Five steps to transform a judging mindset into a learning one
Action Learning Conversations open up new thinking
Tonight's ASTDNY chapter event featured Dr. Victoria Marsick, Co-Director of the J.M. Huber Institute for Learning in Organizations, a principal of Partners for the Learning Organization, and Professor of Adult and Organizational Learning in the Department of Organization and Leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Dr. Marsick introduced the concept of Action Learning Conversations (ALCs) as a tool for peer mentoring and coaching. ALCs are 45-minute group conversations using the ORID (Objective, Reflective, Interpretive, and Decisional) Framework, which moves conversations from focusing on the objective facts of the situation, to reflecting on feelings and reactions, to interpreting what the feelings and reactions mean, and finally to deciding on what actions to take.
ALCs provide a structure for getting help from peers and seeing situations in a new light. Rather than discussing or debating a challenge, which can activate defensiveness and entrench people in old ways of thinking, ALCs require listening, questioning, and thinking together, which can transform people's perspective. ALCs create an environment of win-win, where people can learn in a safe space, rather than win-lose, where people end up judging each other and closing off their thinking.
The five steps
1) Share a challenge framed as a question. The person with the challenge shares, then the group asks clarifying objective questions to learn more about the context of the situation. Then the person with the challenge may indicate the specific help needed.
2) Question-storm. Everyone silently writes down one or two reflective or interpretive questions, then the group shares the questions in a round robin while the person with the challenge silently listens and writes. After this, the person with the challenge may share a few insights learned so far, while the group listens without asking any questions.
3) Share assumptions. Everyone writes down their assumptions about the situation, and then the group talks about the assumptions as if the person with the challenge were a fly on the wall. The person with the challenge silently listens and writes, and is invited to join the conversation only after everyone else in the group has had a chance to share their thoughts.
4) Reframe the challenge. Everyone writes down how they would re-frame the original question, and then the group shares these in a round robin while the person with the challenge silently listens and writes. After this, the person with the challenge may share a few insights learned so far, while the group listens without asking any questions.
5) Identify action steps. The person with the challenge identifies next steps.
Tips for successful ALCs
Dr. Marsick advised that diversity of thinking is helpful for ALCs, so if members in a group all know each other well, it's useful to get a couple less familiar people to join in. Also, if one group member is known to be a strong personality, it can be helpful to get a facilitator, to prevent that person from taking over the ALC. Facilitators are also good for groups who have trouble following specific processes, especially because it can be difficult for people to ask real questions rather than asking fake questions that are really problem-solving advice in disguise. When the fake questions start flying, facilitators can step in and model what it looks like to genuinely inquire about facts, feelings, or thoughts.
The proof in the pudding
We had a chance to practice a mini-ALC during the chapter event tonight, and my group was really helpful with the challenge I shared. In the end, the ALC process succeeded in uncovering some of my hidden assumptions, in helping me reflect on other perspectives, and in reframing the challenge into one with a more optimistic outlook.
Recommended reading
* Understanding Action Learning by Victoria Marsick and Judy O'Neil
* Change Your Questions, Change Your Life: 10 Powerful Tools for Life and Work by Marilee G. Adams
* Knowledge for Action: A Guide to Overcoming Barriers to Organizational Change by Chris Argyris
* "The Political Brain," by Michael Shermer in the July 2006 Scientific American, reporting on research by Emory University psychologist Drew Weston
Showing posts with label recommended reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recommended reading. Show all posts
Saturday, April 3, 2010
NYNP blog post 11-2-09
Recommended reading for leadership development
Tonight's ASTDNY special interest group (SIG) for training directors was a roundtable discussion comparing leadership development strategies and processes. Moderated by new SIG Chair Jim O'Hern, the Director of Learning and Development at Hess Corporation, the group discussed our experiences with leadership training programs.
