As I sat in a continuing education course this past week, I thought about my lessons learned for the semester. The fact that I allowed my attention to drift away from the instructor is an indication of the level of engagement that was taking place in the classroom. This session was largely lecture-based with minimal active learning elements. My experience in this session reinforced the idea that lecturing is not the most effective method for educating students about using the library. While the information that the instructor presented was very interesting, the lack of interactivity sucked the life out of the session (at least it did for me). Since I was sitting in the back of the class, I took the opportunity to scan the room to see how engaged the other attendees where. From that vantage point I had a pretty good view of everyone’s computer screens. Most of the attendees were not engaged. As I looked around the room, I saw that several people were monitoring their email, a few were on Facebook, and at least one was checking out the latest news on CNN’s website. I can’t imagine that the instructor didn’t notice this but the room’s physical arrangement prevented the instructor from seeing the attendees’ screens but their body language was indicative of people who were not engaged. So, my first lesson learned is that the instructor needs to be able to read the room and make adjustments on the fly. As an instructor there isn’t anything worse than preparing great content for a session only to have the point missed because I as the instructor failed to bring the students into the discussion. This is but one of my lessons learned. Taking into account all of the information that I learned this semester, my key lessons learned are:

Active learning is KING – During the course of this semester, I have had the opportunity to attend a number of continuing education courses targeted at information professionals. What I’ve noted about several of the course instructor’s delivery was that many failed to integrate active learning strategies into their session. I would hazard to guess that most librarians, myself included until I began this program, have never received any formal training in active learning or adult learning. I find this to be interesting since one of the hallmark traditions in libraries is to teach information literacy skills so that library users are able to successfully navigate a variety of information systems and tools throughout their lifetimes. Why librarians who specialize in reference and instructional services are expected to participate in teaching functions though very few have received any formal training in adult education is beyond me. I think it’s absolutely necessary that all librarians’ engaged in instruction expand their knowledge base about principles in adult learning. There is nothing more frustrating than standing in front of a group of students to only discover at the end of the session that the students not only did not learn anything but they are even more confused about the material than they were before the session. It was for this reason that I am working with my staff to reassess and reshape our instruction program.

With Active Learning Place Does Really Matter – while we did not talk about the impact that the physical place or space has on a program this semester, as I reflected on the types of programs that I plan it is very important. The readings and observations in other sessions have heightened my awareness about the role that space has on the student’s engagement in the class. This topic is also important to me because I have the opportunity to redesign our learning classroom at my library. My goal for our instructional sessions is to have an enduring impact on the way our students, faculty, and staff approach conducting research and using the library’s resources. The designer presented several options but the one that excited me the most was the one that moves away from the traditional computer lab configuration. The current configuration of our instruction classroom supports lecture style presentations were the instructor is the center of attention. I recently heard this setup referred to as the “Sage on the Stage” configuration. The current configuration is very traditional with the instructor’s station positioned at the front of the room, with students evenly spaced in four rows facing the front. This configuration does not easily support collaborative work. The new classroom design supports collaboration. Instead of rows, we are moving to four pods with six seats per pod. Because of the technology in the room we will still have a fixed Crestron podium at the front of the room but we will also have a mobile instructor’s podium in the center of the classroom. This new layout will allow the instructor to move around the room easily. In addition, the new layout will allow us to evolve the way we teach information literacy skills. I have visions of lots of group activity and small group work dancing in my head. Our current setup makes it very hard to incorporate lots of interactivity into our sessions. For us, the most exciting part of this change is the fact that we can now plan small group work within our instructional settings. This will be enhanced because each table will have a Totem monitor affixed to the pod that will allow the groups to collaborate and share different tasks. The instructor can take control and display the content from each Totem to bring the entire group into the discussion. Overall, the new classroom design will support a variety of teaching styles and formats.

A Plan is Necessary for Success – One of the keys to executing a successful educational program from A to Z is having a written plan. I’ve executed several programs in the past without a written plan and I can tell the difference in my output. In addition, the program definitely suffered as a result. I used to attempt to keep my program plan in my head but as I’ve started getting older coupled with taking on increasing responsibilities at work this method was not practical nor was it realistic. As I think about the programs that I’ve planned in this fashion I found that tasks were overlooked or forgotten altogether. Having a written plan is a proactive approach to carrying our programs. I prefer this method over the reactive stance as the reactive stance makes for a chaotic delivery. I can’t fathom staging a program without having a plan.

