By Michael Pearsall, P.Eng., CVS, FEC – President, SAVE International
There were two things that moved me deeply just after I finished writing my last Value World message and I would like to touch on both this month.
The first item was learning of the passing of SAVE International member Kurt Lieblong. Owing mainly to the fact that we shared a background in the transportation industry (aka DOT-world), I enjoyed interacting with Kurt at SAVE events. News of Kurt’s passing came much sooner then I was expecting for a person who always seemed so strong and passionate in our discussions. Kurt was not a passive member, he volunteered and got involved. Life is sometimes too short and we must all remember to seize the moment, don’t put off until tomorrow what can be done today. My heart goes out to Linda and the rest of Kurt’s family, he had a positive impact on the world and will be missed by many.
The second item that moved me more than expected as I kept reflecting on it was our editor’s call to action. Anthony sent me his draft thinking I might find it too brash or abrupt. On the contrary, I didn’t want him to change a word. I found the message was on-point with his call-out to all of us to “move the ball forward” and be accountable for progressing the profession. Moreover, I have gone back to it a few times this past month and thought about what more I could do.
One of the great things about serving SAVE in an executive capacity are the opportunities you get to share your experiences and message about the Value Methodology (VM). I see these as both my opportunity to “move the ball forward” and my obligation to honour our past and present members by continuing to make a difference in the world.
Regarding making a change, I have travelled many places with my good friend Rakesh Shreewastav to introduce new groups to the VM. Travelling with Rakesh is always a memorable experience and I could fill a book talking about all the interesting, famous and pseudo-famous people he has introduced me to. I am honoured to know Rakesh as he is always looking for opportunities for us to speak or teach to a new group. With the shift to virtual presentations over the past year, these presentations have changed and the travel is gone. However, there is the added bonus that the presentations are now often being recorded and posted on-line.
Earlier this summer we were invited to make our presentations for the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers as part of their ENGtalks series and webinar. ENGtalks is a place for engineers to share their expertise and unique insights in the form of short thought leadership presentations and talks. The webinar series feature innovative presentations aimed at enhancing professional competencies in a variety of industry specific sectors. Our presentations can be viewed in their YouTube site that were shared with their thousands of members across Canada:
Link to ENGtalks series (Short overview)
Link to Webinar series (Presentation with Q&As)
I don’t think any of my videos will be chart-toppers on YouTube; however, it is another way we can spread the word and share the methodology. Rakesh and I continue to work together on future events and I will keep you posted on the journey to share our important message and to “move the ball forward” in Canada which we both feel very passionate about.
Speaking of videos. On September 26 Hisaya Yokota is organizing the Functional Approach Business Innovation Center (FABIC) event on behalf of the Functional Approach Institute and I have been working on my video for the event. I am pleased to see many other notable SAVE members on the agenda as well. I am humbled looking at the videos from last year and hope I can meet the high bar that has been set.
I’m sure many of you have been producing and posting similar videos. Is there a need or desire to create a repository within SAVE where we can direct people who want to see these? What can we do to make sure our combined efforts have the most impact? I am open to hearing any suggestions you wish to share with us through the SAVE business office at info@value-eng.org.
Just a reminder that these are the three top themes for the year ahead:
- Education – e-learning, update the training approach for VMF 1 and VMF 2 courses, ensure that testing and certification are in line with the new education content and the VM Guide.
- Global Inclusivity and Diversity – continue shifting the focus of SAVE to be more global, accessible and open to the world. This means leveraging more virtual opportunities (training/education) and engaging in global issues and needs.
- Innovation and Change – focus on leveraging the web to deliver VM services, looking to build on our recent successes with virtual facilitation and other approaches. Also, looking at how we can build on the results of the three Tiger Teams.
I am pleased to report that through the month of August we have been making good progress on the Education theme thanks to the dedicated efforts of a small but effective team.
Thank you as well to all who have reached out about the rebranding committee based on last month’s call for volunteers. I continue to be thankful for all our membership support and trust.
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