I spend most of my professional life facilitating decision-making in all kinds of libraries & organizations. I’m fascinated with how people make choices, how they decide, what influences these decisions - and what doesn’t.
I haven’t finished the book yet, so there will be more postings on this, but The Art of Choosing by Sheena Iyengar is a fascinating study of how people - and publics - make choices. Why do I care about this? And why should all those in the library & information world care about this? Because every day, every minute, decisions are being made about your services, your libraries & their place in the community, the university, the organization. Look at the choices being made right now for the Charlotte Mecklenburg Libraries or New Jersey Public Libraries or the Community Access Program in Canada?
Some initial highlights:
- in North America, the more choices people have the less likely they are to choose one; many very successful companies (like P&G) have scaled back the # of products they offer — and the result is higher sales, higher revenues, higher profits. Iyengar’s work in this area started with her famous study of the “Jam selection” — when people were offered samples of 24 jams, few ppl choice to purchase 1. But when they were offered samples of 6 jams, they were 6 TIMES more likely to purchase 1. I identify with this; I hate huge malls with lots of stores. I’m MUCH more likely to purchase items in small towns from a few stores — just ask VISA. I’m overwhelmed at the Eaton’s Centre or other big malls. Yuck. Too much. The “apex” of choice is 7…….so how many services does your library offer? Or how are these services bundled for people to choose from?
- in North America, which tends to have a culture of individualism, we regard ‘choice’ as our right; but those from other cultures, like China or India, this is not the case….. hm……what are the implications for libraries whose constituencies are new to North America?
Why did I choose to read this book? Because I love to understand how people perceive options & choose among them…..but….that’s just my choice.
The Economist’s Feb 25, 2010 issue has a special report on managing informationtargetting business but to be leveraged by all those in the information industry. Information management, which is all about understanding & applying information, is growing in businesses — so why are libraries being cut? We need to ask ourselves this.
Excerpts from the article: “Alex Szalay, an astrophysicist at Johns Hopkins University, notes that the proliferation of data is making them increasingly inaccessible. “How to make sense of all these data? People should be worried about how we train the next generation, not just of scientists, but people in government and industry,” he says.
Chief information officers (CIOs) have become somewhat more prominent in the executive suite, and a new kind of professional has emerged, the data scientist, who combines the skills of software programmer, statistician and storyteller/artist to extract the nuggets of gold hidden under mountains of data. Hal Varian, Google’s chief economist, predicts that the job of statistician will become the “sexiest” around. Data, he explains, are widely available; what is scarce is the ability to extract wisdom from them.”
I hope I get this quote correct “If not now, when? If not us, who?”
Margaret Heffernan is a woman who knows her way around information Internet environment organizations. She’s not a noted author, particularly for women entrepreneurs, and is Executive in Residence at Babson College. She got to this point by being CEO of InfoMation Corporation, ZineZone Corporation and iCAST Corporation, and was named one of the Internet’s Top 100 in 1999, one of the Top 25 by Streaming Media magazine and one of the Top 100 Media Executives by The Hollywood Reporter. Her “Tear Down the Wall” campaign against AOL won the 2001 Silver SABRE award for public relations.
I tell you this to establish her credibility for the rule she established at her companies that “all complaints be accompanied by at least one solution.” She had learned, as many of us have learned, that smart people find faults, &, without firm boundaries, will focus on these faults rather than on improving the situation. We also know that people tend to put all problems into one big bucket that they stir & stir - with the end result that all problems are given equal weight, not many get effectively addressed, & the organizational culture descends into a toxic pit of low productivity & high pessism.
Margaret doesn’t talk about categorizing problems, so I will; face it, there 3 kinds of problems or “issues”:
1. those over which you have no control — so move on & focus your efforts where you can make a difference
2. those over which you have some control — deserve some attention, so find some allies & get to it
3. those over which you have total control — AH! the sweet spot - you have the POWER so use it & do something about it
And what do we have total control over? Ourselves — our attitude - our approach. And attitude is everything. Good problem-solvers are just that — solvers.
1. it makes ppl think about what’s an important problem to be fixed & worth the cost of fixing - in otherwords, it helps ppl set priorities
2. it encourages ppl to work together & generate good ideas; rather than those in technical areas blaming the front-line or client-facing ppl, they work together to devise innovative solutions (remember, innovative doesn’t mean ground-shaking — it just means different & better)
3. it makes employees see the big picture & to take ownership for the organization — gains buy-in & employee engagement, since ppl can see that THEY make a difference, & not leave things at management’s door.