Program Evaluation is Continuous – A key task in the program planning process is planning how one will assess the value and worthiness of a program. We learned from Vella and Cafarella that program planners must factor plans for evaluation from the very beginning. In my experience with evaluating programs, evaluation was often left to the end of the program. An afterthought is a more accurate description. To do so effectively we must see evaluation is a tool for continuous improvement throughout the programs life. This is the area where I want to make the most improvements. It’s does not make sense to invest the time and energy required to execute a wonderful program and then skimp on the evaluation.

One Size Does not Fit All – In a nutshell the “One size fits All” stance does have a place in program planning. All programs are not created equal.

In all, this has been a great semester. At the conclusion of the semester, I am happy to say that this has been a fun and educational ride. While I feel like the educational program that I oversee for the library is a well-oiled machine there is always room for refinements. I’m walking away from the class with new ideas about how we will refine and reshape that way we introduce the library to the health sciences community. For that I am grateful and excited.

Have a Happy Holiday and I will see you in the New Year!

Until this class, I used to think that culture and climate were one in the same. I’ve actually used the terms interchangeably to mean the same thing when in fact they are very different concepts. Schein tells us that climate is better thought of as the product of some of the underlying assumptions and is therefore a manifestation of the culture.” In our text, Schein defines organizational culture as “a pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way you perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems.” The survey instrument says that “organizational climate refers to the interpretative frameworks shared by employees regarding the priorities of their organization and it helps them understand what behavior is rewarded, supported, and expected in the organization. Employees develop these organizational perceptions as a result of their attempts to make “sense” of the policies, practices, and procedures endorsed and enacted in an organization.” Fortunately, this clarification will help me we move forward with assessing our climate. My only wish is that we were administering the survey now as it would enrich my understanding of the organization’s culture.   The feedback would probably help me to decipher the culture as well.

In preparing to administer the survey my organization has appointed a taskforce to lead the efforts in educating the staff on why we are doing the survey, the types of questions to expect on the survey, and the types of incentives that are being offered. One of the key tasks that the taskforce will take towards educating the staff is to meet with every department. My guess is that the real purpose of the meetings is to make a compelling case with the staff as to why they should carve out 40 minutes of their time to complete the 200 QUESTION survey. My knee jerk reaction is that no one will want to complete such a long survey especially since our experience with surveys in the past is that nothing ever happens with the data. So the departmental meetings are absolutely necessary because the staff will want assurance of the senior leadership’s commitment to do something with the data after the survey results have been analyzed. I’m also thinking that a secondary purpose of the meetings is to assure the staff that something will be done with the actionable items.

I think some of our staff, myself included, will be apprehensive about the survey for this very reason. It reminds of an exercise that we did two years ago to identify services and functions that we could stop doing as a result of the shrinking budgets. Part of this process was asking the staff to complete a questionnaire. The survey had a wonderful response rate and the staff had identified some wonderful suggestions for services and functions that we could stop but nothing ever happened with the information. I believe the fact that the senior leadership chose not to act on any of suggestions made the staff feel as if their opinions did not matter. Hopefully, we’ve learned something from that mistake.

The more I’ve learned about organizational culture and climate the more my excitement about the climate survey increases. The purpose of the survey is to capture staff perceptions concerning the organizations’ commitment to the principles of diversity, organizational policies and procedures, and staff attitudes. The survey addresses a number of climate issues, such as diversity, teamwork, learning, and fairness, as well as current managerial practices, and staff attitudes and beliefs. Overall it should help us identify our organizational weaknesses. As I mentioned about, the survey consists of 200 questions in nine climate dimensions, seven organizational attitude scales, and additional demographic questions. The core scales are:

 Organizational Climate

1. Organizational Climate for Justice
2. Climate for Leadership
3. Climate for Deep Diversity
4. Climate for Demographic Diversity
5. Climate for Innovation: Co-Workers
6. Climate for Continual Learning
7. Climate for Teamwork
8. Climate for Customer Service
9. Climate for Psychological Safety

Organizational Attitudes

1. Job Satisfaction
2. Organizational Commitment
3. Organizational Citizenship Behaviors
4. Organizational Withdrawal
5. Team Psychological Empowerment inf the Workplace
6. Task Engagement
7. Work Unit Conflict

After reviewing the survey’s core scales, I’m anxious to hear my department’s initial reaction to the survey.  I’m equally interested in seeing how the organization plans to use the information. The goal is to use this information to improve our organizational climate and diversity culture for delivering superior services. I hope the organization is ready for what it’s going to learn from the survey.

