Proud

Earlier this week, I joined and participated in a particular professional tweetchat for the first time in several months and I was 'Mr Grumpy Pants' throughout. I found myself getting impatient with the L&D/ID/eLearning practitioner discussion, with only one or two other contributors reminding us about the 'customer' - be it the business or the learner themselves - whilst the main focus of the discussion rotated around eLearning outputs and related technology. I've tweeted and commented before about the tendency for us 'providers' to focus on our outputs, rather than our stakeholders' desired outcomes, and how we thereby perpetuate the disengagement of learners with 'product' and content, so I shan't repeat that here.

What really pushed me over the edge, however, was a comment made by one of the contributors, the CEO of a L&D/Training organisation, about their staff, which, I am sure, was meant in jest, but which surprised me by being aired in what I consider to be a reasonably 'enlightened' forum. The trigger word they used was 'subordinates'.

I've been a 'Manager' in both the public and private sectors for over 25 years. I've run my own business in partnership with my wife and others. I have a Level 4 Diploma in Management and have won a Training Manager of the Year award (for which I was nominated, without my knowledge, by my team and my own line manager). When I was ill last year, my team carried on our work autonomously and seamlessly, and continue to do so (apparently) now that I have followed a different professional path. If you read my LinkedIn profile, you will see that my career has always been one where I have worked collaboratively WITH others, even tho' I frequently held the title of being their 'Manager'. I have always considered those people to be my colleagues first and foremost and have never thought of myself as being 'superior' to them. I have always viewed my role to be that of developing my colleagues to get the best out of them that delivered the organisational requirements. To do that, I have met them as equals, as fellow-travellers with a shared interest in our field. And I have relied on them to fill in my blanks as I focussed on delivering our functional objectives.

So, back to the use of the term 'subordinates' in the above-mentioned tweetchat. I am not a fan of the use of the word 'passionate' in a professional context (as in, "I'm passionate about [insert subject here]". I think it's overused and consequently undervalued. It's become a cliche. As a result, I rarely use it. In fact, as circumstances and subsequent decisions have caused me to reflect on my professional future, I've realised that, actually, I'm not 'passionate' about L&D or Learning Technologies (that may turn out to be a career-limiting statement, of course). I'm good at them tho'. My track record demonstrates that. I am still very interested in and enjoy working in the field. I love the interactions and conversations I have with my peers and Personal Learning Network via Social Media and face to face. I know I have much still to offer, based on the knowledge, experience and skills I have developed over the last 35 years. But am I passionate about it? Really?

So I was surprised at my own reaction to the afore-mentioned tweet, referring to staff as 'subordinates'. I was genuinely shocked to see it, and I reacted in a totally emotional way. I was outraged. But I've learned about the pitfalls of 'firing from the hip' on social media What Else I Learned on my Holidays (2011) so I sat back, analysed how I really felt about it and then crafted and dropped a tweet anyway, acknowledging (hoping) that the comment had been made in jest, but challenging if that was an appropriate term to use nowadays.

One doesn't tweet challenging tweets without expecting some kind of response, so I wasn't surprised when the individual in question did respond. But I was surprised by the unrepentant (and frankly smug) response, that in their business, they do use that term (remember, this is the CEO of a large, apparently well-respected organisation, a self-proclaimed "performance training thought-leader"). 

Now well and truly triggered, I crafted and deleted several responses, finally settling on something close to what I wanted to say, which I then ran past my wife (@MandyRG) and asked her if I should even 'rise to the bait' by sending it. Her advice (as a trained psychotherapist) was that I was being invited into a 'game' and should be very careful about replying (wise woman!). But here's where 'passion' creeps back into the story. I really cared about this. I didn't want to let it lie. So I responded, acknowledging their right to operate their business as the liked, but that I chose to use different language in referring to my colleagues. Respectful but still making my point, I felt.

And then they hung themselves out to dry. Keen to get the last word in and/or to wind me up further, but forgetting that this was in a public forum, that their own staff may well see their tweets, forgetting that one person's 'humour' does not necessarily translate well in <140 characters, they further insulted their staff by tweeting two further even more dismissive and disrespectful terms to describe them. At which point, I withdrew from the conversation and walked away

Why have I shared this story with you? Not to name and shame (although regular followers may well have worked things out for themselves). Not to present myself as a champion of the underdog, nor some kind of 'supermanager'. But as a reflective piece on where and how it can all go wrong on social media, if and when we let our self-belief or passion (there, I've said it!) get ahead of our thinking and our mouths/fingers; how the difference between intent and impact should never be underestimated in public fora like Twitter.

