-
Glossary
- financial freedom
- accountability
- adaptability
- adaptive action
- ascii
- audit
- authentication
- authority
- benchmark
- business process
- business strategy
- cascading objectives
- character definition
- charismatic leadership
- codified knowledge
- cohesion
- commitment
- consensus
- context switching
- corrective action
- cost
- critical thinking
- culture
- cycle time
- decision
- decision analysis
- decision tree
- delegate
- direct influence
- distributed leadership
- eBook
- effect
- effective leadership
- emergent leadership
- emerging technologies
- encryption
- epub
- eReader
- essential outcomes
- ethical reasoning
- evaluation criteria
- experience
- forecast
- formalized process
- function
- Glossary and Acronym List
- granularity
- heuristic
- html
- hypothesis
- indirect influence
- initiatives
- inspect
- integrity
- intellectual capital
- intent
- interface
- IP
- ISO
- issue
- justification
- leadership
- legitimacy
- lesson learned
- management
- mentorship
- methodology
- mindmapping
- minimum viable quality
- mission statement
- model
- mutual influence
- objective
- PDCA
- perseverance
- pilot
- potential problem (or opportunity)
- principle
- prioritize
- problem
- procedure
- process
- process model
- project
- quality
- resilience
- responsibility
- responsiveness
- risk
- risk and opportunity management
- risk-based thinking
- rule of law
- schedule
- scope
- self-discipline
- service level
- socialization
- sound
- stakeholder
- strategic alignment
- strategy
- systems thinking
- tacit knowledge
- theory of constraints
- transactional leadership
- transformational leadership
- trust
- UML
- unicode
- value activities
- value chain
- values
- vision
- weighting
- work around
- Real Estate
- Lead Self
- Process
- Lead Teams
- Making a Website
- Lead Organizations
- Genealogy Consulting
-
Teaching Kids Leadership
- Problem Solving Checklist
- Adjusting Leader Style to Personality Types
- Plan Do Check Adjust (PDCA)
- So what can adults do to help kids learn leadership?
- A rose by any other name is still a rose
- Natural Consequences Versus Coaching and Correcting
- Help Kids Develop Improved People Skills
- Five Year Old Laments 'My sister is making me mad!'
- Socratic question-based discussions
- Have the child report on what they saw that day'
- Great question for the adults trying to teach kids
- Teach Kids How to Deal With Stress Well
- Teach Kids the Pareto Principle, the 80/20 Principle
- Maslov Pyramid Perspective on Kids
- Reading Partner Questions
- Watching Examples and Discussing with the Youth to Help Them Process What They Saw
- Trust is crucial to leadership
- Teenage Decision Making
- Character Development - What is character anyway so kids can develop it?
- Defining Leadership
- Blog Vocabulary Not at Child's Level
- Encouragement for the Single Parent
- Giving children opportunities to lead
- Habits of Mind from Project 2061
- Horizontal Leadership-There are more chances to practice this type for children
- How young is too young to start?
- Introduction for those new to leadership
- Producer or Consumer of Leadership?
- Scouts provides opportunities to practice leadership
- Set High Expectations
- So why should anyone take on the challenge of leadership?
- The Beginning of My Journey of Discovery
- The Paradox of Service to Others
- The Well Trained Mind
- Vertical Leadership is not where kids typically start out
- What about cultural differences?
- What can children pick up about leadership anyway?
- What is age-appropriate for teaching kids leadership?
- What is the Payoff for the Hard Work of Leadership?
- What lessons did I learn trying to develop leadership in my own children (so far)?
- Who cares about leadership?
- Character Development - How do we grow strong character and help children do the same?
- How do we measure our current character?
