Bird Bird Water

If It Ain't Broke, Break it.

Andrew — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:38:00 +0000

Yesterday in Group Comm class we were talking about if success is measurable, and it got me to thinking about how organizations react to success and failure, namely the following question: If an organization is successful in one round of action, should the conversation afterwards be about change? In other words: If it ain't broke, should we fix it anyway?

The answer from most contemporary Org Comm and Business researchers would be a resounding "YES." There's the idea that if you are being reactive as opposed to proactive, you are already behind the curve. A sports example: Why is Billy Beane, the GM of the Oakland Athletics, considered such a good executive? Part of the support for his style is that he doesn't wait for his team to do poorly before he executes drastic change--or what Andy Tollison tells me is called disruptive change.

In fact most of our class--including our professor--agreed that proactive/disruptive change is necessary for successful organizations. I'm not going to disagree with that; it's pretty clear that staying ahead of the curve is an important component of continued success.

In class I drew the following diagram:

In retrospect, the question I have is more spectral than diagrammatic (that's a big word). Here's what I should have drawn:

The fact is that a feedback process cannot possibly result in absolute change or absolute stagnancy; 100% change is rare in organizations (and I would say impossible), and there has to be a strong, concerted effort to make no changes whatsoever.

Looking at a feedback process AFTER failure and BEFORE success, there is probably a high degree of change occurring, falling somewhere on the right side of the spectrum. The only situations in which I could see little change in those feedback processes is if luck is the major factor in success; for example, if we were guessing heads or tails on a coin flip, it doesn't really matter if you change strategy/process/leaders/whatever in between rounds of action.

What about after success? In the 1950's, you would probably hear "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." That's a bit ignorant by contemporary standards. Now you'll hear that proactive change is ALWAYS necessary, which I don't think is right either. How can organizations determine what degree of change will lead to continued success? Time to do some research...

(On a side note, happy birthday to Jill Kelly! She's 25 and loves statistical design, so I got her Randomized Blocks of friendship. See you at kickball, Jill.)

Don't Wash Your Hair on July 25

Andrew — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:47:00 +0000

It looks like we'll be premiering my first feature-length documentary, "Out of Egypt", on Friday, July 25 in San Jose. Needless to say, there has been a lot of hard work put into this project and I hope that everyone can come enjoy the fruits of our labor (and the beans of labor; it's a Friday, so we're fasting).

Why Not...

Andrew — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:59:00 +0000

I'm so so bad at sports predictions that I really shouldn't be entering March Madness pools and fantasy football leagues and all that stuff...so without further ado, here are my predictions for the 2008 MLB Season!

AL East - Boston
AL Central - Detroit
AL West - LA Angels
AL Wildcard - Cleveland

NL East - Atlanta
NL Central - Chicago Cubs
NL West - Arizona
NL Wildcard - NY Mets

AL Playoffs - LA over Cleveland, Detroit over Boston, LA over Detroit
NL Playoffs - Atlanta over Chicago, Arizona over NY Mets, Atlanta over Arizona
World Series - LA over Atlanta in 7

For Coach Price

Andrew — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:12:00 +0000

My friend Brian wrote me an e-mail this morning to say that our JV football coach, Gary Price, had passed on from this world. Coach Price was very active with students at Monta Vista in other capacities as well; he worked in food service at the school, coached the women's basketball team, even coached baseball before I was in high school. My words will never convey quite as much as what Coach Price taught us personally, but I want to relate a few stories about him that can say a little about the kind of man he was:

1) We were not a very good football team our freshman year. We started off the season with a bunch of losses, and we were losing at halftime to another team (I don't remember which one). Coach Price finished up his halftime speech, and concluded with this: "Alright. We're down 14 to 0. We're gonna come back and win this game, and we're gonna start doing things right!"

That in itself wasn't special; every coach motivates his team in a similar fashion. The difference with Coach Price was that he was relentless in his optimism. Every Thursday, he would tell us: "Alright. We're oh and [however many games we lost]. We're gonna win tomorrow, and we're gonna start doing things right!" Even up until the last game at halftime, when we were 0-9, Coach Price kept a rosy outlook on the season and on life. I always appreciate that worldview, that we can't change what we have done in the past, but what's important is what we do from this point on in our lives.

