Overview

Here’s a quick outline of our weekly sessions with their corresponding dates:

• Week 0: Expectations (prior to Sep. 27)
• EEK! How do I…? (ongoing)
• Week 1: Encounter (Sep. 27 - Oct. 3)
• Week 2: Equip (Oct. 4 - 10)
• Week 3: Encourage (Oct. 11 - 17)
• Week 4: Energize (Oct. 18 - 24)
• Week 5a/b: Empower/Evaluate (Oct. 25 - 31)
• Week 6+: Engage (after Oct. 31)

Lecture Styles

As you browse, you’ll notice prefixes throughout the online content. Each “lecture” will be one of these types:

• Text: you’ll read text
• Video: you’ll watch a recorded video
• Survey: you’ll take a survey, primarily to check in weekly so I can respond to any concerns
• Discussion: you’ll write a post from a prompt and respond to others’ posts so discussion can happen asynchronously
• Provocation: you’ll be given a provocation in various formats (text, video, etc.) that serves to provoke new perspectives from any potential discomfort that may arise. Even though they’ll likely be challenging, please know these provocations will never be mean-spirited!
• Resource: you’ll get tools, tips, and/or tricks to add to your resources
• Exercise: you’ll have an opportunity to try out the week’s learnings on your own
• LIVE: we’ll have Group Coaching Calls in Week 4 (more on that below)

Asynchronous Format

This experiment is designed so you can do the work at your convenience. This is great as it accommodates our vastly different schedules and various time zones. You have access all and every day! This asynchronous format works best with interactivity.

Time Commitments: you can anticipate spending about 3-5 hours each week on the content and work. Depending on your context and starting point, this could vary. Please do not ever hesitate to reach out if you find it’s significantly more than that! I’ll work with you to do a modified version so you can still get what you need.

Contacting the Instructor: the best way to reach me for course-related things is by email ([email protected]) with Exodus in the subject line. That’ll help your message not get lost in the shuffle and ensure that I can track our communications efficiently.

Suggested Schedule: each week begins on Monday. To engage in the discussion with others, please aim to submit your initial posts by Thursday and respond to others’ posts by the following Monday. Try to respond to at least two other posts and, when possible, respond to ones that don’t have (m)any comments yet.

Pacing: anticipating different speeds of engaging the materials, access to the following week will be released on the Friday before:

• Week 1 (Sep. 27 - Oct. 3) will be released on Friday, Sep. 24
• Week 2 (Oct. 4 - 10) will be released on Friday, Oct. 1
• Week 3 (Oct. 11 - 17) will be released on Friday, Oct. 8
• Week 4 (Oct. 18 - 24) will be released on Friday, Oct. 15
• Week 5a/5b (Oct. 25 - 31) will be released on Friday, Oct. 22
• Week 6+ (after Oct. 31) will be released on Friday, Oct. 29

If you tend to need more time to get through each week, please do continue to make your way through Exodus as you’re able. Just know that you may miss out on comments from others if you post after the week is over, though you’re still able to see the discussions that have already happened.

Group Coaching Calls

We have three scheduled Group Coaching Calls in Week 4:

Tuesday, October 19 | 10:30a – 12p Eastern

Wednesday, October 20 | 2:30p – 4p Eastern

Thursday, October 21 | 6p – 7:30p Eastern

Please secure time in your calendar to attend one session. We’ll be going over the same content, so you don’t need to attend multiple sessions. If you have the time and interest, you are, of course, welcome to attend more than one. Zoom meeting info will be shared at the beginning of Week 4.

EEK! How Do I…? Section

Do yourself a favor and make it a habit to return to this section throughout the experiment. The first two parts of this section – Brief Platform Tutorial and Basic Netiquette – have helpful tips for successfully navigating the platform and communicating with each other. The last parts of the section – Weekly Announcements, Questions and/or Concerns, “Water Cooler” – feature weekly announcements and participant discussions that will change throughout the Experiment, so don’t forget to peek in on the regular!

Weekly Check-Back

Every week on Friday, there’s a brief anonymous survey with the same questions. You can also share your name and contact info if you want someone to reach out to address anything specific. Please complete the surveys as you progress through the Experiment. If you fall behind, prioritize the work, and return to the survey as you have time. Additionally, there will be a feedback form at the end of Exodus where you can note things you may have missed during the Weekly Check-Backs. 

Instructor’s Participation

Your primary engagement with me will be through the recorded videos, the written weekly announcements, and in the live Group Coaching Calls. Though I won’t comment on every post, I’ll still read every single word you and others write. When I do comment, sometimes it’ll be to stretch you further or introduce other perspectives. Other times it’ll be to affirm or add supportive links and/or information. Less visibly, I’ll actively be creating the flexible container in which our experimentation and exploration can happen thoughtfully and courageously. As such, I’ll tweak and revise upcoming content based on the group’s engagement each week, which makes your weekly participation and ongoing feedback extremely valuable.

Disclaimer

To be clear, this is not a “how to” course or a product that comes with guaranteed results of any kind. This is a process; an experiment in engaging the familiar in unfamiliar ways. Indeed, doing the same thing while expecting different results is futile. By the end of our time together, everyone will have tried at least a few new things, which will land us in a different place than we began. That different place may not immediately be evident in a matter of five+ weeks, though I’m certain that the collective wisdom shared here will better position all of us for the future that results from this experimentation.