What to Change? What to Change Into? How Do We Decide?--Proactive vs Reactive Change

Organizations are faced with important decisions.  What needs to be changed?  What do we need to change into?  How do we decide about the change?

There are many processes involved with change.  I have developed some tools that can help organizations explore the answers to these questions.  They are available for purchase on eBay.  The first is the Business Snapshot and the second is the Business Improvement Survey.  (Find them both--including links for eBay searches--on the Services page for DrM-Resources.)

How do we decide about the change?  Shared vision is important.  If people and organizations do not move through the trust-building steps required to come to a shared vision (slide 11), planned change will be hard (if not impossible) to implement.  When more than one person is involved, people need to move through the Organizational Change Curve (slide 9).

While these tools and concepts can help organizations facilitate change, the basic ideas raised initially need to be dealt with and a shared vision formed about the change for planned change to make progress.  We can sometimes see change happening around us and react to it--positively, negatively, or neutrally.  It is usually more effective to be proactive about change and to develop a plan to make the continuous process improvements needed to make organizations more effective.

Digital Portfolio--Global Footprint--Travel, Adventures, Experiences, and Learning

Our global footprints show what we have done with our lives.  My global footprint includes travel, adventures, experiences, and learning I have had which lead me to the perspectives I have today.  I present some of these in my digital portfolio on YouTube.

It is challenging to find times and ways to communicate what we learn in our travel and adventures.  I want to think about ways to work with this rich tapestry of travel, experience, and learning to find ways to share that will invite others to share, to become inspired, and to learn from my experiences.

Learning Goals and Appropriate Learning Approaches

Learning goals influence which approach to learning is most appropriate.  For years learning has had two main approaches, topic-based (lecture, student mode) and experiential (practical, hands-on approaches including apprenticeships).  See the Learning Outcome Grid (Slide 7). 

(Click on the image to see it alone and in full detail.)

See the Learning Target Matrix (Slide 17).

Click on the image to see it alone and completely.

While lecture mode appears to be a relatively quick and relatively inexpensive way to deliver training, how much "sticks?"  The goals for the learning need to be considered when planning learning design and delivery.

Investing in Learning and Education

Post for March 9, 2010
Recent news reporting in Illinois shows that Governor Pat Quinn is planning to make cuts in education spending to cover some of the budget imbalance for the state.  This response is an echo of other cuts in investment in learning and education on the part of individuals, corporations, and state and federal government--in the USA and beyond.

At the same time, politicians talk about the future in glowing terms--"Green energy jobs," much faster telecommunications capabilities, etc. 

We need to remember that each of us needs to be a lifelong learner and to find ways to invest in our education--even if it is with time more than money at any particular moment.  Public libraries (also suffering from cuts in funding) offer great resources for learning.

Basic skills of reading and understanding are important to be able to use the resources available to us for learning.  We need to keep an energy level up for exploring and learning more about our world and how we can make positive contributions to our world and our universe.

Learning--Classroom, Online, Blended--Synchronous, Asynchronous

Learning design involves different venues for learning.  Classrooms, computers (at home or at work), the Internet (online), and a combination of venues are all optional venues for learning.  Learning can be synchronous ("live"--with everyone participating at the same time as in a classroom) and asynchronous (delayed--with students participating at the time best for them--posting or e-mails as an example of asynchronous communication).

"Red Carpet Club" for DrM-Virtual3D-Learning Workshop

As one of the first steps in creating the DrM Virtual 3D Learning Workshop, I created a "Red Carpet Club" for the workshop on LinkedIn.  (Think of the Academy Awards when thinking of a "Red Carpet Club>") 

Members in this club will help design the learning workshop and will be participants in the workshop.  Because of their involvement in the club they will access "behind the scenes" experiences and events during the workshop and their feedback and insights can help improve the workshop and, possibly, the virtual 3D learning environment, created and maintained by Digitell's VirtualU.

One of the suggestions that came out of the Virtual Edge 2010 Summit was the use of "Red Carpet Clubs" to improve content and experience of virtual events. 

This club is a truly unique opportunity because it is open to LinkedIn professionals from many organizations who choose to be involved in creating and experiencing an online, virtual3D, learning workshop.  The workshop will be more than an event because its goals will be more expanded and it may take place over a broader span of time than a typical event.

It will probably combine both synchronous ("live") and "asynchronous" (done alone over a period of time) activities to take full advantage of the learning capabilities offered by the virtual platform.

If you're interested in participating, please sign-up for the group.  At this point in the planning, the learning workshop will be free.  Members of the group will have unique opportunities to develop and expand skills in online learning design and will get to experience their own design and give feedback.

Strategy Map for an Online, Virtual 3D Learning Workshop

What is "A strategy map for an online, virtual 3D learning workshop?"  This is the initial planning document for the creation of this learning workshop to be conducted online in a Virtual 3D environment.