2) A personal story: I quit the football team my sophomore year the weekend before school started. I hated practice and I didn't see myself playing very much anyway. Coach Price found me in the locker room that Monday and asked me why I quit. He didn't make any promises about playing time (I was a backup on offense and defense), but he said he needed me on the team.

Why would he go out of his way to keep a player who wasn't going to help him that much during the season? I'm not going to make the argument that he did it so a husky 14-year old would understand the idea of commitment, but he taught me something regardless.

3) A fun story: In that freshman football season, when we couldn't win a game, Coach Price gathered us all together one Thursday at the end of practice. We all took a knee on the JV football field, and he started talking to us (and I'm paraphrasing from memory):

"You guys are on the football team. You guys are supposed to be the stars...you're supposed to win. But who's gonna want an oh and nine team? Who wants to date an oh and nine quarterback?

(he looks around, and in the distance he takes note of a few students walking towards the pool, and he cracks a smile)

"See those guys over there? Those water polo boys in their speedos? Those guys are gonna get the girls. Those water polo boys are gonna steal our women!...Shoot! You guys gonna let that happen?"

By this point, the entire team is cracking up, Coach Ray is doubled over, and Coach Price is restraining his smile, trying to keep things light on the eve of our last game. That's my personal lasting image of Gary Price, keeping us in good spirits when we needed it the most.

Thanks Coach Price for all your hard work. May God bless and comfort your family and friends still in this world!

I Am KItten, Hear Me MEOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Andrew — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 19:35:00 +0000

Our childhood cat, Fritz, is pretty much amazing. I don't really get near her, as I have pretty bad allergies, but she has outlasted two other cats, one bird, and to some extent, me and my brother. We found her hanging 8 feet in the air on one of our window screens during a storm on Thanksgiving 1991 (true story). Though her fur may not still be all white, her little feline heart sure is. As she turns approximately sixteen and a half, I made this video in her honor:

That's the Fritzmeister (in white) holding the fort against the evilest cat in the universe, Winnie.

Keep on sleepin', Fritzer!

Spring Sports Update

Andrew — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 23:03:00 +0000

In reference to this post a while back about how I can't win, here's the spring update at the halfway point:

Capital City Kickball - 5-0 (3 games left)
7x7 IM Soccer: 1-2 (season over)
IM Softball: 1-1 (6 games left)

That's a .700 winning percentage! I have shaved often.

Impression Management

Andrew — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 18:28:00 +0000

If I ever get tattoo, I want to get something that matches my image and lifestyle...so it will definitely be one of the following:

A dragon eating an eagle
A dinosaur kickboxing a terrorist
A truck doing benchpress

Can You Pull a Presidential Hamstring?

Andrew — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 18:01:00 +0000

Griffey for President

Everyone Loves Taboo

Andrew — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 03:44:00 +0000

A video we made in Tahoe a few months ago:

Hi Ramy

Andrew — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 21:18:00 +0000

I Am Withdrawing My Candidacy

Andrew — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 20:59:00 +0000

I was totally wrong in that last post...I HAD written something about politics before, which would have made the last post my SECOND politics related post ever.

And this will be the THIRD.

Capital LETTERS. What writer use for emPHASis.

Can We Just Agree That You Both Have a Huge Impact on the Election?

Andrew — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 20:41:00 +0000

Without a doubt, the most important debate at the University of Texas this week took place on the West Mall just 20 minutes ago, featuring an Obama supporter reminding people about his rally in downtown Austin tonight and a Ron Paul supporter handing out flyers about his rally on campus tomorrow:

Paul Supporter: That's not the way it works in other countries.
Obama Supporter: I've been to 25 countries. How many have you been to?
Paul Supporter: Well all I know is that I shouldn't have to be penalized if I don't want health care! I use preventative measures--its called riding a bike, eating well, being outdoors!!

Take THAT, Lance Armstrong! You got cancer because you...didn't eat well, I guess? Hmm. Also, wouldn't you want health care if you were...riding...a...bike?

And just so that I appear unbiased here in my first politically related post ever...to Magellan of the 21st Century, who's been to 25 countries, which I think qualifies you for World Traveler Status on Pan Am: when you are circumnavigating the globe on the Mimi, do me a favor and tell people you're from, let's say, Canada. Thanks.