Of course, I may have over-reacted to the whole thing. Maybe it was all tongue in cheek. Maybe I have played right into that individual's hands and shown myself up to be a self-righteous, humourless attention-seeker. I am, however, proud of myself. Proud of standing up for my values and beliefs in a professional and respectful manner. Proud of not being drawn into someone else's game. Proud of intuiting when to walk away.  And proud of not making a public and potentially business-impacting fool of myself.

Unless, of course, I have just done exactly that.

Your thoughts and comments are, as ever, very welcome.

A Slack Future

I'm participating in a week-long online workshop on the subject of Futures, hosted by James Allen (@thejamesallen) of Creative Huddle (@creative_huddle). In the snappily-titled channel, #futureworkshop, James introduced the topic thus:


"Let’s talk about the future. We’ll find out what futurologists think is in store for us, and we’ll learn how to make our own predictions."

James had first shared the upcoming workshop of LinkedIn, advising that it was a new venture for Creative Huddle, using the Slack application as the platform for sharing content and facilitating the conversations. As I am now working with another HR & Training Consultancy who use Slack as their internal channel, I was keen to understand it's potential as a learning support tool. And as a science fiction fan, the topic of futures and futurology, combined with the opportunity to experience slack, was irresistable. So I signed up.

There are 10 of us involved in the Workshop. We're on Day 3 now, and for today's 'Task', James asked us to "list different types of futures that could occur. As with the previous task, write your thoughts in a post, expanding on each of the following headings:

• The future is what I expect.
• The future is better than I expect.
• The future is worse than I expect.
• The future is weirder than I expect.

And let’s try and define ‘the future’ for this particular task: at least ten years from now."

So, here's what I contributed today, and I await the peer review from my co-participants accordingly. If you'd also like to comment here, please feel free. Thanks.

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Task 2: My Futures

I have always been a big fan of science fiction - both written and on film & broadcast media. I read Isaac Asimov and Arthur C Clarke in my early teens and was transported into what I have always considered plausible future and/or alternate realities, the verisimiltude of which relied on solid and consistent underpinning - if completely new - 'science'. I am old enough to remember watching the first ever episode of Dr Who (scared me rigid) and following Star Trek from the beginning. I am not, however, and never have been, a fan of Fantasy/Magical fiction as a result. Give me a Dalek over Bilbo Baggins any day.

I continue to read sci-fi regularly. It's my go-to literature when I'm between other reading, be it fact or fiction. I tend to read for pleasure, less for learning, but that's just my preference. So, with a nod to my Sci_fi reading...

• The future is what I expect.
  
  • Global warming will raise sea levels faster than we have readied ourselves for and our weather patterns will continue to oscillate between extremes, whilst populations start to migrate inland and onto higher ground.
  • Our transport infrastructure will collapse under the weight of increased need and utilisation, both public and private. Grid-lock ensues. This will lead to...
  
  
• The future is better than I expect.
  
  • Telecommuting finally becomes the norm as we all become short-term contractors
  • The South of England will become the new Champagne Region.
  • There will be a radical reassessment and readjustment of Elderly and end-of-life care, with a recognition of the need for a holistic, as opposed to a medical, approach, resulting in a huge investment in and provision of hospice care.
  
  
• The future is worse than I expect.
  
  • Donald Trump gains the Republican nomination and wins the US Presidency.
  • Fear of - or actual - terrorist outrage/s will lead to an enforced surveillance and control structure to society, where guilt is assumed before innocence is proven. Society will accept this and live accordngly.
  • Sex will become a recreational and solo/virtual activity with tech surrogates representing the other partner/s (this may have already happened). Marriage will become the exception and be contractually time-limited & short-lived, probably only for procreation. The resulting progeny will be raised by robots.
  
  
• The future is weirder than I expect
  
  • SETI makes contact with intelligent extraterrestial life and life as we understand it changes for ever.
  • AND/OR...
  • Global climate change forces the human race underground or underwater and we abandon the surface
  • OR...
  • Our alien 'friends' provide us with the technology and/or means to migrate off-planet and into the Universe.

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Along the way, I am also learning a great deal about the features, benefits, limitations and potential of Slack. It's a win/win, as far as I'm concerned. I believe that James and the Creative Huddle team will be running further workshops like this, so I'd recommend getting in touch if you think it might be of interest to you or your colleagues.

Exclusion Zone

I kept away from social media yesterday. I felt that my SoMe (social media) communities were engaged in a collective discussion around a topic for which, although I had some sympathy, I was not 'qualified' nor engaged with enough to want to participate in or discuss, nor to raise any other topic which could be construed as 'off message'. The topic, of course, was the death of David Bowie.

This got me thinking about why so many people have a view that social media is 'not for them'; how they feel excluded from 'the club'; that they 'don't have anything to say' in those spaces. I get that. I have found a community - and a voice - in social media, principally in my professional field of Learning & Development, but also in other areas of personal interest. And those communities  have been enormously important and supportive to me and my family in this last year, for which I am eternally grateful.