- Character Development - Fairness as a Character Trait
- Children Can Learn Leadership
-
Blog
- Gallons of Ink
- Got Yubikey Setup
- Experimenting with Ink Containers for Travel
- Cigar Case Pen Protector
- More Ink Mixing for Refill Bottles
- MacOS Sandboxing can Impact Reuse
- Python Programming
- Primary
- How to Make Family History Website and Book with Same Data
- Further Adventures Making DIY Fountain Pen Ink
- Cursive Writing
- Have Pens. Now I Need Paper
- eBook Conversion
- My Copper Metal Pen Arrived
- Do It Yourself (DIY) Mixing Fountain Pen Inks
- Microlearning
- Emergency Preparedness with Mobile Devices
- The Nature of Lisp and Writing with Pollen
- Fountain Pens
- Learning Simulation
- I Wish Familysearch.org Exported Data
- Raising Chickens in Florida
- Climbing the Learning Curve
- Gardening
- Dont Give Up
- The One Thing
- Opportunity Management
- Quote About Questions
- Mindset - Be sure you encourage kids toward 'growth' not 'born talent' with its fixed limits
- Demonstrating Respect and Choice versus Force and Coercion
- Behavioral Styles
- Applying Precepts
-
Family History
- Author's Contact Information
- Conventions Used
- Family History
- Family History Frontmatter
- Family History Introduction
- Historical Timeline
- Note to Future Family History Maintainers
-
Our Lanham Paternal Lineage
- Josias Lanham Family 1628 (Not our direct line)
- Other Siblings and Cousins in the Curtis Harden Lanham Generation
- Other Siblings and Cousins in the Hiram D. Lanham Generation
- Other Siblings and Cousins in the John Lanham (1661) Generation
- Other Siblings and Cousins in the Jonathon Lanham (1630) Generation
- Other Siblings and Cousins in the O.S. Lanham Generation
- Other Siblings and Cousins in the Robert Lanham (1560) Generation
- Other Siblings and Cousins in the Sylvester Lanham Generation
- Other Siblings and Cousins in the T.B. Lanham Generation
- Other Siblings and Cousins in the Thomas Lanham (1701) Generation
- Other Siblings and Cousins in the Thomas Lanham (1757) Generation
- Our Lanham Line - The Paternal Lineage
- The Amanda Francis Lanham Family
- The Andrew Shepherd Family
- The Archibald Lanham Family 1751
- The Benjamin Garfield Lanham Family
- The Burress and Ida Roberts Family
- The Calvin Powell Dorsey Family
- The Charles Selby Family 1762
- The Clifford Wayne Lanham Family
- The Curtis Harden Lanham Family 1813
- The Curtis Harden Lanham Family 1875
- The David Lanham Family 1595
- The Edward James Holt Family
- The Edward Lanham Family 1685
- The Elmer Harn Family
- The Emmitt F. Welborn Family
- The Eugene WILLIAMS Family 1855
- The Frank Robinson Family
- The Gideon Wilburn Ashley Family
- The Hiram Demarcus Lanham Family 1845
- The Issac Elam Family 1803
- The Jacob Shepherd Family 1812
- The James Bedford Ray Family (Cliffie M. Lanham)
- The James Kennedy Family
- The Jasper Shipman Family
- The Jeremiah Lanham Family 1755
- The Jesse Elam Family 1782
- The Joe A. Madden Family
- The John Hendrickson Corely Family
- The John James Roberts Family
- The John Lanham Family 1661
- The John Lanham Family 1690
- The John Nicholas Jacks Family 1740
- The John T. Scott Family
- The Jonathan Hammer Cook Family
- The Jonathan Lanham Family 1630
- The Josias Lanham Family 1590
- The Oran Stroud Lanham Family 1916
- The R.J. Craighead Family 1907
- The R.J. Craighead Family 1907
- The Richard Lanham Family 1697
- The Robert Lanham Family 1584
- The Roger Lanham Family 1560
- The Stephen Lanham (1726) Family
- The Stephen Lanham Family 1760
- The Stephen Lanham Family 1784
- The Sylvester Lanham Family 1790
- The Thomas Benton Lanham Family
- The Thomas Berry (T. B.) Lanham Family 1882
- The Thomas Lanham (1757) Family
- The Thomas Lanham Family 1700 or 1701
- The Thomas Sisk Family 1858
- The W.T. Lanham Family 1850
- The Walter Lee Ray Family
- The William Curtis Lanham Family
- The William Lanham Family 1699
- The Willie Green Scott Family
- The Wortha Leon Lanham Family 1907
- Reference Materials
- Rockwall Cemetery Listing, Rockwall, Texas
- The 2006 Journey to Find Thomas Lanham's Grave Site
- The Lanham family of Wortham (Research Details)
-
The Maternal Side of Our Family Lines
- The A. Sion Wheeles Family
- The Aaron Jones Family
- The Abednego Chandler Family 1752
- The Adrian Alford Colbath Family 1893
- The Alex L. Baker Family
- The Alford Nolen Jones Family
- The Andrew Jackson (Jack) Kitchens Family
- The Beall Family
- The Benjamin Colbath Family 1758
- The Chisel True Baker Family
- The Daniel Horne Blackmore Family
- The David Amick Family
- The George Henry Slattery Family
- The J. E. Sisk Family
- The James McHale Family
- The John C. Colbath Family 1820
- The John Chandler Family
- The John Jones Family
- The John Lacey Family (bef 1778)
- The John Patrick Carmody Family
- The John Sappington Family 1723
- The Larkin (Lark) Patrick Williams Family
- The Lazarus Rufus Jones Family
- The Leah Unknown Family
- The Luther Jason Head Family
- The Luther Troup Baker Family
- The Mason Jones Family
- The Michael Gonzales Family
- The Michael Yost Family
- The Patrick Joseph Merrick Family
- The Patrick Merrick Family 1883
- The Patrick Williams Family
- The Perry Rufus Jones Family
- The Peter Logan Yost Family
- The Quirke Family
- The Richard Head Family 1802
- The Richard Merrick Family
- The Robert Chandler Family 1687
- The Stephen Grey Family 1894
- The Thomas Edmonson Head Family
- The Thomas Lacey Family 1808
- The Thomas Winthrop Colbath Family 1851
- The William Estes Family 1785
- The William J. Roberts Family
- The William Milton Jacks Family
- The William Patrick Williams Family
- The Willis Ashley Family
- The Winthrop Colbath Family 1786
- The Time and the Places
- Mental Models
- Contact
- Frequently Asked Questions
Make a Focus Plan
While balancing work, family, school, and other service opportunities, we oftentimes feel we have limited room for genealogy.
