Instructional Design and Basketball

I am back after a break while I was trying to balance work and life.  At times through our lives, we all have to take time-outs.  The buzzer has sounded, and now my time-out is over.

Speaking of time-outs…I signed up to be the Assistant Basketball Coach for my daughter’s basketball team.  I know you’re probably wondering what basketball has to do with instructional design (ID).  Well I have the real-life example of dual-purpose learning.  Dual-purpose learning simply means using what you learn on the job in other aspects of your life.

As I started preparing for the season, my unconscious competence kicked in.  Before I knew it, I was using the ADDIE model without even knowing it.  Let me quickly explain.

ANALYZE—I started to conduct learner analysis…What age are the girls? What are their skill levels?  I know I’ll have some experienced girls and some that have never played.  I also read about the types of “tasks” that they should be able to do at this age range, as well as how those “tasks” should be performed.  The other thing I did was to think about the constraints.  What were those things that could become barriers to a successful season?  I came up with the following constraints: 1) lack of skills development, 2) bad attitudes, 3) poor fitness levels, and 4) lack of effort.

DESIGN—I began to think about what I wanted to accomplish by the end of the season.  I wanted them to be able to learn while having fun.  Those were my terminal objectives.  At this point, I began meeting with planning the season.  Each practice requires a well-structured and different “lesson plan” with specific learning objectives.

The design of the basketball season includes the following:

·       Adoption of the SAFE (Skills, Attitude, Fitness, Effort) philosophy

·       Focus on certain skill areas (“competencies”) to improve on by the end of the season

·       Results-based learning based on clearly identified goals.  Each girl will have a fitness goal, individual skill goal, and a team goal.

·      Incentives and rewards for goal accomplishment

DEVELOP—This is the fun part and is where I am now in my “instructional design” process.  I am in the process of purchasing supplies for the incentives program and writing practice plans.   I’m choosing the right drills (“instructional methods”) to align with the skills being taught.

IMPLEMENT—The season hasn’t officially started, although we have started having open gym.  I am looking forward to working with the Head Coach in actually conducting well-structured practices beginning in the next week or two.

EVALUATE—My strategy for evaluation includes checking-in with the girls to see how they feel (Level 1) about how practices.  Are they having fun?  I will keep notes on where they started based on assessments during the first practice (pre-test) and how they’re doing each week (post-tests) (Level 2).  We will be able to see how they’re learning once we start playing games (Level 3).  The test will be to see how they end the season (Level 4).  Are they a better player?  Has the team improved?  Did they have fun and learn???

I’m looking forward to this season.  I’m equally excited about being able to transfer what I’ve learned to help adults learn to have an impact on the development of several young ladies.  Wish us luck!

Everyone Has Customers

I started reflecting on my views about customer service after attending a Customer Service Symposium a few weeks ago that brought together Government employees from different organizations to discuss best practices in customer service and how can it improve.  Right after I participated in the symposium, I experienced a real-life example of excellent customer service.  My family and I were eating breakfast at a local restaurant.  As my son was getting ready to take a fork full of hash browns, he saw a fly, yes a dead fly, in his food!  We immediately got our server's attention, and she immediately got the manager.  Both the server and the manager were very apologetic and did everything in their power to show us how sorry they were about our dining experience.  Needless to say, my son ate for free that morning.  We left the restaurant feeling whole, respected, and appreciated.

When I saw a Twitter post from Wendi Pomerance Brick about Customer Service Week, which runs from October 3rd - 7th, I remembered the experience with my family and felt that it was a good time to share my thoughts about customer service with you.

My first thought is Everyone Has Customers!  No matter what your profession, you have customers.  Sports coaches have customers...the players.  Public servants have internal customers (colleagues, subordinates, and those people who we report to) and external customers (those people who use our products and services).  We have to remember that customers are the reasons why we work or have our jobs.

My second thought is there's no excuse for poor customer service!  We owe it to our customers to be courteous, knowledgable, and prompt in all aspects of our jobs.  According to Wendi Pomerance Brick's book, The Science of Service, no matter what job we have, our customers all want the same four basic things:

• To be treated with dignity and respect
• To have some control
• To be understood
• Resolution of the issue 

My third thought is we should always seek ways to continuously improve how we serve our customers!  There's always ways to improve.  A good place to start is to collect some data on our current level of customer service.  Ask your customers how you're doing?  The Science of Service is an excellent way to get some ideas on how to improve how you serve your customers.