As part of the discussion, participants shared a number of recommended books. If you're interested in your own leadership development, or are creating leadership training, you may want to take a look at these books, which include useful tools, exercises, and ideas:
* Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment by Martin Seligman
* FYI: For Your Improvement, A Guide for Development and Coaching by Michael M. Lombardo and Robert W. Eichinger
* Riding The Waves of Culture: Understanding Diversity in Global Business by Charles Hampden-Turner and Fons Trompenaars
* StrengthsFinder 2.0: A New and Upgraded Edition of the Online Test from Gallup's Now, Discover Your Strengths by Tom Rath
* What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful by Marshall Goldsmith and Mark Reiter
* Whole-Scale Change: Unleashing the Magic in Organizations by Dannemiller Tyson Associates
Tonight's ASTDNY special interest group (SIG) for training directors was a roundtable discussion comparing leadership development strategies and processes. Moderated by new SIG Chair Jim O'Hern, the Director of Learning and Development at Hess Corporation, the group discussed our experiences with leadership training programs.
As part of the discussion, participants shared a number of recommended books. If you're interested in your own leadership development, or are creating leadership training, you may want to take a look at these books, which include useful tools, exercises, and ideas:
* Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment by Martin Seligman
* FYI: For Your Improvement, A Guide for Development and Coaching by Michael M. Lombardo and Robert W. Eichinger
* Riding The Waves of Culture: Understanding Diversity in Global Business by Charles Hampden-Turner and Fons Trompenaars
* StrengthsFinder 2.0: A New and Upgraded Edition of the Online Test from Gallup's Now, Discover Your Strengths by Tom Rath
* What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful by Marshall Goldsmith and Mark Reiter
* Whole-Scale Change: Unleashing the Magic in Organizations by Dannemiller Tyson Associates
NYNP blog post 9-2-09
Notes from Day 2 of The eLearning Guild's New England Regional Instructional Design Symposium
Designing Learning for the “Moment of Need”
Bob Mosher, LearningGuide Solutions USA
Mosher talked about creating a "holistic learning ecosystem" that helps people at each moment of need for learning. He suggested that there are five such moments of need: 1) the first time we learn something, 2) when we want to learn more, 3) when we try to remember or apply learning, 4) when things change, and 5) when something goes wrong. As trainers, we need to create support for staff that's appropriate for each stage, and Mosher suggested that e-learning can be useful for the first two types of moments, whereas just-in-time performance supports are more useful for the last three.
The learning ecosystem needs to include guidance for learners on what to access and when, because Mosher noted that research shows that 80% of adults make poor choices when given choices in their learning -- we tend to choose based on what's shortest, shiniest, etc., rather than on what will actually help us perform.
E-Learning on the Cheap! Finding Resources for Free (or Virtually Free)
Steven Yacovelli, TopDog Learning Group, LLC
Yacovelli made the point that e-learning doesn't need to be expensive to be good, as long as it's designed well. As he said, "cheap does not equal low quality." Without necessarily endorsing any products, he and the group shared many free resources, including Audacity and Wavepad for creating audio recordings, Moodle and Sakai for managing e-learning content much like an LMS, Udutu for building SCORM objects online, Wink or Camstudio for doing video screen captures, Guttenberg Press for books that are out of print, Stockvault for graphics, Comicpics or Toondoo for creating comics, and Drupal or Joomla for web authoring.
He also said that his company has a paper measurement that can help benchmark attitudes about e-learning before a project begins, which can be used to measure the project's success -- and they will share the measurement for free if the user agrees to share the data collected.
Blended and Interactive Design on a Nonprofit Budget
Matthea Marquart & Zora Rizzi, BELL (Building Educated Leaders for Life)
Day 2 of the symposium was the day when Zora and I led a session, which provided lessons learned from BELL's e-learning project. It was a delight to present our project to e-learning professionals, and it was a thrill to receive positive feedback. If you're interested in checking out some of what we shared, our handouts are available at http://www.elearningguild.com/showFile.cfm?id=3495
Closing General Session – Panel
Panelists: Lee Maxey, MINDMAX, Inc.
