Lament for a Neighbour

2014 has been a rough year for people who like the United States.

The gap between the super-rich and the poor is wider now than any time in living memory. Forget about a new age of robber barons; we are quickly approaching a new age of feudal lords.

The police establishment's apparent war with young men of colour (the well-known incidents of "blue on black" violence and the less well-publicized epidemic of "blue on red" violence towards First Nations males) has expanded to war with anyone who dares question it.

The government that inspired democracy lovers the world over has degenerated into a cesspit of partisan vitriol where the pursuit of short-term tactical advantage by all parties trumps decisions for the greater good.

Despite frequent exhortations to the Divine, there is a distressing soullessness in America today. The pinnacle - or nadir - of America's devolution has to be the recent release of the torture revelations. The acts of the torturers are bad enough, but it seems to me that even the critics have bought into the arguments of the advocates. Most of the criticism has been about whether torture works, but the issue is not one of efficacy, it is one of morality.

Torture was wrong when the Nazis did it. It was wrong when Stalin's goons did it. It was wrong when the Shah's Savak did it. And it is wrong when the United States does it.

Torture is not wrong because it doesn't work. It is wrong because it is an evil act. It deprives victims of their dignity and basic human rights. it degrades the wretches who administrate it unwillingly and debases the sadists who embrace it with ardour. It subordinates the value of human life to the needs of an impersonal, unfeeling state.

There will come a day when history will judge America's use of torture and will find it wanting. I fear that the day will also come when Americans will also face justice in war crime courts. That will be a sad day, indeed.

6 (Somewhat) Easy Steps to Effective Writing

A question on one of my LinkedIn communities got me thinking about keys to successful business writing. Here are six relatively easy steps that I follow when writing.

Step 1: Answer the "Why?", the "Who?", and the "How?"

Before you begin writing, ask yourself why you are writing. Is your purpose to:

• Inform
• Instruct
• Advise
• Motivate
• Obtain alignment

Once you have identified your purpose, identify your intended audience by asking:

• What are their roles?
• What existing knowledge do they have?
• What information do they need?

This information will help you answer the third question: what is the most appropriate format:

• An email
• A report
• A summary
• A case study
• A job aid
• Something else

Step 2: Clarify the Message

Now that you have identified the purpose of your intended message, it's time to clarify the message. In other words, you need to figure out what you want to say. A good way to clarify the message is to ask yourself the following questions:

• What idea(s) do I want to express?
• What emotions do I want to connect with?
• What tone of voice do I want (or need) to use?
• What action do I expect as a result of the audience reading this message?

Step 3: Plan the Message

Successful writers plan the message before they start to craft it. You may know the plan better as an outline. There are a number of common formats for any message:

• Burning Issue > Implications/Consequences > Action
• Results > Burning Issue > Implications/Consequences > Results (this is like starting the movie mid-point and then going back)
• Past State > Present State> Future State
• Problem > Root Cause > Attempted Solution > Results
• Hook (headline or attention grabbing statement) > Main Points > Information Drill Down & Analysis
• Gap/Variance > Impact >Step 1 > Step 2 > etc. > Action (this is a standard training format)
• Question > Answer > Question > Answer > etc.

Step 4: Write

Think of writing as constructing a house of words. If Step 3 is the equivalent of putting up the frame, then Step 4 is putting in the plumbing and electrical, adding drywall and fixtures, and installing the roof.

The important thing about this step is to "Just Do It". The important thing is to get the words on paper so that you can shape them into the message you desire. Don't worry about creating the perfect draft -- chances are practically 100% that you will need to refine and shape your message.

George Orwell suggested six questions to use when writing. I've modified them slightly and added a few more. (Modifications are in blue italics.)

• What idea(s) and emotion(s) am I trying to say?
• What words best express it?
• What images or idiom will make it clearer?
• Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?
• Could I put it more shortly?
• Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly?
• Do technical terms or jargon contribute to understanding?
• Does the phrasing add clarity or is it simply filler?
• How can I turn the passive voice into the active voice?

Step 5: Review

This step is critical, yet all too often we rush through it. Sometimes, we limit the review to running the spell checker; in other cases, we may print it to check out the layout. These are both important, but your review should go beyond spelling, grammar, and layout. A good review also focuses on the reader’s experience.

I rely on four review techniques. The first is to simply read what I’ve written out loud. Reading aloud helps you zero in on awkward phrases, complex sentences, and unnecessary content.

A second technique is to have someone else read what you’ve written. Ask them to provide specific feedback on what they liked or disliked about the document. If they can paraphrase the message or answer questions regarding the content, you are in good shape.

My third technique consists of asking the following questions:

·         What’s in it for the reader?

·         Does the document flow in a logical manner?

·         Does the document achieve the goals set out in Step 2?

·         Is the material memorable?

·         Is the material interesting?

·         Is the material surprising?

·         Am I using the passive voice?

·         Am I using “weasel words” that dilute the impact of the message?

