Learning, Change and the Spare Jumper philosophy

I was listening to Dan Campbells' Learning Theory Podcast and I felt like commenting on my own reflection on Learning, Change and Comfort Zones.

I have recently moved, and while I still have fresh eyes I have been noticing that people who are not extending themselves, venturing into new territories and staying in well worn grooves of comfort are slowly withdrawing from wider circle of society. It's a paradox that staying in your comfort zone is really staying a danger zone. I had an old rugby captain who used to run around the field shouting 'no complacency' when we were winning. Easing off means you are cheating yourself of growth I feel. Pushing boundaries gives you greater space to play - expanding your Proximal Zone of Development (Vygotski).

We live in Australia, and although the image is of the sunburnt country, it does get pretty cold at night. My wife came up with the idea that you should never put on a jumper when you are out and as the sun dips, and a chill comes into the air. She reckons its better to save it until later at night, when the temperature really plummets. Her rational is that if you put on your jumper too early, you have nowhere else to go later when you really need it.

Gout is a real pain in the - foot

Living up in the hot summers of Northern NSW is giving me pause to reflect on diet and alcohol intake. I've been carrying a bad foot for more than a month now - usually I can get rid of the symptoms in a day or two with tablets, but sweating so much because I'm a fat bastard, and drinking too much, because I have good neighbours and been on holidays has led me to a rethink.

It's true that I'm good at telling people the solutions to their problems, but it's hard taking your own advice.

So I here make a public pledge to drink more water, drink less beer (and alcohol) and eat meals with less purine and lose 20kg!

Lets see how I progress over the next three months - let me go to the toilet and weigh myself.

105kg

Study plans for 2010

Well, I've gone and done it, enrolled in a Masters of Learning and Development, majoring in Learning Design and picking up other units from the Online and Distributed learning streams. Why have I done this rather than complete a project to attain my Masters in Knowledge Management? I had come to the conclusion that KM was too nebulous for many Managers to understand and fully appreciate the impact it can have on an organisation, hence the layoffs and retooling of many KM departments when discretionary spending gets squeezed, or a new CEO takes over. Makes me nervous with a family to feed and career to build. Secondly, the MLAD develops my past skills and experiences. At my (middle) age, many interviewers eyed me with suspicion about why I was changing (apparently) my focus from eLearning/Multimedia.

During my studies in KM I came to a conclusion that it was only one part of a triangle of merged skills, and I always like the 'softer' side of KM, i.e. Knowledge came from Learning and Change. Well change is a prickly, poisoned chalice. I am always reminded of the joke, "How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light-bulb?" The answer is only one, but the light bulbs gotta wanna change. To many change directives are initiated top down by Leaders who have no real idea of what the people they are directing to change do or feel - bound to fail most times. It also seems too simplistic, I think a complex situation can't be unravelled so easily, especially when dealing with ICT's and humans.

So wish me luck.

Aging Well

I've been reading a brilliant book:
Vaillant, G (2002) Aging Well: Surprising Guideposts to a happier life from the landmark Harvard Study of Adult Development. Little, Brown and Co. Boston

The reaction and comments from some people when they look at the title is quite illuminating, and follow along the lines of, "so I suppose they recommend against smoking, drinking and high-fat diets?"

Interestingly the author also shares with us that his first submission for a grant to work on this study was rejected - his focus was on researching aging as a process of decay. He was a sprightly 50 and the grant Chair was a curmudgeonly 70. The chair hinted at the fact that 'only arseholes measure spring with a thermometer" (with apologies to paraphrasing e.e. cummings and plagarising this straight from the book).

Vaillant used Eriksons Life Tasks as a model to follow the psychological health of the subjects, so although they may be physically ill they were mentally well (Happy-Sick) - and mind does matter more over the latter. The most pitiful outcomes were experienced by those who were categorised Sad-Well. How terrible to be locked in a strong body when your outlook is so bleak, an extended torture.

So what has all this got to do with Learning and Change? I think it gets to the heart of the matter. Firstly, you need to be adaptable, to change as your context does - as Valliant puts it, " to make Lemonade from Lemons". To embrace the changes you are experiencing and to explore the new situation - to learn, to go to the Mountain, don't wait for it to come to you.

"...successful aging means giving to others joyously whenever one is able, receiving from others gratefully whenever one needs it, and being greedy enough to develop one's own self inbetween"

Mindset - or Mindflex?

