First, never call it or the person who made it happen, stupid . Chances are that someone spent a lot of time and experience in some situation in order for a particular rule or policy to be set. The organization you are part of most likely faced some difficultly in the past that caused that rule you don’t care for to be implemented.

What do you do about rules you don’t like? Well, first lets look at the Bible. First I am not going to quote scripture because I would be writing all day if I did. Look it up and challenge what I say here, then you will have first hand knowledge for yourself. I am of the opinion that HaShem clearly states many times in His Word that we are to follow the law of the land as Christians unless that law directly challenges His law.  This means even the things we think are pretty silly.

In the case of leadership, we as leaders should follow the rules if we want those that are under our leadership to follow the rules as well. If leaders don’t follow the rule,s no-one else will and it will result in chaos. Leaders should not openly call a rule dumb or stupid. What we should do as leaders is, if we find a rule that we want to challenge then we should go through the official methods set before us to challenge that rule and get it changed. People in leadership are watched in all they do. Leaders have those they report to and often are accountable to many more than they may realize. For this reason a leader is to practice the rules in a manor above reproach, and only challenge those rules in a manor that can never be questioned. This way the leader sets forward an example for the people.

I recognized there are times when radical leadership must take place but, most of the time the official means to a system in the best way to change. Challenge from within and HaShem will honor that. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a totally passive leader by any means. In fact those that have worked with me over long periods will agree, I have a tenancy to attempt to bring about change where I see it is needed. Sometimes I am not successful and other times I am. The point is that I am always respectful of the leadership in power and never attempt to play games to get what I want. The games only hurt people and the organization in the end.

Sometimes, a system works really well in a fashion that I do not care for, and that is OK. One of the best leaders I ever had was one that  I did not agree with on many things but, he and I knew where each other stood, and I knew what he expected of me when I went to work each day. I did not always like his methods but, that is okay because HaShem created us all different. In the end together we built an organization that is still prospering today. He and I were not the only one’s on the team but, you get the idea of the relationship.

In the end as a Christian, a follower of HaShem Yashua, and a Leader in my organization I follow the official channels to get things done. I report to those I am under and work hard to make my department the best it can be. If I think change needs to be made, I follow the official way to make that change. I feel that as Leaders we must present the example that is above reproach for our team to follow. One of the themes in my Army days was “Lead by Example” and another was “Lead, Follow or get out of the way.” All these point toward this idea. Follow the rules to the best HaShem created you, then if you don’t like the rules follow them anyhow but, challenge them through official means. The only thing you do by calling them stupid is prove the same of yourself.

One thing I have noticed is that when I see others who live in Israel today I am often reminded of my own family by the features we seem to share. My fathers blood line seems to have a distinct set of features in our faces and structure that is carried through in many others who are Jews living in Israel. While this is not evidence of a definitive nature it does tend to point me in the right direction. Very few people who are born in the United States hold ancestor from there. They are all from somewhere. Today I proudly claim my heritage as a Jew.

I recently began reading a book by Joyce Munro (2008) that addresses this “Oh, No” moment as an inevitable part of being a leader. Munro writes that it is important to stop when this happens, admit the feelings of helplessness to yourself, and begin to address the problem. The regrouping of thoughts seems to help when you take the time to do that. Looking back on my own experiences I can say the author’s writing is true for me. In that moment I have realized something is messed up I am unable to move beyond the problem until I admit to myself I did not plan for this. It is only then I can pick apart what has happened and formulate a new plan to move beyond the problem.

I have to admit that in the world of IT that “Oh, No” moment seems to happen quite a bit more than many other areas I have been involved in. When dealing with computer systems, the more complex a system is the more potential for that unplanned side effect or event. It is comforting to know that Munro states the “Oh, No” moment is normal and in fact a healthy event if you address it, admit the fear you fell, and begin to collect yourself so you can move on. This process can be only seconds or it can take days depending on our ability as leaders to adapt our though process and change gears. This is not something I would set out on purpose to practice but, the next few times it happens see if your reaction doesn’t begin to improve when using this process.

Munro, Joyce (2008) Educational Leadership, Mcgraw Hill, NY. pp 6 – 18

One of the unexpected side effects of this is that I have noticed a dramatic difference in the way I am treated in public. Around my work and other Christian’s I am sometimes asked why I am wearing it. I walked past a mother playing with her son on the swings one day and overheard the little boy ask his mother what was on my head. She told him is was a yarmulke and it is something Jews wear when they worship. I liked  hearing a positive explanation. I have begun learning Hebrew on my own and we are incorporating the observation of Jewish holidays in our practice as a family. It is my opinion that all Christians should do this. As Christians we are so closely tied to the Jews and benefit from the trials and triumphs they have had throughout history that we should all know what they celebrate and why.

