6 months later: Lessons learned of applied IT leadership

Introduction

This document is a compilation of ideas presented during the Third Session of the Third Cohort of MOR's IT leadership program at UW Oshkosh on January 2013. The ideas presented here are an eclectic yet structured effort to process, shared knowledge and engage others through this program. I don't have riches to give, so my wisdom will suffice.

First Session: Presence and presentation, definition of leadership and management, leadership journey, balancing the important with the immediate, delegation, creating and individual development plan, coaching for commitment, etc.

• My perception: I was disappointed about the outcome of a hiring process, but the coaches confronted me in a positive manner. At the end of the second session, the senior IT coach shared his leadership Journey. As he explained the big challenges of his life, I began to realize the leadership journey has many ups and downs. The paradigm shift for me was to realize that I will not be remembered only by my successes, but how I handled/overcame failures. 

Second Session:
Introduction to Strategic Thinking, Building Relationships, Creating a Vision, Neuroscience and creating new pathways, Coaching for Results.

• My perception: the currency of the University are relationships and trust. Conflict strikes because relationships are not established. (After all, who has time for relationships when technical tasks have to be completed). Make it your job to establish professional relationships with people outside your immediate circle of influence. Seek to understand when confronted with “impossible” requests.  Help establish a shared vision by sharing what you know at the right time and the right place.
  
  CIOs are at the end game of their technical capability because their role is strategic and political in nature, nevertheless keep them informed of your progress and how that progress is aligned to the University. Data is an important element of strategic planning.  I have heard my boss say: "I believe in God, everyone else bring data to the meetings..."

Third Session: Leading Change and Delivering Results
Leading change, understanding workplace culture, the leaders role in delivering, the three lenses: strategic, political and cultural, developing measures in IT.

• My experience: The one quote I remember is that “culture eats strategy for breakfast”. The 6 hour drive to UW superior helped our group (UW Oshkosh cohort) connect at levels we didn’t expect. Perceptions about teams and attitudes started to change. It was no longer “Us vs Them”; we were now one team. This session triggered my interest on pursuing knowledge in the area of assessment and service metrics. 

Fourth Session:
Interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence, exercising influence, organizational and political savvy, the leaders’ role as a communicator, leadership as a performance art, coaching for breakthrough.

• My experience: I began to understand why some of my fraternity brothers were more successful than others despite academic achievement. Some of the most successful members of my fraternity had advanced interpersonal skills. 
  
  Leadership is putting yourself outside of your comfort zone. Working on what you communicate with non-verbals is a huge factor for how people see you. On so many ocassions I have heard people say about coworkers: "He/she is not good with people, but he/she is good a fixing computers..."
  
  For every action, there is a reaction of equal proportion and strength. It is important we understand how the “proven” tactics used to fix computers may not fix relationships or people.
  
  During the session, we tested our ability to navigate the implementation process from the standpoint of people, politics and influence.  Through my tactics/experience I won the simulation, giving me the realization of my skills and abilities: strategy and influence. 

Fifth Session:
Developing people, having difficult conversations, leadership and ethics, continuing your leadership journey, taking care of yourself, graduation.

• My experience: I was able to demonstrate that my IT leadership training had made me a better manager, leader, father and human being. 

What have I done since our MOR's IT leaders graduation in June of 2012

• I was asked to serve in MHEC (midwestern higher education compact) virtualization contract process getting me in the areas of bid writing and contract negotiation. 
• I became the departmental expert on assessment and student retention inclusive of Map Works™ and EBI housing survey mechanisms. 
• Made sure my department was accountable for our service deliverables which included the migration to our new data center, the procurement of all the necessary elements for our virtualization effort, the completion of the rewrite for the one and only student portal, a new social media and marketing strategy and the overall planning and execution for our department’s budget process inclusive of a 10 year capital plan, 6 year bond schedule,  revenue model  and occupancy forecast. 
• I continue to engage other campus IT leaders (and administrators) as the conversations related to “reinventing IT” continue to come up. 
• I received the Chancellor’s Outstanding Service Award in the Fall 2012. 

