Output Packet Pro Review

Main Advisor and OP Reviewer: Laura Kaestele
Associate Name: Carolina-Therese Winter
Output Packet #: 1B
Program: Bachelor of Science
Phase/ALC: PreCAP-ALC1
Date Submitted: April 24th 2016
Date Reviewed: May 12th 2016
Mark: 1
Grade: Pass
Time Spent on Review: 2 hrs + 0.5 for review forms

Dear Carolina,

I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to read your Output Packet and learn more about your goals, project plans and learning design for the pre-capstone Bachelor phase. It is inspiring to see the motivation and clarity you bring into your life vision of ecological regeneration and into creating your unique action learning journey with GaiaU. Great work using a design process for your OP and project work as an active experiment and integrating feedback. I am looking forward to witnessing this learning pathway unfold and empowering you to make the best out of it!

My review is broken into these sections:
1. PoDAPO Evaluation Form
2. Comments Per Section

Required next step: None

Recommended next steps: 
•	Add your OP 1B Learning Intentions and Pathway Design to your profile page on Mahara to share with everyone in the Gaia community
•	Continue experimenting and applying conscious design and different appropriate design processes and methods – keep it simple and steadily build your capacity

I respect your integrity in managing your pathway. I'm glad to be your advisor!

Cheers, 
Laura

OP REVIEW

1. PoDAPO EVALUATION FORM (attached)

2. COMMENTS PER SECTION (see below)

COMMENTS PER SECTION

Specification and Abstract
Great opening and summary of the LIPD as an orientation and guidelines as well as the context of this OP in relation to the entire pathway 
Interesting focus on skill-building that you share – curious to see that represented in the OP
Nice to explain one of the core methods “backcasting” you used and why it was helpful, I would also be interested to read what key outcomes and un/learnings from the LIPD were
You could consider merging the summary and purpose into one paragraph, as you wrote it there is quite a bit of overlap, so either merge them or distinguish more clearly
Some language errors “map an overview” better “give/provide an overview”, “orientating guideline” kind of redundant a guideline naturally provides orientation, “Also it will be interesting if I have planned too much…” missing a phrase “Also it will be interesting to know/find out…”

Fantastic you integrated the feedback and faced the challenge of applying a design process for you LIPD, SADI seems like an appropriate choice that meets your needs of exploring long-term goals and vision, gaining clarity on projects and identifying next steps
I would recommend to embed the OP design mindmap as the original xmind element and not just an image as the sub-branches a pretty difficult to read or increase font size
Well done for including this short section on incorporating feedback – How are you generally handling feedback and how is the whole OP review process going for you?

Introduction
Small is beautiful and we are the change that is what came to mind when reading this beautiful quote about little people doing little things to change the earth, by the way who said that – it is always good to mention the author or original source
Amazing to read how the quote gives you a sense of empowerment, motivation and purpose to start acting now!  Nice way to set the scene for your LIPD and put your vision, project work and next steps into a larger context of world change
It is very little text to fill a whole page on Mahara, next time consider including the introduction as the first thing on the core report page - but I do also like the clear, succinct no-need-to-scroll layout of your pages

Survey
Great to see your summary statement at the top of the page and the mindmap to the left as a succinct overview in one look – I like the clarity of purpose and process you provide and also how you share about the design step and some of the design methods applied like observing, brainstorming or reflecting
Why did you choose your long-term goals and vision to be the most important part of the survey? Maybe this would be a more appropriate place to explain the backcasting strategy than in the summary of your OP…?
Consider which mindmaps are really supportive evidence and which ones are essential to the core report and message you share and thus should be included in the word count
Wow, you have very ambitious goals for the next five years! ;-) They are large and strategic lacking some practical clarity, which is completely fine for a long-term outlook, but I am confused what you mean by gaining knowledge “in the essential areas of life” that sounds like “everything” to me, so what specifically are you refer to?

Otherwise excellent professional and political goals – I am excited to see you grow that way!
Interesting personal goals of creating physical change on the land, living a fulfilling, healthy and diverse life and to become an authentic leader from deep experience – is there a reason why you changed the format and style of writing?
I enjoy the color coding in the mindmaps and invite you to think about which (and how much) information you want to present and where to synthesize and “zoom out” a little to not overwhelm readers with a massive flood of thoughts…
It would have been nice to explain the Kolb Model a bit more – what is it and why did you include it in the survey stage of your LIPD? How do you wish to expand your abilities?

Analysis
Nicely set, the analysis for more concrete and practical information, great idea to use the four questions so common in GaiaU as a method in the analysis part of your design
Again, I would encourage you to put any mindmaps or graphics you show into context, explain what they are all about, mention them in the text to point the reader towards them or clearly state them as supportive evidence for further reading – otherwise the pieces feel rather disconnected and randomly assembled in one page
How can you use language and your writing to connect, weave different elements together and guide readers through the flow of your own thoughts?

