What difference can I make?

Dear all,

We always think that what one person decides does not really make a whole lot of difference to others in the world.

Since I can think, I have always been taking a different stand motivating others to use their voice and let the world know and felt very frustrated that it was not really inspiring people to do so.

Doing this in a not-so-digital world, before our current times, was not that easy, because the person who stands out and up for what he or she believes in was often alone against the crowd. Swimming against the current.

I am so glad that these times are over.

The voices and weights of all the one persons are now coming together. Like this we can change the world.

Yes, we can.

I just received a letter from Ricken Patel. He is the founder of http://www.Avaaz.org – my deepest respect and honor for your work, Ricken.

Avaaz is a 44-million-person global campaign network that works to ensure that the views and values of the world’s people shape global decision-making. (“Avaaz” means “voice” or “song” in many languages.) Avaaz members live in every nation of the world; our team is spread across 18 countries on 6 continents and operates in 17 languages. Learn about some of Avaaz’s biggest campaigns here, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

There are no better words to explain everyone of YOU the weight of YOUR VOICE.

Inspirational regards

Jutta

 

Dear Avaaz movement,

I have a crazy confession to make. I started Avaaz, and I don’t sign many petitions.

I always think, “yeah, but what difference is my one extra signature going to make?” I feel like I have more important things to do, like making sure our petitions are powerfully delivered.

But wow, am I glad the rest of us don’t think this way. Because while it’s true that the 1,137,540th signature doesn’t by itself change the game, the whole million of them absolutely can. And the whole million is just a million individual people hoping, believing and acting. Doing *their* part, however small, to make a better world. Without people who make that individual choice, our movement would not exist.

So much of life is like this. Any one of us could be the one person to skip the line, or not vote, or lie on our taxes, or turn away from a neighbour in need. But we don’t. Why?

Because it’s who we are. Because it’s the right thing to do. Because we were raised to love and serve. Because we know what a dark world it would be if everyone failed to do their part.

I’ve always been awed by the decency of the people in this movement. You teach me again and again. And in reflecting on this question of why we sign, I come back to my own behaviour. And I pledge to sign more. To be part of that simple act of connection to others, in hope, service, and that precious kind of strength that we can only find together.

Click below to see and join a global, multilingual live chat of our movement about why each of us sign (and message, share, call, lobby, donate, march). These times call for all of us to step up to the needs of our communities and our world – let’s inspire each other to service:

Why we sign

I know many of us are moved by seeing the list of names of others who have signed scroll by on the petition page. I am too. Look for my name there.

With gratitude for this stunningly beautiful movement,

Ricken and the team

PS – Of course, our petitions are just the beginning of our campaigns — and Avaaz runs some of the most effective, strategic, don’t take no for an answer, never say die campaigns in the world! I know many of us only see a campaign at its beginning. See our victories page to see what it looks like at the end.

LINKS

Avaaz Victories Page

JOIN the Avaaz Community

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“Permission Networking”

For finding inspiration and learning from others I follow a couple of blogs on a regular basis. I found them during several years of following like minded people in social media platforms, newsletters or on their personal blogs.

One of them is James Altucher. He is quite interesting, his writing style is not fully what I prefer but when you stick to it and read his full articles I usually find something that is completing a puzzle I am putting together, confirming an opinion that I thought only I have or is a building block for something I am working on.

I want to present this term to you “Permission Networking” he coined.

I am doing a lot of permission networking.  In my network I often come across two people I know who I think should meet each other. The thought might come just like that. Sometimes it is triggered, when a persons asks me a question –  I usually know just the right person for this specific question. This is nothing new for me, even before the Internet. [Yes, I still remember a time without the Internet.] Now with social media platforms and after having worked internationally for many years, this has increased tremendously.

So if there are two people I think should meet each other, I will approach the person and ask for the permission to connect them: “I know XY who I think shares a common interest  with you. This is why … . ” In the majority of cases, I will make the connection.

I fully agree with James reasoning behind this, he says:

“My network is not the list of how many people I know. THE STRENGTH OF MY NETWORK IS HOW WELL EVERYONE I KNOW HELPS EACH OTHER. Most people don’t know this important principle.”

