Fast Comapany Article--Ilene Sorensen--"The WOW Project," by Tom Peters, May 1999, Page 116.

The title of this article caught my eye. The more I read--the more I wanted to read. Peters talked about top executives and that he felt they may have to face the reality that they need to change the way they work. He says project work is the future of work and could possibly lead to job security. Having a project and turning it into something that people value will give us direction in our careers. This whole article reminds me of all the project-based learning we have talked about in class.

Have you ever looked at something old and found a new way of using it? Then getting a team to work on it, too. Doesn't that sound exciting. Just think of all the creativity that would come out of this.

Peters states that 4 steps go into every WOW project. 1-Finding and creating a great project. 2-Selling the project 3-Executing the project 4-Handing off the project so you can move on to the next one.

Peters says,"When finding a project, it should be something of interest to you. When you have a burning desire for something, you will excel and grow."

I have a compelling need to do a super job as an Nutrition Education Assistant. I want to help as many people as I can . It is important for me to let people know why they should eat healthy. I guess that would be step number 2--selling the project. This has to be done in a way that the ground work is laid so that people buy into it. Executing a project is what Extension does best. I like this, too, maybe it's the teacher in me. This part seems the easiest. The final step is the handing off a project. This is probably the most important. Sometimes this maybe hard to do because if a person has taken on ownership of a project. For me it is watching others enjoy a final project and sharing it with others. I feel I do this a lot in the classroom, because the teachers have to finalize some projects. Everyone enjoys hearing their project is great and that it benefits someone.

Peters tells us to always take time to reflect on our completed projects. Taking time to reflect and gather our thoughts will help us with the next project.

As I explained the WOW project to a colleague, she thought that the reflecting on a project is the most important --Why was it done? What they learned. How was it done? How it could be better? It would certainly help prepare for another project and maybe how a project should be changed. I plan to share this with other colleagues. Again I say--WOW to project-based learning.

-- Anonymous, December 29, 1999