D Foster Associates

I saw this great video during a discussion about how we all learn informally.  It was part of a discussion about how we (meaning the participants at the talk) would research Web 2.0.  I like it because it really shows you examples of things in such an innovative way.  The fact that it is the top video on You Tube when you search for “Web 2.0″ and is #6 on Google for the same search is pretty impressive.  So maybe you have seen it already, but if not, it is a must watch video.

Okay, here it is “unfiltered” as Lance suggested.  He is now branding himself as a “Creative Abrasionist” and tonight I got my share.  I ran into Lance at the eLearning Guild’s Annual Gathering tonight and we started a discussion about why he stopped blogging.  And then, as an “abraisionist” he immediately challenged me to see who’s blog “sucked more.”  Lance killed his blog because he just didn’t feel he was up to the task.  He told me that mine was bad because I filter it too much and that I really need to just put stuff out there and see what sticks.  We both agreed that Jay Cross’ blog is one of the better one in the “e-Learning” space.  But why aren’t there any better ones?

Lance is convinced that “blogs” need to be “unfiltered” and opinionated, which is similar to what my blog mentor says about negativity.  I think they can be more focused and don’t need to have postings every day.  Who is right?

I can post a ton of stuff if I just link to other blogs and resources, but is that worth anything to people who come to my site?  Or is it better for my site to be a corporate website with a number of “articles” that are posted from time to time when I find something useful?

If you are reading this, you came here for a reason, so please click on the comment button and let me know.  I’m convinced I can’t suck as much as Lance.

I have accepted a position as the Board Member-at-Large for the Central Mass Chapter of ASTD.  In this position I will be working with the other Board Members to help define the program offerings for the upcoming year.

So, what can the CMASTD do for you?  I joined the Board because I have some specific ideas of what I would like to get out of the meetings, but I’m just one point-of-view.  Please let me know what kind of events you would be interested in and what you would like to get out of your involvement in the chapter.

What, you’re not a member?  Well, then let me know why not.  Is it the cost?  Are the events not interesting enough?  Are they not relevant to what you do?  Let me know.

Without your feedback, we can’t make the chapter better.

Okay, I’ll admit that I don’t really understand the difference between a “Pandemic” and an “Epidemic“, but I just received a newsletter today that copied my last post about e-Learning for Disaster Recovery.  So, while they probably got the idea from my blog, the seminar looks interesting with speakers from the UN and the WHO.  You can register for the online seminar here.  While you’re registering for Elluminate seminars, you might also want to check out this other one by Lance Dublin.  I’ve always been impressed by Lance’s work and he’s working to start his own blog now, so check it out if you get a chance.

After posting yesterday about Partnering with the Business Unit, I received an e-mail from Kevin Oakes, President of SumTotal, Chair elect of ASTD, my former boss, and all around good guy.  He sent me his recent article, The Enterprise from the 2005 T&D magazine.  As it turns out, I am one of the few in the industry that didn’t read the original Fast Company article.

Kevin does a great job reviewing both the article and even some of the many comments posted on the Fast Company website.  He also quotes an interesting Accenture study titled “The High Performance Learning Organization” that says

Only 2 percent of learning executives in our study are measured or evaluated according to how successfully they align the learning function to strategic goals of their company or agency.

Kevin then goes on to talk about the lack of business strategy in the L & D groups.

Understanding the business, and measuring the right things has been cited many times as critical to the success of the workplace learning professional.

Finally, when discussing the current trend to outsource HR and with it the training and development group he references a list from a 2004 SHRM human resources survey report that lists the top seven reasons for outsourcing this function

If the HR and training and development functions were seen as strategic to the organization in the first place, much of what’s on this list wouldn’t be considered.

And he is right.  If the training and development group can’t show solid business cases for their initiatives and prove to the business units and the executive team that they are a strategic part of the business, their future with the company is limited.

I was at a great ISPI meeting last Thursday.  The speaker was Tina Teodorescu of Competence Systems.  She led a great discussion on how to partner with the Business Unit rather than just acting like their “client” or sometimes even their “boss”.

She referenced a great article in FastCompany called, “Why We Hate HR”, which really in many cases could be relabeled “Why we hate Training and Development”.  You should give it a read, and try replacing HR with Training every time they mention it.  It hurts, but if you are honest with yourself, you can see the truth in it.  One of the best quotes is about training.

The training person said that 80% of employees have done at least 40 hours in classes. The chairman said, ‘Congratulations.’ I said, ‘You’re talking about the activities you’re doing. The question is, What are you delivering?’

I’ve had direct experience with this as I mentioned before in my post “When Training Goals are a Bad Thing”, and I can attest to the fact that it is hard for a training department to give up on it’s activity based goals (especially when they are compensated on them) and focus on results based goals.

The only way to do it properly is to get out from behind the desk and work directly with the business unit.  When you know exactly what their issue is, what their goals are, and how they are being compensated, then you can design a solution that will solve their problems and improve performance.  If that work is done properly you should be able to develop a solid business case for the training and get the support of the business unit.  If you can’t do that, then you should really reconsider if the training is necessary, or if you are missing something in the analysis.

As part of an ongoing project I have with the New England Learning Association (NELA) the new NELA Blog was launched today.  The goal of the project is to extend the interaction and learning of the NELA community by creating ongoing discussions and involvement that occurs both before, during and after the events take place.  As part of this project I will be moderating and hosting the blog.

One of the bit issues that Allan Cole, the Founder and Executive Director of NELA had when discussing the goals of the blog was how to make it not just turn into a re-hash of everything else that is available on the web with a cut and paste of links to other blogs.  We came up with three key concepts.

1. Take advantage of NELA’s live events, but extend them by creating discussion before, during and after the event.  This will be done by posting questions or resources for members to read prior to a talk, and then by generating discussion after the talk to gather member’s thoughts and examples of how they will implement what they learned from the talk in their own projects.
2. Rather than just sharing press releases from NELA’s partners, the focus will be on getting partners or members to share real-life lessons learned from a project, or even their biggest mistake or wrong assumption and how they would avoid that in the future.
3. Take advantage of NELA’s global connections to help members learn about what is happening in the eLearning industry around the globe.  By fostering these connections members will get information and feedback not just from their local peers, but also from people with a different global perspective.

Allan and I feel that this will make the blog unique and more importantly a valuable resource to NELA members.

So, stay tuned, it is bound to provide some interesting feedback and lessons learned as it evolves.

Last week I attended a Greater Boston chapter ASTD meeting about Leadership Maturity Model by 7th Wave , and I thought I would share a couple interesting points that I took away from the meeting.

1. I you are interested in competency models, 360 assessments or leadership training, you should really look at their stuff. They have a neat model that separates a person’s ability (what they know how to do), from their capability (what they can get done due to environmental issues, external limits/influences, etc). Their work is based on SEI’s Capability Maturity Model. But I don’t want to butcher their work, so you can read about it more on their own site.
2. The #1 predictor of performance on the job (based on a Gallup survey) is the employee’s understanding of management expectations.
3. According to Henry Mintzberg’s “Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning” 90% of strategic plans fail to be implemented. Note that the focus is on the fact that they are never fully implemented, typically due to the process (or lack thereof) used to implement the plan. I’ve added this to my future reading list.

I found the meeting very interesting and thought provoking. I highly encourage any of you to attend and particpate with your local ASTD chapters.