Other Useful Learning Topics

Become Self Aware (of weaknesses and strengths) then move to Self Management. Self awareness is an important part of your evolution as a IT leaders... Knowing your weaknesses and strengths. Self Management is doing something with the information provided by your self-awareness... If you have known weaknesses, what actions can you take to make yourself a better person.

The Four Leadership competencies are:

1. Management of Meaning: your goal as a leader is to identify the purpose and value of what you do and what others do within your domain. It is important that you question the motivators within your organization. What is the meaning of life? Is it 42? Or is it something beyond money and power? Purpose and value take the form of giving back to you and to others.  Is the pursuit of happiness the most important meaning of life?
2. Management of Attention: our daily life has a bunch of priorities and distractions. It is important that you identify what are the top priorities and what can wait or be delegated. As electronic communications become part of our daily life, what we do in the presence of others is important. As we choose to engage our iphones or ipads instead of our co-workers, we need to be mindful of our physical presence during meetings and conversations with coworkers. The “you right here, right now” is far more impactful than the “you on your phone while people try to grab your attention”.
3. Management of Self: This is not a new idea. As kids we are told to control our emotions and behavior for positive rewards. The pavlov effect that this creates can create bad behaviors of expecations for you and for those that work with you. The idea goes beyond that as we grow older and realize that our success at home and at work depend on our ability to engage our emotions and attitudes in a productive manner. Telling people off may be incredibly gratifying experience in the short run, but it doesn’t provide long term solutions to conflict and relationships.
4. Management of Trust: this is defined by the idea that you need to trust your skills and capabilities and the capabilities of others. Moving from micromanaging to a strategic leader takes the form that requires that you trust people and their capabilities. 

Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering™

Fear can drive you to make wrong decision: Avoid using the reactive mind to engage conflict at work and at home. Your path to happiness and leadership include the possibilities for tough decisions and/or engagement with difficult situations and people.

Learn to deal with conflict:
Don’t avoid it, don't pursuit it; deal with it. Engage the issues from a logical unemotional point... Extract the emotion and the personal bias when dealing with conflict. Know when to speak and when to be quite (pick your battles).

Learn to deal with people you dislike, detest, hate, disrespect:
There is always someone that will challenge your opinion and perception of value. That may not want to play by your rules and expectation. They are you best opportunity and challenge. Identify why you dislike the person... Identify your personal bias. Engage and seek to understand before judging.

Identify opportunities in the raw
Opportunities never come in nice folders or in gold plated lettering. Opportunities are little dirty things that people pick up from the floor. Be capable of creating your own future by identifying opportunities where no one else sees them.

Diversify your experience
Always find opportunities to help others to learn from your experience... Experience is a tough teacher that gives tests before the lessons are provided. Experience comes in the form of training, certifications, teaching, mentorship with less senior people in your organization.

Develop routines of success
A routine of success is one that helps you identify corrective measures through action planning. Action planning is the process of setting metrics and timelines for accomplishments. As you identify bad habits; new routines can create new pathways of behavior. It is difficult to change old bad habits, however the brain is more capable of creating new pathways for new habits. Those new habits set the tone for who you need to be.

Branding of self
People in IT often say that they got into IT because they liked to fix things or because they didn't know what they wanted to do in life and somehow they ended in positions dealing with information technology and project management. People often become comfortable on how they ended in their roles without putting much thought to career path or professional development for the next job.


The techie paradox:
I am a techie, I don't need to work on my people skills, my expertise drive this boat. The technical mind tends to gravitate to logical solutions to problems. Emotions and attitudes tend to be driven by incorrect self perceptions. It is important that we challenge ourselves with rookie opportunities to public speak or reach out to people in a positive manner. Engaging conflict in a positive manner is what drives your ability to influence others and solve non computer related problems. Often people find themselves in a gap between who they are and who they want to be. Coworkers, supervisors and peers associate you with a very specific set of skills and talents that define your brand (or ethos). If your brand is an organizational match, leadership opportunities and engagement will arise, but if your brand is “different”, this may limit you. Be aware of how you present your brand to others. Once you are branded with negative characteristics or behaviors, your brand will be difficult to change.