Spread the word so that more people more people know this important principle !

Thanks

 

Wings for Life – Uplifting Experience

#netacad
#worldrun

The Wings for Life World Run is the first time ever that a global race took place in 33 countries and 34 locations at the same time. For me it was the proof that we can all do something together at the same time. It was the proof that the technology we have at our fingertips can actually bring us together and unite our minds and spirits for one cause.

This is just wonderful and a very powerful realization.

How did the idea for participating in this event get started?

Having worked with teachers and students for many years, I started to hear from teachers over and over that students do not read their study materials any more, everything is too long or too much. There is no motivation to learn. There is too much information out there and it is hard to choose. In contrast, in a conversation with a friend, he was telling me about the motivation – no actually much more than that – the dedication of Iron Man competitors or Marathon runners. I started to think about how I could find a way to put such kind of passion into learning. I went on a quest to discuss this with students and they told me that it would be great for them to see real life implementations of networking technology they can study and learn from.

Then the Wings for Life World Run project was presented to me and it made “klick”.

In technical terminology the technology that made this event possible is called nowadays called Internet-of-Everything Technology and Networking Technology is at its heart. I am supporting and promoting the Networking Technology Education Program for the IT Solutions provider Cisco Systems, the Cisco Networking Academy. This Education Program is in 165 countries and with its 1.000.000 students worldwide it is called the largest classroom of the world.

Such an event happening was the invitation from life, the unique opportunity to connect people with passion to learners by allowing them to take a look behind the scenes to understand the technological solution and see in front of their own eyes what it takes in terms of team work and leadership to implement a global race. To have this opportunity alone is great but there was another challenge I added. We shared the information and knowledge gained with the larger international network of learners in the Networking Academy program in many countries.

Here are my reflections about how it all went:

Did the experience prove true to your expectations?

The answer is a definite YES.

It is actually more than a Yes, because it exceeded my expectations. Being able to meet the people who had the idea of a World Run and the huge team who made it reality is more than I could imagine. Each single person is fully committed to making the event a success with his or her heart and mind. This energy will touch you. It will inspire you.

Every group member took his own time to feel the energy in its full power.
“Wow, this is exactly what I would love to do as a job …”
“… you started your company with 25?”
“I need to plan for this next time … .”
“ … thanks … it is great to be here.”

It is so exceptionally motivating to see a world that is doing the run together as ONE. Being part of this effort by making it a learning experience adds another level that should help to unite the youth in making the world theirs.

Did the students really learn what you expected them to learn?

Our group with Felix, Maximilian, Ivica, Nathan and Kevin was just great. The group was diverse – they were all from different backgrounds, with different interests and skills, at different stages in their life – and at the same time they were all ambitious, open to each other’s views and ideas which helped immensely to quickly find a way to work as a team. It was amazing to feel how sad we all were when our time together was over, including me. They all learned to communicate and share their knowledge in a team and for a larger network. A skill that is so important for any job in life, but rarely ever taught in school or university.

What was the most important for me: I could see the spark in their eyes when they fully understood the essence of my message. How do you know when that happens? Usually a person is rather quiet at that moment and you can literally see this moment of understanding, this insight in their eyes and facial expressions.

What was not so good or needs further improvement?

My real world learning activity was not that easy to explain. It is a complex collaboration on more than one level between five stakeholders who could not have done this alone. It is only possible to be successful if all partners bring their part to the table. Multi stakeholder partnerships are hard to explain and require not only the right attitude but also the ability to recognize an opportunity at the right point in time and in the fitting context.

It is just hard to explain to someone. It is hard to put in a few words. We live in a time of information overflow and people do not (have the time to) read any more. Marketing and Communication have to be short, precise and if possible, less than 140 characters, to be used in twitter messages to catch the interest of readers. Well, this is extraordinarily difficult when trying to explain a project that requires a multi stakeholder partnership to realize.

