A Key Note

So, I'm back in the office today, catching up on a day out, and reflecting on the learning points I took away from yesterday's trainingzone Live 2012 conference in London ( http://www.trainingzonelive.co.uk/ ).  The organisers helpfully provided us all with a reflective Personal Learning Log sheet in our conference pack, which I've scribbled into, but I've already decided to capture - and more importantly, share - my key learning 'nuggets' (from my own and others' contributions to the Twitter backstream yesterday) in a Storify story.  That's for later tho'...

I got a lot out of the workshop sessions I chose to attend, and that will show up in my Storify.  But, whilst I have come away from those sessions intellectually and professionally stimulated, I have been thinking today about what most inspired and energised me during the day.  And it wasn't the workshops, it wasn't the opening presentation, and it certainly wasn't the closing "Any Questions" expert panel discussion - it was the second-to-last session with key note speaker, Steve Backley OBE ( http://www.stevebackley.com/ ), Olympic javelin multi-Medalist, World record-holder and now development consultant with his partner Roger Black.  Not only was Steve an engaging personality, he told an enthralling story of success and failure in his athletic and Olympic journey, authentically, with passion, humility and humour, and he had the audience in the palm of his hand throughout.  Others have - and I will, in my Storify - shared their 'take-aways' from Steve's session, but here's what I wanted to talk about today...

I have been fortunate enough to attend several conferences - and my first UnConference - in the last year.  From each of them, I came away with useful personal and professional development ideas which I have been able to utilise, in one way or another.  But what has really hit home after yesterday's trainingzone Live, is how great the different Key Note Speakers at those events were, and how humble, entertaining, intellectually stimulating, inspiring and downright 'value for money' they have been.  

I heard Lord Robert Winston ( http://www.robertwinston.org.uk/ ) speak on the development of the human brain (at the Learning and Performance Institute's LearningLive conference) last year); I also enjoyed Edward de Bono ( http://www.edwdebono.com/ ), Ray Kurzweil ( http://www.kurzweiltech.com/aboutray.html ) and Jaron Lanier ( http://www.jaronlanier.com/ ) delivering challenging - and contrary - keynotes at the Learning and Skills Group's 'Learning Technologies' Conference in January this year.  And now I am pleased to add Steve Backley to that list of inspiring speakers.

What I loved about them all is that, whilst they are 'experts' in their own specialisms, they brought into our increasingly navel-gazing L&D world a different energy, passion and perspective, which challenged me to step out of my professional comfort zone and consider what we do and the people with whom (and,in some cases, to whom) we do it, in a completely different light.

What I missed at yesterday's TZL, particularly from the 'expert' panel at the end, was that sense of humility, of that recognition that we now operate in a very different world, with different expectations of what learning looks, feels and tastes like; that it is happening out there now, with or without our involvement, and that, maybe, we should lift our eyes up and look at what's happening around us.  I was really disappointed that no-one mentioned the growth of social and collaborative learning (not social media - that's just a tool in the arsenal) and that our roles in L&D need to change to embrace, facilitate and support peer-driven learning - as another part of the blend.  If we keep thinking of ourselves as the experts, then we are going to be arched and sidelined by the wisdom of the crowd and by people's own desire to share and learn from each other.

So here's where I'm going with this.  My recent attendance at the L&D Connect UnConference (to which, incidentally, I was invited through LinkedIn by one of my Twitter friends and on which I have already blogged) opened my eyes to another way of thinking about the opportunities afforded us when we get a load of L&D people in one room at the same time.  In an UnConference, the attendees set the agenda, discussion groups are formed and dynamically change during the sessions, with people free to move between groups as their interest/whim takes them.

Now, imagine the stimulation for discussion if your next conference was an UnConference AND it was kicked off by a quality keynote speaker of the calibre of those above, who would challenge you to think outside of your comfort box, before you break out into your discussion groups. And then you share your learning during and afterwards by whatever social and other tools are available to you.

So, conference organisers and colleagues, let's take a chance, look up, get a different perspective, and let's put some humility and passion back into the mix.  Any thoughts?

A Year in the Blogosphere

I'm in danger of missing the boat with this blog, so I'm going to quickly finish it off and publish it before its 'tell-by' date has expired.

