Month: May 2016

The T is for Training Bookshelf: “Revolutionize Learning & Development”

Revolutionize Learning & Development. (2014). San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons and ASTD Press

Clark Quinn 

Quinn--Revolutionize_L&D--CoverClark Quinn is certainly not the first to say he is mad as hell and to urge us to not take it anymore. But in this well-researched, highly- and finely-nuanced book, he does far more than recycle old rants. He builds upon research-based evidence to show where we continue to go wrong in talent development and, more importantly, offers suggestions for changing our course(s) to the benefit of those we serve. The real winners here are the learners we will better support by adapting Quinn’s first-rate recommendations to fit our learners’ and organizations’ needs.

–This brief review, originally written as a “shelf talker” posted in the conference bookstore at the ATD 2016 International Conference & Exposition in Denver (May 2016), is re-posted here with the permission of our ATD colleagues. A longer set of reflections is available on the “Building Creative Bridges” blog.

 

The T is for Training Bookshelf: “ASTD Handbook: The Definitive Reference for Training & Development”

ASTD Handbook: The Definitive Reference for Training & Development. (2014). Alexandria: ASTD Press

Elaine Biech, editor 

ASTD_Handbook--CoverIf the title doesn’t already say all it all, let’s go one step further: Elaine Biech is one of our great ATD (Association for Talent Development) resources, and the Handbook is a treasured, foundational part of my talent-development book collection. Well organized and comprehensive in its survey of all aspects of talent development, the book makes nearly 100 of our greatest colleagues/mentors accessible to us within one volume. Whether you use it as an encyclopedia (exploring topics on an as-needed basis) or decide to read it cover-to-cover (and there’s no reason why you can’t do both), it’s a cherished must-have book.

–This brief review, originally written as a “shelf talker” posted in the conference bookstore at the ATD 2016 International Conference & Exposition in Denver (May 2016), is re-posted here with the permission of our ATD colleagues. 

The T is for Training Bookshelf: “The Six Disciplines of Breakthrough Learning”

The Six Disciplines of Breakthrough Learning: How to Turn Training and Development into Business Results (3rd edition). (2015). Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons and ATD Press

Roy V.H. Pollock, Andrew McK. Jefferson, and Calhoun Wick 

9781118647998_front.pdfWhen you sit down to read The Six Disciplines, you’ll want to have a highlighter nearby: every page of this book bursts with wonderful guidance and stories that remind us talent development [aka training-teaching-learning-doing], at its best, is a results-driven endeavor. Having been tremendously influenced by the first edition when the Six Disciplines phenomenon was initially gaining steam, I found myself falling in love with the book all over again in its latest iteration; it’s like meeting an old friend who had a first-rate makeover none of us realized was necessary. Glad the authors continue to build on their earlier successes.

–This brief review, originally written as a “shelf talker” posted in the conference bookstore at the ATD 2016 International Conference & Exposition in Denver (May 2016), is re-posted here with the permission of our ATD colleagues. 

T is for Training 186 : I Don’t Need Mind-blowing

Outside the Denver Art Museum
Outside the Denver Art Museum

On the call were Andrea Snyder, Kate Kosturski, Jill Hurst-Wahl, Paul Signorelli and Maurice Coleman. The topic for today was “The Size of the Room.”  How do we extend and expand a conference conversation easily, quickly and at a low cost (or free).

  • Using social media, one easy why is to create a unique hashtag and use that hashtag for a Twitter chat after the event is over.
  • Do post-conference recap sessions for librarians in your area (geographic or topic).  This could be done face-to-face or online (virtual).
  • Do pecha kuchas for staff.  One group creates a slidedeck with slides from different sessions that people want to to discuss.
  • Rather than being at a distance and saying that you’re not there, consider asking how people at the event want you to interact with them in the moment.

Paul reminded us that it is a room with an open door, which means you can enter or not, and enter when you want to.

Paul’s takeaway from the Association for Talent Development (ATD) Annual Conference is to end conversations with action plans, so that things occur. This moves people to be doers.  This is actually something Paul has had us do on T is for Training.

Paul mentioned the closing keynote by Jeremy Gutsche.  A version of his talk is in Youtube:

Andrea’s takeaway from the Public Library Association (PLA) Conference, included these topics:

  • Cultural awareness and inclusivity as topics of sessions
  • Empathy
  • Libraries as creation spaces, which is not just technology
  • The fact that everyone has biases

PLA organized a handout and post-conference conversations through Facebook so help people extend the learning.

Andrea mentioned this talk from Verna Myers, who was the “Big Ideas” keynote speaker:

Recaps of the conference are at http://rcplpla2016.blogspot.com/.

BTW we invested a new term, which is “pottycast.”  You’ll have to listen to the show to understand why or how.

You can listen to the show here.

T is for Training 185: The Answer is “Yes”!

Fort Worth Public Library -Central- ADA accomodations (3)On the call were Maurice Coleman, Jill Hurst-Wahl and Diane Huckabay.  We talked about making accommodations to address the needs of all learners.  You can listen to the show here (31 minutes).

Resources: