INSIDE p.2 Northbound Train Spotlight p.2 New Model-Netics Installations p.2 Staying In Touch p.3 An Historical View p.3 SBM Program Graduates Seven p.3 Instructor Insights p.4 Calendar of Events p.4 Contact Information The number in parenthesis after a name refers to the individual's Model-Netics Associate Number.

December 2002 ITP

The Model-Netics Instructor Training Program (ITP) was held in Houston, Texas December 2-4, 2002. There were 18 Part I and 21 Part III participants. Special guests attending the graduation luncheon included: James D’Agostino (1039) - Encore Bank, Robert Farquhar-son (1990) - HISD, Tom Hook (1774) - Hilcorp Energy, Jonita Kuykendall (2387) - HISD, Ricki Price-Baugh (2543) - HISD, Robert Stockwell (2007) - HISD, and Erasmo Teran (1955) - HISD.

Sponsoring Organizations
Instructor candidates participating in Parts I and III of the December ITP represented the following sponsoring organizations:

Part I Speaker
Ruby Andrews, Principal at Welch Middle School within the Houston Independent School District spoke on behalf of the Part I group.

She reflected on what Model-Netics has meant to her personally and the impact it will have going forward. Since going through the Basic Course in 1998, Ruby explained that Model-Netics has made her a better manager through the “framework and consistency” of the models.

In addition to developing her management skills, she also discussed the use of Model-Netics as a leadership tool. While taking the Basic Course from her District Superintendent, “I learned a lot about the style of my District Superintendent and what she was looking for in her leaders.” Ruby believes Model-Netics has the ability to “greatly impact” those aspiring to be leaders.

Part III Speaker
Jim Clark (2628), Regional Director of Human Resources for the HCA Patient Account Services (Houston), spoke for the Part III class.

Jim mentioned his first exposure to Model-Netics was while in the HCA corporate headquarters in Nashville. He saw the top-side commitment given the program when “Jack Bovender, our President/CEO of the largest health care company in the world, spoke about the relationship with the Northbound Train and our most ambitious initiative to date -- shared services.”

The audience consisted of chief executive officers, chief financial officers, chief operating officers and HR professionals from the HCA organization. “We all learned our first model, the Northbound Train, without attending a formal class. There is a very strong commitment to train all of the upper management staff throughout HCA.”.

On a personal level, Jim sees teaching Model-Netics as a “personal commitment to upgrade my KASH”. As he explains it, “Through the teaching process, I am coming to understand that Model-Netics is, in fact, a lifetime learning tool.”

Featured Speaker
Harold S. Hook (0001), President and CEO of Main Event Management Corporation was the featured speaker at the graduation luncheon.

Mr. Hook’s talk focused on “Closing the Knowing-Doing Gap.” This is the paradox that confronts organizations and the individuals that work within them that are adept at acquiring knowledge (“knowing”), but are unable to transform it into action (“doing”). He referenced the book, “The Knowing-Doing Gap” by Stanford professors Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton.

Mr. Hook noted that hundreds of business books are published annually with much of the same analysis and prescriptions using different language and graphics from similar books published the year before. The hope of managers is that reading one more book will finally enable them to transform knowledge into organizational action. He commented that “in most situations we seem to know what to do, and what we know is within our capability of doing, but somehow we don’t seem to be able to get it done.”

He referenced Thomas Huxley’s quote regarding the purpose of an education:
“To do what you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not.”

He compared “whether you like it or not” to the model Cruel Sea. Both relate to taking risks. The ability to “do” what needs to be done despite the risks (whether one likes it or not) is a key to bridging the Know-Doing Gap. Hook’s belief is that Model-Netics plays an important role in the process “since a necessary condition to closing the knowing-doing gap is a shared culture.” He sees Model-Netics as providing a systematic thought process that brings awareness, understanding, and ultimately the action to do what needs to be done.