percipio publicus

Who Are You?

2010-05-27T16:32:59Z

In a meeting this morning, a colleague related that the first concept discussed in an Organizational Development workshop was "self awareness." Most of us nodded our heads sagely.
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The foundational requirement for self awareness in positive learning and change is a truism for a reason. It's true. And when you say it, people nod their heads. And we pat ourselves on the back because of all the people in the room, we, undoubtedly, are the *most* self-aware.
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Uh-huh.
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By definition, it is unlikely to know the places where you are *not* self-aware. (Yup. I'm smart like that.) There are some ways to find your blind spots. Stay tuned. I'll explore a few of these in future posts.

Something

2010-05-07T00:09:09Z

I just felt I needed to say something.

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I'm easily amused.

It's a show about nothing!

2010-03-15T23:19:32Z

Here are your tasks:

Tell me. What is it you do, exactly?

Write a description for the staff newsletter about the project.

Why should I go to that training?

Fit that idea into a Twitter post!

Find a mate! (like Dilbert, here with a well-crafted message...)

This website from Harvard helps you craft your elevator speech. Nifty tool.

The elevator speech is a finely tuned message geared for delivery in approximately one minute - for example, in the amount of time you have when on an elevator with the target of your message.

I'm so glad our state capitol isn't "Pigs-Eye"

2010-03-08T22:36:45Z

What's in a name? Apparently motivation, interest, application, and all sorts of other good things.

How do you "sell" your workshops to internal staff? A lot of it has to do with the name of the training. Is it a dry descriptor (Email Basics), or a snappy eye-catcher (Collaborating with Others using Microsoft Word)?

It is not just the title that matters, if they continue reading, potential participants want to know that the workshop contains useful application, relevance, and is content-rich. Staff will want to sign up for a session that sounds interesting, engaging, perhaps even (gasp!) fun.

I know this isn't rocket science (is rocket science even rocket science?), and, at the same time, I feel like a need a major algorithm to attract people to our workshops.

What a tangled web we weave...

2010-01-25T22:10:49Z

Staff Education & Development (SED), "my" department, has a responsibility to develop Libraries employees in a way that supports the overall strategic direction of the organization. One problem of maintaining this programming element is, once I back up to the 30,000 foot view of the organization from above, things get complicated. From that height, I can see that everything is connected. Everything.

In that context, determining departmental priorities and taking action becomes more difficult. Touch one part of the web, and the whole thing trembles in response. While that isn't necessarily a bad thing, it can create "analysis paralysis." To overcome this, at some point, we just need to do something. We might not intersect the web in the exact correct place, but we can recover when we fail, and continue moving in the right direction, finding or creating the right path.

SED has several paths to tread (or create!) right now:

Finishing and Implementing the New Employee Orientation Program

Creating a new and vastly more usable departmental wiki,which will be a living resource for staff

Ongoing creation and identification of e-modules for just-in-time staff learning

Defining the deeper connection of partnership between SED and IT

Packaging our training modules together in ways that help employees decide what learning activities will help them achieve their goals

Ongoing support of time sensitive requested training and consultation

Much, much more

None of this situation is unique to SED, or even Human Resource Development programs in general. In any case, how do we do all of these at once? The answer is, we can't. We leverage partnerships and get input where we are able. We learn as we go, and we make mistakes.

We do the best we can, dancing along the surface of the web.

"You like me! You really like me!"

2009-12-12T01:21:19Z

...*clutches her Oscar (r)*....

We had the Emerging Tech Expo. We were expecting about 70-100 staff members to show up - we ended up with 180! (If you build it, they will come, indeed!)

Here's a link to the TExpo blog: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/emergingtexpoblog/

Check out the short video of the event.

And now, for my next trick...

