ALL YOU'LL EVER BE IS THE FADING MEMORY OF A BULLY...Shinedown - New Single "Bully" off their upcoming album
Two rants in one week. Not normal for the Subculture but hey, sometimes things must be said.
Yesterday I read how another one of our Sacramento community's beautiful gay teenagers committed suicide over New Years. He had been a victim of bullying during high school and apparently college was proving difficult as well. Today, I went downtown to have lunch with a colleague and discovered three things - 1) there was a huge MLK day rally downtown, 2) the police presence (in a state Capital where rallies are routine) was very unusual in terms of both size and show of force, and 3) ALL of the upscale restaurants were closed for lunch in honor of MLK day.
Notice, I said "lunch." They all had signs in them reminding everyone they would be open for dinner. At 5:00. Door after door. Same signs. Same message. No soup for you.
Coincidence? Am I reading too much into this?
I am aware there is controversy between linking issues regarding gay rights to issues of race. I have some African-American colleagues who tell me the struggle between civil rights based on race and civil rights based on sexual orientation are not the same thing at all. Fine. I don't have all the answers. I don't always get it right. I struggle just like everyone else to understand and try to get around my own biases.
But can we ask ourselves what kind of society still allows persecution based on who people are no matter what the reason? And can we ask ourselves as association professionals what role our association is willing to play in legislative battles on behalf of marginalized populations? How about the medical associations lobbying against bills to try to deny visitation rights? How about teachers associations lobbying to increase penalties or their latitude to deal with bullies on campus? How about getting in the dirt with these "grown up" bullies with their smarmy smiles and parliamentary tricks?
How about making sure your association is highly attuned to issues within the membership? Zero tolerance for jokes around the bar at the reception? Stopping campaign contributions or PAC funds being used to support hateful people even if those people support your issues? Setting up LGBTQ councils or committees? Treating members with respect?
God bless Dan Savage and the It Gets Better campaign. But let's be clear. Young bullies operate with impunity as long as old bullies are still writing the rules and setting horrible examples. The bullying doesn't necessarily stop when you turn 18. Not as long as adult candidates running for major office get to use stripping currently, legally married couples of their marital status as an applause line. Not as long as adult presidential candidates are able to vote against the commemoration of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and still be taken seriously. Not as long as audiences of "grown ups" boo a gay soldier when he questions candidates about their position on the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Not as long as adults in public and private institutions declare they should have a right to discriminate against whoever they choose and seek legal remedy to do so. Not as long as a single hospital administrator denies visitation to a partner. Not as long as women are denied reproductive rights because someone else decides to be in charge of a woman's actual, physical body. Not as long as one child is tortured by their idiotic, putridly disgusting classmates for being gay, being of another culture or ethnicity, for being poor, for listening to the "wrong kind of music," for dressing "weird," going to the "wrong" church or whatever the hell else happens to be the reason a bully latches onto.
Not as long as upscale restaurants in a desperately bad recession close their doors to thousands of hungry citizens who may have wanted to stop and have a meal to ostensibly "honor MLK day"...and then turn around and open back up at 5:00 for dinner after downtown clears out.
Stand up. Enough is enough. Do more. Right the wrongs.
No one's gonna cry on the very day you die...you're a bully!
If you like Shinedown here is the link to the video.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Thursday, January 12, 2012
When Customer Service Isn't
"Help me help you!"..... Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire
Sometimes great customer service isn't.
A few days before Christmas, I suddenly remembered that on one of our many shopping trips to Barnes and Noble, one of our daughters had shown the other one a book about a particular TV show and mentioned she thought it was cool. I wish I had remembered this a few weeks before Christmas, but at least I was still within the shopping red zone.
I didn't remember exactly what it was called and I don't watch the show, but I ran over to my computer and found it on Amazon within 30 seconds. I remembered what the book cover looked like and the description sounded right. Then I made a critical decision. Do I buy it right then and there and pay the $15.00 for next day delivery, or do I go to Barnes and Noble because I know I've seen it there and I might be able to put my mitts on it right then and there?
Stupidly, I chose option B.
I rush to the store and begin to search. I'm coming up empty. Every section I try, books are out of order and I'm beginning to get frustrated. I walk over to the customer service area intending to locate the computer kiosk to run a search in the store to locate the book. And then I remember, this is not Borders. They went out of business. The helpful little kiosk I was looking for has never existed at Barnes and Noble. They have chosen to subject the customers to helpful little clerks instead.
I patiently wait in line and approach the desk. The clerk asks me if they can help me. I say, "Yes. I'm looking for a specific title for a Christmas gift and I found it on Amazon earlier today so I know it exists. I know you carry it because I've seen it here before - I just can't find it." With hands poised at the ready, she smiles and says, "No problem, let me look it up for you. What is the title?"
That's when the trouble starts.
You see, twenty years ago I would have written the title and author down and brought it with me. But this isn't twenty years ago. Now, I am immersed in a digital environment and very accustomed to highly intuitive search processes. It occurs to me that I have no idea how to tell the clerk how to help me.
I begin spluttering search terms trying to recreate the search path I had used to get to the book on Amazon not sixty minutes ago. She comes up empty. I mention the name of the television show, the topics the book covered, the one or two words I do remember from the title. Nothing. We are getting nowhere. She cannot help me, because I cannot tell her what I actually need. Finally, in frustration I say, "I know how to find it on Amazon." She loads up Amazon on her computer screen and fingers poised over the keyboard again, asks me what she should search on. At this point, I say, "Please stop helping me. Let me find it." She hands me the keyboard with a look that says, "You are a pain and I wish you would go away."
