Highs and Lows

Posted on February 23, 2013 by alexk

I have been remiss with posts due to business travel.  It has been a somewhat volatile few weeks.  I will begin with the “ups”.  Both my WhitePaper and Competency Development Portfolio have been submitted and it feels great to begin 2013 by completing two significant milestones.  I feel that they are both very solid papers and look forward to feedback in the upcoming months.

Upon reflection there are no significant downs, even though I currently feel a bit “bummed out”.  Today was frustrating because I was attempting to learn about multi-level modelling and it was exceedingly challenging.  Also, I had several issues with some SPSS analysis.  After trying a range of options, I realized that it may have been a file size issue, and was eventually able to complete some analysis.

It has been exceedingly busy at work.  We are grappling with a good deal of organization change and my portfolio has expanded significantly.  This is exciting, but also overwhelming at times.  It was a particularly taxing week, so I think I am just generally tired.

In order to end the day on a productive note, I decided that to do some planning for the rest of 2013.  This was a very good idea.  It has provided clarity on where I need to focus and also highlighted how busy the next five months will be given that I am presenting at three colloquia!

I am going to sign off early and complete some errands and then head out for dinner.  All good.   That said, this highlights the importance of becoming better at balance.  Given my energy level, I should be on the couch with a glass of wine tonight!!

Posted in Colloquia, Data Analysis, Dissertation Planning, Quantitative Methods, Surviving the DBA, Time Management, Tips and Tools | Leave a comment

Data Dance

Posted on February 3, 2013 by alexk

It has been a full day of data analysis and I am quite fatigued!  I revisited previous findings  and undertook some additional analysis, mostly ANOVA, to better understand the data.  Increasingly, I am realizing that quantitative analysis is akin to listening to a story unfold and it is quite interesting.

Next week I am meeting with a quantitative expert so I created a summary document that captures: outcomes of  hypothesis testing, additional findings, and initial thinking on the next stage of analysis.  I plan to walk her through this document and am very eager to hear her feedback and suggestions.

The other key output for this week was finalizing my CDP Portfolio Assignment.  I have submitted it to my supervisor for final feedback.  Hopefully, I can submit this paper by mid-February and the Filene WhitePaper by the end of February.  This will allow me to focus on analysis and my first colloquium for 2013 which is scheduled for late April.

I plan to take next weekend off to have some fun.  This is part of my plan to maintain balance and energy by taking a full weekend off once per month.  I am looking forward to the break.

Posted in Colloquia, Data Analysis, Feedback From Academics, Quantitative Methods, Supervisor, Surviving the DBA, Time Management, Tips and Tools, White Paper, Writing | Leave a comment

Networking Dinner

Posted on January 26, 2013 by alexk

It has been a”full court press” week especially since I  had to travel for work.   That said, I managed to have a short, but highly productive, phone meeting with my supervisor.  We are going to meet again in about a month to discuss my progress with the next stage of data analysis.  I also had a brief face to face meeting with a new DBA researcher who is also exploring leadership, which was highly enjoyable.

It has been another full day at the library and I focused mostly on revising my CDP Portfolio Paper.  I have made solid progress as the paper is about 70% complete.  Unfortunately, I have to depart now because I have a networking dinner at 6pm.  It should be fun but I must admit I wish I could stay and finish the revisions!

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White Paper Solid Draft #2

Posted on January 19, 2013 by alexk

It is 5pm and it is still fairly bright outside.  I am very happy that the days are getting longer again.  My stint at the library has been productive.  I have dedicated the full day, about 7 hours, to refining my White Paper.  I continue to be amazed at the time and effort required to write.  This is only a 20 page paper that builds off an existing 10 page report, yet I am fairly certain that I have spent about 30 hours on it already.  I am beginning to get a sense of how much effort will be required to write and then refine my dissertation –scary!!!

I have also solicited feedback from my supervisors and two academics on this paper and should receive responses over the next few weeks.  I am hoping to finalize this paper by early February.  Next Saturday I will focus on refining my CDP Portfolio Paper and then submit that for feedback.  The next step will be to work on a paper for the April Colloquium and also return to analysis.  I am really beginning to understand the value and necessity of having these overlapping “streams” of activity.

I have made a commitment to take every fourth weekend off.  This is in some ways hard for me because Saturday is typically the only time that I can consistently commit to research and usually accomplish a lot.  That said, I need to try this because I was exhausted by the end of last year and need to find a more sustainable approach to balance life, work, and research.

I am going to depart shortly to complete some errands and then head home to watch the Australian Open on TV.