This is my 21st blog (It was going to be my 20th, but attending the recent L&DConnect UnConference in London on Tuesday forced my hand with another blog instead).  No big deal in itself, but I am writing this as part of my reflection on the fact that I have now been blogging for one whole year.  I posted my first blog - on the subject of posting my first blog - on 14th April 2011.  

So, at the risk of disappearing up an ever-decreasing orifice of blogging blogs about blogging, I thought I'd review how it's going, and share what I've learned thus far, in case anyone else out there is in two minds about starting.

Feel the Fear...

...and do it anyway.  I procrastinated for a long time before actually committing myself to blogging.  I confess to not having been a great blog-reader beforehand - having only just got the hang of micro-blogging on #Twitter - but I noticed that many of the people I followed in my Twitter #PLN (Personal Learning Network) were already blogging.  So I started reading their blogs and commenting, mentioned on Twitter that I was toying with the idea and getting inspiration from their postings and suddenly, I got a flood of encouraging comments back from those same people - and others - suggesting that it was time I bit the bullet.

Biting the Bullet...

I'd been keeping a document going of blog ideas, fleshing them out as I could, so I felt that I might be ready to have a go.  So I crowdsourced recommendations for a hosting site (i.e. I asked the question on Twitter).  Again, the wisdom of the crowd was generously, quickly and effectively given, and I settled on #Blogger.  Nice n' easy interface, no complicated web presence requirements.  I signed up, copied & pasted my first blog content into the window, published - and I was out there on the blogosphere!  I tweeted the fact, along with the link to my new blog page, and to my surprise and delight, people went to my site, read my blog, commented on it and retweeted the link to my new page!

Holding Hands...

Apparently there were several of us taking our first steps into blogging and we quickly established a couple of Twitter Hashtags (which seem to have fallen by the wayside as we've all gained confidence) #bloggingnewbies, followed a couple of months later by #bloggingimprovers.  We published our blogs and announced them to the twitterati with either of those hashtags and then we knew to go and check out ch others' latest and offer our support/feedback.

I want to acknowledge here and thank a great bunch of people who offered their support and advice then, and continue to do so now - Mandy Randall-Gavin (@ MandyRG), Kate Graham (@ KateGraham23), Stephanie Dedhar (@ StepanieDedhar), Lisa Johnson (@ TuppyMagic), Craig Taylor (@ CraigTaylor74) and Colin Steed (@ ColinSteed) - all of whom write and publish their own excellent blogs, which I thoroughly recommend to you.

It's not a one-way street...

...it's a two-way street!  Engage, don't pontificate.  I am thrilled when someone takes the trouble to read one of my blogs in the first place, but even more excited when they comment.  I will always try to respond (room for development here, I think) and then we are in dialogue.  A recent blog by David Goddin (@ ChangeContinuum) touched very effectively on this subject  http://peopleperformancepotential.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/pseudo-intellectual-blog-bomb-of.html 

Review and Reflect...

I've gone back and re-read my 20-blog output over the last year, and I see a definite change in them.  My early blogs were a tad forced, contrived even, when I felt unsure of my own voice or what I wanted to talk about ("Don't over-think them" was the advice from a seasoned blogger here).  However, when I was inspired or - as importantly - energised or empassioned about the topic, they flowed more naturally and with more authenticity.  People notice that kind of stuff, and comments and feedback from my great #PLN confirm that fact ("It read much more 'conversational' and as such, I found it easier to read" was a recent comment from another experienced blogger).

Oh, one thing I do think I do well (feel free to challenge) - I write great, catchy Titles. I like puns and I try to make my headlines intriguing, walking the middle line between being too clever or too pompous.  Like I said, feel free to challenge that one!

My key learning points?

I've written some of them already as the sub-headings in this blog.  But here they are in a convenient, take-away sized bullet list.

• Feel the Fear
• Bite the Bullet
• Maintain a potential topic list
• Hold Hands
• It's not a one-way street
• Invite your Friends
• Follow other blogs
• Review and Reflect

I'm no expert here - I'm sure you will have other tips.  Let's add to and share this list.  

So here we are; the end of my 21st - but not my last - blog.  Thanks for taking the time to read this one. Now let's talk...

Sharing my Learning from My FirstUnConference

I have just posted a blog on our internal HR Social/Collaboration site at work. I attended yesterday's L&DConnect UnConference in London, and had been asked by my boss to make sure that I shared whatever learning points had arisen for me, with the rest of my colleagues. This seemed to be the most impactive way of doing that.

