About this Website
While the website URL is www.dianatucker.com (So, of course this website is all about me-- by no means should we forget that :P), instead of naming individual blogs on here or having separate websites for all my ponderings, I have chosen to name the entire website. However, the URL will not reflect that name. Oh well, win some, lose some. That is not the name of the website, although it is catchy. Certainly much thought, angst and sleepless nights go into the naming of a blog, website, organization or social movement, but I cannot say that I spent that much time on this name. I wanted something that would allow for me to change blog topics, change jobs, change interests and still the name could remain the same. Thus, I have arrived at the title Own It.
What does Own It mean? It started as a quotation from a favorite professor in my undergraduate program at Ohio University. Shout out to Dr. Carl Bridges for starting every management class with the quotation: "This is my opinion and I own it." I am not sure if this was his own saying or one he got from elsewhere. So, I can only attribute it to him. But this quotation had a profound effect on me because I remembered it and then used it in my own classroom for years and years. Through this quotation, Dr. Bridges taught students about having choices for how we constructed our messages and about taking responsibility for the outcome of our voiced opinions. So, as Dr. Bridges explained on the first day of class, we were all allowed to (and encouraged to) have our own opinions; and, he assured us that his classroom was a safe space to voice those opinions, no matter what they were. BUT, if we were going to voice our opinions, we had to take responsibility for how it might affect others in the class. Thus, we needed to think through HOW we communicated the opinion and make wise choices in voicing the opinion. If voicing our opinion in a certain way hurt or demeaned others, we needed to be willing to be accountable for that action and the consequences that may arise for what we said and how we said it. As I remember it 20 years later, the class was certainly a place where many opinions were voiced and debated. Yes, we raised tensions and discussed difficult topics, but in the end I think most students walked away with a healthy respect for communicating in a responsible way. Yes, this was not even a communication class, but one in the business department.
Similarly, this website, the blogs found here and any comments readers may decide to leave are under the same direction of that quotation from my management class two decades ago. I believe that the quotation, "This is my opinion, and I own it," will never be obsolete and will always be able to teach any generation--no matter what the means of communication--about choice and responsibility in voicing their opinions.
What does Own It mean? It started as a quotation from a favorite professor in my undergraduate program at Ohio University. Shout out to Dr. Carl Bridges for starting every management class with the quotation: "This is my opinion and I own it." I am not sure if this was his own saying or one he got from elsewhere. So, I can only attribute it to him. But this quotation had a profound effect on me because I remembered it and then used it in my own classroom for years and years. Through this quotation, Dr. Bridges taught students about having choices for how we constructed our messages and about taking responsibility for the outcome of our voiced opinions. So, as Dr. Bridges explained on the first day of class, we were all allowed to (and encouraged to) have our own opinions; and, he assured us that his classroom was a safe space to voice those opinions, no matter what they were. BUT, if we were going to voice our opinions, we had to take responsibility for how it might affect others in the class. Thus, we needed to think through HOW we communicated the opinion and make wise choices in voicing the opinion. If voicing our opinion in a certain way hurt or demeaned others, we needed to be willing to be accountable for that action and the consequences that may arise for what we said and how we said it. As I remember it 20 years later, the class was certainly a place where many opinions were voiced and debated. Yes, we raised tensions and discussed difficult topics, but in the end I think most students walked away with a healthy respect for communicating in a responsible way. Yes, this was not even a communication class, but one in the business department.
Similarly, this website, the blogs found here and any comments readers may decide to leave are under the same direction of that quotation from my management class two decades ago. I believe that the quotation, "This is my opinion, and I own it," will never be obsolete and will always be able to teach any generation--no matter what the means of communication--about choice and responsibility in voicing their opinions.