Here are other resources that can help you create a culture of service.

Ten Ways to Improve Your Customer Service
101 Ways to Improve Customer Service
GovLoop's Customer Service Hub

I challenge you to find three ways to improve customer service during Customer Service Week. 

The Hypocrisy of Learning

I am learning that the L&D function sometimes creates its own problems with justifying our worth within organizations.  We are the part of an organization that is supposed to facilitate a learning culture.  In many cases, we don’t even work in what would be considered “learning organizations”…we don’t walk the talk.  If we don’t even live by the mantra that we’re supposed to lead, how in the world are we supposed to be viewed as credible or trusted advisors.  Let’s get specific, by asking a few questions.

How can we…

• be trusted to be performance consultants, if we don’t identify our own causes for performance problems or create strategies for addressing areas for improvement?
• use mistakes as opportunities to learn, if we are super critical of anyone who isn’t perfect?
• foster innovation and creativity, if we create environments where people are afraid to try new approaches or methods?
• create creative blended learning solutions to close knowledge and skill gaps, if we don’t even develop our own employees using blended learning solutions?
• assist our customers in reengineering business processes, if our processes aren’t effective?
• develop leaders within our customer organizations, if we don’t develop our own L&D leaders?
• perform task analysis for our customers , if we aren’t able to describe, step-by-step what we should be doing?
• create change management strategies for our customers, if we don’t use change management strategies?
• promote learning, but we don’t do anything to grow in our profession?

We as L&D professionals have enough challenges with trying to explain how we can add value to our customers.  Let’s not have to spend our energy explaining what we do to each other.  Make it a point to learn something new about the L&D profession.  If you need a little help, take a look at some of the ways that I continue to grow and develop in my April blog posts, Take Responsibility for Your Own Development, Part 1 and Take Responsibility for Your Own Development, Part 2.  I challenge all of you to make an effort to grow in our profession…do something to enhance your career and better your organization…let’s eliminate the hypocrisy of learning.

You're Seated at the Table, Now What?

I was reading an article in the Talent Management magazine,July 2011 entitled, Are You Measuring the Right Things? when I began to reflect on how effectively today’s L&D functions are adding value to their organizations.  The article discusses how talent management metrics need to align with strategic organizational objectives.  I was especially intrigued because of the connection to the article that I wrote for the ASTD's T+D Magazine Using Your Passion to Become a True Business Partner.   My article provides a method for getting a seat at the table, while the Talent Management article talks about what happens once you get to the table.

The article provides a simple strategy that L&D professionals can use to measure the value that they are actually adding value.  It also shares specific examples of how to link “strategic objectives, talent management goals, initiatives and metrics” that demonstrates to organizational leaders how they add value. 

I started thinking about two questions in particular that the article shared, “Do we have the right people to achieve this?” and “How do we prepare our associates to meet this challenge?”  In order for L&D professionals to get a seat at the table but also be able to show the positive impact that their initiatives are having on organizational performance, the L&D functional leaders need to practice this model within their own organizations.  In other words, do we have the right people to become business partners and how do we prepare L&D professionals to meet the challenge of effectively serving our customers? 

Here’s an example of how we can use the model from the Talent Management article…

L&D function’s strategic objective: Become trusted advisors

• Expand the role of the L&D function
• Increase effectiveness of consultative services

Talent management goals

• Ensure L&D professional competence
• Create a learning environment
• Create career development opportunities

Initiatives

• Develop a competency assessment
• Performance score card to assess customer satisfaction
• L&D certification program
• Career path system with diverse functional tracks
• Create learning circles

Metrics

• Number of instances where L&D professionals are solicited to provide innovative solutions
• Number of blended learning solutions that improve customer performance on the job
• Number of exceeds expectations scores on the performance score card
• Increased retention

Perhaps if we model how we effectively manage talent for our own organizations, our customers will see us as trusted advisors. 

