Tools and Resources
Learning Professionals: It’s Time for Learning 3.0
On Friday I had the great pleasure of attending a presentation sponsored by Learning Tree International and featuring Bob Mosher. Bob calls himself a Global Learning and Strategy Evangelist and I certainly came away from his presentation feeling like a convert!
Bob’s impressive experience includes turns as Director of Learning Strategy for Microsoft, Executive Director of Education for Element K, and several years now with LearningGuide Solutions. I was excited and intrigued when Bob started his presentation by telling us that one of his three objectives was “to inspire us to go back to our organizations and help establish a holistic ecosystem which features dynamic learning.”
In a nutshell, Bob helped our group acknowledge that learning has changed. People aren’t going to class to learn as much anymore. Learners want rapid, adaptable, collaborative, self-directed learning at their moment of need. He calls this shift Learning 3.0.
A Tool for Leading Change: Comfort Zone
Leadership expert Steve Arneson shares a simple and effective way to help change leaders understand the discomfort that often accompanies change in his Examiner.com blog post:
Leading change: Start by acknowledging the comfort zone
Five Categories of a Psychologically Healthy Workplace
Thanks to Twitter, I just came across an interesting website from the Psychologically Healthy Workplace.
The Psychologically Healthy Workplace Program (PHWP) is a collaborative effort between the American Psychological Association and the APA Practice Organization, designed to educate the employer community about the link between employee health and well-being and organizational performance.
According to the site, psychologically healthy workplace practices can be grouped into five categories:
- Employee involvement
- Work-life balance
- Employee growth & development
- Health safety
- Employee recognition
Clicking on any of the above links will take you to recent articles and abstracts. Great information for anyone looking for best practices and research to support a focus on creating a healthy workplace.
Great Presentation Skills Resource
Two colleagues of mine here in Colorado Springs, Howard Stableford and Michael Gardner, specialize in helping leaders improve their presentation skills. Their company is called Authentic Communication Training.
Authentic Communication Training uses cutting-edge learning technologies and proven presentation strategies to easily and effectively help clients become authentic and extraordinary presenters–in small and large groups, on-stage and in front of the media.
Looking for a taste of what Howard and Michael offer? Check out their free audio book, “Six Things You Must Know before Being on TV or Video.” I learned a lot from it. My favorite tip: Don’t wait in the green room for your interview – hang on on set instead and observe others.
Keep the great tips coming guys!
The Power of Metaphors
I recently co-facilitated an offsite for the Human Capital team within a government agency. The leader of the group started the session with an fun, simple, and powerful activity. She began by asking each person to quietly think about their team as it is today and then draw an animal that represents the team currently. Next she asked everyone to draw an animal that represents the team they would like to become. Finally everyone went around the table and shared their drawings and what they represented.
I was fascinated by how rich the resulting discussion was. While people chose different animals, there were a lot of similar references. The animals they chose for the future tended to represent characteristics such as speed and agility coupled with teamwork.
Resource for Business Book Addicts
I am in the car and on planes a lot. Therefore I am grateful when I can find interesting things to listen to on my iPod. My favorite source of stimulating downloads is Author Teleseminars.
Author Teleseminars founder Elizabeth Marshall describes her service this way:
Author Teleseminars is the place that brings you all the best tips, strategies, and inspiration for your business and career. You’ll not only get invitations to exclusive calls, but you can immediately download content-rich recordings, so you can listen and learn – day or night. The best part? It’s all free.What I love most about AT is the fact that each “call” is a discussion involving Marshall, the featured author, and two or three other authors who act as panelists. The discussions are quick-paced, fun, and often a bit irreverent. Great for any author or author wanna-be, anyone in business, and anyone interested in what’s new in the world of business books.
A Terrific Resource for Teambuilding and Training
Steve Arneson, leadership expert and examiner.com contributor, recently posted about a great website called BusinessBalls.com.
Arneson writes:
Looking for a cool team-building activity? You’ll find it here. How about a brainstorming technique or process? Check. Popular business models or frameworks? All the big ones are listed here.I checked out the site myself and was stunned to see an index that included hundreds of categories on a wide variety of topics. Everything from video clips to fables to models and diagrams! Check it out – but beware – hours may go by before you realize it!
Leading a World Cafe
A few years ago, my good friend Jennifer McCollum introduced me to a method of engaging people in powerful dialogue. The method, known as World Cafe, was created by Juanita Brown and David Isaacs. A World Cafe centers on inviting people to meet at small “coffee shop” type tables to have several rounds of conversations. Participants rotate from table to table, building on ideas as they move. Brown and Isaacs have used World Cafes with anywhere from 12 to 12,000 people and their method has been replicated around the world.
In my work, I’ve used the World Cafe method to engage employees at all levels in dialogue about the key issues their team, group, or organization is facing. By moving from table to table and focusing on having conversations, rather than making decisions, participants broaden their own thinking and begin to understand and value different perspectives.
To read stories about successful World Cafes and to learn how to host one yourself, visit www.WorldCafe.com.
Free Resources on Leading Change!
If you follow this blog, you already know that I am big fan of Rick Maurer’s. Rick is the author of Beyond the Wall of Resistance and Why Don’t You Want What I Want. He’s also been an important mentor of mine for years. My new book Change at the Core would not be a reality if Rick hadn’t told me it was time to “stop reading and start writing.”
Rick has just unveiled an exciting new initiative - his Change without Migraines Open Source Project. Essentially, this is a website that contains his free Change Without Migraines e-book, suggested training design outlines, reproducible slides, and video and audio segments.
Why is Rick giving us all of this for free? Here’s what he says:
My hope is that as you study the Change without Migraines™ approach more deeply, you’ll make it even stronger — and find new places to apply this approach. A big part of my excitement in providing this “open source code” is to learn what you do with the material.
Start Your Year with 52 Thoughts on Employee Engagement
David Zinger and the members of the Employee Engagement Network created a collection of 52 one-sentence snippets of advice. Read and apply one each week.
52-sentences-on-employee-engagement
