of refrigerators - getting ice delivered by the ice man (and knowing all their names)

·     Making a crystal radio that cost $.75, but without FM

·     Using push mowers on our lawns

·     Having fresh milk, butter, and eggs delivered daily to our front porches

·     Cooking soft boiled eggs and eating them in an egg cup

·     Clipping the grass with a hand clipper

·     Changing a faucet washer

·     Wrapping sandwiches in wax paper, before plastic bags

·     Cooking oatmeal or Cream of Wheat for 5 minutes

·     Sewing on a button

·     Making a bed with sheets that are not fitted, and folding hospital corners

·     Wearing socks that have been darned

·     Ironing our own clothes – which is how I earned $.50 an item ironing uniforms in the Marine Corps

The items listed above may sound frivolous, and while I enjoy many of the advancements that have impacted me in my seven decades, I still appreciate remembering how things were in the old days – back when being industrious and handy was a gender-free role.