Incidentally, much respect to the organisers, the contributors and the 'summarisers' of yesterday's event.

Here's the blog I posted at work...

I was recently invited by a contact on LinkedIn to attend an UnConference, to discuss with other Learning & Development professionals issues and ideas about what, why, how and could we do what we do.

So yesterday, a focussed half day, at the Brewery in Brick Lane, Algate East London, was attended by about 30 people, most of who I had never met before, but several of whom I was already following or being followed by on Twitter.  A very loose agenda was offered and we divided up into groups to discuss various kick-off topics, which we then post-it-noted into further discussion groups.  Refreshements were on tap all afternoon, so no need to take specific breaks where we all queued for the toilet at the same time.

No keynote speakers, no experts to tell us how c**p we are at what we do - just enthusastic professionals sharing knoweldge, opinions and ideas.

Rather than give you a blow-by-blow account of the proceedings, I'm adding links to this blog, to take you to some of the great reflective resources that other attendees created.  If you cannot access these links via the network at work, can I strongly urge you to try from home or elsewhere, as these are the kinds of tools that can open up our discussion and our own knowledge sharing potential.

Links:

http://pabial.wordpress.com/2012/04/24/i-give-to-you-ld-connect/ A blog from Sukh Pabial, one of the organisers.

http://storify.com/kingfishercoach/l-and-d-connect-unconference A Storify summary of the event in Tweets and pictures, curated by Ian Pettigrew, one of the attendees.

http://itsdevelopmental.com/2012/delegates-share-their-takeaway-from-the-ld-connect-unconference/ A video blog by Martin Couzins, where all the attendees were invited to speak directly to camera on our way out, stating what one big 'take-away' each of us was leaving with.

One final thought.  Wouldn't this be a great format for our next internal HR Conference - an HR UNConference?

End of the work blog.

I'll let you know what kind of interest and/or feedback I get from my HR colleagues...

A Good Write Up

I find your writing pretentious and difficult to read.

That was the dismissive comment written by one of my tutors at the end of a hand-written essay I had submitted as part of my coursework when I was a First-Year drama student in Edinburgh in 1974.  This was not the first time my less-than-perfect writing had been commented upon.  In fact, I later found out that the Primary School I had attended as a child was notorious for turning out children with bad handwriting.

Ironically, I had completed my secondary school education holding an SCE (Scottish Certificate in Education) 'O' Grade in Secretarial Skills and Typing, but had not bought (or had not been bought) a typewriter when I went to college, so I was still presenting written work in my poor handwriting at college.  I saved up and bought a typewriter after that comment.

And it was those typing skills which ultimately led me to my current role and responsibilities.  When I was a professional actor, I spent a lot of time 'resting' (a misnomer if ever there was one), temping as an audio typist.  Not many men in that role in the 1980's!  That led to a job in a news agency, transcribing news broadcasts, where they introduced word processors just before I packed it in.  Suddenly, I was an IT user - and have never looked back.  My handwriting ceased to be a professional issue, whilst it remained - and remains - a personal embarrassment to me.

I commented in my last blog about the challenges I experienced around taking notes whilst I was a juror on a rape trial during my jury service at the end of February. This evidently struck a note (of another kind) with a few of my readers who were kind enough to comment on the blog and on #Twitter, and has made me reflect further.

At the start of the trial, I was trying to take notes where I felt that there were inconsistencies in witness responses under questioning from the Prosecution and Defence Counsels. I was  determined to be the best juror I could be, to assess all the evidence as objectively and with as much clarity of recall as I could, so I started off taking basic notes on the notepads provided for that purpose in the court room.  After all, there would be no slide decks "available on the website after the event"!

Several things became apparent immediately. In trying to capture one point, I realised I was missing another, and another...  And my handwriting was just not up to the task!   In desperation, I started scribbling notes without looking at them, as I tried to watch and listen to the to-and-fro between the players on the floor of the court.  As a result, my notes were becoming more and more illegible - and therefore irrelevant.  I was in danger of - literally - losing the plot.

So I decided to take a more relaxed view, sat back and started really paying attention, listening closely and hoping that my fellow jurors -  many of whom were not taking notes either - were paying similar close attention, and that all the necessary discussion points would arise in our deliberations as and when the time came for us to consider our verdict.  This was going to be a real test of memory and recall then. Ironically, after six days, the Prosecution withdrew its case and we were directed by the Judge to acquit the Defendant. My notes were redundant anyway!