Do family history in wisdom and order. Don’t run faster than you have strength. Be diligent, but don’t expect to fill in every gap in family history by yourself, all done today. Rather, donate some of your time consistently to this work.
"What should I do next?" is a common refrain from people with their 4-generations already mostly found and as they branch out (pun intended) to other parts of their relatives.
You are no doubt already good at planning and doing in other parts of your life, so let’s apply that skill to family history work too.
Your Who-What-When-Where PLAN
So to get the most out of the short time blocks we do allocate for family history, I recommend having a brief plan.
Not a long, complicated plan. Rather, just the current small gap you want to work on. The other gaps will still be there after you make progress on this gap. It is your current ONE priority for FH work.
Planning FH effort has a few specific requirements:
-
Identify the GOAL or GAP for only ONE (1) person that you want to solve (WHO).
-
GAP: What’s missing that you want to find out (WHAT)?
-
What is the problem you want to solve?
-
Writing the gap down can help when you get lost among the research rabbit holes. Write it down to help focus on right thing.
-
How will you know you solved the GAP?
-
-
-
Review known details (What do you already know?)
-
Evaluate what’s already known about your ONE (1) person.
-
(WHEN) In what time period did they live?
TipEstimate initially to bound your search (i.e. if child born in 1860, then they were most likely born before 1844, assuming they were at least 16-yrs old at child’s birth. As you find out more, replace the estimates.) -
(WHERE) Which geographic regions are in (no point in looking beyond the mark)?
-
(WHERE) Where will you store records you find so you can find it again? (local hard drive (backed up), cloud storage (dropbox, google drive), sites(familysearch, ancestry, etc.))
-
What documentation has already been collected?
-
How thoroughly was each record already been studied?
-
What is the historical context?
-
-
What leads can you follow?
-
Is anyone still alive that might have this information? (easiest approach when it applies)
-
Are the algorithm hints really for your ancestor?
-
-
(WHY) Can you clearly state your rationale and point to the sources that lead to your conclusions? Did you add that rationale to the database or Family Search when you made the change?
-
-
Any constraints? (records burned for that time, no census records available, etc.)
-
Adjust from Prior Sessions
-
What has previously worked well for you in earlier Family History sessions?
-
How well did you provide a source citation to help others (or your future self) find the record 6 months from now?
-
What did not work well for you in previous Family History sessions? How can you adjust?
-
-
Does your plan focus on this session’s GAP (supports your goal)?
Tip
|
Consider this approach or substitute an alternate approach that you have refined in your own life experiences. |
Apply Plan-Do-Check-Adjust (PDCA) on a personal Family History Kanban board.
Background: The PDCA is also known as the Deming Cycle, or the Shewart cylce. It traces back to a 1920s expert Walter Shewart. If you want more, ask Google.
A personal Kanban board is a way to visualize and track knowledge work, what’s TO-DO, what’s IN-PROGRESS, and what’s DONE over time. Some people prefer research logs. Pick what works for you. Use your tracking as a way to celebrate small findings in amily History work (Yay!). Kanban boards are excellent tools for multiple people collaborate on projects, and filling family history gaps are projects too.
Easy to Start
Use a cork board, or white board, a piece of paper, or a Trello board (trello. Divide it into three columns, (1) To Do, (2) In-Progress, and (3) Done.
To Do | Work In-Progress | Done -------|--------------------|------- | | | | | | | |
Write the current gap & short plan on a sticky note or 3X5 card and stick it in the To-Do column.
Caution
|
Keep the scope of the task on the card to a size that will fit into 30-60 minute time slots. If the task is too big, break it up onto multiple cards. |
When your FH times arrives, check your FH Kanban To Do column and pull the top card (work one at a time) in the To-Do column into the Work In-Progress column.
Modern software engineers use boards like this and work in multiple iterations of small amounts of effort (called agile "timeboxes") to work small scope problems, to deliver small chunks of progress. We too can plan small bites of Family History work to make progress.
WHEN: What 30-60 min of the week can and will you commit to work your family history using this small plan? Allocate the a set time (30-60 min) now, put it in your calendar tool or app, and plan around it.
WHAT: What is the gap for now? For this session’s ONE (1) person what is the gap? What information has already been gathered?
WHO: Who is associated with the gap? Pick only ONE (1) person for this session.
WHY: Family history is simply problem solving in action for your relatives. Aim for small working sessions.