It seems that people are not able any more to identify opportunities and projects that are worth their time and effort. Continuing this work I will have to find better ways to explain the opportunities or find different words or images to make people understand their significance.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH
I want to thank each and everyone who did take the time to read the materials and to speak to me. Each single person who involved him or her in this project did so because of a personal relationship with me or another person I personally know or work with.

Thanks for trusting in me and my initiative.
I will build on this foundation we created for future collaboration and the next Wings for Life World Run on the 3^rd of May 2015.

GEDANKENANSTOSS der WOCHE

J.	Es freut mich, dass Ideen und Vorschläge, die ich vor langer Zeit gemacht habe, wieder aufgegriffen und jetzt umgesetzt werden.
E.	Mir fällt derzeit auf, dass Ideen sehr lange brauchen, bis dann wirklich praktisch umgesetzt werden können … Hast Du dazu Ideen, wie dies schneller ginge?
J.	Eine Idee verbreitet sich so schnell wie sich die Idee in den Gedanken von anderen einnistet und zum Teil dieser anderen Personen wird. Je mehr Personen diese Idee in ihren Gedanken einbauen, desto schneller die Verbreitung. Social Networks sind ein Medium wie man die Ideen teilen kann, damit sie sich in den Gedanken anderer einnisten können.Da wir in einer Welt leben, die wir als täglichen Kampf mit der Informationsflut beschreiben können, wird klar, dass es nicht so einfach ist, Ideen zu verbreiten und schon gar nicht schnell. Gerne diskutiere ich mit Ihnen diesen Gedankenfaden. Kontaktieren Sie uns …

Facebook for educators

Since the education world looks at Facebook and other social media platforms in a very controversial way, this just published guide might be worth the time to read.

Facebook for educators [pdf download]

… there are the innovators, those who help lead the way

I am proud to now have proof that I am an innovator …

Reid Hoffman, Co-founder and Chairman, personally thanked me because I was one of LinkedIn’s first 100,000 members – member number 91345 in fact. In any technology adoption life-cycle, there are the innovators, those who help lead the way. And that was me.

Two weeks ago LinkedIn hit the big milestone of the 100 million members. Congratulation!
It was the vision of LinkedIn to help the world’s professionals be more successful and productive when they started. And this vision already became reality for me in my professional life – I met professional educators from around the world and engage in high profile discussions with them about current work tasks and questions arising. We share ideas and connect on many different levels. LinkedIn made that possible. Thank you for making your vision reality – I am sure that it was very hard to reach this point we are at today.

Links
My profile on LinkedIn
Wikipedia – Diffusion of innovations

Related to other blog articles
oo Social networks
oo People driven
oo Unsere Krisen

Creativity Engineering – Summer School VUT Vienna

The International Summer School of the Vienna University of technology is getting ready for you …. 2011 will be an exciting year.

Being part of it, will change your views on life and prepares you for future challenges.
Come and
– explore your own creative potential and its limits
– understand idea generation and analysis
– experience error culture
– work in interdisciplinary multicultural teams and
– understand what change in organizations really means.

For more information go to VUT Summer University and check out the Course flyer

CE Alumni and future participants who want to stay connected, join the Creativity Engineering Facebook Group

Social networks

Tweets have a short shelf life. If you’re serious about managing your career, the only social site that really matters is LinkedIn. In today’s job market an invitation to “join my professional network” has become more obligatory — and more useful — than swapping business cards and churning out resumes.

More about how to fire up your career here.

For evaluators, auditors and critics
The Value of Social Media for Internal Auditors.

Mark Zuckerberg – Gründer Facebook

Hat Facebook als Undergraduate at Harvard gegründet, um einfacher mit seine Sportkollegen in Verbindung zu bleiben. Nach nur 6 Jahres hat facebook heute 500 Millionen aktive Bürger. Damit ist Facebook das weltweit drittgrößte Land (größer als die USA).

28% der User sind älter als 34 Jahre
70% der User kommen aus anderen Ländern als die USA.
Facebook ist mit 48 Milliarden Bilder die größte Bildersammlung der Welt
117 Million Besucher im März 2010