On reflection, I realised that, partly due to the A5 size of the cheap lined notepads supplied, I had not attempted to note-take in my preferred style, which is to mind-map on A4.  This is my default, everyday method of organising myself.  My work Day Book is page after page of daily maps; I capture all my own meeting notes in mind-maps; I do shopping lists in mind-maps; my To Do Lists are mind maps.  They suit my way of thinking and allow me to free-flow ideas, capture thoughts that may not have occurred to me at the time, spark ideas, get everything onto one page, etc. as well as let my inner graffiti artist/doodler/cartoonist loose at the same time.  Somehow, that approach did not feel right for the seriousness of my juror responsibilities.

And before anyone points it out, yes, I am aware of and do use mind mapping software as well.  I have an old version of MindJet's MindManager on my work laptop and I have a personal MindMeister account as well.  However, they were not an option for my Juror role, for the reasons already mentioned.

So, is it too late to re-learn how to write neatly? Can I undo 50 years of ever-deteriorating handwriting skills?  Does it matter?  Evidently tech is not the answer to every situation where physical writing skills are required. How are your hand writing skills? Anyone got any ideas?  If you do, don't expect a hand-written thank-you letter!

Something of a Trial

I have just completed my first ever period of Jury Service, during which time I served as a Juror on a rape trial.  As an ex-employee of the Police (IT Training Manager at Sussex Police for 8 years), I wasn't sure if they would have me, but a chat with the Jury Officer on my first day reassured me that it was sufficiently long ago (nearly seven years) that it wasn't an issue.  The process is that you go into a 'pool' of available jurors for a two week period (my thanks to my employers for allowing me the paid time to perform my civic duty here) and are randomly selected from that pool to form a jury of 'twelve good men and true' as trials require.  I was called to duty on my second day and sat on the trial for six days.

Now that it's over, I'm still processing the experience from a variety of perspectives - personal, emotional, psychological and educational. Here are some reflections...

On Day One, I found myself in essentially a Waiting Room full of strangers - at our courthouse, some 60-odd people, enough to form four separate juries for four separate courtrooms and trials.  I was not called on my first day, but saw two other groups of people taken off to become a Jury.

On Day Two, I was one of 15 randomly called out to form a cadre, who was then taken into court and again randomly whittled down to 12.  Into the Jury box we went, we were sworn in, and we were off - Prosecution was on her feet, Indictment read out, hard copy issued to us, and the case started.  I had barely exchanged a word with my fellow jurors, but we were going to have to collectively reach a verdict shortly which would profoundly affect everyone involved in the case.  Suddenly it was very real!

To misappropriate the introduction to TV's Judge Judy, "the people are real, the cases are real, the rulings are final".  We had before us a young man accused of rape, and, as the Prosecution laid out and developed its case, we heard from the victim herself and various other witnesses, who were examined and cross-examined by both the Prosecution and the Defence solicitors.  I should state here that the Prosecution actually dropped its case on Day Six and we were directed by the Judge to acquit the defendant and we were excused immediately.  Many in the Jury didn't understand what had just happened and others felt aggrieved that we hadn't been allowed to hear the Defence case nor be allowed to arrive at a verdict ourselves. More on the impacts of that later.

I have never before felt the need - nor the responsibility - to pay such close attention to every single word spoken and detail described, as I did in court for those six days.  I took notes - the old-fashioned pad and pen way.  No tech allowed in the Court Room.

The alleged offence took place in September last year, yet the trial was at the end of February. Victim and witnesses were being asked to recall details such as how much was drunk, what was drunk, where they were standing, who said what to whom, what time did such-and-such happen, etc.  Any deviation from the statements taken at the time was jumped on by both the Prosecution and Defence lawyers, depending on who sensed the most advantage.  And I began to question my own attention to detail.  I struggle to remember what I did last week, let alone what I was doing 6 months ago.  I don't expect to live my life on the off-chance that I might need to remember every detail later under sceptical cross-examination.  I certainly don't pay as much attention, or consider the details so critical, when I'm learning something myself or via the instruction/facilitation of others.

As a result, I became paranoid that I would remember all the information with which we were being presented in the case. It took a conscious effort to listen with all my attention.  At the end of each day, I was exhausted.   I was surprised at how few of my fellow jurors took notes however.  How on earth were they going to be able to discuss the discrepancies and differences in the various stories we were being told when we retired to arrive at a verdict? Were some minds made up already?

