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Welcome to The National Graduate School's Community E-Newsletter
Greetings!
This month's newsletter highlights some of the many accomplishments of our faculty members both in the corporate world as well as with the military. NGS/U faculty members represent a wide variety of organizations and are able to utilize their vast practical experiences and give "real life" perspectives when teaching to the benefit of the students. NGS/U curriculum is strongly based on a hybrid of theoretical and practical knowledge which the students are able to apply both in the classroom and in their work environments. |
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Something Fishy About Boeing
By Cyndi Laurin, NGS/U Faculty 
What do a little fish market in Seattle and the largest aerospace company on the planet have in common, you might ask? Having worked closely with The World Famous Pike Place Fish Market and Boeing's C-17 program for an extended period of time, these seemingly diametrical organizations share quite a bit. Each has built innovation and creativity into their DNA and has reaped the rewards of sustainable financial success as a result.
Ironically, most everything you might imagine about Pike Place Fish and Boeing's C-17 program couldn't be more different. Their products and processes are completely irrelevant to one another, yet there are four essential areas that operate quite similarly and have distinctly impacted how innovation and creativity are practiced. These include leadership and the business culture along with the political and reward structures. Integrated, these four areas make up the "Four Pillars of Organizational Greatness."
Both companies also discovered a resource they already had but were not aware of or using to its full potential until fairly deep in their own transformative journeys. Every company has this resource, and we lovingly refer to it as their herd of "Rudolphs." Rudolphs are involuntary agents of innovation - people who shine the light exactly where a company needs to go. We have found that approximately 10 percent of every organization is made up of Rudolphs - although many are not visible for a variety of reasons. For example, the culture of the organization may not be safe to share ideas or ask why we do the things we do. The Rudolph Factor refers to that critical 10 percent. HBR's July/August issue focusing on Managing in the New World includes an article by Ronald Heifetz, Alexander Granshow, and Marty Linsky who identify these people as "dissenters" and recommends "protecting them from the organizational pressure to remain silent." They also add, "Executives need to listen to unfamiliar voices and the tone for candor and risk taking."
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Meet Your Professor: 
Major Brian Dietzman
Major Brian Dietzman of the United States Army is currently stationed in Saudi Arabia. Major Dietzman has a Bachelor of Science with high honors in International Affairs from the Georgia Institute of Technology as well as a Master of Science in International Affairs with a focus on Homeland Security from the George Bush School of Public Service at Texas A&M University. He is also a fellow at the Integrative Center for Homeland Security at Texas A&M. Major Dietzman has presented at numerous conferences on defense issues associated with Homeland Security, including the role and structure of the National Guard and Reserves, the North American Security Perimeter and Homeland Security education and curriculum development. He is also an adjunct faculty member in Homeland Security & Defense for The National Graduate School.
Listen to a podcast interview with Major Dietzman. |
NGS/U Participates in Annual Golf Tournament for Scholarship Funding
Dr. Tom Kneavel, Chairman of the NGS/U Board of Governors (center) with Boeing employee and AAAA Delaware Chapter President, Mark Ballew (left) and Navy Commander Steven Labows, DCMA Commander (right)
Recently Dr. Tom Kneavel, Chairman of the Board of Governors, had a chance to participate in the annual Frank N. Piasecki Memorial Golf Tournament hosted by the Delaware Chapter of the Army Aviation Association of America (AAAA). The tournament was held at the Paxon Hollow Golf Club in Media, PA on July 29 where the National Graduate School was honored to be a part and sponsored a hole. Dr. Kneavel played alongside Mark E. Ballew AAAA Delaware Chapter President and Navy Commander Steven Labows DCMA Commander.
The local chapter began the golf tournament four years ago to raise scholarship funding for AAAA members and their families. Since then it has become a popular event involving local military members, the local Boeing Defense Contracts Management Agency, Robertson Aviation, BAE Systems, Honeywell, Harvard Custom Mfg., Northstar Aerospace, ITT, among many others.
Piasecki Aircraft has been an integral part of the tournament as well since it was named after Frank Piasecki, a great American engineer and icon in aviation and rotorcraft. This year a total number of 99 players were involved in the event. With the help from the Delaware Chapter AAAA and the tournament, each year hundreds of thousands of dollars are awarded to new and existing college students.
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| Corporate Alumni Spotlight:
NGS/U alumnus John Bridges is a member of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) at the White House for biological planning and recently received special recognition by the Executive Office of the President for Dedicated Services and Technical Contributions in the Development of Planning Guidance for Recovery Following Biological Incidents. About his experience with NGS/U, Mr. Bridges has said, "Whether managing large scale crises (anthrax), day-to-day emergency management system of response or integrating mission-essential management systems that blend end-to-end business processes, I have achieved high-quality results through the methodologies provided by NGS." On behalf of everyone at NGS/U, we would like to congratulate Mr. Bridges on this wonderful achievement!
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Military Alumni Spotlight:
CDR Lisa Blow
U.S. Coast Guard
Commander Elizabeth (Lisa) Blow graduated from National Graduate School (NGS) in June 2005 while assigned at Coast Guard Sector San Diego as an Aircraft Commander flying the HH-60J "Jayhawk" Helicopter. She received the prestigious Secretary's Team Department of Homeland Security award for her graduate work on a joint project involving Coast Guard and Customs Border Protection members. Since then she arrived at Pacific Area in Alameda California following a two year assignment at Training Center Petaluma California in June 2007 where she served as the Deputy Training Officer managing nearly 300 personnel, seven apprentice schools and 32 advanced schools, producing 4,000 graduates annually. Applying the practical knowledge and skills acquired from the rigorous NGS curriculum, Commander Blow has been involved in several Coast Guard strategic process improvement initiatives.
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If you have news or information
that you would like to include in The Benchmark,
please contact Sara Fleck at sfleck@ngs.edu or 800-838-2580 ext.125 Issue: 1 | |