Until this class, I had not really thought about the huge role that a leader plays in defining an organizations culture. From this experience, I reflected on my own leadership style. More importantly, it also made me think about the influence that I have in shaping the behavior and values of individuals in my department. One of the things that we have learned this semester is that organization culture is often dictated by what a leader pay attention to, measures, and controls on a regular basis. At Enron the focus seemed to have been stock price, profits using mark-to-market accounting, and maintaining a solid credit rating.  All of their actions centered on these things. Enron was so fixated on its stock price that it posted visible reminders throughout the building so that employees would never forget was was important. This idea resonated with me because it reinforced the idea that the things that are important to me as a manager should be those things that benefit the organization and should not be achieved or sustained with unethical behaviors. I can see where the challenges arises with business that are driven by profits and keeping investors happy. The pressure often leads to unethical business practices and an unhealthy work place. Employees get caught in a vicious cycle where one lie leads to another and then another until the house of cards comes tumbling down. Unfortunately, once Enron imploded, thousands of people’s lives had been destroyed, businesses were dismantled, and the American public’s faith in corporate America was shattered. I’m extremely glad that I don’t work in an environment driven by dollars and cents.

When I think of Enron’s leaders the words greedy, proud, arrogant, and unethical come to mind. Enron’s senior leadership demonstrated these characteristics on multiple instances throughout the documentary. One of those situations that stood out for me was when Enron used its influence to shut down electric power in California for financial gains while disrupting the lives of Californians. The thing that struck me the most about the senior leadership is that the feeling of guild did not exist. I was struck by how cool, calm, and collected Jeff Skilling seemed during the hearings. He didn’t seem to break a sweat during the questioning.  Very scary!

In all, at the conclusion of the documentary, I thought about something that my grandmother’s use to say to me all the time: “what’s done in the dark will soon come to the light”.

Now that I’ve had the opportunity to reflect, absorb, and process the information that I learned during the meeting, one of the common themes in several of the presentations that I attended dealt with issues related to organizational culture. It was apparent that issues relating to organizational culture are playing a significant role in medical education and health sciences libraries alike. At the meeting, medical educators and librarians alike were engaging in deep conversations about the anticipated challenges in the next few years. From my perspective, many of these challenges center around organizational changes brought on by the declining budgets and shifting priorities. This idea makes total sense to me as I can see it happening in my own discipline. You see, I’m just like many people in that I sometimes have a self-centered view of the world. At work my primary focus, lately, has been assessing the impact organizational culture has in my environment and developing strategies to work-around and through any resulting issues that arise because of culture. So I don’t often think about how the same issues that I deal with daily affect workflow in disciplines and areas such as medicine and medical education. So attending AAMC gave me the opportunity to hear presentations about culture and climate change in medical education. What I learned at the meeting is that health care reform and dwindling budgets are affecting health care tremendously. I also attended several presentations that talked about shifts in medicine due to healthcare reforms. The impact of healthcare reform is that it will change how medicine is practiced and taught in the future. Medical educators are grappling with this issue in the classroom and the clinics. I imagine that this is a huge organizational shift for physicians and medical educators.