When Talent Leaves

I've been leading a workgroup to create a succession plan for my organization for several months.  This weekk as I prepared for a presentation to discuss the final report, I took a few minutes to reflect on this question, “What happens to organizations when talent leaves?”  This is the main issue that our group was attempting to address.  If your organization doesn’t have a succession plan…you’re in BIG trouble, when talent leaves!

When talent leaves, and you’re not prepared what happens???  What do you do when that high potential employee tells you that she’s taking a job somewhere else? 

• You are desperately looking for a replacement that may not have the right knowledge and skills to backfill the vacant position.
• Your organization’s effectiveness suffers and eventually its reputation and credibility. Work doesn’t get done.

Here’s an example of what happens when an organization doesn’t have an effective succession plan…

Why not take the time to ensure that our organization is prepared for employee departures.   In addition to creating a detailed succession plan using various models such as the one prescribed by the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) or displayed in the video above, keep these four things in mind to make sure that you’re prepared when talent leaves.  Who knows, you may even prevent their departure. 

1)     Know what’s going on in your organization.  Have conversations with employees to check the pulse of the organizational climate.  Are people satisfied with their jobs?  Are they just “getting by" until a better job comes?  How engaged are your employees?  What are employees talking about around the water cooler?

2)    Strategically plan for today as well as tomorrow.  You should also determine who, within your organization is ready now, in the near future, and in a few years to fill the next level positions.  Don’t wait until someone is getting ready to leave to think about how you're going to fill their shoes.

3)      Incorporate back-ups into your organizational structure.  Each of your critical positions should have at least two people who can perform the duties and know what’s going on with the day-to-day functions.  At a minimum, you should have a primary person and a back-up.

4)      Value all of your employees.  You should invest in all of your employees’ development.  Let them know that they each have something to contribute to the organization’s success by your actions.  Remember, organizations aren’t made up of only high potential employees.  When you don’t value all of your employees, those high potential employees, who leave huge talent voids upon their departure, are the first ones to leave.

It’s our responsibility as L&D professionals to ensure that our organizations have employees with the right knowledge and skills for maximum effectiveness and efficiency.  Explore what your role is within your organization’s succession planning process.  Why not take a leadership role in your organization’s succession planning initiative…create a collaborative team to avoid being caught off-guard when talent leaves.

Order Taker to Business Partner

This week I received a lot of positive feedback regarding the mentoring program that I manage.  Employess were inspired to step outside of their comfort zones and actually network with others as a result of the speed mentoring event that I conducted this week.  Others were engaged and motivated to join the program and become Mentors and Mentees as a result of the briefing that I conducted about the basics.  Some feedback was just to tell me that they are really benefiting and growing as a result of the mentoring activities.  One person even asked me, "I hope your organization values you because of the good work that you're doing with the mentoring program."  My response to him was that I am just happy that the work that I'm doing is helping him and others grow.

For some reason, I started thinking about my journey in the L&D field.  How did I move from being an order taker to a true business partner and performance consultant?  It was PASSION!!!  I thought about the different roles I've served including: training coordinator...program manager...instructional designer...performance consultant...business partner.  As I saw the power that learning could have on transforming people and organizations, I wanted to learn more about the L&D field.

My focus has always been to make a contribution to the mission of my organization and help others learn.  In my first role in this field, I was an order taker.  I was responsible for ensuring that employees received the training that they requested. In other words, I filled orders.  Now, I'm happy to say that I am playing a valuable role in transforming my organization by creating growth opportunities through mentoring.  No longer am I an order taker, but a true business partner.

Check out my article in the T+D Magazine in this month's edition, in the Development Department (free for ASTD Members) to learn how to use your passion to be a true business partner... 

The Company You Keep

I was asked to be the guest speaker at the Metro DC ASTD Chapter, Free Agent Special Interest Group (SIG) event on Friday, June 17th.  The Free Agent SIG is a group of independent consultants who gather to discuss topics related to self-employed learning and development professionals. The topic for the event was "Growing Yourself, Not Just the Business".  During the event, I had the pleasure of experiencing very stimulating and engaging conversation with my peers and colleagues.  On my ride home from the event, I began to reflect on the people with whom I just met.  Then, I began to dig a little deeper into my "inner circle."  A particular quote from Les Brown came to mind..."If you're the smartest person in your group, then you need a new group."

