Liminality Rules

According to Wikipedia, "the liminal state is characterized by ambiguity, openness, and indeterminacy. One's sense of identity dissolves to some extent, bringing about disorientation. Liminality is a period of transition, during which your normal limits to thought, self-understanding, and behavior are relaxed, opening the way to something new."

May and June seem to highlight the liminal state. Students graduate from high school and college and new opportunities arise. Projects end and new ones begin. Fiscal years come to a close and a new one starts. In the next few weeks, I'll write about things that I'm thinking about. Hopefully the posts may lead to a discussion.

This story is an example of the use of technology to make life a little better.
I was on the bus this morning with another colleague from a different department at Penn State. He had a zippy phone that functions as a phone, a PDA, a camera, etc. He was checking
his email and looked up to find the shuttle bus that he wanted to catch about 3 cars ahead of our bus. He called the driver on the phone, said, "this is John, I'm on the bus behind you. Can you wait at the next stop so I can hop on?" Sure enough, he waited, we pulled in behind him, and John got to work a little earlier. Technology at its finest. I was impressed he had the cell phone of the bus driver.

If you're like me, you wake up in the morning, look at your email, look at your calendar, and then figure out what you'd like to accomplish during the day. You might have both professional goals and personal goals, depending on your calendar and your responsibilities.

Management literature tells us our goals should be S.M.A.R.T: Specific, Measurable, Achieveable, Realistic, and Time-based. Specific meaning something concrete. Measureable so that you can tell if you have succeeded or not. Achieveable. Creating a beautifully landscaped yard in a year is not achieveable to me (it might be to you if you have unlimited resources) Realistic -- back to that garden again. That wouldn't be realistic for me. And Time-based. Does the time reconcile with the goal?

Sometimes breaking large goals into smaller pieces helps. And remember, think S.M.A.R.T.

I just got back from attending my daughter's graduation from the University of Illinois. It's wonderful to see them in their caps and gowns, walking across the stage to get their diploma (or the diploma cover.) This is a huge milestone in these young peoples lives and I am so proud of her for all she has accomplished. This event is very much about promise -- what they have achieved and what they will achieve over the course of the next 60-80 years. This also represents a state of liminality -- moving from college student to either a job, graduate school, or perhaps both.

Congratulations to the class of 2007. Here's hoping that you enjoy the rest of your life to the fullest and remember to pay it forward to those who come after you.