·         Am I using clichés?

·         Am I using jargon, technical terms, or foreign phrases that the reader may not understand?

·         Am I using big words when smaller words exist?

·         Am I using many words when fewer words would be better?

·         Would I want to read more documents like this one if I were the reader?

Finally, people writing in MS Word can use the readability statistics option. This feature offers a lot of great feedback, including:

·         Word count (the less words, the better)

·         Sentences per paragraph

·         Words per sentence (I try to aim for 15 or less)

·         Characters per word (my target is 5.5 characters or less)

·         Percentage of passive sentences (I aim for 0% but will accept 5% or less)

·         Flesch Reading Ease score

·         Flesch Kincaid Grade Level score (I am for Grade 6 to 8, depending on the complexity of the ideas being asked).

As an aside, the readability statistics for this document are as follows:

·         Words:                                                 950

·         Sentences per paragraph                   1.5

·         Words per sentence:                           11.2

·         Characters per word:                          4.4

·         Percentage of passive sentences:       1%

·         Flesch Reading Ease:                          70.7

·         Flesch Kincaid Grade Level:                6.1

 

Step 6: Revise, Review, and Revise Again

Once you have reviewed the document and identified areas for improvement, rewrite the text to address these issues. Whenever possible repeat the entire review process to further shape it. If you are pressed for time, you may have to limit your review to reading your document out loud and checking the readability statistics.

In the end, information has a “best by” date and the most immaculately crafted document is of little value if it arrives too late for the reader to benefit from the message.

Sticky Ideas

Spencer Silver, a scientist at 3M, was trying to create a strong adhesive but he actually created a really weak one. He shared his findings with his colleagues and went started over again. A few years later, Art Fry, a another scientist at 3M, was having problems keeping his book mark in place during choir practice. He remembered Silver's weak adhesive and the Post-It not was born.

What I love about this story is the culture of knowledge sharing that was the catalyst for innovation. As Fry later explained, "At 3M we're a bunch of ideas. We never throw an idea away because you never know when someone else will need it."

Creative teams inevitably have more ideas than they can ope to implement. Some are not technologically feasible at the present, while in other cases the organization is simply not ready. The challenge is to avoid losing the ideas you don't use. What is nice to have today may be necessary to have tomorrow. In the end, having ideas is the easy part. Keeping them alive and accessible is the real measure of success.

If you want your ideas to live, share them!

Leadership is a Performing Art

Last Friday I spent the afternoon with colleagues, peers from other organizations, and a group of talented improv geniuses from Second City. The session was quite both intellectually stimulating and a whole lot of fun, and I spent much of the weekend reflecting upon what I had learned.

Perhaps the biggest single lesson that I got out of the session was one that I sometimes seem to forget: leadership is a performing art. The best leaders,  the leaders who challenge us to go faster and higher and further than we ever thought possible, understand how to inspire and motivate us. They connect on a personal level even when addressing a group. They use storytelling and vivid, memorable imagery to share their vision. They get us excited to be part of the change, the journey, the new frontier.

Like any other performance art, leadership is not easy. But like any other performance art, you can learn how to do it, and practice definitely makes one better. It's a lesson to keep in mind.

Rethinking Reaction

In 1959, Donald Kirkpatrick wrote a series of articles for the Journal of the American Society of Training Directors. Fifty-four years later, Kirpatrick's levels of training evaluation remain a common benchmark among learning and development professionals. I wonder, however, if it might not be time to reconsider the first level: Reaction.

We've all seen Level 1 evaluation forms. They ask how we liked the event, how we liked the facilitator, how we found the room, how tasty the food was. No wonder trainers, and managers for that matter, often disparage these evaluations as "happy sheets" - the information seems barely related to learning. The funny thing is that Level 1 evaluations can provide useful learning-related information. If you ask the right questions.

The key is to focus on Relevance, not Reaction. Frankly, I am more interested in knowing if the learner finds the content relevant to their job and if they intend to apply what they learned than I am in finding out if lunch rocked and the room was the right temperature. Fifty-four years may seem like a long time, but it may just be worth our while to rethink how we use Level 1 evaluation tools.

A Nifty Visualization of Visualization

I'm not sure if a picture really paints a thousand words, but I do know that any people feel stretched for time. They also feel overwhelmed by the tsunami of information that characterizes our modern world. No wonder designers and learning professionals are a focusing more than ever on infographics and other ways to visualize data.

If you are looking for a simple-to-understand, graphic representation of avilable options, check out this link:

http://www.visual-literacy.org/periodic_table/periodic_table.html#​

Hover over a cell to see an example.

A cool infographic idea

Birth Certificates Redesigned as a Personal Infographic http://www.good.is/posts/redesigning-birth-certificates-as-a-personal-infographic

Identity Crisis

As a Learning and Development professional, I am often referred to as an "HR guy". Despite being in L&D full time for over 13 years I have never thought of myself as a Human Resources professional.
From my vantage point, I am an Operations professional. I help prepare learners with the skills and technical knowledge they need to get their work done. If that isn't Operations I don't know what is.