The topic of the April 20, 2010 Inspiration, Motivation, Information - Personal Development Blog, discusses Les Brown's quote.  I took the advice of the blog and started evaluating my inner circle or group that I associate with these days.  I specifically asked myself the following questions that are mentioned in the blog:

Why am I with this group?

Am I the smartest person in my group?

Do I like where this group has me headed?

Am I okay with what my group has me becoming?

After careful evaluation of my inner circle, I decided that this group is exactly the people that I need to be associating myself with.  Here are my answers to the questions...

Why am I with this group?
They help me grow!  My inner circle encourages and supports me when I face challenges and helps me move along my learning journey. 

Am I the smartest person in my group?
Absolutely not!  I make it a point not to be around people from whom I can't learn.  My inner circle is comprised of people from diverse backgrounds, educational levels, ages, and are smart.

Do I like where this group has me headed?
Yes, I do!  My inner circle is going somewhere.  They are always looking for ways to improve systems, communication, processes, etc.  They are continuous learners like me.

Am I okay with what my group has me becoming?
Yes, I am!  My group wants what's best for me.  They are happy when I'm fulfilling my purpose and passion.  They want me to be successful.

We must be careful of the company that we keep.  We also need to ensure that the people with whom we're associated are going to help us achieve our personal and professional goals.  They need to be going somewhere and not holding us back from achieving our best.  It's important to evaluate our groups from time-to-time. 

When the company that we keep is the right group, they will help you on your learning journey by sharing their experiences with you as they move along their journey.

Recharging Your Battery

Over the weekend, I took time to recharge my battery.  I spent time with family and read books, unrelated to learning and development, and relaxed.  As usual, I started reflecting on a time in my life when I wasn't able to relax, and when I was spending time with family...I was still working!

Burning Out

I have learned that it's not healthy to have an out-of-whack work-life balance which can lead to burnout.  Freudenberger, a psychologist and author of Burnout: The High Cost of High Achievement, stated that burnout occurs when good people are trying their best.  I would like to slightly alter Freudenberger's definition to say "when good people are trying to be perfect."  This is exactly what most of us are trying to do, if we admit it...exceed our best.  We don't want others to see us make a mistake because of what they might think.  Guess what...we gain the most value from our experiences when we make mistakes and learn from them. 

Burnout doesn't happen overnight, but it's a slow burning ember that suddenly turns into an out-of-control wildfire!  Before you know it, it's too late.  You can't concentrate, you're easily agitated, you can't sleep, and eventually the mistakes you were trying to avoid start occurring more frequently.

Cost of Burnout
We workplace learning and performance professionals are often guilty of making too many sacrifices to achieve the unachievable...perfection!  We should avoid burnout at all costs because it is a serious state of emotional exhaustion and loss of motivation which can lead to serious problems like depression, addiction, and physical illnesses, according to Joan Borysenko, author of Fried.  Burnout effects your creativity as well as your productivity.  As learning and development professionals, we cannot afford to lose the two things that allows us to meet our customers needs.

Recharging Your Battery
Take time to enjoy life...spend equal amounts of time on what really matters!  For me, what matters is my family, friends, and allowing myself to have downtime to read for pleasure, as well as my professional life.  Just like with a car, when you don't have a charged battery, you will not perform.  You will undoubtedly achieve higher levels of performance when you take time to recharge your battery.  What do you do to recharge your battery? 

Mentoring Hits the Mark

I conducted a Speed Mentoring: Pairing Up session last week, and it occurred to me how important mentoring is to an organization’s growth and employee engagement, especially during a budget crisis.  (Speed Mentoring: Pairing Up is the way that I provide an opportunity for Mentees to meet with at least three prospective Mentors in pursuit of finding a suitable match.)  I had several participants mention to me that they are really getting a lot from the mentoring program that I develop and manage.  They expressed that they are not able to go to training because of the budget, so the mentoring events that I provide allow them the opportunity to still enhance their knowledge, develop their skills, and learn from others through networking.   