Sure enough, fifteen seconds later I find what I am looking for. She cuts and pastes the title into her Barnes and Noble system and WA LA - I hear the following sentences, "Oh, yes we do carry that title. (whew) It's in the xyz section. (relief.) But we are out of stock. (grrrr). And the piece de resistance - I can order it for you and it can be available for pick up in a few days." (forehead slap). I weakly smile and say thank you, drive home and order it from Amazon where it shows up on my doorstep 24 hours later.
So let's recap.
A self-sufficient, digitally immersed customer arrives in Barnes and Noble two days before Christmas. They are obviously on the hunt for a gift. They wander through a poorly organized store and paw through shelf after shelf of books. Various sections seem to be organized alphabetically by title, some by author, in what the customer can only assume is an attempt to recreate an "intuitive search process" in a bricks and mortar store. They know for a fact that this title exists on Amazon and it will take them three clicks of a mouse to have it dropped on their doorstep in time to meet their deadline but they are hoping to just buy the damn book today to make sure there are no hiccups in shipping.
A somewhat harried clerk has been trained to provide "better customer service" than a computer kiosk. They welcome the customer warmly and then valiantly and repeatedly attempt to translate the customers relatively unintelligible clues about what they need. They fail. They use a creative and innovative tactic to find the title on a competitors website. Then they STILL can't solve the problem because they don't have the book in stock. Then they offer a helpful, alternative solution meant to solve the problem, with a vague assertion that the book can be in the store, "in a few days."
Fail.
The point is...sometimes great customer service - help me, help you - leads to frustration on both sides. Great customer service doesn't necessarily solve problems, sometimes it actually makes it harder to provide solutions. Your members may not be able to exactly articulate what they need and you may think it's your job to "intuitively help them" figure it out. But these days, there is a line that is only getting bigger between customer service that is helpful, and customer service that is actually an obstacle. Sometimes you have to take your helpful self out of the equation and give your members the tools they need to solve their issues themselves.
And Barnes and Noble? Install some freaking computer kiosks for your customers who are losing the ability to clearly articulate what they are searching for but can find it themselves in 30 seconds or less. Either that, or risk becoming the latest casualty in the booksellers market. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Here is the link to the movie clip for those of you who can't see the embedded code - Help me, help you....
Sometimes great customer service isn't.
A few days before Christmas, I suddenly remembered that on one of our many shopping trips to Barnes and Noble, one of our daughters had shown the other one a book about a particular TV show and mentioned she thought it was cool. I wish I had remembered this a few weeks before Christmas, but at least I was still within the shopping red zone.
I didn't remember exactly what it was called and I don't watch the show, but I ran over to my computer and found it on Amazon within 30 seconds. I remembered what the book cover looked like and the description sounded right. Then I made a critical decision. Do I buy it right then and there and pay the $15.00 for next day delivery, or do I go to Barnes and Noble because I know I've seen it there and I might be able to put my mitts on it right then and there?
Stupidly, I chose option B.
I rush to the store and begin to search. I'm coming up empty. Every section I try, books are out of order and I'm beginning to get frustrated. I walk over to the customer service area intending to locate the computer kiosk to run a search in the store to locate the book. And then I remember, this is not Borders. They went out of business. The helpful little kiosk I was looking for has never existed at Barnes and Noble. They have chosen to subject the customers to helpful little clerks instead.
I patiently wait in line and approach the desk. The clerk asks me if they can help me. I say, "Yes. I'm looking for a specific title for a Christmas gift and I found it on Amazon earlier today so I know it exists. I know you carry it because I've seen it here before - I just can't find it." With hands poised at the ready, she smiles and says, "No problem, let me look it up for you. What is the title?"
That's when the trouble starts.
You see, twenty years ago I would have written the title and author down and brought it with me. But this isn't twenty years ago. Now, I am immersed in a digital environment and very accustomed to highly intuitive search processes. It occurs to me that I have no idea how to tell the clerk how to help me.
I begin spluttering search terms trying to recreate the search path I had used to get to the book on Amazon not sixty minutes ago. She comes up empty. I mention the name of the television show, the topics the book covered, the one or two words I do remember from the title. Nothing. We are getting nowhere. She cannot help me, because I cannot tell her what I actually need. Finally, in frustration I say, "I know how to find it on Amazon." She loads up Amazon on her computer screen and fingers poised over the keyboard again, asks me what she should search on. At this point, I say, "Please stop helping me. Let me find it." She hands me the keyboard with a look that says, "You are a pain and I wish you would go away."
Sure enough, fifteen seconds later I find what I am looking for. She cuts and pastes the title into her Barnes and Noble system and WA LA - I hear the following sentences, "Oh, yes we do carry that title. (whew) It's in the xyz section. (relief.) But we are out of stock. (grrrr). And the piece de resistance - I can order it for you and it can be available for pick up in a few days." (forehead slap). I weakly smile and say thank you, drive home and order it from Amazon where it shows up on my doorstep 24 hours later.
So let's recap.
