Where's your head?

Day 43 (Tuesday 12th January 2016)

43% of people in the UK aged 5 or over own or have access to a bicycle.
This compares to 52% in the USA, 85% in Holland and only 5% in Jordan. 
36.5% of the population are cyclists in Australia.

One of the things I love about the #Adventblog series is its global reach and the interest it inspires around the world. Today's post comes from Australia and is written by Con Sotidis a Learning and Performance specialist and Director of LearnKotch Consulting, as well as the founder of #ozlearn. He spent many years in senior roles within the public sector (mainly within the Australian Taxation Office) before taking the plunge and setting up his own business. Con is an engaging public speaker and an excellent event facilitator. You can follow him on Twitter, his handle is @LearnKotch

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Here we are again, "another year over, a new one just begun..." (thanks John for the words).

This year’s theme Comet Tails – Uh? What’s that?

Not to worry – just do what most of us do when we come across something we are not too familiar with - Google it.

See that was easy – how hard is it to discover, learn and share something new these days? We have so many resources at our disposal, and more that can be reached via a click through to our dear friend Google.

Well I know I am preaching to the converted, but it is scary to think about how many others in our profession, I am presuming that most of the AdventBlog readership are senior HR and L&D professionals, are shunning and ignoring the myriad of opportunities available to them.

Why this fear of Social Media?

If one is to be a leader in a business, steering and influencing the organisation's direction, especially around the human capital of the company and the new world of work, one thing that a great person in that role should be doing is tapping into the knowledge and expertise of others in the world that know how to get answers and provide solutions and who are continuing to do so.

The tools are plenty and one must be mindful of not being too focused on the tool, but my favourite social media app is Twitter – it's my go-to tool every morning and every night (and lots of times in between).  

Seeing, reading and sharing what I am receiving from my Personal Learning Network is an activity I enjoy and one that I actively participate in.  In fact, at times I also enjoy the curator role that I play - seeing others Re-Tweeting and sharing my tweets gives me a buzz, because I know, just like me, they too have found it useful and have enjoyed the subject matter.

Never before has the role of curator been more relevant and significant in our field than it is in today’s connected world. Content may be King but Curation will rule the world!

So why are some of our colleagues putting their Heads in the Sand? What is it about social media that they find hard to embrace?

Gemma Reucroft and Tim Scott considered this very issue in their great book Putting Social Media to Work – A Practical Guide:

Gemma and Tim have identified the myths very well, but even with these myths busted we still have little acceptance within our professions of Social Media as an effective means of learning and sharing.

I regularly follow conferences and create personal back channels via the creation of an Eventifier page. I do it for two reasons one to capture and review the tweets emanating from the conference as a learning tool, but the other is for social experiment purposes. I don't retain raw data but it is sad to see conferences of a few hundred L&D delegates attending and only a handful tweeting.  I know it is not an exact science and yes there are “lurkers” and others who follow via other means, but notwithstanding this, it is still sad to see how many have not yet embraced this “new world” or taken up the opportunity to seek and find out how they can. There are so many resources and people willing to help.

I use the hash tag #headinthesand often as a wake up call to the profession whenever I see things that disappoint me about learning. 

Recently though I had an interesting interaction on Twitter with one of my followers. They understood what I was trying to do and appreciated it, but they also wanted to see if we can take a positive outlook on learning by highlighting and recognising those that are already embracing and moving towards the new world of learning. She suggested we adopt the hash tag  #headinthegame.

What a wonderful idea, which I have embraced and will use during 2016. But more importantly one that was born out of interaction and sharing via Twitter !

Franklin D. Roosevelt once famously said:

“So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is...fear itself”

Let’s shine a light on the new world of Social Media and how it can help us learn share and connect. Don't bury your head in the sand – come join me and countless other HR / L&D professionals as we together embark on this learning journey.

We will fall over, we will laugh, we shall rejoice in our success and we shall reflect on our experiences – we have so much we can share with each other  - let’s not let fear impede our opportunity to reach out.

I leave you with this great reflection from Marcia Connor and Tony Bingham from The New Social Learning 2nd Edition:

I wish you all a Happy and Joyous 2016 filled with tweets, likes, shares, follows and mentions!

Καλη Χρονια 2016 !

Paths to Enlightenment - Day 5

Day 5

Take Five (the biggest selling jazz number of all time) is the best known piece
by musician Dave Brubeck, viewed as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century.
Take Five is on the 1959 album Time Out, significant for its use of uncommon, complex time
signatures - influenced by the pianist's classical training.
Brubeck had intended to become a vet (his father ran a cattle ranch) but
his popularity as a weekend pianist in nightclubs changed his mind.
If you wish to hear Take 5 here is the link to it on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmDDOFXSgAs
or click below.