Your Call is Important to Us

Andrew — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 21:02:00 +0000

Eddie: i'm on hold
everytime a song stops
and another one is about to start
i get excited like they are gonna pck up
as if they are waiting for music to finish before placing me off hold

me: hahaha

Beardy Update III - Take What You Can Get

Andrew — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 04:36:00 +0000

Okay, so I just arm-wrestled Heather and DOMINATED TO THE X-TREME. Maybe you are reading this thinking: "Did Andrew really just count an arm-wrestling victory against a girl?" In my defense, we used our right arms and I won in less than 3 minutes. Okay maybe it was four.

Now if I can find the tree trimmer, I'll be shaving in no time.

Beardy Update II

Andrew — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 02:39:00 +0000

I won 3 of 7 pickup games yesterday at our weekly grad basketball session. That is not more than 50 percent.

Time to break out the Scrabble board!

Beardy Face Backup Plan

Andrew — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 04:34:00 +0000

Three to Zip. Shutout. Crap.

We lost our IM soccer game, if you couldn't tell. That means I can't shave before WSCA this weekend, at which I'm supposed to look vaguely presentable. Technically I have no more intramural games until next week, so I'm going to have to resort to Super Extra Backup Plan B2 Beta 2.0, which is winning the majority of the weekly grad pickup games this Wednesday at 5 pm. That better work out because you don't even want to know what Plan C is. Okay, you probably do: Scrabble against Heather.

I Will Stop the Penalty Kick with my Face

Andrew — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 06:18:00 +0000

If I make a deal with myself in my head, do I have to stick to it? If no one hears it? I can just break off the deal at anytime, right? Question mark? Wilson?

I decided to use an old motivational tool often used sports, and I'm afraid it's going to backfire. Here's the situation: with regards to winning percentage, I'm on probably the worst two-year run I've ever had in organized amateur sports. It's abysmal. 2-7 in PCAL summer basketball. 2-7 in spring basketball. 6-6 in PCAL basketball last year. 1-3 in intramural football (I'm not counting our second win--it was a forfeit). 0-3-1 in IM soccer. and something like 3-5-1 in kickball, which really shouldn't even count (although we did have a championship game for our "A" kickball team, but I played in that game and we lost!).

So in "real" amateur sports, the teams I have played on are 11-26-1 in the last two years. I'm not a math major, but if I consulted one on this he would come to the conclusion that the winning percentage derived from that record is: bad. Not "but there were some good games in there" bad. More like "you should really consider the common link on all those teams" bad.

Now we're entering my favorite season for intramurals: spring, the season of diamond-based sports and allergies. I will be playing at least 3 short-field soccer games, 8 softball games, and a few indoor soccer matches as well. I haven't really put any goals on the season in terms of winning percentage, but I did think to myself: "wouldn't it be funny if the teams I played on went 0-for-the-spring?" I thought I'd have at least make one victory a reason to celebrate, so I decided not to shave until we won our first game. What a motivator I am! I'm like Jack Welch.

I really don't know if my personal motivation has anything to do with 11-26-1, but maybe it does, and that's enough to make me try something different. Unfortunately, I kind of miscalculated the amount of games before the WSCA conference in Denver this weekend, at which I should probably look presentable. Three mistakes on my part: 1) I thought we would have more soccer games before mid-February, 2) I thought I was going to play intramural basketball, which I ended up not doing, and 3) I forgot that we were trying to get a first-week bye for kickball (yes, I would have counted kickball) because some people were going early to WSCA.

So now my face looks like this...

...and we have one game left before WSCA (we lost our first soccer game last week).

I guess my question is not really based on whether I have to keep my promise to myself, but honestly if things like this actually motivate people. I wonder if I am truly going to play differently with the added pressure of the possibility of a hairy face at WSCA, or if I do it because I want to add a little more excitement to the game. You would think wanting to win would be exciting enough!

We'll see how it goes on Tuesday night; I'd imagine Heather might pay off the other team.

Share Your Bread, Child

Andrew — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 05:53:00 +0000

Hey kid, stop taunting the ducks.