Mentoring is the perfect way to provide…

·       No cost targeted learning events.  It’s one of the most cost effective ways to motivate and inspire people and help them grow.

·        A pool of internal talent sources.  You don’t have to hire a contractor because people share their own knowledge, skills, and experience.

·       Opportunities for share knowledge across an organization.  People can learn about other areas of an organization.

·        Assistance to new employees as they acclimate to the organization.  You could have more experienced employees mentor new employees to help them learn how to navigate the organization and building.

·         Networking opportunities.  Create ways for people to meet people whom they wouldn’t ordinarily talk to or interact with.

If your company is experiencing a budget shortfall, consider establishing a mentoring program.  If you already have a mentoring program, re-evaluate it to look for ways for meeting employee learning and development needs through expansion.  When designed properly, based on organizational needs, there is no doubt that Mentoring Hits the Mark.

Creating Learning Cultures

I attended the Metro DC ASTD Chapter dinner program on Thursday night...Rethinking organizational Culture and Implications for Performance. The program was presented by Joe Wilmore, Wilmore Consulting Group. Joe presented very useful information that, once again, caused me to reflect on a related topic that really interests me, learning culture.

I started thinking about my organization and my contribution to its learning culture. In other words, do I do the following:

• educate myself about the value of learning,
• take advantage of L&D activities
• share knowledge and skills obtained with co-workers
• view mistakes as opportunities to improve and learn to create a “safe” learning environment

The answer is “YES”! I can say that I contribute to creating a learning culture with my organization.

Could you say that you are positively contributing to creating a learning culture in your organization? If not, what can you do differently to start contributing? If so, what are you doing to contribute?

Take Charge of Your Own Development (Part 2)

In my last post, I discussed how I decided to take charge of my own development. I explained how I began to energize my career. Once you start taking control of your own development you must continue by staying current in your field.
We are most happy when we feel like we have some control over things that impact our lives like our careers. Other benefits according to Mind Tools include: being better equipped to make informed decisions, building expert power, and keeping you alert to future trends.
Our development is totally up to us! No one can stop you from reading a book or attending a free webinar.

I now look for ways to stay current in the L&D field. Here's a few ways that I keep up-to-date...

Sign up for free newsletters and white papers...Mind Tools Newsletter, The Learning Cafe, Strategic Partners

Communities of practice...Toolbox for HR, OPM Federal Training and Development Wiki

Sign up for free webinars

Join National ASTD

Join Metro DC ASTD

Join LinkedIn groups...ASTD National, Chief Learning Officer, Young Government Leaders, CPLP

I have 3 mentoring partners which were mentioned in my April 13th post.

Industry reports...Bersin & Associates, ASTD Research

Networking...Metro DC Dinner Programs and networking events, attending special interest groups (SIGS) events

Volunteer at the ASTD Leadership Conference, and as Metro DC Director of SIGS opportunities

Subscribed to free publications...Chief Learning Officer, Talent Management Magazine

Sign up for Google Alerts

Taking Charge of Your Own Development

I often do check-ins to see how I’m developing as an L&D professional.  A couple of years ago during one of my check-ins, I realized that I was allowing my work environment to determine how I was developing my professional skills.  I felt that it was a waste of time to keep going to training, attending webinars, and networking with other L&D professionals because I wouldn’t be able to use whatever I learned from these activities in my current work environment.  This was totally the WRONG approach to take to my development!  I was not taking charge of my own development. 

After I realized that I wasted several years being stagnant in my career development, I decided that it was time for me to TAKE CHARGE of my own development.  I decided that I needed to place myself in environments where I can have stimulating conversations with other L&D professionals and stop allowing my current environment to dictate my growth potential. 

So what did I do?…I enrolled in graduate school in a Human Resource Development program.  That lasted for a semester and a half, which earned me nine credits.  After another check-in, I realized that graduate school wasn’t what I needed.  Although I gained new knowledge, I was in a program with people who were in pursuit of an L&D career.  I had already been in the field for 14 years.  I met quite of few individuals, whom I am still in contact today.  In fact, I coach, mentor, and assist them in entering into the field. 