Other times, I have been on public transportation or in the Hawker centers getting food and I see the occasional look on peoples faces who are clearly not Christian. The look like OMG LOOK its one of those JEWS! Being the typical white American male as I grew up I never faced things like this. It is an enlightening experience to be the one others make comments in secret about or point at. I can honestly say I am starting to understand some of the prejudice many have faced around me all my life.

As God continues to work on me,  I am learning a greater appreciation of the diversity He has created.  The United States claims to be this huge melting pot of cultures and to some extent it is but, when people come to the US they change to become American.  Now, don’t get me wrong I fully understand about moving to America to become an American and not attempting to totally change the nation. It is a great nation and should be Proud of its roots. I cannot say I am very proud of some of its leaders lately but, that is another post. What I am saying is that wearing a Kippah here in Singapore, even though I am still facing some minor prejudice, it is nothing compared to what I would have been treated like in a few places I have lived in the US. I remember sitting in a Sunday school class listening to “the Boss” comment about the Jews from a Bible study and that person could not understand how the Jews could have missed the fact that Jesus was Messiah.

Let me ask you this question. You are in a small country church in the US that has had the same crowd for generations. Little change to the makeup of the church has ever occurred and while your church reaches out doing great things in the community, major changes in racial or economic make-up of the group is not something that is welcome. Now in this church a man walks in one day who has not showered in a week. He has walked miles in the hot sun, is wearing dusty clothes, smells bad, and the moment he walks in he tells your pastor and leaders they are doing things the wrong way. He continues to ask the entire church to repent and change almost everything about what they have been raised to believe. What do you think would happen? It would end up the same way it did when Jesus was that man. I have seen it in many forms with my own eyes.

I think this is something we all need to keep in balance. We need God to disrupt our lives at times to keep us on the right track. We often get too focused on our own little area of the world and forget their are so many around us who need Him but, they don’t always do things the same way we would like. God loves the diversity. Just look at hair color around the world! So the next time you see someone different remember you may be the one that is different to them and your welcoming treatment of that different person could mean all the difference. Sometimes that difference could be their eternal life or death.

Now the tech part. We have been testing the use of several possible ways to help the student see the material better. In the past year magnification in Windows XP was used and dealt with to do the job. XP did not do the greatest job, but the student was able to complete the testing with added time and move through. Here is where I come in. I figure okay, newer tech should help with this right? I have the resource director try using Windows 7 because it claims better accessibility options for those with such issues. Well, the Windows 7 solution actually did worse on magnification of the screen and made it almost impossible for the student to see anything. In this case we had to go back to Windows XP and begin using a much larger screen to provide additional help to the student. Apple was not even an option in this case because the MAP testing environment apparently does not support the Mac OS.

Okay, rant time. Why would a company release a software in the name of better technology and not have cross platform support? Fussing about the MAP software here. I am in the process of releasing a who new online set of tools for our school and the entire package is so compatable it even works on mac and linux in the opera browser! You can’t get much more different than that. Okay, done with the fussing, but it you are reading this remember the results. The new and improved accessibility tools are not always new and improved as they claim. So in this case I have to place a little blame on the MAP people for not working with Apple, and a lot of blame on Microsoft for the lack of a really good tool set in Windows 7. I know Windows 8 is about out since I have the developer preview in a virtualbox on my laptop. Lets hope for improvement in this area. it is a big problem in the computer world without many good options for those who are visually impaired.

The most important part about this local company and their system is that I am not sacrificing function for a lower cost. In fact I am gaining many tools that are simply not available on the bigger systems without huge changes. I realize this LMS may not work for anyone outside of Singapore, but here its an amazing tool. This company has a real gem that could take them global in a short time, but they want to keep the company small so they can work one on one with their clients.

Next time I will give details of the hardware we have chosen, and the new layout for our server configurations. Just in case any geeks like me want to know.

Also we have had a delivery of more demo laptops this week. This time Dell was the delivering company. After looking at them I realized the Dell machines are a generation behind the Acer machines in processors. An interesting thing since Dell seemed to be on the cutting edge of things in the US. Also noted by our schools production and media specialist who is a Mac user, the Dell sales rep was using an Iphone! go figure, no Windows phones on the PC salesman? Hmmmm, something to consider.

Another note is that we are viewing a Demo next week of an LMS system  that is pretty new to the market. I am looking forward to what they say it can do and will do a complete write up on it after the demo.

Finally, this week one of our parents who has a little pull in local business got the attention of Apple computer and it looks like we will finally be getting some attention on that side of the house. We still may go Mac yet? We will see how all this turns out.

The gang here at International Community School in Singapore shared a video with me the other day and I thought I would share it with all of you who follow my blog. This is Dr. Joe Beason who was the long time Director of ICS Singapore two school years ago. Our new Director Chris Herring is just as much fun. So for those of you who work at a stuffy or boring school after seeing this you might want to consider contacting NICS and working with all of us. Have a smile on our staff today.