Do not let others define who you are or what your current and future capabilities are (will be)...  “You define yourself”.

Keep your MORs leadership binder (IT leadership manual) near your daily activity and use the content every once in awhile (sharpen the saw as Covey advises).  It is important that you apply the concepts presented during training sessions for the improvement of your organization. Revisit the ideas often. Create a calendar entry reminding you to set time aside for you and your thoughts. It is important that you create new ideas with the information provided through any leadership program.

How did I apply what I learned at the ITLP

1. Presence: Confidence, Relationship Building, Communication and Strategic Engagement. Personal retooling through 360 feedback and coaching process.
2. Emotional intelligence: Worked towards evolving my understanding of issues related to self awareness while moving towards self regulation. Expanding my understanding and activation of emotional intelligence and neuroscience theory.
3. From tactical to strategic. Leading from the balcony, focusing my energy on strategic ideas for our department and the University.
4. Empowerment and delegation: Elevated the status and role of my subordinates by empowering them to take necessary steps towards self improvement and accountability. Rewrote job descriptions, realigned responsibilities, stepped out of tactical issues, etc. 
5. Realignment of professional priorities to support the University’s overall mission including student recruitment and retention. Examples: ALMA, Mapworks, EBI Benchmarking, Social Media Workflows, etc 

Applying the three lenses: strategic, political and cultural

1. Promoted interactions with Central IT that fostered collaboration on common goals. Examples of this include participating and allowing participation of my subordinates on the Google Apps implementation, Intranet Advisory Committee, Lean and Security Compliance work-groups, etc.

Final words of wisdom for other IT leaders in progress.

1. Take advantage of this opportunity and enjoy the moment. The opportunities for friendship and connections with other IT/business people are invaluable. 
2. Keep that binder close to you and share the information within with coworkers and those around you looking to self improve and grow. 
3. Make sure you set up a covenant with your cohorts and those going through this program that you will maintain contact and that you will make an effort to hold you accountable for self improvement, learning new things and shared with others the lessons learned during your ongoing leadership journey. 

The payload of the MORs IT leadership program is NOT:

1. A membership to a really cool secret society of computer geeks
2. A guarantee that your training will deliver a new title or a better job. 
3. A check mark on your performance appraisal or resume. 

The payload of the MORs IT leadership program is very simple: the empowerment to be the best leader (human being) you can be regardless of title, position or wage.

(graduation story: read below)

Final Story: The native american tale of the two wolves living inside of us.

Further Thoughts on Leadership Strategy

by Victor Alatorre

Observations

The purpose of this blog entry is to explore my perception on what it takes to be a strategic leader in the area of information technology.  

Successful organizations will invest in people. An investment in human capital will enhance value. According to research, employees only engage 10 to 15 percent of the skills within their organization. Successful organizations allow individuals to expand the application of knowledge, skills and abilities. IMHO, the structure of the organization (like in the State) limits what individuals can do or should do within their job responsibilities. It was true 10 years ago, and it is true today. The added factor today is attrition and cost cutting measures dumping more and more responsibility on those strong enough to sustain the effort.

Organizations will be successful if they are capable of sustaining intellectual capital. We tend to connect intellectual capital with organizational knowledge which is (in itself) fueled by human capital.

In the last few years, those companies that have invested on innovative intellectual assets and human resources have had the most success (Apple, Facebook, Google, etc), however the economy has placed pressure on budgets associated with professional development and research and development.

The "Jack Welsh" strategy was the gold standard which included a philosophy of selecting the right people and allocating resources, while watching the talent rise up. 