Today's post is by the inspirational Alison Smith. She wrote her piece while "taking 5", so to speak, on a retreat in Scotland.  Alison is a procurement specialist and an expert in change and facilitation. She lives in Scotland, just north of Edinburgh, in Fife, but works where she is needed and is a respected and valued coach. She writes an excellent, wide ranging blog: www.thepurchasingcoach.co.uk, which focuses on the challenges facing many of us (not just those in procurement or work). You can follow Alison on Twitter via @PurchasingCoach.

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When I first joined twitter the fine band of HR twits/tweeple welcomed me with open arms. Thank you so much for that. A common bond found perhaps in putting people first - despite our professions having a different title - me with my procurement hat and you with your various HR ones.

The common thread between both professions was ever present at #CIPD14 earlier this year, when I read of HR grappling with being taken seriously by the organisations it supports and works with. The same challenge we in procurement have, and it would seem, many "support" functions find themselves facing, if tweets at the time are anything to go by.

This blog explores how I have addressed the perceptions others have of the profession I am a member of, and of me. The path towards our enlightenment perhaps - but, as I write this whilst ensconced on a spiritual workshop in Northern Scotland, I would say that, wouldn't I?!

Enlightenment is never about the collective but the individual - I wonder if that's also true when we search for the professional enlightenment we all so much desire.

In the past we've banded together and identified with our professional archetype - trying to change the archetype from within. Forgetting however that the very essence of the archetype, its patterns and ways of being, have been forged in steel. Each belief, value and behaviour laid down over the years for all to obey. The more we fight against its grip the tighter it holds us.

Enlightenment comes from leaving behind the redundant archetype and embracing a new one. A new archetype free of those negative perceptions, and still warm and malleable, as those at the forefront boldly go where no (wo)man has gone before.

Is that what I achieved this year? Is that the path I took? I'll let you decide.

I started the year as a full time procurement interim for one client - commuting each week from Fife Scotland (near the Forth Road Bridge) to Liverpool. A change from the ad hoc procurement and communication and influencing training, coaching and consulting I'd done for the previous 7 years with numerous clients.

Forth Road railway bridge at dawn

A change not least because I couldn't run away. I couldn't hide. I'd make a statement, or take an action, and was there the next day to see the repercussions of such.

The biggest insight for me was the perceptions others had of me, internally and externally:

"You're not like other procurement people we've met"

"Wow - honesty and fairness - that's new"

"Your openness is very helpful"

"Trust isn't something we encounter that often"

"Its obvious how much you care"

"You've brought the best out in us/them"

"We've never done that before - ever"

"I've really appreciated your collaborative approach"

"You've taken responsibility for ensuring we've kept on track - irrespective of whose responsibility it was"

"Thank you - you've helped us get the results we needed"

The journey didn't come without its challenges - the politics and the game playing that were ever present - however much I played a different tune. The challenge then became about not getting dragged into such games!

Oh I didn't get it right all the time. In fact think I got it wrong more than I got it right - but isn't that what enlightenment is all about? Doing what you do well - well, and practicing the stuff that comes less easily. Honesty, truth and openness are not easy bed fellows when faced with these games. Even if on reflection I realise they were the hand I needed to play more often at those times.

When I've blogged in the past, preaching at those in my profession to change their ways, its fallen on deaf ears. The more I've ranted and raged the deafer those ears have become. I realise it’s because in those moments I've been trying to change the old procurement archetype, and that's a structure that is immutable, and therefore it's an impossible task.

Since finishing that interim assignment my blogs have had more hits than ever, more engagement, more interaction. Simply because I think I've shared what I do - shared the beliefs, values and behaviours of a new procurement archetype (with the occasional rant granted!). At some level it’s resonated with others.

Sharing
Source: Wikimedia Commons

Slowly others it seems are also abandoning the old archetypes and joining those of us on a journey to our professional enlightenment. I realise it’s not about what we call the archetype it's about living it for all to see. Laying down the structures and patterns, so others that follow can, and will, find it more easily - so that they may know there IS another way.

I know I'm speaking to the converted, to those already laying down the new HR archetype. I just hope that, as you've learned of the path I've taken, the insights you've had will support you all in your quest for professional enlightenment - because together we WILL get there.

Wishing you all seasons greetings and a 2015 full of new opportunities and surprise.

View from the Dining room at Findhorn