A valentine to the creative class: 

"If you tell one person to bring you a dozen roses you’ll probably get a dozen roses. If you tell a dozen people to bring you one rose you probably won’t get any." 

                                                                                                                            Anon.

 

Creating an Atmosphere of Collaboration

Improv teaches us to work with anything we are given (a prop, a line, an opportunity, a rejection, a bad economy…). No matter what it is, your FIRST answer is always yes. I want to use television as a metaphor for work.

IMPROV:

Whose Line Is It Anyway is an improvisational television show - a great example of working with anything and having fun doing it. The performers respond affirmatively to anything shouted out by an audience member. They work with what they are given and make us laugh. The energy seems to grow and grow.

"REALITY"

Now think about the reverse situation. Reality TV is an emotional wasteland where participants scream at each other and argue constantly. Sure, it's a human train wreck, and fun to watch for fifteen minutes and a beer, but would you really want to live there, 24 hours a day? You can almost feel the energy draining out of the room...

Where would you rather work: at the IMPROV or the Jersey Shore? What kind of office environment have you created?

4 Common LMS Implementation Challenges:
(I've learned a few lessons - the hard way - from implementing multiple LMS solutions...)

Issue #1: Failing to visualize, plan and document for leadership the expected ROI, Operations Impact Success Metrics with all constituent groups.

• Recommendation: Collaborate with business units to define requirements and desired outcomes, first. Map the implementation process as well as a plan that includes agreed metrics and milestones for measuring success (Day One, Month One, Year One, etc) for each business unit. Communicate this plan to the LMS vendor as well.
  

Issue #2: Most internal team members have other duties to perform, and organizations usually underestimate the amount of resources and time required for a successful IT launch, including people dedicated to: Project Management, LMS Management, IT Support, Communication, Visual Design and User Support before, during and after enrollment.

• Recommendation: Make sure the project has an executive champion, a person that has communicated a vision for learning within each unit. Identify additional resources beyond the internal team that can handle the planned - as well as any unplanned - duties and activities that may arise during implementation.

Issue #3: The LMS will require changes in behavior, tasks, and job requirements.

• Recommendation: Budget time to work closely with all traditional instructors, instructional designers and support team members so they are comfortable with all aspects of the system and how they can best use it. Make sure the plan anticipates and includes organizational responses to push-back and a plan for change management, including updated job descriptions for everyone who will rely on the system for information or work.

Issue #4: There is often a desire to deliver the system everywhere to every employee, at once. The resulting support load becomes exponential and is often unmanageable with limited resources.

• Recommendation: Use a department-by-department implementation starting where the system will most most welcome and successful. Let successful users spread the word and invite them to act as mentors. Share successes through internal communications and allow space to address any concerns or misunderstanding.

Authenticity

The solution to your next, big challenge might not be found within your organization, but within your community.

That's where we learn how a mother creates a healthy menu on limited funds, or a farmer makes more efficient use of solar cells, or a teenager designs a better shoe...

Our challenge? Finding those people. Defining the actions that make them different. Sharing the learning. Measuring the impact.

More tips on social learning through collaboration

...from a white paper released today. Although written at an enterprise level, the tips can be extrapolated for learning and talent development.

Here are some highlights and factoids I took away (and will begin to digest) and some you may find useful:

• Roughly 53% of the 79 million adult women in the United States who use the Internet participate in social media

• According to Forrester Research, social media ad spending will grow from $716 million this year to more than $3.1 billion in 2014

• Organizations should view social media activity as a powerful enabler that provides opportunities for developing new relationships and gaining competitive advantage

• Get all stakeholders (SMEs, customers, not just trainers) involved in blogging or participating on the corporate social networks, according to their specific passions

• Partner with highly active customers to create and contribute to better learning and services (Microsoft has similar forums where the most active participants who help the most people become “MVPs” and earn trips to Redmond for recognition and rewards)

• Use ad hoc conferences to connect directly and immediately on an issue of mutual interest (best practices, etc.) or share any "positive deviance" that might help the group.

• Tie Webinars to real-time research, seeking answers from participants that address meaningful challenges, “Eight Successful Strategies for Retaining Business Travel Clients"

• Get customers involved in the online discussion through a special event (one that is educational, motivational, and entertaining)

A $5 success story

Food for thought... Why isn't every great idea that generates positive change an immediate success? What does it take for others to adopt a new behavior? When we see a successful project or person, do we appreciate the string of failures (or rejection) leading up to it?

In 2004, Stuart Frankel owned two small sandwich shops at a hospital. He came up with an idea to sell his sandwiches for $5 during off hours - $1 below corporate recommended pricing. Sales rose by double digits.

Frankel ceaselessly championed the idea to Subway's corporate leadership amid widespread skepticism and rejection (this wasn't created by corporate leaders…). The franchise board also rejected the idea (Too risky! Labor costs will explode! Profit margins will erode!)

But a few other franchise owners picked up on Frankel's idea and tried it for themselves in locations ranging from Washington to Chicago. The idea yielded positive results. Finally, three years later, the Subway board voted to support the idea.