Well, 20 years ago, Mr Welsh was regarded as the top manager of GE and one of the top leaders in corporate America. Jack was successful at learning the ways of his corporation and identifying talent and opportunities. He had a strong ability to see strategic value to mergers and acquisitions and to apply the GE way to cut the bottom “10 percenters” every year. This approach included the application of statistical theory to improve process (lean sigma), quality improvement through applied statistical analysis and the HR removal of those that lacked the motivation to improve shared value.

There is enough research covering the complexity of managing “knowledge workers”.  So we ask "What motivates technically savvy people?" Without getting too political, I believe our current employment structure and compensation plan fails to identify value and recognize talent for what is worth to the organization. It limits flexibility and opportunities for growth. I believe our current employment structure provides rigid structures that protects silos for better control and management.

The truth about managing knowledge workers goes beyond compensation and moves into the realm of opportunity, professional development and respect. The respect generated by the work knowledge workers do on daily basis. Respect takes many forms like: recognition an awareness of value provided, ability to get buy-in from administrators, the ability to spend time on new ideas or correct old ones, be allowed to learn new skills, etc.

Essential Leadership attributes were identified as:

• Technical Competence: Hopefully most people in IT have some technical skills, the article fails to identify the depth of technical skill required to be successful. I would add that ability to learn new technical issues is more important than established technical focus on area. All of us face obsolescence, so keeping up with technical skills is important.
• Conceptual skill: strategic thinking does not come easy to even upper managers. I have experienced it at many levels. They are too busy managing tangibles. I believe strategic thinking is problem solving on steroids for problems that have yet to be identified. Day dreaming, puzzle solving and skills that are not easily perceived
• Track Record: A track record is a history of performance or individual action. If the track record is good, then it can “perhaps” forecast future ability. A track record can deceive people into believing that if your track record as a technical specialist can translate into a positive track record as a manager.
• People Skills: As technical people, we tend to gravitate towards electronic, non verbal communications. I do believe that the promotion process favors extroverted technical people. Good looking extroverts is what fuels the lines of upper management promotion. It is also called presence.
• Taste: Lets call it “talent development”. The ability of a leader to provide professional development opportunities and challenges is important. Sometimes this goes against the very nature of a manager’s propensity to control and limit. I believe talent development to be the most important element of leadership development.
• Judgement: Technical people tend to be problem solvers, problem solvers tend to be analytical people, however decisions some times have to be made with limited information. This is where the gut instinct comes to mind. The ability for technical people to make sound decisions in a finite time allocation is important. Sometimes people avoid making decisions, specially obsolete technical managers.
• Character: I believe this is your value system which is a byproduct of family interaction, childhood and professional experience, and personality. Character is not easily identifiable by interviews or communication, It’s what people do that defines them, not speech. Character cannot be acquired.

I believe the most successful leadership factor has to be character. While we may agree with this statement, character is not something that can be put on a resume or easily identified during an job interview. Character is what drives individuals in an organization to do the right thing when others simply do not play by the same rules. Character is sometimes the missing element in management, so organizations suffer due to the flaws of those leaders driving them. Character is what you do for others when they have no power over you or your future.

In my interpretation, knowledge workers demand the following:

• Meaning or direction: A leader that knows and communicates where the organization is going, perhaps sometimes shares anxieties without sounding too negative.
• Trust in and from leader: Ability for managers to back off when needed and step up when an expectation of recognition is needed. Authentic interactions between management and process holders.
• Hope and optimism: Ability to provide a sense of accomplishment and optimism during a tough implementation and while providing a sense of progress. The energy to stay the course and motivate others for a common cause. 
• and Results: What is the bottom line’s value and perhaps lessons learned.

Passionate leaders are effective leaders if...

A strong point of view is perhaps one of the factors identified as an elements of a successful leader. However in my opinion POV may also be detrimental to the long term success of an organization. Steve Jobs had a strong POV regarding Apple’s product, however I wonder if many were capable to speak up against his opinion. There are various degrees of passion that without “checks and balances” can be catastrophic to an organization. So we have to ask ourselves the following question: What is the meaning of what we do, what is the value we provide and how do we measure it?

Generating Trust: candor, congruity, perhaps integrity.