A self-sufficient, digitally immersed customer arrives in Barnes and Noble two days before Christmas. They are obviously on the hunt for a gift. They wander through a poorly organized store and paw through shelf after shelf of books. Various sections seem to be organized alphabetically by title, some by author, in what the customer can only assume is an attempt to recreate an "intuitive search process" in a bricks and mortar store. They know for a fact that this title exists on Amazon and it will take them three clicks of a mouse to have it dropped on their doorstep in time to meet their deadline but they are hoping to just buy the damn book today to make sure there are no hiccups in shipping.
A somewhat harried clerk has been trained to provide "better customer service" than a computer kiosk. They welcome the customer warmly and then valiantly and repeatedly attempt to translate the customers relatively unintelligible clues about what they need. They fail. They use a creative and innovative tactic to find the title on a competitors website. Then they STILL can't solve the problem because they don't have the book in stock. Then they offer a helpful, alternative solution meant to solve the problem, with a vague assertion that the book can be in the store, "in a few days."
Fail.
The point is...sometimes great customer service - help me, help you - leads to frustration on both sides. Great customer service doesn't necessarily solve problems, sometimes it actually makes it harder to provide solutions. Your members may not be able to exactly articulate what they need and you may think it's your job to "intuitively help them" figure it out. But these days, there is a line that is only getting bigger between customer service that is helpful, and customer service that is actually an obstacle. Sometimes you have to take your helpful self out of the equation and give your members the tools they need to solve their issues themselves.
And Barnes and Noble? Install some freaking computer kiosks for your customers who are losing the ability to clearly articulate what they are searching for but can find it themselves in 30 seconds or less. Either that, or risk becoming the latest casualty in the booksellers market. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Here is the link to the movie clip for those of you who can't see the embedded code - Help me, help you....
Sunday, January 8, 2012
DIY - "Makes Me Think Of" Creativity Exercise
Ok, you DIYers out there....One thing we know we need to do and we don't do enough are simple creativity exercises.
Here's one I've picked up along the way and it's really simple. I didn't invent it and I'm not sure who did. This can be used when you are stuck, when you feel like consciously daydreaming, or as an ice-breaker exercise with boards, committees or staff....
Pick a word. Any word. It could be something simple like any noun "cloud" or "car" or something like "membership" or "workshops." Put three to five minutes on a timer. I tend to like three minutes but five minutes can give you some extra depths to examine.
Then write the word and "makes me think of" and then quickly write whatever comes next to your mind. It can be another word, a term or a short story about something in your past or present. Then write "makes me think of" and do it again. For example, "Clouds" which makes me think of "sky" which makes me think of "planes" which makes me think about "visiting my grandparents in Arkansas," which makes me think of.......well, you get the picture...
When the timer buzzes, finish your last thought and then look at the last thought as compared to the first one....how close are they? How far away are they? What can you learn about yourself from the way your brain works? Did you see something new you can use? Did something surprise you? Does the word/term chain show you something you had forgotten? Something that bears reexamining?
Have some fun being creative this week.....let your words lead you to places you didn't know you could go...or back to places maybe you wish you hadn't left.....
Here's one I've picked up along the way and it's really simple. I didn't invent it and I'm not sure who did. This can be used when you are stuck, when you feel like consciously daydreaming, or as an ice-breaker exercise with boards, committees or staff....
Pick a word. Any word. It could be something simple like any noun "cloud" or "car" or something like "membership" or "workshops." Put three to five minutes on a timer. I tend to like three minutes but five minutes can give you some extra depths to examine.
Then write the word and "makes me think of" and then quickly write whatever comes next to your mind. It can be another word, a term or a short story about something in your past or present. Then write "makes me think of" and do it again. For example, "Clouds" which makes me think of "sky" which makes me think of "planes" which makes me think about "visiting my grandparents in Arkansas," which makes me think of.......well, you get the picture...
When the timer buzzes, finish your last thought and then look at the last thought as compared to the first one....how close are they? How far away are they? What can you learn about yourself from the way your brain works? Did you see something new you can use? Did something surprise you? Does the word/term chain show you something you had forgotten? Something that bears reexamining?
Have some fun being creative this week.....let your words lead you to places you didn't know you could go...or back to places maybe you wish you hadn't left.....
Monday, January 2, 2012
Times Like These - My 5 Terms for 2012
it's times like these you learn to live again
it's times like these you give and give again
it's times like these you learn to love again
it's times like these time and time again.....Foo Fighters, Times Like These
So my year end ritual is complete. Even though today is still technically a holiday, I feel like 2012 is officially underway and now it's time to reveal the 5 Terms for 2012 that will be front and center at Alcorn Associates Management Consulting this year. (By the way - I was so happy to see 5 Terms for 2012 posts from Lowell Aplebaum, Kiki L'Italien, Nikki Jeske and Jay Daughtry, etc. You all rock!)
Appreciative Inquiry - This is a holdover from 2011 and really constitutes one of the cornerstones of the consulting I do with associations. So, it stays. There is nothing better than helping associations make key decisions and take concrete action from a strengths based perspective. (I am getting ready to release the results and the commentary from the AI project I did last year so stay tuned.....)
DIY - In 2011, I used "Edupunk" but edupunk is really a subset of a bigger trend which is DIY (do it yourself). I've been a DIY enthusiast, supporter and co-conspirator for much of my life. Remember when we were younger? Making cassette tapes to sell at gigs on a four-track in the garage? Haunting Kinkos after work to crank out 'zines? Hammering friends who worked at public access cable so you could do a show a'la Wayne's World? Well, yeah. There are tons of DIYers out here just dying to create stuff. Now we have more tools than ever with YouTube, podcasts, self-publishing, education and the like. Really, associations have always been about DIY. Let's name it and claim it and capitalize on the DIY theme running through our culture. Your members actually WANT to create stuff, not just consume stuff.