Subway brought in its ad agency. A national campaign was launched on March 23, 2008. Sales shot up 25% on average. Within weeks, 3,600 videos of people performing the ad's jingle appeared on YouTube. Here's a short sample...

Copycat offers ultimately emerged. Boston Market offers 11 meals for $5. Domino's sells sandwiches for $4.99. KFC has $5 combo meals. T.G.I. Friday's now has $5 sandwiches. It's a $5 value menu explosion.

Meanwhile, back at Subway, the campaign represents $4 billion in additional sales. All this, from a frequently rejected idea created and championed ceaselessly by one man.

Here's an interesting heads-up on future employment demographics (note: training impact) from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics - Employment Projections: 2008-2018 Summary

• The number of persons age 55 years + in the labor force is expected to increase by 12.0 million, or 43.0 percent, during the 2008-2018 period
  
• The labor force in 2018 will be more diverse (Asian workers +29.8%, Hispanics +33.1%)
  
• Service-providing industries will add 14.6 million jobs, or 96 percent of the increase in total employment
  
• Occupations that require a post-secondary degree are expected to account for nearly half of all new jobs
  
• Short and moderate-term on-the-job training are the most significant sources of post-secondary education for 17 of the 30 occupations projected to have the largest employment growth

What does this mean for...

• corporate talent recruiting & development efforts?
• efforts to make work spaces welcoming for a diverse talent force? 
• support for emerging leaders?
• internal talent development and learning programs?

Characters, Challenges and Cliff-hangers: What Toy Story 3 can teach us about learning

Did you see the movie? I double-dog dare you to tell everyone you did not get a lump in your throat as Andy prepared to leave home, or when the toys faced an uncertain future near the end. Those moments are examples of great storytelling.

Creative writing is a major part of great storytelling, like peas and carrots, hands and gloves. Think about the last training material you created.

Do you enjoy reading it? Did it tell a good story? Does it move you, or change the way you feel about a particular topic? Would you want to sit through it again – just for fun?

People respond to challenges with a combination of emotion, physical responses, and intellectual capacity. Yet most courses often only appeal to our cognitive, rational side. That’s a big mistake many corporations make. (shhh… “emotional” sounds so…“unprofessional"!)

Wrong! If you truly want to create more meaningful learning, you need to appeal to your audience’s fundamental humanity: their emotions.

By creating characters, challenges and cliff-hangers that spark a true emotional response, you keep them focused on opportunities coming from within the learning, and not the sports updates on their Blackberry.

Advertisers, movie producers, and great sales people learned years ago that the best way to engage the brain is through the heart. Ditto learning and employee development.

More Like a Guild, Less Like a Factory

I had an interesting conversation with a good friend yesterday. Jim’s organization has a well-deserved reputation as one of the leading design firms in the Southeast.

Businesses that rely on construction were especially hard hit during the recession. His firm was no exception, yet they managed to maintain most of their clients as a result of superior quality work. During our chat he remarked on a disturbing trend I had heard from other business leaders.

Some prospective clients informed him they should be able to purchase his services at rock-bottom prices (below cost). His firm provides a custom service, not a product or commodity. His prospects’ reasoning went something like this: “Since you need this work, and probably don’t have enough business right now, you should be happy with what I am willing to pay.”

He conceded that, barring any other work his firm might consider that kind of offer before declining it outright. But he and his team know from experience that as the economy picks up, those low-bid clients will require just as much attention (or more), absorb their workers in work that affords little or no profit margin, distract them from better-paying clients and create “low-quality service experiences”.

Like Jim, I would place my confidence in his ability to stabilize and grow his business by creating better ‘experience’ opportunities, rather than better pricing strategies. Why?

Psychological research suggests that, in the long run, “experiences” make people happier than possessions. Think of “possession” as the end product, service or deliverable, in Jim’s case, an architectural design. Even more significantly, these customer experiences have the ability to make other people (future clients) happy, as well.

A client will remember his team and the experience, long after they have moved in, lived in and/or sold the property Jim’s team designed. Jim’s team will remember working with a great client and take pride in their work.

Likewise, you will remember how the manager treated you with respect long after the fresh plastic smell has faded inside your new car. You will remember the exceptional flight attendant and the way he or she treated you long after that (hopefully) unremarkable flight.

Our lives have the potential to change when we deliver or receive one of these great experiences… Wow! That’s an amazing concept and scientific fact. Given the choice, I’d prefer to work for an organization that strives to create those experiences. Wouldn’t you?

Jim was smart. He and his team sat down and clearly defined their challenge – ways to express their passion for design and how to deliver it affordably– with customer feedback and input driving most agreement.

Based on his client feedback, Jim began a program to connect clients with suppliers in real-time virtual meetings, with team members acting as facilitators. They also began to explore innovative ways to collaborate with clients, such as design contests that include local students and virtual tours of buildings around the globe. Finally, they are making sure that each one of their employees submits ideas for regional competitions, with opportunities to champion their ideas.

Essentially, everyone serves a customer. The trick lies with understanding your customers and their needs, respecting their values, and delivering memorable experiences as part of every transaction.