Another presentation that I attended spoke volumes about organizational changes and environmental shifts affecting health sciences libraries. This presentation discussed the evolving relationship between health sciences library directors and university library deans. To understand the nature of these relationships one must understand how health sciences libraries work in the grand scheme of an academic medical center. While every health sciences library is unique in its own way due to institutional constraints, service offerings, and collection scopes, many of health sciences libraries bare similarities when it comes to reporting structures within a given university. From an organizational standpoint, most health sciences libraries report to the School of Medicine or the VP of health Sciences. In addition, while several are part of a larger university library system they still operate as autonomous entities with their own budgets, collections, staff, and resources. This is very different from how we operate at my current library. Our structure supports one system with multiple libraries. We have one consolidated budget, library catalog, website, and technical services. Even though we sometimes wish we had complete autonomy to make our own decisions, the organizational structure works there are huge financial savings by operating in this fashion. We often joke about succeeding from the Union even though we know that this will never likely happen. This structure has its advantages and disadvantages. My library has operated in this fashion sense the 80’s while several health sciences libraries in the Mid-Atlantic region are moving towards this structure. Major reasons for the change were leadership changes at the university level, library administrator change, and financial/cost savings, consolidating campus units, and consolidation of services. Some of the issues that resulted from these changes were budget and finances, communication, recognition of priorities, lack of understanding, no recognition of differences, and concern over visibility. These things are indeed significant organizational changes. The problem with migrating to this organizational structure after having full autonomy is that it will require a complete change in practice. For instance, final decisions at a library with full autonomy are made by the director who understands the external pressures and organizational priorities of the health sciences campus. This process will change dramatically if the director now has to consult with another entity before a decision is made.

At the meeting, I also attended a presentation by from the Khan Academy by Salman Khan. The Khan Academy is a not-for-profit educational organization. The Khan Academy is a fascinating organization because it makes these amazing educational resources available to the world free of charge. The Academy offers over 2,700 videos covering topics from arithmetic to physics, finance, and history and 253 practice exercises to help people learn about a variety of topics in a self-paced environment. One of the most fascinating aspects of his presentation was the demonstration of the Academy’s Map of Knowledge that shows all of the concepts for each of the educational exercises that they have created. The map that he showed was way more extensive and complex than what we created in class but I got the point after watching his demonstration. The basic purpose of a concept map is to learn a concept.

It has been very refreshing to learn that the information that we read in our text still holds true. For me, the most significant information was about the Army’s After Action Review. I really found AARs to be a practical approach to assess success and challenges with a given task. AARs are also applicable for a variety of tasks and in multiple settings. The approach while simple can yield big rewards and valuable information if done right. In my world, this new found information to be extremely helpful with event planning.

One of the tasks that I perform in my job is planning special events for my library. While I’ve always done a post-mortem after our major events but I found the Army’s process to be much more significant because it allows me to gain feedback about an event from a variety of perspectives. I like this method because it allows my unit to consider the perspectives from staff at all levels in our organizational structure. I believe my staff found the process to be very helpful because their feedback and perspectives was important for planning for future events. In addition, incorporating the feedback from all staff bought issues to the forefront that we would have not identified otherwise.

I’ve held an AAR immediately following our Cybersecurity fair and a chapter meeting for a national association. Implementing the AARs allowed me to generate a lessons learned document that I can revisit each year before planning for the next event begins. The information gleaned from this process helped me to identify tasks or functions that should be stopped, sustained or improved upon. Overall, the information yielded from AARs has proven valuable because it has forced my team to actually reflect on an event to determine what we did well, what we did poorly, and what we would do differently if given the opportunity. We will conduct an AAR immediately following each of our major events.

I had not been exposed to the concept of recriminations prior to reading Common Knowledge, though after reading the definition I’ve found that I’ve seen it in action in several of my previous work environments. I’ve worked in environments where individuals have been reprimanded, chided, or ridiculed for comments that they had made during a call for feedback. This experience left the individual feeling that his or her contributions were not valued and that they were stupid. The ultimate result of this is that it silences the person. I saw this happen to a previous coworker. Her response to the negative comments was to shut-down and to vow never to offer feedback again. This was extremely bad because the person was really smart and had some really excellent ideas about programs that could have moved the organization forward in several meaningful ways. The organization really missed out.

Any organization that allows its employees to face recriminations does itself a true dis-serve. Moving away from this stance requires a change in practice. In one of my previous environments, this change in practice occurred as a result of changes in the leadership of my organization. A new leader coupled with a new vision and strategic priorities often equates to organizational change. Moving from recriminations to no recriminations will definitely require a change. The change did not happen overnight but it did happen. The new leader encouraged all employees to participate in discussions and offered incentives for them to do so. This openness became embedded in our organizational culture.