But sometimes, it feels like I'm the only person in the world who hasn't been touched by - or indeed, cares enough about - some events. And that triggers my 'not belonging' injunction, big time. I feel myself drawing back into my shell, wanting to keep my head down, whilst trying to resist an underlying anger and almost contempt for others' genuine and sincere sharing of their individual feelings. This makes me feel even more unworthy and shallow, as though I am lacking in empathy or cultural awareness, whilst all around me are remembering, emoting, respecting and sharing their grief and their loss. 

This is difficult stuff, by the way, and I share my thoughts here advisedly. I made the mistake several years ago (2011 in fact) of expressing a contrary view to the death of another cultural icon in a fairly dismissive tweet, and was rightly called out on it. I blogged then about how that changed my perspective and thinking about intent versus impact in social media "What Else I Learned on my Holidays"

Nowadays, I try to exercise consideration (and thereby constraint) in my SoMe activities. I am very conscious of the appropriateness of topic or comment in the face of others' national, community, collective or indeed, individual experience, which is immediate and heartfelt. Whilst I recognise the importance and significance of David Bowie's leadership in our art, music and culture over the last 50 years, and I totally get how important he was to so many people - particularly, it appears, in my SoMe and PLN (Personal Learning Network) communities - and whilst sad for his family, friends and admirers for their loss, I remain pretty untouched by his death.

So I stepped back yesterday and let everyone get on with it. No offence intended.  As my Jewish In-Laws say at times like this, I wish you a long life.

New Normal (2)

And so it begins...

Today is Monday the 4th of January 2016, the first day of my 'new normal' working life. Regular readers of my blogs will be aware of the challenging year 2015 was for me and my family, a milestone year of fantastic highs and significant lows. That is now behind me and I will refer to it no more.

2016 is the year where I choose what I want to work on, how I want to work on it, and with whom. I have over 30 years' experience in Learning and Development, as a business owner and in the public and the commercial sectors. I have succeeded in my various roles and responsibilities by learning as I went along, stepping up into hitherto unknown territories, relying on my own quick study and the wisdom of my colleagues and co-workers, getting whatever training was necessary - and then getting on with the job, the best learning technique of them all.

My proposition is simple. I believe that no-one goes to work to have a miserable time and that, with the right support and encouragement, we can all have fulfilling, purposeful working experiences which benefit us, our colleagues, our customers, our families and the wider community in which we all live and operate. I believe that adult to adult dialogue and conversations between and amongst colleagues and facilitators is the way to achieve this - be it peer to peer, manager to colleague, or 'learner' to 'trainer/consultant'. People make mistakes. I've made mistakes. The big mistake would be to make that mistake again because we didn't learn from it the first time round. So listen. Don't judge (everyone is fighting their own battles that you know nothing about).

And now I'm choosing to step into a #newnormal working life and am offering my experience and pragmatic approach to L&D, Learning Technologies and Social Media to anyone who would be interested in working with me to improve themselves, their people and their outcomes.

If that's of interest, get at me via comments here, via Twitter, LinkedIn or About.Me

Thanks.

Niall

Listen Up!

This blog has lurked around for a while, unpublished. I wasn't convinced it 'had legs'. So I want to thank Sukhvinder Pabial ( @sukhpabial ) for his joyous weekend blog Acapella Music and Pentatonix which reminded me why I penned this in the first place.

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I have started listening to music again.

"Why is this news?", I hear you ask. Maybe not of much import to or impact on you, but it's another step along my cardiac bypass recovery and readjustment path, and indeed, links to and supports another of my 'life themes', 'Look Up! See blog, "Things Are Looking Up"

I have grown to value silence. During my recovery, when I was not out walking and building up my stamina and strength, I spent a lot of my time alone during the day, as Mandy was at work and the children (young adults), albeit home for the holidays, were doing their own thing elsewhere. I 'switched off' from the noise of social media and any work-related activities.

And in this new-found silence, I resisted back-filling it. I only watched breakfast TV, and then switched everything 'noisy' off - no TV, no radio, no iPod/Pad/Phone, no stereo system (remember them?). On my walks, as well as 'looking up', I have been 'listening up', hearing birdsong, wind in branches, waves on pebble beaches, seagulls calling... And just taking it all in.

And I've been wondering why I haven't been inclined to listen to music. I have wide musical tastes (I shan't bore you by listing them) and have always enjoyed both recorded and live performances. So what changed?

I had to travel up to London on the train recently, and after being on the train for 10 minutes, I chastised myself for forgetting my earphones. And there it was! I didn't want to listen to music on my 'phone for the pleasure of listening to music itself - I wanted to drown out the intrusion of the chatter, laughter, crying children, leaking personal stereo headphones and incessant service announcements which permeate modern train travel. I was taken right back to my commuting days and the 'familiar bad feelings' associated therewith.