If the learning workshop is being prepared for a single organization it can be preceded by a learning needs survey.  If the learning workshop is for multiple organizations, one of the initial steps is to invite ideas for learning needs for the workshop from these organizations.  For this workshop, LinkedIn will be used to contact many of the professionals who may be interested in participating in the free workshop.

Another part of the initial strategy is to explore with Digitell and VirtualU to learn the capabilities available for learning activities on the VirtualU platform.

Alternate Reality Games, Learning, and Youth Fiction and Fantasy

Alternate Reality Games (ARG) are amazingly popular around the world.  Total Engagement by Byron Reeves and J. Leighton Read, provides insights into these games and the way they relate to business.  (See my post regarding learning from the recent Virtual Edge 2010 Summit.)

Newberry Award Winning books for the youth market share alternate realities in their youth fiction and fantasy genre.  Readers identify with the heros and heroines in much the same way people identify with characters in the ARGs.  Harry Potter is one of many series of books that have become wildly popular.  Many new series are emerging and are very engaging for readers (and listeners when eAudiobooks are used).

This literature can be used as a model for new learning ARGs that allow students to build both academic and game-related skill sets for points and recognition within the ARG.  Priced correctly (and fairly), students could engage with these games and build skills on a daily basis.

Designing a VirtualU Learning Event

For much of the day I was a virtual participant using VirtualU's 3D software and attending the Virtual Edge 2010 Summit.  My purpose in attending was to pull together my ideas for designing a VirtualU learning event.  VirtualU is sponsored by VirtualBeginnings and Digitell.

Many of my learning design ideas I have already published in this blog.  (See post 1, post 2, and post 3.)  In preparing for a Virtual University Learning Event, I want to incorporate the lessons learned from designing and delivering ELACOMM98--a 2.5-day learning event for 200 communications executives that was held in Cannes, France, in May, 1998.  That event was designed over 12 weeks with a team of subject matter experts and a few learning designers.  Strategy was developed to included learning goals, an integrated, hands-on-learning design, and a series of learning events in teams and in large groups created around workplace simulations that allowed participant to build and practice relevant skills in a very supportive context including practice and learning coaches.  Watch the video for a brief summary.

What I am learning from my virtual attendance at the Virtual Edge 2010 Summit and at three other VirtualU 3D conferences, is the importance of using what I learned from ELACOMM98 and integrating that with understanding of the 3D virtual world and its offerings.  I am an active social networker on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.  One concept from today will be to work with my contacts and groups on LinkedIn to ask what people want and to be sure to design that into the event I will be designing.  Based on the feedback from the panelists at the Virtual Edge 2010 Summit, I will be creating a community (group) on LinkedIn about the learning event and will be hosting some "Velvet Rope" communities (people who are willing to engage in helping develop some of the events before hand and who will have a closer interaction with key people connected with the event).  I have hosted Yahoo Groups for years and expect to do some of the work of developing this new learning event using Skype, Yahoo Groups, and possibly Google Groups, as well as the group and event resources on LinkedIn.

There's another day (tomorrow) to the Virtual Edge 2010 Summit and I expect to be adding more ideas to my plans for the development of the VirtualU Learning Event.  If you want to participate, leave a comment or send me an e-mail.

Learning and Change--Individual Considerations

This post is a continuation of the post from February 20, 2010 and from an earlier post on February 21, 2010.

Learning and change need to take place on an individual level--even when teams, groups, and organizations want change as well.  Two additional meta-models have been created to explain how individuals respond to the need for change (see slide 2) and what happens to individuals as they build the skills they need to change successfully (see slide 10).

(Click on the picture to see it separately and completely.)

(Click on the picture to see it separately and completely.)

 As stated in an earlier post, learning and change are not easy and are often resisted.  The Shame Affect Decision Model (slide 2) shows how most of us discover the need for change--when something we relied on ceases to produce the positive results we expected.  If we retreat into our pre-existing comfort zone, we have four possible responses:  attack others, attack self, avoid, and withdraw.  If we choose to move to positive change, this is our opportunity to learn.

As we begin to learn, we move through the Personal Performance Change Curve (slide 8). Comfort Zones Mapped to the Performance Change Curve (slide 10) show how our performance level and comfort drop before we begin to integrate the new knowledge and skill we are learning.

The Learning Outcome Grid (slide 7) shows some of the results of learning activity.

(Click on the picture to see it separately and completely.)

Learning and Change--Action Steps for Teams and Organizations

Teams and organizations are created for different purposes.  In general, they have goals and intend to work together somehow to achieve these goals.    This post is a continuation of yesterday's post on Learning and Change.  There is a follow-up post focusing on individual learning and change.

Sometimes teams are more successful than at other times in achieving their goals.  Over time meta-models have been created that help explain what is going on in the groups and teams that make some more successful that others.