Democracy - I continue to be personally and professionally disturbed by the assaults on democracy coming from both within and without. I blogged about my significant distress over the United States Supreme Court decision in Citizens United and why associations should care about it last year. I'm livid over voter suppression efforts and again, think associations should actively engage in voter registration efforts now more than ever. I was shocked and dismayed to read a leading book coming out of ASAE promoting the idea of severely limiting boards (with participants who may not even be members) and the notion of stripping committee chairs away from volunteers and handing them to staff. Yes, democracy is messy. Yes, democracy takes time. Yes, democracy requires compromise. But associations serve as an important training ground for the citizenry of the United States. I'm not saying we wouldn't benefit from more training, more streamlined and flexible policies and more sophisticated governing techniques. But if given the choice, I will opt for a messy democracy over an efficient dictatorship every time.
Superstructure - I believe it's time for associations to begin to collaborate on a massive scale. We have the technology now to build a superstructure over the association community that will, for the first time, make us scalable. We should all continually be on the lookout for and a part of creating opportunities for small associations to leverage their power in a more cohesive environment. As a community we should search for more opportunities for associations to develop a clear social identity in the larger global context.
Zeitgeist - I had a lot of luck last year with this concept and so now it will take a seat as one of the official 5 in 2012. I continue to believe that in an interconnected world, we no longer have the luxury of sitting back and naval gazing about membership and non-dues revenue. I'm sick of WIFM and I believe we can change mindsets to WIFU instead. I believe there are key themes running through the cultural zeitgest that we can't afford to ignore. If it's pop culture to technology to gamification to economics to workforce development to globalization to new corporate structures we have to actively get in the game.
So, those are the five drivers for me this year and they are now up on my wall over my computer screen and on my whiteboard. I will use them as guideposts to help me sift through content, curate and create content and streamline my messaging. I will seek out books, professional development opportunities and the like to help me hone in on the tools and techniques I need to have at my disposal to effectively implement some of my plans. And I will also use those terms to inspire my projects and other things I choose to engage in over the year.
So yeah, it's times like these that make us learn to live again....let's see what 2012 has in store.....
Here's the link to the Foo Fighters - Times Like These for those who can see the embedded video.
it's times like these you give and give again
it's times like these you learn to love again
it's times like these time and time again.....Foo Fighters, Times Like These
So my year end ritual is complete. Even though today is still technically a holiday, I feel like 2012 is officially underway and now it's time to reveal the 5 Terms for 2012 that will be front and center at Alcorn Associates Management Consulting this year. (By the way - I was so happy to see 5 Terms for 2012 posts from Lowell Aplebaum, Kiki L'Italien, Nikki Jeske and Jay Daughtry, etc. You all rock!)
Appreciative Inquiry - This is a holdover from 2011 and really constitutes one of the cornerstones of the consulting I do with associations. So, it stays. There is nothing better than helping associations make key decisions and take concrete action from a strengths based perspective. (I am getting ready to release the results and the commentary from the AI project I did last year so stay tuned.....)
DIY - In 2011, I used "Edupunk" but edupunk is really a subset of a bigger trend which is DIY (do it yourself). I've been a DIY enthusiast, supporter and co-conspirator for much of my life. Remember when we were younger? Making cassette tapes to sell at gigs on a four-track in the garage? Haunting Kinkos after work to crank out 'zines? Hammering friends who worked at public access cable so you could do a show a'la Wayne's World? Well, yeah. There are tons of DIYers out here just dying to create stuff. Now we have more tools than ever with YouTube, podcasts, self-publishing, education and the like. Really, associations have always been about DIY. Let's name it and claim it and capitalize on the DIY theme running through our culture. Your members actually WANT to create stuff, not just consume stuff.
Democracy - I continue to be personally and professionally disturbed by the assaults on democracy coming from both within and without. I blogged about my significant distress over the United States Supreme Court decision in Citizens United and why associations should care about it last year. I'm livid over voter suppression efforts and again, think associations should actively engage in voter registration efforts now more than ever. I was shocked and dismayed to read a leading book coming out of ASAE promoting the idea of severely limiting boards (with participants who may not even be members) and the notion of stripping committee chairs away from volunteers and handing them to staff. Yes, democracy is messy. Yes, democracy takes time. Yes, democracy requires compromise. But associations serve as an important training ground for the citizenry of the United States. I'm not saying we wouldn't benefit from more training, more streamlined and flexible policies and more sophisticated governing techniques. But if given the choice, I will opt for a messy democracy over an efficient dictatorship every time.
Superstructure - I believe it's time for associations to begin to collaborate on a massive scale. We have the technology now to build a superstructure over the association community that will, for the first time, make us scalable. We should all continually be on the lookout for and a part of creating opportunities for small associations to leverage their power in a more cohesive environment. As a community we should search for more opportunities for associations to develop a clear social identity in the larger global context.
Zeitgeist - I had a lot of luck last year with this concept and so now it will take a seat as one of the official 5 in 2012. I continue to believe that in an interconnected world, we no longer have the luxury of sitting back and naval gazing about membership and non-dues revenue. I'm sick of WIFM and I believe we can change mindsets to WIFU instead. I believe there are key themes running through the cultural zeitgest that we can't afford to ignore. If it's pop culture to technology to gamification to economics to workforce development to globalization to new corporate structures we have to actively get in the game.