Heffernan’s advice is aimed at corporate settings, but I’m adjusting the aim towards libraries & those in information functions. There are some REALLY fabulous libraries out there, and some fabulous information professionals. And, there are some incredibly smart information professionals out there who see the problems & loudly voice the problems, but don’t engage their own efforts or the efforts of their colleagues in solving those problems. As Heffernan says, “So many companies become the walking dead when they focus on complaints rather than solutions. Does your company have a culture of complaint? If it does, what are you doing about it?” Does your library have a culture of complaint? If it does, what are you doing about it?
Congratulations to all Library Journals Movers & Shakers! If you would like to meet and see some of them in action, join us at Information Today’s Computers in Libraries 2010, Apr 12-14 in the DC area. As speakers we have Gretchen Caserotti,Matt Hamilton, Jason Puckett, Maurice Coleman, Lisa Carlucci Thomas. Apologies to others I may have missed but I’m sure there will be lots of other Movers & Shakers from the class of 2010 at Computers in Libraries and I know there will be many from previous years! So come and network with them.
Bobbi Newman’s post pointed me to all these wonderful people this morning and provides links to more info about them. I also love the post from one of last year’s Movers & Shakers, Lori Reed, on how to be prepared for this award. Lori and Bobbi will also be at CIL2010. Join us!
I just finished one of SirsiDynix’ free webinars — what a great experience! Focus Groups: Perceptions for Planning is really about when to consider using focus groups - when not to - and how. I liken focus groups to organizational leadership. To be an effective leader, you need to journey within yourself. The same is true for organizations. To be a leader, organizations have to know who they are, what they stand for, and where their leadership comes from — or doesn’t come at all. Leadership, for individuals and for organizations, involves discipline, integrity, focus and hard work.
Focus groups are a fabulous - and fun way - for an organization to better understand itself or one or more of its services and how it is perceived within its market or constituency.
To gather that “gold” afforded by groups, focus groups need to be approached as guided discovery into the perceptions & opinions of representatives of your community or your university or your corporation. The facilitator is really the guide leading the group as they explore a specific topic or section of their environment. It’s not a beef session or a forum for complaints or suggestions — it is a group’s opportunity to focus on a concept.
What’s most often forgotten by those putting focus groups together is that the there needs to be something in this for participants. The WIIFM (what’s in it for me) syndrome goes beyond the $5.00 gift certificate you may give them to get a coffee, or the USB, or whatever gift you are offering them. What’s sometimes more important for them is that they get something out of the focus group — that they learn something they didn’t know, or they engage in a dialogue that’s interesting for them, or they just have a good time!
Critical success factors for effective focus groups?
1. Having no more than 3 clear objectives; what don’t you know now that you want to know at the end of the focus groups? These objectives drive the form of the group, the types of participants/thinking required, & the questions or “discussion starters.”
2. Participants (no more than 15, no less than 5 in a “room setting”; maximum 8 online or 6 on phone (at least for me that’s the max!)); a good “mix” of participants relevant to your objectives.
3. A competent facilitator who is an expert “listener” — who can take in all that is being said & not said plus the group dynamics & emotions — & then synthesize & analyze this into what it all means. If you want to use someone on staff, they absolutely can’t have any ownership of the plan, service or concept being discussed by the group. A facilitator isn’t a talker — a facilitator is a senser & a delicate prober who can quickly establish credibility & rapport with a group, and keep them on track without upsetting anyone.
4. Preparation, preparation, and…..preparation. A solid discussion guide; a comfortable room; inviting participants, following-up with participants, and following up again; tent cards for each participant, recorder, you name it — be prepared.
5. Pre-think & follow-up for participants. Send participants an outline prior to the session — it engages them & let’s them know their input is expected. Then follow-up with a draft of the focus group results; it reinforces the value of their input & says “thanks” much more than any form letter.
And thanks to SirsiDynix for these webinars!! Richard Hulser’s “Getting the Most out of Vendor Partnerships” and Helene Blowers’ “From Libraries to Lifebraries” are just 2 of the latest FREE (did I say FREE? yep, FREE) webinars on topics critical for libraries by some of the best, experienced practitioners out there.
So wonderful to see the creativity & fun in public libraries. Ontario Library Association challenged libraries to “pimp their booktrucks” - and they did! Ontario Library Service - North in Sudbury and Springwater Library (in between Collingwood and Barrie — hopefully that doesn’t offend anyone!) took the Gold & Silver medals. Way to go! We’ve been so privileged to work with both of these organizations — fabulous staff & hotbeds of humour.