We believe in humble leadership which is the ability to manage your ego when dealing with information flow and decision making. The author’s example states that “the face you use at home should be the same face you use at work”. I go further by saying that: Congruity is the correlation between what you say and what you do.

Another term we tend to use is “Candor”. Which is one of those that can cut both ways. It’s the ability to trust that the truth will not get you fired. Candor allows for truthful communication when issues arise that require the honest contribution of all parties involved. In my opinion candor can be problematic because it puts you at a disadvantage when issues arise. Candor works when all parties involved play by the same rules, but it can disadvantage those that show their end game.

Moral Compass:

It is defined as the ability of the individual to use resources and influence for the greater good of an organization. Moral compass is what is missing at many levels of our organization. It is what we need to have to be a long term successful leader. I conclude that organizations often elevate individuals with a moral compass deficits; I call them destructive achievers. In my opinion, while their reigns of “terror” are “sometimes” short lived but, they tend to have a long term delaying effect on progress.

More ideas later.....

Mind games we play: Academic Challenges and Study Strategies

Mind games we play: Academic Challenges and Study Strategies

By Victor Alatorre

The following is a compilation of ideas I generated through my experience as a student at UW Oshkosh over a 20-year period  (only a portion of those years as a student).  Most of this advice came from my father (a college professor) and/or personal experience.  While we attend college, we tend to believe that certain indirect actions towards a goal may lead to success.  Only true and tangible efforts can lead through a path of measurable success. 


Have you experienced behavior like the following examples?

• Going to the library to study, but spending the night socializing with the pretty girls in the second floor lounge.
• Going to the Union to do some reading, only to spend the time drinking coffee and checking out facebook.
• Going to a retention group like ALMA with the assumption that attending the meeting will help your grades by your mere presence.
• Joining a club for your major and putting all your energy on club activities with the assumption the experience alone will improve your grades. You become the member of a certain club or fraternity, only to find out your energy is spent on managing meetings and group process. Do you get home exhausted?
• You have to study tonight, but to get on “the zone” You have to clean your room, do your laundry, organize your sock drawer, work out, go for a run, socialize, etc.

Mob Mentality (Herd Behavior)

• Externalizing an internal problem: If everyone else is struggling, then it’s OK to do poorly.  Don’t be a one eyed king in the kingdom of the blind.
• You receive the scores for the last test and you find out everyone else did poorly.  You all agree that the teacher made the test too difficult, so somehow you will remedy the outcome of the test through extra credit or curving.  Assuming that a curved-grade will somehow carry you through the next test. You fantasize that the average of two numbers is higher than the highest number of the two.  
• You talk to your friends and they all tell you that the teacher doesn’t know how to teach, the tests are ridiculous, the teacher didn’t cover the material, etc.  You go home thinking there is nothing you need to do to remedy the situation; it is an externality beyond what you can do.
• Your fraternity brothers are also struggling, so your brain tries to make you believe that the normal state in academia is a C average, because we all agreed that the professor is an idiot.

Sensory Overload
You get to your room, your door is open, your laptop is on, your internet connection is on, and Facebook is cranking away with the events of the day, your twitter and messenger clients are blinking with requests to chat, your cell phone is vibrating every other minute and there is a really good show or game on your TV.  Your girlfriend calls you and wants to know what is the plan for tonight… The test is tomorrow, and you have not read like you were supposed to last night and/or the night before.  Your roommate is playing with the PS3 console the new game he got last night at target… He has not slept in 2 days.   You chat with neighbors to try to figure out what to do tonight… You should have enough time to read a couple of chapters before dinner… Dinner time comes about and you have not read a thing, but you say to yourself, I’m going to grab some grub and come back for a couple of hours and then I’ll go see my girlfriend and/or meet my friends.  You come back with food to your room, and your friends are playing games with your roommate, they ask you if you want to play or go out …  What do you do?