Worth also mentioning here Tuckman's Group Development Model (Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing) in relation to the dynamics of the jury I now found myself a part of. There was a very obvious gender imbalance of 10 women to 2 men on our jury, a fact, no doubt, which gave the defendant some cause for concern.  When we retired at various points during the trial to our dedicated Jury Waiting Room, we were free to chat and discuss the trial.  This provided a focus to our discussions and a fast track to getting to know each other quickly.  Lot of  Forming and Storming going on! But I think it's safe to say that we were really only starting to 'Norm' at the point where the trail was terminated.  I was lucky that my employers facilitated my absence and covered my salary (I returned the favour by doing as much work as I was able to do remotely in the early mornings and evenings however).  Others were not so fortunate and were keen to get back to work as soon as possible.  Was this influencing their thinking and their attitude?  We never got to deliberate and arrive at a verdict, so we never got to 'Perform' (nor, indeed, 'Mourn' the end of the process either).

So, what were my take-aways from the experience?   

• Everyone's experience - and therefore their recall - of something is unique to themselves.  From a training/learning perspective I will remember that one size does not necessarily fit all.
• Sometimes note-taking gets in the way of hearing the next point. 
• People need closure and staged endings.
• Beware of Groupthink!  
• Lock up your Daughters! (Seriously, have you had a conversation with your children about learning to recognise situations that can escalate such that they are out of control and vulnerable? Drink and drugs really, really, don't mix!)
• Everyone who is summoned to Jury Service should do it. It's an important civic duty and a reminder to us all that real life is happening out there and affects us all.

Re. that last point, I'm now investigating applying to become a Magistrate. I'd like to be making more of a difference than I am at the moment.  This has been a profound experience for me; I recommend it to everyone who gets the call.  Let me know what you think.

Storified - A new voice?

Today's blog is like no other I have attempted before - a bit of a Social Media Mash-up, if you will.  Let me explain.

Like many L&D professionals, my Team and I attended the Learning Technologies Conference and Exhibition at London Olympia in January - a fantastic event all round, organised by Don Taylor and his team.  I came away with my head buzzing with ideas, new things to investigate further, my dendrites firing to make connections which were relevant to me and and my team's work in progress and in the future.

Needless to say, the day job got in the way of all that as soon as we got back to work.  Much to do, not enough time to reflect, share and apply.  So we arranged a meeting at which we shared our 'Top Three' takeaways from the Conference with each other.  All well and good, but how to share with our other colleagues and our Personal Learning Networks in the L&D community?

I tweeted mine, and challenged Debbie and Melissa to do the same.  The both stepped up to the plate (a bit of encouragement and challenge never goes wasted) and shared their top three too.  But I know that lots of people still don't access Twitter as a matter of course and I wanted to be able to pull together all three sets of top tips - our 'Top Nine', so to speak - in one place.

So I turned to my Twitter PLN and asked how I could do that - filter our specific tweets into one place or document which I could then onwardly share as required.  Sure enough, first to respond was @CraigTaylor74, suggesting Storify, closely followed by @megbertapelle confirming Craig's suggestion.  I was into the Storify website straight away and within HALF AN HOUR, I had assembled my first 'story', published it and Tweeted it to the world!  This is a tool I will definitely be using again and again.  Thanks to Craig and Meg.

Incidentally, thanks also to @wrightlm, who later also suggested Summify and paper.li, which I have still to investigate.

So, why the SoMe Mash-up talk?  Well, before I wrote this blog, I took myself out for a walk this afternoon, up to Devil's Dyke on the South Downs.  I wanted to reflect on how to tell this Storify story and explain why I never got round to writing a blog directly about what I learned at the Conference.  And as I walked, the shape began to form but I needed to capture what I wanted to say before I lost it.  So I got my iPhone out and for the first time, fired up the ipadio app, and told myself the story I wanted to share with you.  And I've published that as well - my first ever solo podcast!

So, I have two links to share with you in conclusion.  I'd be really grateful for your feedback about the blog, the Storify summary and/or the (very raw, one-take, walking in the countryside) podcast.  Have I bitten off more than I could chew?

Storify Link: Click here

Podcast Link: Click here

One way or another, I'm still learning and applying stuff!