The Team Tracking Tool (see slide 12) is reproduced below.  Notice the "Do Not Enter" sign at the top.  Many teams and organizations think they can go immediately from inputs to outputs without moving through the process steps required.  Almost 100% of the time this spells disaster and the team or organization has to undo or redo everything--as well as recover the lost trust that failure promotes.  Note the trust building elements of the tool.  Blake and Mouton developed a Managerial Grid explaining the different focuses of people and production in teams.  (A variation of that grid is reproduced below the Team Tracking Tool and a link to Blake and Mouton's model is also provided here.)

(Click on the picture to see it separately and completely.)

Blake and Mouton created a management grid to explain the relationship of people (maintenance) focus and production (task) focus.  The grid is reproduced on Wikipedia.

(Click on the picture to view it separately and completely.)

 Both task and maintenance functions are critical to the successful progress of teams and organizations.  Over emphasis on one or the other delays the development of trust and the effectiveness of teams.  In my early career in Change Management, I learned to make people my task--thus ensuring that both task and maintenance functions were completed.  Trust is the bonding that allows teams to function well and is a critical maintenance function.

(Click on the picture to see it separately and completely.) (See slide 11.)

 If trust is not allowed to develop, synergy--the energy that allows the output to be greater than what could be produced by the sum of its parts (people) will be missing.  As new people are added to a team, group, or organization and as the vision changes, building blocks of trust need to be revisited to allow for the group energy to move freely to the next area.

Challenge of Learning and Change--Shifting Comfort Zones

Learning and change are challenging.  Comfort zones need to shift and most of us are highly resistant to changing our comfort zones, especially with regard to things we think of as security.  See the post from February 16, 2010, on Change--Learning--Training--Innovation and the New Economy.

Several years ago I developed two meta-models to explain learning and change on the individual and organizational levels. The  Personal Performance Change Curve and the Organizational Performance Change Curve--See slides 8 and 9.  (I have reproduced them below to be part of this post.)

For years I have worked with people at levels in their organizations where they do not feel they can influence change.  We can change ourselves and our response to our surroundings.  Once we do that and adjust our own comfort zones accordingly, we may have more influence on those around us--even to the organizational level.

Awareness--Acceptance--Action are key requirements for change and are part of these two meta-models.  We need to go through those steps--frequently with someone who can assist us in the process--in order for learning and change to take place and anchor for something new to happen.

(Click on the pictures to see them separately and completely.)

(Click on the pictures to see them separately and completely.)

While these two meta-models go a long way to explain and guide change for individuals and organizations, they can usually be understood better if someone can walk people through the models with experiences from their own lives.

To help businesses focus on areas for improvement and change, I have made available a series of business survey tools on eBay.

On the DrM-Resources Services web page, check out these surveys: Business Snapshot-DrM, the Business Improvement Survey-DrM, and the Workforce Training Needs Survey-DrM.

This post is continued in the post on Learning and Change for February 21, 2010.

Internal and External Reference Points for Learning and Change

Each of us works with our own experience and thought in unique ways, though like noses, while each is different, there are many similarities.  Inductive and deductive reasoning serve to illustrate the point.  Deductive reasoning starts with something that exists and uses logic to break it down to its components.  Many mystery stories rely on deductive reasoning to solve the crimes.  Inductive reasoning starts with intuition and builds rather than breaking things down.  The connections need to be validated and inferences need to be checked out.

Some of us rely on external reference points to guide us.  We make the opinions of others a key factor in our own decisions and responses.  Others rely on internal reference points, "marching to the tune of our own drummer."

In the end, each of us is responsible for ourselves.  While we can make use of mirrors and feedback, we still need to make our own choices and deal with the consequences of these choices.

Change--Learning--Training--Innovation and the "New Economy"

Change requires learning and learning requires change.  It's one of the cycles that are intimately intertwined.  In "the new economy" many organizations (large and small) are not funding professional support for the changes and the learning they need to make to survive.

One of the approaches I have taken to support organizations with this problem is to create a series of business tools supporting change and making them available on eBay.  These tools can be self-help tools or can be the focus for a DrM-Resources Service.

Contract recruiters have been approaching me for support in utilizing social networking services as a support for both collaboration and knowledge management.  There are many ways to use these services to support sharing and knowledge management for organizations with all levels of numbers of employees and large and small budgets.

What characteristics of the "new economy" signal that most organizations need to learn and to change?  For starters, we have close to 10% unemployment across the USA.  Millions of jobs have been lost and President Obama, in speaking about job creation, has not focused on high end jobs which have been sacrificed when organizations have had to cut back on their employees.

As in previous times, companies need to do more with less.  What is not like previous times is that the customers and providers that companies have relied on are no longer there--or are no longer there with the same resources they once were.  How many companies do you know who are living on their reserves and waiting for the economy to "recover."  We have heard that we are experiencing a "jobless recovery" in our economy.  To be honest, I'm not really sure what that is supposed to mean.