I've read somewhere that happiness is an almost pre-configured condition, we are born with a certain level of joyfulness in our lives that we oscillate around. I personally think this is bullshit, and defeatist in nature. I think Martin Seligman would disagree with this as well. We have the capacity to change, the trouble is the difficulty of change itself.

I've always been seen as a 'sunny' person, maybe its because of my disconnect with reality. I've always preferred my own company even though I like being with other people; they are sooo weird it amuses me no end. But that is on the good days. On the bad days its very frustrating and the 'tut' factor rises to a crescendo.

My wife likes to remind me that 'I'm not listening' although I constantly love to tell her how she should feel and think. Certainly not a dialogue, much more Senges' notion of discussion. Listening to other people is dangerous - it reminds you that not everyone shares your opinion and having a big brother that liked to use violence to ensure his options were the ones selected has conditioned me to avoid the 'difficult' conversations, or openly disagree with people I don't respect.

This has been a very negative strategy, both for myself and those I collaborate with. Controlled conflict can be a very positive thing. The problem with not speaking your mind, especially as an Introvert (in the MBTI sense) means that you can be viewed with suspicion.

When I'm depressed I shut down. If I'm really angry I can't even look at someone, and sometimes not saying anything conjures up the worst scenarios imaginable in the minds of others. This is when I need to reach out. As a person who has a well developed sense of criticism, I fear exposing my weaknesses will lead to exploitation rather than seeking aid. I know now with my three year-old that she needs me the most when she is unhappy, and I need to reach out to my support when I find myself in similar situations.

The downside of being 'up' most of the time is that the lows are very deep. I was amazed at University the other day with the capacity for Heather to find positives in negatives. She sent out a survey where only 2 people out of 27,000? members responded. I would have given up in despair (my resilience can be very low when confronted by hardship) but she found the strength to look at other avenues and draw conclusions from the non-responses.

The Buddhist's have a saying that the glass is neither half full nor half empty, it is what it is. Acceptance of reality is ultimately not delusional, and all the problems that that can entail.

Mapping the Intangible

Today is Fathers day. I have two daughters, 3.5 and 8 months. I love them very much, but I don't know if I have the time to count the reasons why. Is it because they keep me awake at night? Is it because the eldest throws tantrums if her pants aren't exactly the correct colour she decides she needs? Or that wearing pants is so lame when you really need a twirly skirt?

No, that stuff blows, real bad. But do I laugh we she dances for me? Does she lift my mood when she dresses up and gives me the biggest kiss because she feels so good? Absolutely. How do I define that - by reason? If I used reason she probably wouldn't exist.

I guess that's an obscure way to introduce the following table - a way to try and make explicit these tangibles in an organisation, and to maybe try and take in the big picture rather than focus on the bottom line at the expense of everything else.

This table is endebted to Dr Farhad Daneshgar and Elisabeth Davenport, it attempts to integrate the Social Capital and Intellectual Capital of an organisation.

Eisner and making KM visible

"Not everything that matters can be measured, and not everything that is measured matters"

Aphorism attributed to Elliot Eisner, and from a sign in Einstein's office?, "Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts".

There has been a rather robust discussion on the ActKM listserve around 'cutting-out KM in the organisation', and the gist of the posts suggests that Executive don't value the output of KM as it isn't visible to them, it's a cost centre. They know that its inputs are valuable, but obviously the amount it contributes to the bottom-line for them is tenuous.

What are the reasons for this? Is it because KM is a maturing field that hasn't passed through the stage of connoisseur to critic? 

'Thus… connoisseurship provides criticism with its subject matter. Connoisseurship is private, but criticism is public. Connoisseurs simply need to appreciate what they encounter. Critics, however, must render these qualities vivid by the artful use of critical disclosure'

Read from Infed on Fathers Day

Or is it because we deal in the tacit so much? I myself see KM as very closely aligned with Education, and KM practitioners almost as coaches that help realise the full-potential of an organisations Human Capital - by removing the obstacles of collaboration and helping the individual and organisation see how the development of Social Capital is ultimately to their benefit. (Is KM part of the triumvirate sandwiched between Learning and Change Management?)

As we move from the Information Economy to the Knowledge Economy education is going to be a centre of focus, and life-long learning an essential aspect of your career. The outcomes of your knowledge need to be visualised to be leveraged. Your Intellectual Knowledge needs to be surfaced, articulated, as advocated in the Nonaka and Takenuchi SECI model.

So how do we map this Social Capital? Even an egocentric view relies on it being shared across a network, which means at least one other must hold the same value?