2009-12-11T21:12:44Z

My colleague, let's call her "Intrepid Skills Trainer," and I worked on the 2010 workshop schedule yesterday. It will be a busy year. Here is a partial list of what we plan on offering:

Windows 7
Project Management - Fundamentals (2 day); Advanced (2 day)(new)
Google Apps, gmail, etc. - in concert with Office of Information Technology
File Management
Thunderbird - possibly, depending on google rollout dates
UMCal
Excel 2007 - multiple offerings including: Overview (new); Tables; Pivot Tables; Charts (new);
Word 2007 - multiple including: Overview; Collaborating; Mail Merges (new)
PowerPoint 2007 - Overview, and Punching Up PowerPoint Presentations (new)
Wiki - Beginning and Intermediate
Effective Email Communication
Power of Positive Feedback
Risk Taking: Using Data and Intuition (formerly "How to Fail")
Effective Meetings
Managing Change
Training Others: One-on-One
Additional Office of Human Resources (OHR) workshops
Libraries Communications (tentative, in partnership with Communications Dept.)
More, more, more that I just haven't thought of or haven't yet witten down!

I guess I'd better get a move on....

The Silent Treatment

2009-11-29T19:15:12Z

(Hey, that's a good band name!)

After many sacrifices to the blog gods, I'm now able to take comments on the blog again! [insert the sounds of harps and trumpets here]

Please, no pushing. The line forms over there *points* and seems to be moving rather quickly...

*waits*

Sigh......

*looks at clock*

*whittles*

*smiles encouragingly at passers by*

*pouts*

*puts on lip gloss and tries pouting again*

*stomps off in a huff*

If you build it...it will require many trips to Home Depot to finish it.

2009-11-23T23:51:30Z

I attended the first in a series of presentations arranged by the University of Minnesota Libraries this morning. We've* arranged for six (6) big names in the library world to address our staff on our six strategic areas of focus.

This morning we** heard from Lorcan Dempsey***, VP at Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) about "Discovery and Delivery."

One of the things he said that drew my attention was that, in today's environment of scarce attention, if something takes a lot of effort to obtain (e.g.**** it has a "high transaction cost"), It is the same as if it didn't exist.

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* as in "people other than myself, but I work here so I am going to "we" this
** this time "we" does include me
*** Hey, I told you it was big names in the library world, right?
**** Or is it i.e. ?

Are "Bette Davis Eyes" a Preexisting Condition?

2009-11-11T18:45:01Z

The societal issues and other issues that my mind and heart gnaw on make me consider creating my own personal and anonymous blog for blathering. I find it interesting that rather than thinking of writing in a journal, I would think of using a blog to process my thoughts and possibly even share them and gain input on them. (Hey, some people have blogs that people read and comment on.)

"No way!"
"Get out!"
"No, it's true, I tell you!"

What is behind our rising desire for others to know our sandwich at lunch was dry and our dog's vet visit is past due? And why does knowing those things about an otherwise stranger make me think I'm "building community?"

Other minds than mine consider this and have macerated it well.

I love the "why?" questions.

Step Right Up, Folks!

2009-10-08T16:55:30Z

I'm working with a small group on creating an "Emerging Tech Expo" for the UMN Libraries. It is scheduled for November 18th. So many cool things out there to show and talk about. If I could figure out how to enable my comments, I would ask all of you (e.g. all 2 of you? and that includes me), to give suggestions for capturing people's impressions during the event.

Apparently, checking each check box that says "Accept Comments?" is not sufficient.

pfft.

It's Latin for: "Rarely Updated"

2009-09-11T19:45:27Z

The blog has been tickling at the back of my brain lately. I keep thinking of things I want to write about, but then I don't do it. There, I've confessed. May I be excused?

I'm pretty sure the dog ate my blog entry.

I'm also sorry, gentle readers, that I have not yet been able to figure out how to get the "make a comment" link up. We switched to a new version of Movable Type and now I can't do a thing with it. I need some creme rinse for my blog. Yes, the one the dog ate.

I'll figure it out. Because I know OODLES of people are really suffering from the lack of ability to tell me how fabulous I am. (Awww, shucks!)

Seth Godin Reads This Blog!

2009-05-20T15:54:24Z

Breaking News! I'm a Big Fat Liar!

Okay, he doesn't.....YET [insert dramatic music sting here] Besides, Seth Godin probably doesn't read blogs, he hires washed up ruby-sorters to read them for him. (Let me insert a disclaimer that I have no idea what Mr. Godin uses washed up ruby-sorters for...it could be for other tasks altogether.)

Sorry...what was I saying? I was distracted by thinking about Seth Godin's head and looking at the ruby in the ring I'm wearing, wondering where it came from....ooohhh....shiny! Yes, both of them.