During my last class in graduate school, I decided to pursue the Certified Professional in Learning and Performance (CPLP) credential in order to validate my current knowledge and skills as a L&D professional.  I needed to know that I knew what I thought I did.  I didn’t use the excuse that my organization won’t pay for it.  I was fortunate enough to use the money I had allocated for my next class in graduate school to pay for my certification.  This was truly a great accomplishment for me and I learned a lot during the study process!  It showed me that my skills hadn’t completely atrophied.  I was finally TAKING CHARGE OF MY OWN DEVELOPMENT!!! 

This was just the beginning.  In my next post, I will share with you some tips that I continue to use which have allowed me to keep my career development energized despite where I work or with whom I work.

You can take charge of your development too.  If I did it, so can you.  Maybe, you’ve already done it and can help someone on their learning journey.  Share your stories of how you’ve taken charge of your own development…

Are You Closed or Open to Learning?

Today, I had a meeting with a co-worker which caused me to do some self-reflection.  I had to ask myself, "Am I really open to learning?" 

The co-worker was opposed to working on administrative duties although the duties are major components of any program manager's job, especially one without administrative or support staff.  The co-worker didn't consider the new assignment as a way to grow and broaden her experience.  In this particular instance, the consequence to being closed to learning was the employee missed an opportunity to create a highly, visible program and display her talents.

So many of us feel as though certain work duties are beneath us just because they don't appear to be equal to our position, title, grade level, degree, or credentials, instead of looking at new assignments as opportunities to grow and as pathways to other more rewarding work.  If we close our minds to opportunites to do different work or take on new assignements, we will never grow or expand our experience. We eventually STOP learning! 

 L&D professionals cannot afford to be closed-minded. We are in fact among the innovators and change agents who create learning environments within our organizations. We are supposed to open to continuous growth and improvement.

I ended my self-reflection with thoughts about how I once had a closed-mind to learning, until I changed my outlook.  I can only wonder how once being closed deferred my own growth.  I now look at all tasks and assignments as opportunities to learn and grow.  This encounter with my co-worker gave me an opportunity to see just how much I've grown in my learning journey!

Are you closed or open to learning?  How have your views about learning changed on your learning journey?  Feel free to share some of your experiences.

Eliminate Scrap Learning

Last week I participated on a webinar called How to Measure Formal and Informal Learning, by bizlibrary, which caused me to reflect on how many resources are spent on worthless training.  It was very insightful to say the least.  I learned a term to describe when people attend training and they never use what they learn back on the job.  The term is "scrap learning". 

One of the major causes of "scrap learning" is caused by sending people to training when the gap in performance isn't caused by knowledge and skill gaps...one of my pet peeves!  This leads to wasting time and money on a solution that is not going to be effective in helping employees perform better on the job.  Most times people don't use what they learn because the environment, back on the job, doesn't support it or it wasn't the right solution for the performance problem.  Why not look at some of the other causes of performance e.g. motivation, standards, capacity, etc.?

We as learning and development professionals need to do a better job and take more care to identify the root causes of performance problems and identify the right blended learning solutions.  Once we do a better job of identifying causes for performance problems, then our work to convince the organization of our "worth" will not be such an uphill climb.  We must be sure that we aren't just taking orders from people who want training, but ensure that we are actually addressing needs. Eventually, we may be able to begin eliminating "scrap learning."

Let's challenge ourselves to do a better job of eliminating "scrap learning."  Every learning experience should improve or enhance how we do things on the job and/or in our personal lives.

Mentoring is All About GROWTH

Last night I had dinner with one of my mentoring partners just to check in.  As I reflected on the outing, I thought about what made my partnerships so effective (I have 3 wonderful mentoring partners).  They all include GROWTH principles...

G-Genuine Interest: We are genuinely interested in continuous self-development.

R-Reciprocal Relationships:  We learn from each other.

O-Ongoing Dialog: We share our successes and failures and view them as opportunities to learn.

W-Work Together: We are committted to working together as a team.

T-Trust:  We trust each other with information that we share.

H-Heightened Potential: We inspire each other to stretch and grow personally and professionally.