In the challenges you write “The solution I see here, which is sometimes very challenging, is to set priorities, work with more structure and spend more time in preparation and reflection.” Well done for identifying this internal pattern - How are you intending to solve that practically? How do you set priorities and make decisions? What are the criteria for your decision making? This would have been interesting and also to learn how you ended up choosing those three projects, what was your process? Just some food for thought

So the learning goals and building professionality is another layer of goals specifically set for the timeframe of the next six months, correct? I am starting the get confused by the many, different goals in the report – more clarity in the articulation would be helpful
How did you come up this the skill development mindmap? How do the skills link to your proposed projects? Which one did you create (or choose) first, skills or projects? I am just trying to understand your process better
Ah here is the other part of the Kolb Model about how you want to evolve and unlearn, this would have been better to understand when presented on the same page next to each other

Design
Linking survey and analysis into the design stage, it would be great to expand further on what the design stage is all about, what methods or tools your used and what the process, outcomes and un/learnings are
Great short project overview I can really see your motivation and passion in all those areas and the integration of what you want to do and what opportunities in Steyerberg come up
How does the integral land-based design mindmap connect to this design page about projects? Where does it come from – did you develop it or who else? Please always give references for using external information and name the source.

Another framework that clearly underlines your project design and planning is the Kolb Model of action learning – you could make that explicit and actually articulate what the model it and how you apply it to design holistic projects full of learning and impact
Interesting detailed project plans, well documented, I like how smoothly your projects fit and are designed around events and current projects/needs at the ecovillage
I am also wondering how much you will be doing and leading project activities and what is simply participating in workshops and helping with ongoing work on the land – So I guess the question is what role you have in these projects and what your contribution will be?
Who are you working together with? What support and resources are needed?

Nice to add a mindmap for each project to summarize and visualize the project descriptions and at the same time add more depth and detail to it e.g with arising questions for research
Maybe it would be easier to see the connection and opportunities by combining the project and workshop timeline into one…?
Which project will be documented in which OP? Is the soil project OP2 or 3?
I enjoyed the design picture, well done for pushing your edges and adding a hand-drawn picture into the mixed media of your report – maybe adding titles/words to the image would help viewers get the most out of it – I think I can see a water sewage treatment, compost toilet, biochar production, bee hives, vegetable garden, bread making

Implementation
Great perspective to recognize implementation including output, project management and learning pathway management and tracking
Ah, know I see – your plan is to document in each OP the progress of all three projects, I get your point as your work on them simultaneously – every decision has its consequences
I think with this strategy design and documentation become ever more important over such a long time frame, when it is easy to lose track, forget things or get distracted
I like your flexible and adaptable approach when it comes to project management and in addition would have loved to hear more about strategies, methods, tools or decision making
Language error “so it is possible to divide big goals…”

Nice use of and reference to Getting Things Done as a framework to manage your time and commitments effectively, could you also add a link to the software you have
Well done for creating the flexible implementation plan and identifying learning/workshop opportunities, next actions and mapping out the work flow for each of the three projects
I am curious to read how using the spreadsheet will work for you, how you will manage to track and add/change data regularly and how useful it will turn out to be for your process
Generally I would recommend you save spreadsheets as .xls documents for accessibility
Yes, indeed you will learn a lot towards ecological regeneration and sustainable human systems during your time at the ecovillage Lebensgarten – no doubt – enjoy!
Next time I invite you to expand and write a longer conclusion adding your final thoughts for example on how the project process went and a recap of key outcomes & learning highlights 

Supportive Evidence
I feel happy you integrated my feedback and found it valuable to use a design process for your OP work and actually “following your intuition and writing ideas down” could be a step/activity in your design phase were you open up to whatever emerges
Again I am trilled you appreciate the feedback and want to improve OPs and I also just want to say relax, relax and relax – learning happens step by step and in your pace
For integrating OP reviews, just take one change or new action for each PoDAPO area and work with the feedback that resonates most with you – no need to get overwhelmed 
There are no mistakes, just learning happening and I know you will develop and produce fantastic OPs over the next few years of your bachelor program  

OP Reviews
Self Review – I appreciate your enthusiasm around feedback and your dedication in using the PoDAPO framework, great evaluations and reflections for each of the five areas
I can already see you have gained a deeper understanding of the Output Packets, the related process as well as review criteria and requirements 
I would invite you to experiment in the PoDAPO commentary to use the space to share your thoughts and reflections for all criteria, but also to be your own authority shift into a mentor role to give yourself honest, supportive feedback and concrete improvement suggestions or next steps for future OPs 

Peer Review – It seems you enjoy reading the work of fellow associates and sharing your impressions with them in the way of providing feedback, I like the appreciative tone and how you connect your comments with specific OP elements and sections
I would invite you to expand your feedback a little to include some more questions and improvements suggestions (try one practical suggestion for each of the five areas) in particular for critical comments you made and when the criteria was not met – How could this other associate improve next time? How could you inspire/support him/her to do so?