Posted in Colloquia, Feedback From Academics, Supervisor, Surviving the DBA, Time Management, Tips and Tools, White Paper, Writing | Leave a comment

Two Solid Drafts!

Posted on January 10, 2013 by alexk

It is Thursday afternoon and I am thrilled to have drafted two papers. This was no small undertaking. I have been at the library for four very full days in a row and now I am totally zonked!

The first paper, was a Preliminary Findings White Paper for the Filene Research Institute. I was able to leverage my Initial Findings Report for Participants and essentially expanded the paper by adding more findings, graphs and a Recommendations section. The second paper, is a Competency Development Portfolio, my final DBA Assignment. Even though it was arduous at times, it was illuminating to chart my development over the past 18 months. I am really pleased with my progress!

Now, I can comfortably enjoy a three day vacation from both research and work -woohoo!! I am looking forward to rewarding myself with a visit to the spa tomorrow. On the weekend I am have plans for fun and frolic with my partner and girlfriends. I am really excited about my break but equally so about my progress. I would start jumping for joy but suspect that it would alarm the rest of the students in the library.

This week, I was also in touch with academics to confirm upcoming colloquium dates and plans to revise my regression model.  More details  to come on this.

Posted in Data Analysis, Research Study, Surviving the DBA, Time Management, Tips and Tools, Writing | Leave a comment

Super Productive Day!

Posted on January 5, 2013 by alexk

This is the first post for 2013 and I am very happy to report that the day has been super productive!  I have been remiss with my posts for the last few weeks because I was using all of my energy and time to produce the Participant Research Report before December 31st.  Thankfully I was able to meet this objective and have already received feedback from the participants which suggest that they have found value in the research.  This is a terrific feeling!!

Today my focus was on writing the white paper for the Filene Research Institute.  I am pleased with the outcome and will continue working on this paper next week.  I am also hoping to have a solid draft of my Competency Development Program completed by the end of next week.

 

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Still Here

Posted on December 9, 2012 by alexk

It is 8pm and I am still at the library –yikes!!!  I have worked diligently all day and have  only completed about 60% of the executive summary document for leaders.  It has morphed from a “2 pager” to 5 pages, so I suspect that culling will be in order.

I have spent the last hour preparing for an upcoming  meeting with my supervisor.  I am looking forward to connecting with her and getting some feedback because I have been so close to the research that it is likely that I am not seeing things clearly.

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Super Duper!

Posted on December 1, 2012 by alexk

This is another very short post because it has been a long and highly productive day.  I reviewed all of my analysis to date and then created a new file with organizational variables.  I was able to complete some preliminary analysis which has yielded interesting results.

The above notwithstanding, my most significant achievement was that I finally started to write!!!  I have begun to craft a decent Executive Summary for the participants.  If I am focused next Saturday I should be able to complete a solid draft.  This would be great and just in time for my meeting with my supervisor.  Ambitiously I would also like to get the outline for the Filene White Paper completed.  We shall see.

Things have been very chaotic at work.  There have been unexpected organizational changes so we are  dealing with a lot of uncertainty whilst still trying to plan for 2013 and celebrate 2012 accomplishments.  Hopefully things will settle in the next month or so.

Life in general is quite good though, managing to maintain health and happiness so I am very grateful.

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Dealing with Outliers

Posted on November 24, 2012 by alexk

I finally addressed some of my outlier issues today.  This has resulted in a few meaningful results and a reversal of the direction of a previous finding –not insignificant!!  Overall, I have had a very full and focused day at the library.  First, I reviewed my research literature summary.  I then reviewed all of my analysis to date and documented some outstanding questions.  I spent the remainder of the day conducting more analysis.

I had planned to begin to formally write up my executive summary but I ran out of time!  Next week writing will be my first priority.  I think that I am in fairly good shape with my progress so far and have some interesting findings but I need to articulate the story in words.

I am off to complete some errands now and enjoy a relaxing evening at home with my partner.  The colder weather has arrived and I can feel my cocoon “vibe” beginning to set in.

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SPSS Struggle Yields Dividends

Posted on November 18, 2012 by alexk

This is going to be very short post.  I am slowly getting my bearings after being in a qualitative mindset.  I managed to do some interesting quantitative analysis today, but it took me a good deal of time to determine how to efficiently create some new variables.  It was a relatively simply task, but I had forgotten how!  Once I finally figured it out I was amply rewarded with some meaningful findings.

I have some errands to do this afternoon, so it will be a short day at the library.  Fortunately I was able to optimize some travel time during the week by listening to the interviews as I was driving, there is a lot of useful data there!!

Posted in Data Analysis, Interviews, Quantitative Methods, Surviving the DBA, Time Management, Tips and Tools | Leave a comment