Anyone who is interested and passionate about learning needs multiple mentoring partners if they want to continue to grow...that's why I have 3!!!

Here's an article about mentoring partnerships (One of my mentoring partners and I are participating in the program that's featured in the article!)...

http://associationdatabase.com/aws/NCDA/pt/sd/news_article/42191/_PARENT/layout_details_cc/false

Payoffs from Structured Practice

I saw firsthand the payoff from structured practice.  My daughter's basketball team had a game this weekend.  I didn't think that the team was prepared after only two practices until...I saw them play!  When I saw them in action and win the game, it occurred to me that they won as a result of structured practice.

It was a great reminder that the number of practices didn't matter as much as the QUALITY of their practices.  The two practices that her team had were very structured and focused on just what they needed to win the game. 

I, of course, applied this refreshed learning to my work as a L&D professional.  Don't laugh, it's what I do(smile).  When creating learning activities, we must always provide structured practice.  Our goal should always be to provide practical application that can be used to perform effectively on the job.  Improved individual and organizational performance is the payoff for "structured practice" in the L&D world.

Embracing Social Media

I thought I was doing something by joining Facebook...setting up this Blog...then editing a WIKI, but I have opened up my world by adding Twitter! I've had a Twitter account for a while but didn't use it for anything except getting the latest local news story.

I am so excited to begin exploring and embracing social media!!! I'm now able to share my learning journey in a new way. This may seem like no big deal to those "Techies" who can Tweet at the speed of light :-) However, for those of us who don't indulge in social media or even have a Facebook page, this is HUGE! This is the category that I fell into until this week. Now, I'm well on my way to expanding my learning journey. (By the way, I'm not the only one on learning journey...Norm Kamikow, Chief Learning Officer magazine, Editor in Chief, stated the following in April's edition, "I try to learn something new everyday.")

I stumbled upon a quick reference that may assist those technologocally challenged professionals like myself...

DOWNLOAD: The Social Media Tools Guide (70+ Tools)

Provided By: MarketingSavant

Learn about 70 different tools you can use to help expand your social media program. The Social Media Tools Guide is a 9-page, comprehensive list of social media marketing tools you should consider in your social media management responsibilities. Download your complimentary copy! Note: The publisher does require registration to receive the guide. Still, it's a good resource and we believe well worth

What's a WIKI?

I learned yesterday that WIKIs are cool!  I also edited my first page on the OPM Federal Training and Development WIKI.  They are a very useful tool for learning about any subject of interest.  Depending on your purpose for using the data, you need to validate information you discover...however, they can lead you to other sources of data that is considered "reliable".

If you are a L&D professional in the Federal government, joining this WIKI is a must!  It's a powerful tool to stay current and stay abreast of what's going on in your L&D community.

Striving for Excellence

Today, I was reminded that we must strive for excellence, not perfection!  One of my learning principles is continuous improvement.  I constantly look for ways to improve myself through learning and reflection.  It's important that we as learning and devlopment (L&D) professionals employ this same belief in order to be authentic in our interactions with our clients, colleagues, and/or business partners. I want to encourage my fellow L&D professionals to adopt the same principle of continuous improvement!  Nothing is ever done.  Everything we do is a "work-in-progress" including ourselves. 

What ways do you model continuous improvement as a L&D professional?

I gained more insight regarding succession planning by reading...The Learning-Sucession Connection article by Carol Morrison, 3/15/11.  Check it out, http://clomedia.com/articles/view/4154

Blogging

Today I learned how to set up a blog! I still have a lot to learn. If anyone has any tips, please feel free to share them with me. This is a huge step for me. Maybe next I can learn how to manage Twitter. Anything's possible.

I also learned that we all have what it takes to conquer our fears and other giants that stand in our way.

The Learning Journey

I've been in the learning business for over 30 years, and guess what...thankfully I'm STILL learning!  It just so happens that I get paid to help others learn as well.  I truly believe that each day we should learn something new!  I also believe that it's our job to share our learning with others in order to make their travels through life's winding road a little easier.  I will share with you what I learn each day on my learning journey.  Those that know me know that I'm passionate about learning.  Hopefully, that passion will help you on your learning journey as well...

The Passionate Learner