So, those are the five drivers for me this year and they are now up on my wall over my computer screen and on my whiteboard. I will use them as guideposts to help me sift through content, curate and create content and streamline my messaging. I will seek out books, professional development opportunities and the like to help me hone in on the tools and techniques I need to have at my disposal to effectively implement some of my plans. And I will also use those terms to inspire my projects and other things I choose to engage in over the year.
So yeah, it's times like these that make us learn to live again....let's see what 2012 has in store.....
Here's the link to the Foo Fighters - Times Like These for those who can see the embedded video.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Five Terms for 2012
I am Santa Claus!!!! Santa Iron Man Parody
I am pretty sure this is the final post for this year. (I'm leaving myself a little room to maneuver there. You never know when inspiration might strike.)
I'd like to sincerely thank all of our clients, colleagues and friends who made this such a successful year for Alcorn Associates. Mark and I are really so very appreciative for your business, referrals and support.
As we close out this year, I 'd like to share an exercise with you that I did last year and am planning to do again because I found it really effective. Maybe you will too.
At the end of 2010, I found myself very overwhelmed with the barrage of content I was swimming in and the sheer volume of strategic objectives that I was trying to sort through for my portion of our consulting practice. Just like most of us in the association sphere I suffer from two syndromes - routinely underestimating how much I can really do while simultaneously suffering from my own charming (?!?!) brand of ADD (forever defined by Sandra Giarde, CAE as Squirrel!). While sometimes these qualities can be strengths in terms of finding initiative and/or passion, the combination of the two can be deadly to forward momentum without some consistent, conscious reining in.
I used the time between Christmas and January 1 to focus on where I wanted to concentrate my efforts in 2011. Beyond the "one word" or "three word" themes that I've tried in the past (which seemed kind of limiting), I laid out five words/terms that I wanted to concentrate in on 2011 - appreciative inquiry, change, edupunk, systems thinking and promotion.
I put these five words on the wall over my computer desk and repeated them like a mantra. I used them to guide project work, to select which professional development opportunities I would sign up for and to guide my content curation efforts. Best of all, those words sparked the "Association Executives: Provocative Proposals for Change" interview project, and were the underpinnings for the successful bid to be included in the "Edupunks Guide to a DIY Credential." They were also quite useful in terms of forcing me to reallocate my online time. I was able to develop a much better balance between being a content consumer/broadcaster and a producer.
So, I will spend my time between now and New Years figuring out my "5 Terms for 2012." I'm feeling the need for some updating. I'd love it if some of you would join me in this effort. Maybe our words will overlap and complement each other and maybe there will be opportunities for us to help each other in our journeys. Let me know what your five words are and I will share what I came up with in my first post in 2012.
Take care and celebrate the holiday season in whatever fashion suits you best!
Here is the link to the Iron Man parody - I am Santa Claus for those who can't see the embedded video. I can't believe this has been out here for four years already and I've just seen it. Ah, the Internet has such comedic treasures buried within it.
I am pretty sure this is the final post for this year. (I'm leaving myself a little room to maneuver there. You never know when inspiration might strike.)
I'd like to sincerely thank all of our clients, colleagues and friends who made this such a successful year for Alcorn Associates. Mark and I are really so very appreciative for your business, referrals and support.
As we close out this year, I 'd like to share an exercise with you that I did last year and am planning to do again because I found it really effective. Maybe you will too.
At the end of 2010, I found myself very overwhelmed with the barrage of content I was swimming in and the sheer volume of strategic objectives that I was trying to sort through for my portion of our consulting practice. Just like most of us in the association sphere I suffer from two syndromes - routinely underestimating how much I can really do while simultaneously suffering from my own charming (?!?!) brand of ADD (forever defined by Sandra Giarde, CAE as Squirrel!). While sometimes these qualities can be strengths in terms of finding initiative and/or passion, the combination of the two can be deadly to forward momentum without some consistent, conscious reining in.
I used the time between Christmas and January 1 to focus on where I wanted to concentrate my efforts in 2011. Beyond the "one word" or "three word" themes that I've tried in the past (which seemed kind of limiting), I laid out five words/terms that I wanted to concentrate in on 2011 - appreciative inquiry, change, edupunk, systems thinking and promotion.
I put these five words on the wall over my computer desk and repeated them like a mantra. I used them to guide project work, to select which professional development opportunities I would sign up for and to guide my content curation efforts. Best of all, those words sparked the "Association Executives: Provocative Proposals for Change" interview project, and were the underpinnings for the successful bid to be included in the "Edupunks Guide to a DIY Credential." They were also quite useful in terms of forcing me to reallocate my online time. I was able to develop a much better balance between being a content consumer/broadcaster and a producer.
So, I will spend my time between now and New Years figuring out my "5 Terms for 2012." I'm feeling the need for some updating. I'd love it if some of you would join me in this effort. Maybe our words will overlap and complement each other and maybe there will be opportunities for us to help each other in our journeys. Let me know what your five words are and I will share what I came up with in my first post in 2012.
Take care and celebrate the holiday season in whatever fashion suits you best!