Working and other time consuming activities

• Money and Employment: Some of us have to work to pay for our education.  Grants and loans are not enough.  Some of us have jobs to buy things that we feel we need like computers, phones, cars, and/or clothing.    Whatever the reason may be, you need to make a conscious effort on priorities.  Some of us could use fewer things, less work, less debt, more sleep. You have full control of those factors.  The proper mix of those factors will determine your long-term success.  For every credit hour you need to put an average of 2 to 3 hours of effort (reading, reviewing, re-writing, etc) out of class work. If you are taking 12 credits, you need at least 24 to 36 hours of effort minimum. Some classes are easier than others, but the running average to be successful is at least that much.  If you add sleeping, socializing, gaming, working, working out and so forth, there is simply not enough time in a week to accomplish everything that needs to be accomplished. Extracurricular activities need to be identified and prioritized.
• Working out: What is good for the body is good for the mind; however working out prior to studying gives you a false sense of accomplishment.  Physical fatigue leads to sleepiness. Running 3 to 5 miles will trigger endorphins and euphoria, keeping you from prioritizing the workload required to finish the chapter reviews.  After a good work out, you get home, you are hungry and simply want to sit down and watch TV.  You feel sleepy and you go to bed without reading the chapters.  Schedule studying before workouts, not vice versa.

Self-fulfilling prophecy:  

You need to take a class for your major that is extremely hard, but you keep telling yourself that due to the nature of the course, no matter what you do, it is hopeless, so you focus your energy on the other classes you enjoy a little more.  You neglect the very class you need to continue your progression.

You have a learning disability clearly documented for some time.  You are told you cannot achieve with major help or breaks from others.  You start believing that no matter what approach you take, you will not succeed.   This self-defeat leads to believe no action is the appropriate action; why try, you have been told you will not succeed. You have to provide tangible action to receive tangible results.

Other non-academic factors affecting your performance

• Single:  You spend a great deal of energy trying to meet tentative partners, so you put all your energy working out at a certain time or going to social events or parties with a certain group in an effort to meet that special someone.   You go visit friends or friends of friends; you try to be at the right place at the right time.  The energy equivalent varies, but your academic focus is not there.
• Dating: You are with someone for a prolonged period of time for this or that reason, things do not work out.  What do you do?  You immerse yourself in depression, exercise, heavy drinking, seeking out reasons or contact, you find yourself spending a great deal of energy seeking out others, fighting, and/or communicating with others about your grievances.  The energy used to cope with the loss keeps you from putting energy on the actual effort of studying, reading, writing, etc.
• Responsibilities with kids: You get home and your significant other or family requires your attention… Your kid(s) is (are) sick and need attention, etc. Whatever the case may be you need to plan ahead and stick to a plan.  
• Family Issues: Your parents call to tell you that a serious personal event has taken place; your siblings are fighting, your girlfriends is pregnant, one of your parents may have cancer or your parents are getting divorced, your dad has been laid off, etc. What do you do?  Family tends to be the most important thing for college men, so the priority shifts. If you find yourself in this situation, it is difficult to compartmentalize your life.  However, you need to communicate with your professors and advisers that your current personal life may impact your academics, go to the counseling office and speak to a professional advisor about cutting back credit load, etc.   You need to seek professional counseling if needed.  Assuming that you can take care of things on your own may lead you to denial and overwhelming stress.

Strategies for Academic Success

1. Math, Physics, Chemistry, Accounting, Ops Management, Computer Science course work requires analytical exercises, so you cannot succeed if you try to memorize analytical process without actually connecting the mechanics of your hand and mind.  Doing a problem in paper is not the same as reading the problem and assuming the process can be repeated in the test fast enough to be completed in the time allotted.  Our minds are all different, some of us can do math easily, some of us struggle with memorization, using the right strategy is instrumental.  You will not use the same strategy to study for a math test as you would a history test.  Contacting the professor prior to the exam may allow for taking the test at a different time.
2. Divest yourself from non-value added activities.  Extra curricular activities provide you with a sense of accomplishment, but they may not directly improve your chances of success.  It is important to realize the impact extra-curricular activities may have on your success.  
3. Giving time to process the information is also important.  The brain cannot process information if is all reviewed for the first time an hour or so before the event (exam time).  So, chopping the information in digestible chunks and then allowing your brain to digest during REM (rapid eye movement) sleep is the only way you will retain information.  Sleep is an important factor of mental decompression.
4. Not one learning strategy works for everything you have to accomplish academically. However the following ideas are not absolute but a good start:

