Seth Godin on amateurs, professionals & the great unwashed
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Business & organizational development, Human resources, Training & development
Seth wrote a post with the above title. He recommends you hire professionals or amateurs and not the bulk, who are in between.
Professionals he defines as: those who cost big bucks but are worth more, those who show up … regardless, those who have integrity and stand up and those whose learning curve is always pointed up.
Amateurs he says are those who are in it for love not money, are a wee bit obsessed with the craft and will trade income for “doing what she loves with freedom”.
The rest? The rest do it because it’s a job. Period.
As a learning and development specialist I recommend combining the top two. Amateurs and professionals.
I’m passionate about learning, mine and yours and ours. I do it because it love it. Because I wake up at 3 am and have a hard time falling back to sleep because I’m excited about a new way to turn someone onto learning. Because my mind is constantly churning out new ways to increase people and organization’s love of learning. Because I adore helping people laugh, learn and lead.
If that’s amateur then I’m a proud amateur.
As a learning and development specialist I’m also highly formally trained. I ALWAYS include professional development in each year’s business. I figure I owe it to my clients to ride the learning wave or create the wave, versus being left behind on the beach. And I charge. I charge what I’m worth – you get the full meal deal with me. Lots of international experience, decades of experience period and experience with a wide variety of sectors means I can not only handle almost any learning curve ball thrown my way, but I can throw it back with grace and grit.
If that’s professional, then that’s me.
As a learning and development specialist I grind my teeth in frustration when I hear someone (from Seth’s unwashed masses):
- complain about having to teach something to their colleagues
- claim dull content prevents them from making learning engaging
- assume they can teach simply because they’re a content expert (not realizing that training and development are a whole different skill set that doesnt’ automatically come with subject matter expertise)
I believe training and development is a calling. I’ve answered the call, loud and clear and with passion and exuberance. I get paid to do it. Fortunate me. Just call me an amafessional.
Tags: amateur, business, learning and development, Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?, marketing, professional, seth godin, training and development
Note to self about training & development
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Human resources, Training & development
(Thanks to Katrina Kavvalos for the video).
Tags: flexibility, flexible, learning and development, Training & development, training and development
Learning from a hole in the wall
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Creativity & innovation, Human resources, Social Responsibility, Training & development, Travel
Check out the video below about the TED hole in the wall educational experiment (forward to 7:15 min). It’s the work of Dr. Sugata Mitra, of India.
His office butted up against a slum and one day he punched a hole in his wall and stuck a computer in it. A computer that faced out, into the slum.
Then he watched.
He learned a lot about self-organizing and alternative education …. from children.
- It took a 13 year old merely 8 minutes to teach himself how to browse the net
- He saw an 8 year old teach a 6 year old how to browse the web … despite not knowing English
- Non-English speaking kids found websites ….. to teach themselves the English alphabet
- Often younger children were found teaching older kids
Tags: alternative education, dr sugata mitra, education, hole in the wall, India, learning, Learning Theories, pedagogy, self-organizing, slums, Social Responsibility, Sugata Mitra, TED, values
5 lessons on learning from international dancing sensation ‘Where the hell is Matt?’
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Communication, Creativity & innovation, Training & development, Travel
As I’ve recently been working in Turkey, traveling is on my brain. Hence the focus on international learning and specifically lessons on learning from international dance sensation Matt, of ‘Where the Hell is Matt’ fame.
If this makes no sense to you then I’m tempted to ask ‘where the hell have you been?’ but that would be rude. A quick tally of his video hits is 50 million plus. Instead a quick recap:
- Matt is a young guy who essentially does a dance that looks suspiciously like a cross between a drunken, dancing leprechaun and a head bobbing pigeon
- that is to say, he’s unrefined in his dancing – it’s not a particular asset of his
- where he shines is dancing the world over and videoing folks joining in
- if this still sounds dubious and odd to you see the second video for more information, it’s a clip of his gratitude dance
Okay, now that we’re all on the same dance stage so to speak, how the hell did Matt get people to dance with him? Glad you asked. That’s the gist of a talk he gave (which you can view in the video directly below).
Tags: dancing, learning, learning and development, matt, organized, simple, social, strength, training and development, unique, weakness, where the hell is matt
Learning means converting & translating
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Communication, Training & development, Travel
I was recently in Turkey doing program evaluation training for the United Nations, which meant carrying a variety of ubiquitous plug adapters. I laughed at the above combination of plugs – all feeding into one that would fit the hotel outlet, allowing computer and IPhone to charge.
The need to convert, change or adapt in order to make things relevant and workable for my current circumstances caught my attention.