Here is the link to the Iron Man parody - I am Santa Claus for those who can't see the embedded video. I can't believe this has been out here for four years already and I've just seen it. Ah, the Internet has such comedic treasures buried within it.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Book Review - Humanize by Maddie Grant and Jamie Notter
Welcome to the desert of the real. Morpheus - The Matrix
(This is a book review of Humanize - How People-Centric Organizations Succeed in a Social World. Just so you know, I wasn't asked to write it and received no type of compensation for doing so. The Association Subculture Blog does not accept author pitches and only writes about books we dig.)
The Short of It
Buy this book.
The Long of It
Authors Maddie Grant and Jamie Notter have hit upon what is becoming the central question of our age - how can we be more human in the workplace. (And please - lacing it with Matrix references is catnip for nerds like myself. Finding the clips for this post wasted my entire morning and I'm heading to my DVD shelf after this post to get at the real deal.)
Frankly, I consume a lot of books during the year. I've read some great books this year, some mediocre ones and thrown a few turkeys on the scrap heap. Humanize is one of only three books that has earned a spot on my "re-read" list (and three is more "re-reads" than usual). The author's combined talents take us out of the out of the realm of the "is social media something we should do" (baffling to still hear that question) and pushes us into a new organizational world where trust, openness, generative action and courageous disposition reign. They offer hope to those of us who believed the cubicle-haunting manage-o-bots of the past had won.
The best part? They are clearly a part of our association management world but this book breaks away from the "association-centric" language we are all used to and is applicable to any organization - for-profit, non-profit or governmental. Kudos to them for breaking out of our orbit and spanning the gap to our other structural cousins. Hopefully they will still remember us when they hit the big time.
There are plenty of great, detailed reviews already out there so here are the top five sentences that resonated here at the Association Subculture the most.
"Each of us is part of several networks, and while the individual relationships are important, there is a quality of our relationship with the network as a whole that also requires attention and its own set of knowledge and skills."
Well said. In this section on Generative Behavior: Relationship Building Maddie and Jamie draw a distinction between interpersonal relationships and network relationships. Most of us are aware of the challenges inherent in navigating interpersonal relationships but it is important to realize the networks we are in are now interactive as well. Associations are beginning to realize this siloed, exclusively member focused ice floe they are stranded themselves on is drifting out to sea.
"Being courageous starts by admitting you don't know and is completed by taking bold and confident action."
What an insightful point. We have a false narrative in this country that courage is reserved for the few and is not accessible to the many. The minute you admit you don't know or you aren't sure, and you decide to act anyway - that is courage. It starts with one word, "Yes."
"Answers (and data) should be the beginning of the conversation, not the end."
Hear, hear! Yes, good data is important. Yes, big data is the next frontier. Yes, quantitative and qualitative data is critical to creating understanding. I regularly pursue appreciative inquiry research projects with associations because the data we get is so powerful. However, we have become data obsessed and in some cases outright paralyzed over the past few years. For the association community, I put some of the blame squarely on the "7 Measures of Success" book. I really don't believe Jim Collins would be thrilled with the "data-driven-strategies" monsters that were created in the wake of that book. We routinely misuse the medium.
"Freeing your mind means you are not willing to be constrained by the conventional wisdom, best practices and dogma of current organizational life."
Jamie and Maddie aren't being idealistic with this statement. They freely admit they are not talking about extreme freedom that is unconstrained by realities such as legal requirements, financial obligations and the like. They are talking about putting everything else that is not "essential and required" on the table. It takes skill and discipline to continually reinvent your world. To make smart choices about what to keep and what to discard. To mold and shape versus plan and execute. As humans, status quo is still a powerful drive. However, preserving the status quo has become the heroin of the corporate structure and it's time to break the cycle of addiction.
"We choose to move forward into a truly human way of organizations - not back to simpler times before technology."
Wow. This statement challenges the most primitive impulse we have - to yearn for the idealized yesteryear that never really existed. Humans have raised nostalgia to an art form. The problem with the "good old days" is they were never that good to begin with. The industrialized age treated human beings like cogs in the big wheel machine. People were interchangeable, like parts. Our entire language around management is mechanized. Why yearn for those good-old-days-that-weren't when right in front of you we have the ability to create something better than we've ever had before?
So, I tip my hat to Jamie and Maddie. You two have really hit on something here and I am a believer. I can't wait to see what's next.
Ah, yes Neo. You made the right choice. The red pill was the only way to go. Here is the scene where Morpheus offers Neo the choice....and here is an explanation about what the Matrix is.
(This is a book review of Humanize - How People-Centric Organizations Succeed in a Social World. Just so you know, I wasn't asked to write it and received no type of compensation for doing so. The Association Subculture Blog does not accept author pitches and only writes about books we dig.)
The Short of It
Buy this book.
The Long of It
Authors Maddie Grant and Jamie Notter have hit upon what is becoming the central question of our age - how can we be more human in the workplace. (And please - lacing it with Matrix references is catnip for nerds like myself. Finding the clips for this post wasted my entire morning and I'm heading to my DVD shelf after this post to get at the real deal.)
Frankly, I consume a lot of books during the year. I've read some great books this year, some mediocre ones and thrown a few turkeys on the scrap heap. Humanize is one of only three books that has earned a spot on my "re-read" list (and three is more "re-reads" than usual). The author's combined talents take us out of the out of the realm of the "is social media something we should do" (baffling to still hear that question) and pushes us into a new organizational world where trust, openness, generative action and courageous disposition reign. They offer hope to those of us who believed the cubicle-haunting manage-o-bots of the past had won.