Organizations and individuals and families need income to cover their expenses--now and for the future and the past (debt).  Jobs were the way most families generated the income.  Unemployment insurance and lower-paying jobs don't generate the income needed for expenses.  While social security payments did not go up this year, expenses have continued to climb.

Organizations, families, and individuals now need to "reinvent" themselves to succeed in the "new economy."  Reinvention requires learning and change.  We are back to the beginning of this post.  It is a cycle and organizations, families, and individuals can benefit from support while going through this cycle of learning and change.

(See the follow-up posts about Learning and Change from February 20, 2010, and February 21, 2010.)

Avatar Movie--Ideas for Innovation in Learning Event Design for Adults

In the world of technology visualized in the recent blockbuster, Avatar, it is amazing to see how much emphasis is still being placed on "talking heads" in learning and training environments.  People are excited to have a visual image of a person side-by-side with a PowerPoint Presentation, then add the possibility of text chat and/or voice-over conversation and people think they are experiencing a rich presentation.

The key to learning is engaging in positive learning activities, then in reflecting on these activities.  The avatar (cartoon images displayed in 3D in many 2D and 3D "virtual worlds") does not hold a candle to the avatar bodies shown in Avatar--and those were computer-generated graphics with lots of visual reference points gleaned from the real actors the graphic avatars were portraying.  A true avatar the incarnation of a deity changes in the consciousness of a culture.  Quetzalcoatl is an example of an avatar in the ancient legends of Mexico.

The point is this, technology needs to engage the learners, getting them involved in positive learning activities.  The 3D technology that was part of Avatar (the 2009 film) was intended to draw the viewer into the movie.  It does a good job of this.

We need to do the same kind of thing when designing learning events, especially for adults.  They need to be drawn into the action and to apply the skills and knowledge they are developing in the learning event to real challenges, then to reflect on how they're doing and be given time to improve. 

In the Avatar film, the characters make recordings into a video log (like a blog).  This is a reflective component that people need to do in an actual learning event.

Human Computer Interface and Learning--New Working Paper

Human Computer Interface and Learning

Today I was asked for a publication I have completed on human computer interface (HCI) and learning.  In looking at my research to date, I found that I didn't have one on that topic.  Most of my education research focused on best practice, curriculum, and assessments.  I have done a lot with Web2 and Wikispaces over the past year and just had never had the occasion to document what I had done.

After doing a little research on HCI, I created a new working paper today and have published it on my research page as the last article/working paper.  It's pretty short and I may revise it before I send it on to the Education Resources Information Center for publication.

I'm attaching the figure from the working paper here to give you an idea of what the launching page for students looked like last year.  You can visit it at http://drmontgomery.wikispaces.com.

(Click on the image below to make it larger.)

iPods and MP3 players for Education

This post came as part of a LinkedIn dialog in the "Faculty Room" group. Go to the link to view the group and all of the dialogs.

"iPods as Reading Tools" by Linda Bomar, L. (2006, May-June). iPods as reading tools. Principal, NAESP.org, pp. 52-53

Don't Turn 'Em Off, Tune 'Em In! (2007, September). NEA Today, 26(1), 17. Retrieved July 28, 2009, from Research Library. (Document ID: 1360186081).

I work with technology with both adults and school children. A literacy coach worked with the school district I was in last year and actually got the students to use text messages to improve their writing skills--and to get them totally hooked into his class.

Students love to explore the technology and, at various ages, many love to find porn or anything off-task--true in school and at work. Let's look at a "begin with the end in mind" perspective. If students don't learn to use technology appropriately in school, what do you think they'll do on the job after they finish school?

In the schools I worked in most recently, we did not have enough computers for all students. I had a variety of tasks for students to do on computers (see http://drm-ms-resources.wikispaces.com/). The school had firewalls and monitoring programs so that, for the most part, students had access to what they needed to work on.

While iPods and MP3 players were not used in school, I had students who read at a 3rd grade level able to quote the lyrics of some favorite songs. At the end of the year I was working with eAudiobooks--downloadable books that they could have on their iPods or MP3 players next to their music. The next task is to get them to listen to the books.

Technology is a part of our lives--whether or not we actually own the technology. MP3 players are becoming more and more widespread at lower and lower cost. When we can use the technology as a learning tool, it becomes much more powerful--and even becomes perceived by students as more relevant to their lives.

We do need to educate students and parents about how to be "safe" using technology. (See my "Learning Passport" wiki site--a link on the site I referred to earlier.)

Some observers report that our students have dwindling attendion spans. Our key as educators is to create engaging activities that students want to focus their attention on--and then make the engagement something they value and want to continue. Technology can help--if educators take the time to find out how to use it as a support tool rather than a distraction.