In the realm of plugs this can be essential. Especially as I’ve been known to singe my hair with my curling iron, as I mistook the plug adapter for the voltage adapter. (Putting a gadget that was designed for 120 through 220 is not a good combo, or so the smell of burned hair taught me.)
The learning and development field is ripe for new learning opportunities served up via new technology. Each need their own tweeks and adaptation. Examples?
- my VA (virtual assistant) is situated in India – technology allows us to communicate almost seamlessly. Translation? I need to remember that I’m working across cultures and be explicit with my instructions.
- at the end of all my workshops I now share my Delicious link – enabling participants to access a wide range of learning resources. Tweek required? I need to remember to explain what a social bookmarking site is, as it’s not common knowledge (yet).
- many of my workshops now include short video clips (thanks to Youtube) that reinforce and anchor the concepts that I teach. Conversion? Getting Internet accessibility in the training room can be a pain or downright impossible.
- Hootsuite amalgamates all my social media feeds into one place – easily and conveniently allowing me to follow other learning and development specialists. Adaptation? I need to be strategic about who I’m following and how much time I spend on social media, while at the same time recognizing that it’s a critical part of my business now.
Learning means converting, translating, tweeking and adapting content in order to get and hold the attention of participants.
No attention = no learning.
Tags: delicious, Get Friday, hootsuite, social bookmarking, technology, turkey, united nations, virtual assistant, youtube
Putting learning technology in the back seat – where it belongs
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Communication, Diversity & culture, Training & development, Travel
At its best learning technology should disappear into the background, allowing the learning to shine.
At its worst technology is so much in the foreground that nothing else is discernible (enter video conferences where participant faces look like something a Star Wars make-up artist dreamed up while on drugs).
Recently, while doing some training in Turkey, I discovered an example of putting technology in the backseat. Check it out.
I was interviewing Sara Mitaru in a local recording studio for an upcoming newsletter. She’s a United Nations designated Messenger of Truth, musician, mama to be and entrepreneur. When it came time for our ride to pick us up the driver was no where to be found and what’s more our plans had changed: we all wanted to go out for dinner together and later the Africans wanted to get some groceries.
This posed a problem as the driver spoke no English and we spoke no Turkish. How to communicate the changes?
Enter technology in the ever helpful background. Above is a picture of a local Turkish speaking musician dictating the name of the place we wanted the driver to take us …. in Turkish…. into an IPhone app on Karun’s phone. Karun later played the recording to the driver. Below is a recording of what it sounded like.
Et voila! Technology in the background, learning up front in the driver’s seat. Where it belongs.
Tags: karun koernig, learning, learning technology, messenger of truth, sara mitaru, technology, turkey, united nations
Turkish swirling smoke, whirling dervishes & Wi Fi; learning with the old & new
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Training & development, Travel
I’m in an outdoor restaurant watching folks rest up after a long day. I’m not sure which is more responsible for the slouching against the low slung couches – the heat and humidity or perhaps not having eaten all day, for it’s the first day of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting.
It’s my last night in Istanbul before heading home. I’ve been here teaching a couple of workshops on program evaluation on behalf of the United Nations.
On one side of the restaurant is an ancient cobble stone street lined with carpet and ceramic shops. On the other is the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, both set against an inky black sky, which is lightened only by the stark white seagulls which wheel about freely causing a magnificent contrast to the black velvet backdrop. The sun has long past set and families are out and about, replenishing after fasting all day. There’s an air of celebration in the air.
Back at the restaurant there is an ancient tradition being played out on stage. Three musicians toss out music notes which ride the air currents with a combination of aplomb and abandon. A whirling dervish turns rhythmically in time to the music. While I watch, his tall, thick hat rests confidently atop his head, despite the constant turning. With one hand facing up and one hand down, head cocked slightly to the side, he spins and spins in place, causing his long white robes to ripple and flare like the track of some ancient roller coaster.
Whirling dervishes are followers of Rumi, a 13th century mystic and poet. The turning or whirling is part of a religious ceremony that honours God. Placement of the hands represents both giving and receiving.
My view of the whirling dervish is somewhat obscured by the whorls of smoke from the many people smoking hookahs or water pipes. The tendrils of smoke drift lazily wherever the air currents take them. As an avid non-smoker I enjoy the old, romantic notion of smoke without the acrid tobacco stench for these pipes contain scents of apple, mint, lemon etc.
Water pipe cords hanging in the market, waiting for use
As I’m lulled by a sated stomach, the music and the dance, my mind wanders back to earlier in the day. While walking past the Blue Mosque (a mere infant at only 400 years old) and near Hagia Sophia (the crone at 1600 years old) I noticed a sign for free Wi-Fi. At first it seems incongruous but then settles in as more normal than not. Pulling out my IPhone I found I could indeed pick up my email.