It’s so exciting how Information Today is using its content management system to build a community for their conference events that I’m using Google’s doodle to celebrate with some fiddling! Yes today is the 332nd birthday of Antonio Vivaldi, an Italian composer. But I digress, something unusual for me, right?
So go to the Computers in Libraries 2010 website and click on speakers. You can now reach those speakers through Twitter, Facebook, their blog, or LinkedIn when they update their speaker page. Check out Joe Murphy and myself, Jane Dysart, to get the idea. Computers in Libraries 2010 also has a wiki to build more community, and this year has a special section — 25th anniversary memory bank. If you have a vibrant memory of a past Computers in Libraries conference, please share it!
I have been fascinated by Google doodles for years and often include them in posts. Now here is an interesting article from Interbrand’s blog that all sites can learn from:
“Well, aside from being fun, inspiring, and surprising as a recent CNN interview with Google Doodle web designer Michael Lopez suggests, its also a fresh way to update Google’s extremely simple homepage—something that is harder than it might seem at first glance.”
With an extremely minimal and simple design, Google’s site is made up of three elements: “a colorful, iconic logo (the design of which, good and/or bad, is topic for another discussion), a search bar, and a massive amount of white space. This allows Google to be a calm, but positive breather before you dive into the bottomless whirlpool of information. ”
“And yet, while this approach is quite successful, these three elements can also be a little limiting when it comes to accurately representing a brand personality and staying fresh and relevant in the climate of an ever changing Internet. Google needed something else to visually carry the brand. Something that could speak to who they are, yet also be organic enough to mold to anything the world throws their way. Enter the Google Doodle.”
“What was initially a quirky holiday illustration is now becoming a vital tool in communicating Google’s brand personality. Visually, it gives Google endless possibilities in a technology market that has just that–endless possibilities. It enables Google to keep the pace and stay relevant in the world that is never static. And it does all of this in a way that celebrates the Google brand in a strategic and successful way.”
I am happy to see a site that archives Google doodles and logos, and lists a number of other sites to check for more! And also I’m honoring the Canadian Olympic Hockey team with my choice of doodle today! They definitely added to the smiles and spirit of all Canadians. Congrats to all the participating athletes from all the countries represented — well done!
The Human Library in its initial form is a mobile library set up as a space for dialogue and interaction. Visitors to the Human Library are given the opportunity to speak informally with “people on loan”;this latter group being extremely varied in age, sex and cultural background.
With these principles in mind, OLA is featuring a career focus for conference delegates who wish to borrow a Living Book. The purpose is to encourage open discussion about interesting, unusual, or leadership career positions with a view to:exploring and expanding the scope of career opportunities for people to consider, anddebunking stereotypes (good or bad) associated with career paths (let’s face it – we have them!). The delegates may be students developing their career ambitions, or seasoned professionals who are intrigued by the career path you have taken.
Delegates will be informed of our loan policy: “please remember that all Living Books have kindly volunteered to be lent out as examples of some intriguing career paths. They must be returned to us in the same condition, as they were in at the time of check-out. You are encouraged to ask questions and share your own point of view, but always with respect for the person who has volunteered. The Living Book can choose to discontinue a loan and return to the Library, if he or she feels so inclined. “
I just love what social media is adding to the 2010 Olympics! From the thousands of tweets from the #Olympics Twitter feed, to YouTube videos, to Facebook, social media is definitely enriching my experience of the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Amazing.
My favorite tweets so far are from the people calling curling “ice shuffleboard” but the number of tweets supporting the athletes is truly incredible. On Facebook, I became a fan of Vancouver 2010 Olympics and last night right after the Canada/Swiss hockey game, they posted asking who had seen the game. Within 4 minutes I and three hundred others had responded that we liked it! Every time I refreshed my screen it went up by 50+ people and within 24 minutes over 1500 “liked” the post and a third had made comments. After 10 hours, over 3,500 “liked” the post and 1,150+ had made comments about the post. YouTube has a rich base of videos about the Olympics but several of my favorites include commercials about future young athletes and Canada’s first gold medal on home soil, but I also love Shaun White’s gold medal big air performance with amazing spins, flips and twists (all together!).
So social media is definitely engaging and bringing the world together over wonderful global events. Yeah!
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regard ‘choice’ as our right; but those from other cultures, like China or India, this is not the case….. hm……what are the implications for libraries whose constituencies are new to North America?