The best part? They are clearly a part of our association management world but this book breaks away from the "association-centric" language we are all used to and is applicable to any organization - for-profit, non-profit or governmental. Kudos to them for breaking out of our orbit and spanning the gap to our other structural cousins. Hopefully they will still remember us when they hit the big time.
There are plenty of great, detailed reviews already out there so here are the top five sentences that resonated here at the Association Subculture the most.
"Each of us is part of several networks, and while the individual relationships are important, there is a quality of our relationship with the network as a whole that also requires attention and its own set of knowledge and skills."
Well said. In this section on Generative Behavior: Relationship Building Maddie and Jamie draw a distinction between interpersonal relationships and network relationships. Most of us are aware of the challenges inherent in navigating interpersonal relationships but it is important to realize the networks we are in are now interactive as well. Associations are beginning to realize this siloed, exclusively member focused ice floe they are stranded themselves on is drifting out to sea.
"Being courageous starts by admitting you don't know and is completed by taking bold and confident action."
What an insightful point. We have a false narrative in this country that courage is reserved for the few and is not accessible to the many. The minute you admit you don't know or you aren't sure, and you decide to act anyway - that is courage. It starts with one word, "Yes."
"Answers (and data) should be the beginning of the conversation, not the end."
Hear, hear! Yes, good data is important. Yes, big data is the next frontier. Yes, quantitative and qualitative data is critical to creating understanding. I regularly pursue appreciative inquiry research projects with associations because the data we get is so powerful. However, we have become data obsessed and in some cases outright paralyzed over the past few years. For the association community, I put some of the blame squarely on the "7 Measures of Success" book. I really don't believe Jim Collins would be thrilled with the "data-driven-strategies" monsters that were created in the wake of that book. We routinely misuse the medium.
"Freeing your mind means you are not willing to be constrained by the conventional wisdom, best practices and dogma of current organizational life."
Jamie and Maddie aren't being idealistic with this statement. They freely admit they are not talking about extreme freedom that is unconstrained by realities such as legal requirements, financial obligations and the like. They are talking about putting everything else that is not "essential and required" on the table. It takes skill and discipline to continually reinvent your world. To make smart choices about what to keep and what to discard. To mold and shape versus plan and execute. As humans, status quo is still a powerful drive. However, preserving the status quo has become the heroin of the corporate structure and it's time to break the cycle of addiction.
"We choose to move forward into a truly human way of organizations - not back to simpler times before technology."
Wow. This statement challenges the most primitive impulse we have - to yearn for the idealized yesteryear that never really existed. Humans have raised nostalgia to an art form. The problem with the "good old days" is they were never that good to begin with. The industrialized age treated human beings like cogs in the big wheel machine. People were interchangeable, like parts. Our entire language around management is mechanized. Why yearn for those good-old-days-that-weren't when right in front of you we have the ability to create something better than we've ever had before?
So, I tip my hat to Jamie and Maddie. You two have really hit on something here and I am a believer. I can't wait to see what's next.
Ah, yes Neo. You made the right choice. The red pill was the only way to go. Here is the scene where Morpheus offers Neo the choice....and here is an explanation about what the Matrix is.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Is Facebook Stealing Something Important From Us?
she says, leave me alone
tonight i just wanna stay home
she fills the pot with water and she drops in the bone
she says, i've got a darkness that i have to feed
i got a sadness that grows up around like a weed and
i'm not hurting anyone
i'm just spiraling in and then
she closes her eyes and hears the song begin again....Ani DiFranco, Jukebox
I am really not trying to be a bummer here, but I think we need to ask ourselves a question. Is Facebook stealing an important question from us? Is Facebook stealing the phrase, "How are you?" from our vocabulary?
I have been wrestling with this one for a few weeks now. Like all of us, I have just as many personal dramas as the next person. Illness, death, accidents, disappointments, etc. I tend to vacillate wildly between intensely private and ridiculously open. I have both clients and friends liberally mixed together in all my social media sites and no matter how many lists and circles I deal with, there is always some overlap that I can't get past.
Most of the time, I don't post exactly what is happening with me. I notice you all do the same. Chipper notices about travel or recipes, dogs and cats and kids is certainly more socially palatable than, "I cried my way through decorating my Christmas tree this year."
My fear is, social media gives us the illusion that we know what is going on in someone else's life. We really have gotten good at promoting the professional personas we have adopted, and we know what the rules used to be for "appropriate for the workplace." But social media is changing the equation. We are getting the idea that social media can actually give us emotional support. But getting that emotional support back from the system requires a radical transparency and openness that some of us aren't comfortable with yet. I'm not comfortable with it in my face to face personal life - some people have the whole story, some have half the story and others have none. What I wonder about is how we have created this expectation that Facebook is a window into our personal lives, when really it's only a window into what we choose to share. Maybe Facebook isn't telling us the whole story. But we think it is. And so, we stop asking, "How are you," because we think we already know the answer.
The past few months have been particularly challenging for me personally. But I find myself posting things on Facebook and Twitter just like normal. Links to articles, blogs, stuff you would normally see. One day, I kind of lost it a little bit and posted on Twitter that I needed a minute because I was having a bad week. That was my way of saying, "Things are not okay here." Stephanie Reeves, God love her, reached out and gave me a little encouragement. And when I got that Tweet, I realized it was what I had been desperately needing and had been unable to ask for. Support.