I marvel at the combination of old and new.
And I wonder.
Like the blue tiles that gives the Blue Mosque it’s name, I wonder at what we’ve come to know about learning and development that will survive some 400 years forward.
Like the newly offered Wi-Fi at the foot of such history, I wonder at what we’ve yet to know about learning and development, or are only just coming to know.
Like a bride’s tradition, “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue” I’ll take my learning with some of the old AND some of the new.
Click on the link for a live music clip I recorded at the restaurant: Turkish music in Istanbul
Tags: blue mosque, hagia sophia, islamic, istanbul, learning, old and new, ramadan, turkey, whirling dervishes, wi fi
A great example of evocative learning & development
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Diversity & culture, Training & development
Good training uses good design.
Good learning and development ties new information to knowledge that participants bring with them.
Good training takes complex concepts and presents them in simple but not simplistic ways.
Good learning and development creates ‘ah ha’ moments that learners discover on their own.
Good training is creative.
Good learning and development opens up new perspectives and beckons learners in.
Good training invokes emotion.
Good learning and development invites and makes space for action and application.
Here’s an example.
Tags: ah ha moments, Creativity & innovation, emotion. pedagogy, learning and development, perspective, Training & development
How do you like your learning – with or without olives?
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Communication, Diversity & culture, Training & development
Being in Istanbul, Turkey to do a program evaluation training on behalf of the United Nations naturally means eating a Turkish breakfast. This morning I found myself musing about learning over olives. Yes olives.
I was watching the pile of uneaten olives grow on the plates of my breakfast mates. David Muthami, a music producer from Kenya and Sara Mitaru, a Messenger of Truth also from Kenya, were talking traditional Turkish breakfast. If you haven’t eaten one, a traditional Turkish breakfast that is, they usually has some combination of fresh bread, tomatoes, cucumber, cheese, hard boiled egg and olives. This is my idea of a great breakfast, which I’m known to attack with gusto.
Olives are an acquired taste however. David described them as tasting like sand mixed with vinegar, salt and sour milk. Which other than making me think this guy has a way with words, got me thinking about learning.
What is normal, natural and right for one is abnormal, unnatural and not right for another. I love olives and eating them at breakfast is perfectly fine with me. David, not so much. As his face soured at the thought of eating an olive, I thought it made for a great comparison for learning.
Learning atmospheres – do you like yours quiet and serene or noisy and rambunctious? Solo or with a crowd?
Learning content – do you like to dive right in and try new things or do you prefer to take a more cautious, thoughtful approach?
Learning style – do you prefer to learn by seeing, hearing and/or doing?
If you have a certain preference (say quiet reflection) and a trainer works from another approach (jump in, go, go, go) then it’s like asking David to wolf down olives gleefully and willingly. What is one person’s salty slice of heaven is another’s “sand mixed with vinegar, salt and sour milk”.
As learning and development specialists it’s our responsibility to provide a banquet of learning of opportunities so if someone chooses to pass on the olives there are lots of other tasty treats to tantalize their learning taste buds.
The olive man himself, David Muthami
Tags: david muthami, Diversity & culture, learning, learning atmosphere, learning content, learning styles, messengers of truth, sara mitaru, turkey
Training trouble? Activate shield deflector
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Humor & comedy, Travel, Uncategorized
If you put yourself in the spotlight as a trainer, as a learning and development specialist, it follows that at times you’ll get burned. And that spotlight can be mighty hot. In my 20 plus years of designing and leading training workshops I’ve had my fair share of challenges:
- a particularly rude participant coupled with an insanely early gig (try being educational at 4 am)
- a training room where the heat was broken …. in the middle of winter
- realizing an hour into a training that the workshop had been advertised with two different room numbers and half the class was sitting in the other room mighty annoyed
- not having participant manuals show up for the first day of a two day training (that was based on the manual)
What helps when you find yourself sinking? When your stomach is floating somewhere above your body and your mouth is starting to rival the dryness of the Sahara?
Why activate your shield deflector of course.
Christine Comaford, in her book Rules for Renegades, talks about dealing with a particularly challenging supervisor when she worked at Microsoft. Her and her colleagues had a tradition, when ‘going in to battle’ with him – they’d touch their belts and pretend they were activating their shield deflector. It became a powerful ritual. One that was helpful in not getting sucked into a crazy making vortex.
And you? Knowing that challenges are part and parcel of all training, I suggest activating your own shield deflector next time you find yourself about to flounder. Square your shoulders, put a grin in your face and with shield in hand, dive into the fray.
Tags: christine comaford, inner mean girl, rules for renegades, shield deflector, training challenges