My point!! (yay!) I wanted to share http://tametheweb.com/2009/05/17/ten-ways-to-encourage-the-tribe/ an interesting blog post regarding social networking and the concept of tribes. I have yet to fully read it... it looks very interesting at first glance.

Failure IS an Option

2009-05-13T16:45:12Z

I created a workshop called "How to Fail." I facilitated it last year and the evaluations were positive. Basically, it looks at how failure is a necessary part of learning, creativity, and progress. If you aren't occasionally falling flat on your face, you probably aren't stretching yourself hard enough to experience the many lessons life has to offer.

If an organization can embrace failure - even encourage failure - it would go a long way toward breaking down the stifling, lackluster, and change-averse cultures of blame and mistrust.

The other day I engaged in a hearty round of failure. It was neither awe-inspiring nor invigorating. It was awful.

]]> My failure occurred because of two stupid mistakes I made on calculations within a new report. I'm not sure how the first mistake occurred, probably due to a lack of focus on my part. The second mistake - on the same report, which I had now sent two incorrect versions out - was just from rushing things and not taking the time to think about the implications of the first correction I had made.

These were not grand failures that will propel me into new creative pastures of innovation and delight. These were everyday failures. These were mistakes. Until this happened, I thought "failure" and "mistake" were synonyms. Now I don't think so. And, it is more than merely a matter of scale. I think that "mistake" might be one subset of "failure." I say this because I could try out a new program, do everything right and still have it fail. There were no glaring mistakes per se, but the program still failed.

This idea is still pretty "doughy" for me. I will continue to think about it. I'm interested to hear comments and thoughts from others on this.

Darwin was late for everything.

2009-04-21T19:44:05Z

I am plagued by lateness. It is one of my character flaws, and a difficult one to change. Part of the reason is because I'm not really interested in having "she was on time" as one of the eventual measurements of my success.

So I started to wonder...lateness travels hand in hand with procrastination. Is there an evolutionary benefit to procrastination? I did a bit of poking around on the intertubes. There are different kinds of procrastination 1) was to focus on the future in a negative way. This caused stress and avoidance of most activities. The 2) is indecision, which appears to be related to remembering the past and how things went wrong. This makes me think that the way to avoid procrastination is to maintain one's focus on the present.

My next question is should I become a Buddhist, a nun, or a Jedi?

Here are some readings

]]> These papers are from the referennces portion of the paper at http://fc04.deviantart.com/fs38/f/2008/336/e/6/Evolutionary_Procrastination_by_Zeeblee.html

Diaz-Morales, J., Cohen, J. & Ferrari, J. (2008). An integrated view of personality styles related to avoidant procrastination. Personality and Individual Differences, 45, 554-558.

Diaz-Morales, J., Ferrari, J. & Cohen, J. (2008). Indecision and avoidant procrastination: The role of morningness-eveningness and time perspective in chronic delay lifestyles. The Journal of General Psychology, 135(3), 228-240.

Ferrari, J., Diaz-Morales, J., O’Callaghan, J., Diaz, K. & Argumedo, D. (2007). Frequent behavioral delay tendencies by adults: International prevalence rates of chronic procrastination. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 38, 458-465.

Ferrari, J. & Diaz-Morales, J. (2007). Procrastination: Different time orientations reflect different motives. Journal of Research in Personality, 41, 707-714.

Green, L., Price, P. & Hamburger, M. (1995). Prisoner’s dilemma and the pigeon: Control by immediate consequences. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 64, 1-17.

Howell, A. & Watson, D. (2007). Procrastination: Associations with achievement goal orientation and learning

strategies. Personality and Individual Differences, 43, 167-178.

Mazur, J. (1998). Procrastination by pigeons with fixed-interval response requirements. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 69, 185-197.

Schraw, G., Wadkins, T. & Olafson, L. (2007). Doing the things we do: A grounded theory of academic procrastination. Journal of Educational Psychology, 99, 12-25.

Sirois, M. (2007). “I’ll look after my health, later”: A replication and extension of the procrastination-health model with community-dwelling adults. Personality and Individual Differences, 43, 15-26.

Steel, P. (2007). The nature of procrastination: A meta-analytic and theoretical review of quintessential self-regulatory failure. Psychological Bulletin, 133, 65-94.