Bob Mosher, LearningGuide Solutions
Marc Rosenberg, Marc Rosenberg and Associates
Allison Rossett, Department of Educational Technology, San Diego State University
Will Thalheimer, Work-Learning Research
Ellen Wagner, Sage Road Solutions, LLC
Moderator: Heidi Fisk, The eLearning Guild
Here are some highlights of the panel's responses to questions from symposium participants.
In response to the question of the top three things a new e-learning manager should do, Will Thalheimer said that the new manager should prioritize evaluation, learn to be a good leader of many different types of people, and maintain a sense of humor; Lee Maxey said that the new manager should read The First 90 Days, determine success measures, and get a coach that will help the manager be accountable.
In response to the question of what organizations should consider when selecting an LMS or CMS (learning management system or content management system), Marc Rosenberg said that the LMS doesn't really matter because well designed, relevant e-learning content is the key and LMS's can become a roadblock when they control what type of e-learning is produced in order to fit the LMS's limited capabilities; Lee Maxey said that it's not important to have a perfect LMS because there are many web-enabled services you can tack on as long as you get an LMS with 80% of what you need; Will Thalheimer cautioned that having an overly fancy LMS can send the message that training is separate from work if the training becomes more about the LMS than the job.
In response to the question of what kind of interactivity multiple generations need, Allison Rossett said that everyone needs interaction, so we should assume that certain generations don't need to be engaged; Will Thalheimer noted e-learning should engage people to the point that they stop multi-tasking, because research has clearly demonstrated that multitasking doesn't work and that what happens is that people jump from one task to another without focusing on anything and therefore do everything worse.
In response to what books e-learning professionals should read, the panel recommended Ruth Clark on design and e-learning, Jackie Fenn on managing the technology hype cycle, John Kotter on leading change, and Chip & Dan Heath on making ideas stick.
Designing Learning for the “Moment of Need”
Bob Mosher, LearningGuide Solutions USA
Mosher talked about creating a "holistic learning ecosystem" that helps people at each moment of need for learning. He suggested that there are five such moments of need: 1) the first time we learn something, 2) when we want to learn more, 3) when we try to remember or apply learning, 4) when things change, and 5) when something goes wrong. As trainers, we need to create support for staff that's appropriate for each stage, and Mosher suggested that e-learning can be useful for the first two types of moments, whereas just-in-time performance supports are more useful for the last three.
The learning ecosystem needs to include guidance for learners on what to access and when, because Mosher noted that research shows that 80% of adults make poor choices when given choices in their learning -- we tend to choose based on what's shortest, shiniest, etc., rather than on what will actually help us perform.
E-Learning on the Cheap! Finding Resources for Free (or Virtually Free)
Steven Yacovelli, TopDog Learning Group, LLC
Yacovelli made the point that e-learning doesn't need to be expensive to be good, as long as it's designed well. As he said, "cheap does not equal low quality." Without necessarily endorsing any products, he and the group shared many free resources, including Audacity and Wavepad for creating audio recordings, Moodle and Sakai for managing e-learning content much like an LMS, Udutu for building SCORM objects online, Wink or Camstudio for doing video screen captures, Guttenberg Press for books that are out of print, Stockvault for graphics, Comicpics or Toondoo for creating comics, and Drupal or Joomla for web authoring.
He also said that his company has a paper measurement that can help benchmark attitudes about e-learning before a project begins, which can be used to measure the project's success -- and they will share the measurement for free if the user agrees to share the data collected.
Blended and Interactive Design on a Nonprofit Budget
Matthea Marquart & Zora Rizzi, BELL (Building Educated Leaders for Life)
Day 2 of the symposium was the day when Zora and I led a session, which provided lessons learned from BELL's e-learning project. It was a delight to present our project to e-learning professionals, and it was a thrill to receive positive feedback. If you're interested in checking out some of what we shared, our handouts are available at http://www.elearningguild.com/showFile.cfm?id=3495
Closing General Session – Panel
Panelists: Lee Maxey, MINDMAX, Inc.