A few days later, I was looking at my Facebook feed. Nobody would ever know what is really happening with me by reading it. It seemed so false, even to me. Like I didn't even recognize myself. I seemed like a stranger. So I decided to post on Facebook that we had lost a friend of ours in a house fire. That was what my "needing a minute" Tweet was all about - I had just heard the news. But I wrestled with that Facebook post. Will people think I am looking for sympathy? Will people think I'm just being dramatic? Isn't this harsh to see in the middle of dogs dressed as Santa and hey-can't-wait-to-see-my-family-over-the-holidays messages?
Finally, I decided there was really no way around it. It seems like it's up to us to tell because nobody seems to ask anymore. I almost felt compelled to post just so people would stop laboring under the false impression that everything is fine with me. I am still unconvinced that everyone needs to know all the details of my personal life or my moods but I have rededicated myself to making sure I keep asking the question, "How are you?" to my friends and colleagues. I might not get the full answer, but at least I've given someone the opportunity to say, "Not good....I wish things were better...." I will be watching more carefully for people who post frequently yet suddenly disappear. I will be watching more carefully for subtle hints and clues that might indicate someone is reaching out for support, but isn't comfortable with telling the entire story yet.
I imagine I will continue to wrestle with the line between public and private. I am no closer to the answer now than I was three weeks ago. I haven't embraced the idea that everyone needs to know everything all of the time. However, I did feel less lonely when I was able to share. And that felt good.
All I know for sure we just can't assume everyone is fine based on what we see in social media. We have to remember to genuinely ask, "How are you?" and listen to the answer. I believe our friends, business associates and members will appreciate us for it.
Here is the link to Ani DiFranco and a live version of Jukebox for those of you who can't see the embedded
tonight i just wanna stay home
she fills the pot with water and she drops in the bone
she says, i've got a darkness that i have to feed
i got a sadness that grows up around like a weed and
i'm not hurting anyone
i'm just spiraling in and then
she closes her eyes and hears the song begin again....Ani DiFranco, Jukebox
I am really not trying to be a bummer here, but I think we need to ask ourselves a question. Is Facebook stealing an important question from us? Is Facebook stealing the phrase, "How are you?" from our vocabulary?
I have been wrestling with this one for a few weeks now. Like all of us, I have just as many personal dramas as the next person. Illness, death, accidents, disappointments, etc. I tend to vacillate wildly between intensely private and ridiculously open. I have both clients and friends liberally mixed together in all my social media sites and no matter how many lists and circles I deal with, there is always some overlap that I can't get past.
Most of the time, I don't post exactly what is happening with me. I notice you all do the same. Chipper notices about travel or recipes, dogs and cats and kids is certainly more socially palatable than, "I cried my way through decorating my Christmas tree this year."
My fear is, social media gives us the illusion that we know what is going on in someone else's life. We really have gotten good at promoting the professional personas we have adopted, and we know what the rules used to be for "appropriate for the workplace." But social media is changing the equation. We are getting the idea that social media can actually give us emotional support. But getting that emotional support back from the system requires a radical transparency and openness that some of us aren't comfortable with yet. I'm not comfortable with it in my face to face personal life - some people have the whole story, some have half the story and others have none. What I wonder about is how we have created this expectation that Facebook is a window into our personal lives, when really it's only a window into what we choose to share. Maybe Facebook isn't telling us the whole story. But we think it is. And so, we stop asking, "How are you," because we think we already know the answer.
The past few months have been particularly challenging for me personally. But I find myself posting things on Facebook and Twitter just like normal. Links to articles, blogs, stuff you would normally see. One day, I kind of lost it a little bit and posted on Twitter that I needed a minute because I was having a bad week. That was my way of saying, "Things are not okay here." Stephanie Reeves, God love her, reached out and gave me a little encouragement. And when I got that Tweet, I realized it was what I had been desperately needing and had been unable to ask for. Support.
A few days later, I was looking at my Facebook feed. Nobody would ever know what is really happening with me by reading it. It seemed so false, even to me. Like I didn't even recognize myself. I seemed like a stranger. So I decided to post on Facebook that we had lost a friend of ours in a house fire. That was what my "needing a minute" Tweet was all about - I had just heard the news. But I wrestled with that Facebook post. Will people think I am looking for sympathy? Will people think I'm just being dramatic? Isn't this harsh to see in the middle of dogs dressed as Santa and hey-can't-wait-to-see-my-family-over-the-holidays messages?
Finally, I decided there was really no way around it. It seems like it's up to us to tell because nobody seems to ask anymore. I almost felt compelled to post just so people would stop laboring under the false impression that everything is fine with me. I am still unconvinced that everyone needs to know all the details of my personal life or my moods but I have rededicated myself to making sure I keep asking the question, "How are you?" to my friends and colleagues. I might not get the full answer, but at least I've given someone the opportunity to say, "Not good....I wish things were better...." I will be watching more carefully for people who post frequently yet suddenly disappear. I will be watching more carefully for subtle hints and clues that might indicate someone is reaching out for support, but isn't comfortable with telling the entire story yet.
I imagine I will continue to wrestle with the line between public and private. I am no closer to the answer now than I was three weeks ago. I haven't embraced the idea that everyone needs to know everything all of the time. However, I did feel less lonely when I was able to share. And that felt good.
All I know for sure we just can't assume everyone is fine based on what we see in social media. We have to remember to genuinely ask, "How are you?" and listen to the answer. I believe our friends, business associates and members will appreciate us for it.
Here is the link to Ani DiFranco and a live version of Jukebox for those of you who can't see the embedded
video code.
.
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