Heather and I went for a walk around the lake today (or is it a river?...okay, it's now called Lady Bird Lake. I guess she earned it but I'm still calling it "the lake"). We saw lots of birds and it turns out waterfowl have all sorts of ridiculous names, like coot, scoter, wigeon, and muscovy.

Let me tell you something about muscovies that you will not find in any encyclopedia: they are ugly. That's not my opinion, that's scientific fact. Want to know how ugly? Hey, check it out for yourself.

I apologize if you barfed on your keyboard. The fact that it looks like its brains are on the outside is not some deformity specific to that single duck in the picture; it's what makes muscovies distinct, according to bird guides. Hey you know what else makes them distinct? Not getting dates to the bird prom. Yes, they have bird proms here. Keep Austin Weird.

I Would Have Passed Out Around Mile 2

Andrew — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 19:07:00 +0000

Darrell and Becky came up from San Antonio a few weekends ago to run in the 3M Austin Half-Marathon. Many of you may think that is admirable, to run 13 miles. But isn't it more admirable to show up and watch people run? When you could have slept in? No? Okay.

For the record, Darrell and Becky have two small children, so the easiest plan for them was to sleep for a few hours in own home, wake up at 3:30 a.m., drive for two hours, and then run. In honor of them, below is a picture of many tired people crossing the finish line.

The only way I will ever run 13 miles for fun is if you have someone chasing me. Or a steak at the end.

This Sandwich Tastes Like Beer

Andrew — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 20:57:00 +0000

Don't drink Old Rasputin unless you've ever wanted to know what bread and alcohol in a blender would taste like.

(This is my first attempt at a photo blog from my phone. Whoopee!)

At Least they Wanted to Vote

Andrew — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 20:31:00 +0000

I'm sure CNN is very happy to keep this article on their front page all day. It makes Texans seem so educated, right?

More than 1,000 calls poured into the Bexar County Elections Department on
Monday from voters wanting to know where they could vote in Tuesday's primary.
Problem is -- Texas isn't holding a primary on Tuesday, like more than 20 states
are.

This is so like those Texans--always trying to be more like Maine and West Virginia. No state pride down there.

Super Tuesday Not For Bexar Voters [KSAT via CNN]

What a crazy month*1.333

Andrew — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 03:55:00 +0000

Here's a recap of the last 40 days:

Blake and Stacy's wedding weekend - Awesome
Wedding planning and packing - Awesome
Driving from San Jose to Austin - Awesome
Pre-wedding things - Awesome
Rehearsal dinner - Awesome
Our wedding day - Awesome
2-day honeymoon in San Diego - Awesome
Our condo - Awesome
People in the comm studies doctorate program - Awesome
School so far - Awesome
Work so far - Pretty awesome (hey, work can never be awesome)
Coptic group at UT - Awesome
BBQ - Awesome
Heather - Really awesome
Humidity - Eh...

+1 Work Ethic

Andrew — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 05:26:00 +0000

Here are three things you shouldn't do at the same time:

1) Prepare for your wedding on August 25
2) Pack for a move to Austin on August 26
3) Attempt to wrap filming on a year-long video documentary

Just a word of friendly advice.

A Match Made in North Face

Andrew — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 15:47:00 +0000

Blake and Stacy are getting married today and I will try my best to:

Not trip while walking down the aisle
Not offend any old ladies while MC'ing the reception
Not outshine Blake with my sixpack and ridiculously large biceps

But I can't promise anything: I got the sleeveless tux for a reason.

Congrats Blake and Stacy!

The Family Cookoff was...Delicious

Andrew — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 22:45:00 +0000

Dude that was some good food. My dad's sister Tika brought out decades of pure Egyptian kitchen awareness and took the grand prize of 200 bucks. She deserves it: this is the lady who would start cooking dinner for us in Egypt while we took the plates off the table from lunch. Not joking.

My cousin Teresa won the Filo category with a corn-and-feta-pocket thing, my dad's cousin's wife Suzy took top prize in the Koshary category, and my dad's cousin's cousin's wife Marlene (Titi) won desser with her yummy flan (Tika took the other two categories). My cousin's husband Ulises and his daughter Raquel made some amazing stuff--I thought his filo and dessert plates were the best non-Egyptian dishes. And Eddie, Mom, and Heather made some good stuff in some of the other categories. They show promise for next year!

http://familycookoff.blogspot.com