a.      The most basic of them all: GO TO CLASS! Talk to the professor as issues arise, do not wait until the last minute or the last test in the semester to acknowledge issues, etc. Sit in the front, take notes, minimize temporary use of social networks, use your gadgets to enhance your retention experience not your distractions.

b.      Use cards to write important facts: writing summaries of important elements may allow for a flexible way to self-test.   This method is successful in subject work that requires some memorization (History, sociology, political science, etc). Have others quiz you with those ideas collected in your cards.

c.      Rewrite class notes while adding elements of missing information from the book or Internet.  Ask others in the class to share their notes with you if you cannot keep up with note taking. Develop relationships other individuals in your classes in order to develop awareness of common issues.

d.     Connecting your mind to your hand allows for memorization.  If you can write accurately or fast enough to keep up, then you need to use a digital recorder to review the information at home and on your own.  Using your senses to process leads to retention.  Reflecting on the material allows for active learning.

e.      Using mind maps to map out the information you need to understand can be also very helpful.  Connecting facts and figures in a mind map may be helpful to your learning process. It is especially helpful on connecting facts and figures within subgroups of ideas like in history, political science, international studies, geography, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map

f.       Proper posture for reading is also important, away from distractions such as people and technology.  Your sitting position has to be comfortable, but not so comfortable you fall asleep.  Never study in bed, lying down on your couch or on your pillow.  It simply doesn’t work. You have to have a 90-degree angle from the position of your legs to the position of your upper body.   Your feet should be on the floor allowing for proper blood circulation.

g.      Seeking help like tutoring is very important, however it has to be done weeks before the test. It may be a useful strategy for coursework that requires attention to logical process and sequencing i.e.: Math, Physics, Programming, Accounting, Stats, etc.  The mind needs time to react.  The process of knowledge gathering has to be given internal effort.  You cannot assume that the tutor will transfer all his/her knowledge by osmosis.   Retention requires personal contribution like working the problems before or after a visit to the tutor.

h.     Writing skills are not birth gifts, they require constant exercise and practice. Papers are the product of several iterations and compilations of ideas.  The more you write, the better you will be.  Students that have learning disabilities should seek out electronic mechanisms (software like Kurzweil 3000, etc) for writing, reading, idea collection, idea generation, and process. The more your practice, the better you get.  Even if you think your writing is so terrible; no one should see it, you need to allow others to provide feedback for rewrites and improvements. Seek out the resources available at the writing center and the Center for Academic Support and Diversity

i.       Our brains handle information through short and long-term memory process. Short-term memory allows for information processing for short-term decisions; once a decision is made with the information, the factoid becomes a lessen priority.   A long-term memory process requires active reading/listening and processing time.  Processing and fact decompressing can only take place when you sleep.  If you do not sleep or limit your sleep through extra curricular activities, the knowledge gathered through the day becomes a short-term entry on your mind. Active reading requires the full attention of the mind; the full attention of the mind is achieved through the removal of sensory distractions.

j.       Like physical exercise routines, study habit forming requires a three-week commitment minimum. So, if you maintain a routine of studying at a certain time of the day, every day, the habit will allow you to develop a routine of commitment.  A commitment to making time to study and review chapters.

k.      Read ahead:  the effort of reading ahead can be a daunting task, however it is the most successful way of keeping you aware of your unawareness.  Knowing the areas of weakness prior to class review can help you in the long run.

Conclusion:
This document is organic in nature. The information provided here is based on personal experiences.   If you identify other factors affecting your academics and/or have ideas for the improvement of academic performance, let me know.  Every mind and/or situation is different.