I realised that I had begun to associate music with an unpleasant experience by using it as a distraction, a disconnect, if you will, from that experience and the people around me and thereby I devalued something that has given my heart and soul much pleasure and comfort over the years. This realisation made me sad.

So I determined to lay the ghost and reconnect with my music. We have a large collection of CDs and online music. I decided to re-explore that collection and other sources - and write this blog. As I have written, revisited and edited, I have been accompanied throughout by music that I have not 'listened' to for a long time.

 

So Listen up - this blog is brought to you by the Philip Glass Ensemble, by the Michael Nyman Band, Jeff Lynne's ELO, Elton John and, right now, by The Eagles. But there is so much more to discover and enjoy out there.

I'm listening...!

New Normal

It's now just over six months since I had my triple coronary bypass operation and coming up to three months since I was made redundant. In what was already going to be a momentous year for me and the family (Mandy's 60th Birthday, Natasha's Graduation, Our 30th Wedding Anniversary and my own impending 60th Birthday), these two sudden and unexpected events have brought me up short and made me question what I do, how I do it and - critically - why I do it.

Unsurprisingly, it has taken all of these six months to get my head (and my heart) into and around these questions. In many respects, I have been given several gifts - more time, better health, incredible support, counselling and reflective space being just some of them - so I have not felt the need or the impetus to get back to the busy. In slow time, I have tried to shift my thinking from what do I NOT want to do any more (it's quite a long list!) to what really matters to me and what I want my 'New Normal' to be in the time I have left.

 

Truth to tell, having experienced the rest and peace that these six months have afforded me, I can visualise - and would be quite happy to start - retirement. Financially, that's not an option quite yet. But what is emerging looks like an initial 5-year Plan followed by another 20 years which will mostly be about standing on roundabouts, shouting at traffic...

Received wisdom nowadays is that 60 is not a great age to find oneself out of work and looking to find more. But here's where 'Niall's New Normal' has already kicked in; I'm not stressing or worrying myself about it. Life is - literally - too short to do that any more.

Things happen for a reason. Things present themselves when you are open to allowing them to so do. The Universe offers opportunities that you will miss if you're not paying attention, if you're not listening, if you're not present - if you're too busy trying to get back to how things were (and what caused the problem/s in the first place). Letting go and endings are as much a part of moving forward as are shaping futures.

As I have been clarifying my thinking about those futures and how I want to operate, how I feel about 'stuff' and how I think I can be useful, events have opened up which have been relevant and attuned to those thoughts. I have finally caught up with Jamil Quereshi's talk at September's 'LearningLive' conference. Much of what he said resonates strongly for me - particularly about changing thinking to change feeling to change action and how important it is for our lives to have meaning and purpose. I have been able to participate in several other conference, learning and networking events recently, mostly through my Personal Learning Network, professional associations and social media communities, all of which have spoken to me in significant and timely ways of how I can be in #newnormal - and out of these interactions are starting to emerge potential professional opportunities, none of which involve having a full-time, role and salary-defined responsibility, but which could be autonomous, developmental, fun and rewarding. That seems to me to be a good start for now...

Watch this space!

Ex-It

Recently, I've been updating my social media profiles. Mostly, this just involved adding "ex-" in front of my job/role description, because, in early September, my employer and I parted company after 10 years. This was a mutually-arrived-at decision, the discussion thereof having been postponed from May due to my sudden and unexpected cardiac bypass surgery and subsequent weeks of recovery.

All due process followed, I exited the business on the 7th of September and was able to 'go public' with my team and ex-colleagues and also with my peers and personal learning network at the Learning & Performance Institute 'LearningLive' conference a couple of weeks ago.
  
On Friday, I trudged up to the London office to return my ex-employer's laptop, Blackberry, passes, data sticks etc and pack up my few belongings and books for them to courier back home for me (I still can't lift heavy boxes, due to my bypass recovery). It was a bitter-sweet pleasure to see and chat with erstwhile colleagues Emma, Jennifer, Dominic and Lee and I managed to 'keep it together' right up until the final moment when I left the office for the last time.

I'm going to organise an off-site 'leaving 'do' in October for ex-workmates, and then, quite literally, my work is done. For now.

Because now I've got even more time to consider my future options. What have I learned? What will my new normal look and feel like? What do I want to do? (What don't I want to do?) What inspires and enthuses me? What's my proposition? What - and more importantly, who - matters? Who do I want to play with? Who wants to play with me? S'exciting.

Feel free to chat with me about any and/or all of the above, via the usual channels, or add a comment here. Thanks.