A Critical Question

Like a lot of L&D professionals, I subscribe to e-zines. The result is an inbox that is seldom empty. Sometimes the emails contain little of interest; other times they contain useful tools or pose thought-provoking questions.

Today I received an email containing a link to the following article. It's a brief post that barely brushes the surface of a critical question for today's Learning & Development professional.

Here's the link:

Can Learning Keep Up With the Needs of Business

Poppies

94 years ago today, the Great War came to an end. Life in Canada went back to normal, or as normal as things can get when a small nation loses over sixty thousand dead and suffers even more wounded. The country attempted to return to a sense of normal in the years and decades that followed, until an even greater war broke out in 1939, followed by a brutal war on the Korean pennisula, smaller conflicts that fell under the guise of "peacekeeping" even when there was no peace to keep, and our own contemporary war in Afghanistan.

Ever since the firing ceased in 1918, the poppy has served as a symbol for remembering the sacrifices of the combatant. Whether it was inspired by the great Canadian First World War poem In Flanders' Fields, or whether it was the result of a natural association between the poppy and opiates which bring the sleep that serves as a metaphor for death, the days leading up to Remembrance Day are awash in a sea of poppies.

In a way, it is fitting that the poppy serves this role. It is a link between the First World War, where poppies grew between the crosses in Flanders' fields, and Afghanistan, where drug lords harvest them to make drugs to sell to the rest of the world.

Autumn

After an extended summer, autumn has officially arrived in my neck of Ontario. The days are still sunny and even warm, but the nights are getting cooler, the rains are colder, the daylight hours grow shorter. The change of seasons is a natural, even beautiful, thing, but it is always tinged with sadness.

Autum is not without its charms. The leaves are changing colours on the trees. The geese are flying in honking vee formations in the twilight sky. The pumpkins are turning orange on the vine. The evening air is crisp and refreshing.

It is a sad time, but it is good.

A Technicality

I realized earlier today that I am technically between jobs. Friday I left a job I had held for nearly five years, and I don't start the new position until tomorrow morning.

Departure (D-3)

The long to-do list from last week has now been whittled down to three remaining tasks. My calendar has  three meetings booked. The surface of my desk is almost supernaturally empty.

It is really odd talking about projects today with people I will probably never see again after Friday, but that's the way it is.

Departure (D-4)

I have not blogged for a while.

In part, this absence has been because of summer vacation. In part, it is because I was in the midst of job interviews. In part, it is because I have been busy trying to get all my outstanding projects completed so that it is a clean transition.

I have been so busy that I have been able to avoid the emotions that come from leaving colleagues I have worked with for almost five years. But now, as the to-do list gets whittled down, the emotions are starting to creep in.

It's going to be a rough week.

My Alibi

I try to get in to work by 6:30 on Fridays. It gives me a precious extra hour or so to get work done without interruptions so that I can leave at a decent time in the afternoon.

I try to get in to work by 6:30, but yesterday I didn't get in until 7:00, even though I got up at my regular time. Luckily, I got a good photo of the culprit that kept me from getting into work on time:

Northern Griot, Urban Sharecropper: Part 5

I'm happy to say that the garden is finally starting to bear fruits and vegetables. It is still a bit early for the tomatoes -- the bushes are loaded but the fruits are still green -- but the first crop of peppers has been harvested (and eaten).

Northern Griot, Urban Sharecropper: Part 4 (or Garden Pride)

My balcony garden is growing quite well, helped no doubt by the summer-like temperatures we have been having for the past 6 weeks. The hot temperatures are causing one small problem -- all my zucchini flowers are males, which means I may not end up with fruit despite the many flowers. It looks like the bars on Church Street are not the only all-male environment during this Pride Week.

Happy Pride Weekend, Toronto

The rainbow flag is floating high over City Hall, even if the mayor did not attend the flag raising ceremony.

Have a safe and happy Pride weekend.

Northern Griot, Urban Sharecropper: Part 3

My balcony garden is coming along quite nicely, even if my blogging has fallen behind. Although you cannot see it in these photos, there are tomatos, peppers, and even cucumbers developing. If I could grow an olive tree I would be able to create an entirely home grown Greek salad.

On Winning

Someone asked me recently whether it is better to win or to do your best. It's an old question, I know, but it never ceases to get me thinking. As usual, the original question led to a whole lot of additional questions:

• Is it truly winning if you didn't do your best?
• If you truly did your best, does it matter if you won?
• If you lose and didn't try your best, is it worse than if you gave it your all but still wound up in last place?
• Did you win if you were the Most Valuable Player on the last place team?

Everybody has to answer these questions for themselves. As for me, here's my take on winning:

The goal in life is to win honourably and elegantly.

If that's not possible, the goal is to win honourably.

If that's not possibly, you haven't really won.