Bob Mosher, LearningGuide Solutions
Marc Rosenberg, Marc Rosenberg and Associates
Allison Rossett, Department of Educational Technology, San Diego State University
Will Thalheimer, Work-Learning Research
Ellen Wagner, Sage Road Solutions, LLC
Moderator: Heidi Fisk, The eLearning Guild
Here are some highlights of the panel's responses to questions from symposium participants.
In response to the question of the top three things a new e-learning manager should do, Will Thalheimer said that the new manager should prioritize evaluation, learn to be a good leader of many different types of people, and maintain a sense of humor; Lee Maxey said that the new manager should read The First 90 Days, determine success measures, and get a coach that will help the manager be accountable.
In response to the question of what organizations should consider when selecting an LMS or CMS (learning management system or content management system), Marc Rosenberg said that the LMS doesn't really matter because well designed, relevant e-learning content is the key and LMS's can become a roadblock when they control what type of e-learning is produced in order to fit the LMS's limited capabilities; Lee Maxey said that it's not important to have a perfect LMS because there are many web-enabled services you can tack on as long as you get an LMS with 80% of what you need; Will Thalheimer cautioned that having an overly fancy LMS can send the message that training is separate from work if the training becomes more about the LMS than the job.
In response to the question of what kind of interactivity multiple generations need, Allison Rossett said that everyone needs interaction, so we should assume that certain generations don't need to be engaged; Will Thalheimer noted e-learning should engage people to the point that they stop multi-tasking, because research has clearly demonstrated that multitasking doesn't work and that what happens is that people jump from one task to another without focusing on anything and therefore do everything worse.
In response to what books e-learning professionals should read, the panel recommended Ruth Clark on design and e-learning, Jackie Fenn on managing the technology hype cycle, John Kotter on leading change, and Chip & Dan Heath on making ideas stick.
NYNP blog post 8-3-09
Notes from Day 1 of The eLearning Guild's New England Regional Instructional Design Symposium
Event info at http://www.elearningguild.com/content.cfm?selection=doc.1222
The eLearning Guild's Instructional Design Symposium on July 23 and 24 was excellent, and the highlights from my favorite sessions from Day 1 are below.
Mastering e-Learning Instructional Design in the 21st Century
With Brent Schlenker, The eLearning Guild
Schlenker gave a fantastic keynote address. One good quote was "clicking buttons in an elevator is not interactive, but we're told that clicking the 'next' button in an e-learning is." He pushed participants to do better with interactivity, and he suggested that at this point in technological advances, e-learning content should be searchable, editable, linkable, tagg-able, and feed-able. Another good quote was one he referenced by Plato: "You can learn more about a person in an hour of play than you can from a lifetime of conversation." He tied this to Ralph Koster's book A Theory of Fun for Game Design, which posits that with games, learning is the drug -- he suggested that e-learning should be designed to be just as effective at teaching as games.
He also referenced John Medina's book Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School and pushed participants to remember that brains need repetition, stimulation of the senses, and exploration of patterns in order to learn, so we need to build these into e-learning.
Beyond Kirkpatrick: Taking a Fresh Look at Analysis and Evaluation
Allison Rossett, San Diego State University
Rossett pushed participants to incorporate evidence into our e-learning practice -- both anecdotal evidence and metrics. She said that the data we collect in order to evaluate our e-learning should serve three broad purposes -- to plan, to report, and to improve.
Rossett quoted Abraham Lincoln -- "If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend six hours sharpening my ax" -- to make the point that e-learning professionals should spend the majority of our time on analysis and evaluation. Her tips to make this feasible included baking in the metrics so that the e-learning is being evaluated throughout rather than just at the end, focusing only on gathering data that's actionable, and prioritizing the purposes of any project so that even with limited time and resources the project can be successful. To quote Rossett, "You can only judge success when you and those you serve have agreed on purposes."
Situation-based Learning Design: Research Insights for e-Learning
Will Thalheimer, Work-Learning Research
To increase long-term memory of what's learned in e-learning, Thalheimer said that e-learning content must be aligned with context, must include practice retrieving information from one's memory, and should be repeated over time. Situation-based learning design focuses on the first two. Content-context alignment can be achieved by matching the e-learning with the workplace in as many ways as possible, including background and incident, as well as look, feel, sounds, mood, space, etc. When designers cannot create a match, the next best strategy is to create many contexts, which also aids in memory retrieval. Regarding practice, research shows that even tests are helpful, especially if they include feedback.
When designing situation-based learning rather than topic-based learning, Thalheimer recommended considering the magic question -- "What do we want our learners to be able to do, and in what situations do we want our learners to do these things?" The answers to that question should guide designers in creating relevant e-learning. To do this, Thalheimer discussed the SEDA conceptualizati on of how people approach situations -- Situation, Evaluation, Decision, Action -- and noted that situation-based learning should include all of these phases.
Event info at http://www.elearningguild.com/content.cfm?selection=doc.1222
The eLearning Guild's Instructional Design Symposium on July 23 and 24 was excellent, and the highlights from my favorite sessions from Day 1 are below.
Mastering e-Learning Instructional Design in the 21st Century
With Brent Schlenker, The eLearning Guild
Schlenker gave a fantastic keynote address. One good quote was "clicking buttons in an elevator is not interactive, but we're told that clicking the 'next' button in an e-learning is." He pushed participants to do better with interactivity, and he suggested that at this point in technological advances, e-learning content should be searchable, editable, linkable, tagg-able, and feed-able. Another good quote was one he referenced by Plato: "You can learn more about a person in an hour of play than you can from a lifetime of conversation." He tied this to Ralph Koster's book A Theory of Fun for Game Design, which posits that with games, learning is the drug -- he suggested that e-learning should be designed to be just as effective at teaching as games.
He also referenced John Medina's book Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School and pushed participants to remember that brains need repetition, stimulation of the senses, and exploration of patterns in order to learn, so we need to build these into e-learning.
Beyond Kirkpatrick: Taking a Fresh Look at Analysis and Evaluation
Allison Rossett, San Diego State University
Rossett pushed participants to incorporate evidence into our e-learning practice -- both anecdotal evidence and metrics. She said that the data we collect in order to evaluate our e-learning should serve three broad purposes -- to plan, to report, and to improve.
Rossett quoted Abraham Lincoln -- "If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend six hours sharpening my ax" -- to make the point that e-learning professionals should spend the majority of our time on analysis and evaluation. Her tips to make this feasible included baking in the metrics so that the e-learning is being evaluated throughout rather than just at the end, focusing only on gathering data that's actionable, and prioritizing the purposes of any project so that even with limited time and resources the project can be successful. To quote Rossett, "You can only judge success when you and those you serve have agreed on purposes."
Situation-based Learning Design: Research Insights for e-Learning
Will Thalheimer, Work-Learning Research
To increase long-term memory of what's learned in e-learning, Thalheimer said that e-learning content must be aligned with context, must include practice retrieving information from one's memory, and should be repeated over time. Situation-based learning design focuses on the first two. Content-context alignment can be achieved by matching the e-learning with the workplace in as many ways as possible, including background and incident, as well as look, feel, sounds, mood, space, etc. When designers cannot create a match, the next best strategy is to create many contexts, which also aids in memory retrieval. Regarding practice, research shows that even tests are helpful, especially if they include feedback.
When designing situation-based learning rather than topic-based learning, Thalheimer recommended considering the magic question -- "What do we want our learners to be able to do, and in what situations do we want our learners to do these things?" The answers to that question should guide designers in creating relevant e-learning. To do this, Thalheimer discussed the SEDA conceptualizati on of how people approach situations -- Situation, Evaluation, Decision, Action -- and noted that situation-based learning should include all of these phases.
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