Now that I am revisiting my educational biography, I see that the life events that I referenced in the original biography affirm my belief that the humanistic lens, the experiential learning and self-directed theories have played a significant role in my formal and informal learning as an adult. I believe it is the nature of these theories that have shaped my personality, values, and learning experiences. Thanks to information learned in this class, I am even more in touch with who I am as an individual and an adult learner.

As a learner, I see the world through the humanistic lens. I share the optimism projected through this lens. This positive attitude and outlook was encouraged by both my mother and my grandmother. These matriarchs taught me to always put my best foot forward no matter what was going on in the world around me. I admired their glass is half full approach to seeing the world and have tried to immolate it as much as possible. They always taught me to see the positive in every situation. This attitude has allowed me to see the bright side in most situations. For instance, while many state employees complain about not having received a raise since December 2007, I’m happy to still be gainfully employed doing a job that I absolutely love. I truly believe that every cloud has a silver lining. It’s all a matter of perspective and my preference is to look at life through rose- colored lenses. I am a humanist!

Another key concept that has been pervasive in my educational experience is the experiential learning theory. As a learner, I have known for years that I learn best by doing. Taking the Kolb Learning Style Inventory confirmed my preference for learning by doing. This assessment was not a surprise to me because I have always had an affinity for learning by doing. Things just come to me better if I am able to relate them to prior experiences. One of my favorite quotes says that “none of us is as smart as all of us”. This quote always makes me think about my expertise and the skill-set that i bring to the table in every situation that I am involved. The quote reiterates the fact that everyone comes to the table with a diverse skill set, expertise, and something to contribute. I believe this is why I love working in groups or as a part of a project team. This type of learning has allowed me to not only learn from everyone in the group but to learn by active experimentation. I’ve found that group member contributions during in-class discussions and blog postings oftentimes have helped me to see concepts discussed from a new perspective and allowed me to expand my own thoughts.

As an individual, I have always planned my life out in three year intervals since high school. I would set a goal for myself and then take the necessary steps to accomplish the goal I’d set. I now know this to be self-directed learning. I believe this theory has been important to my educational development because of the voluntary nature of adult learning. My affinity towards being a self-directed learner has allowed me to take steps to advance my education and to seek out opportunities to enhance my skills. Part of being a self-directed learner is setting goals and then mapping out a plan for how one will achieve the goals. This is the process that I completed when I decided to pursue a career in librarianship, to learn a new computer software application, or any new concept or task. So in essence, self-directed learning has been a part of my educational experience for a very long time.

The Humanistic Lens, Experiential Learning and Self-Directed Learning theories have been key ingredients in my educational development and have allowed me to grow professionally and personally. Reflecting on my informal and formal educational experiences has helped strengthen my understanding of the learning theories that we discussed this semester. This experience has also allowed me to see how each of the aforementioned theories has manifested in my life. On one hand, my increased awareness about these theories will improve my ability to create engaging learning experiences for the students and on the other will enrich my own experience as a learner.

This new found information will strengthen my ability to perform in each of these roles. I must admit that I came into this course with a preconceived notion of what it meant to be a consultant. Frankly, I did not consider the work that I do every day as that of a consultant. My perspective on my role as a consultant changed during our very first class session in August when Dr. Carter asked us if we considered ourselves to be consultants. Dr. Carter’s question juxtaposed to Schein’s assertion that “a question is an intervention” and understanding that the ultimate goal of process consultation is the establishment of the helping relationship prompted me to look at the work I do in my personal and professional life differently. Now that I’ve spent the semester leaning about process consultation, my perspective on my role as a consultant has changed and I now embrace this role whole-heartedly.

Dr. Carter also asked us about our expertise in the first class session. This question forced me to think about my expertise and the skill-set that i bought to the table as I sat alongside my classmates. This activity reaffirmed the idea that everyone comes to the table with a diverse skill set, expertise, and something to contribute. I’ve learned so much from everyone in the class. My classmates’ contributions during our in-class discussions and via their blog writings oftentimes helped me to see concepts from Block and Schein in a new perspective and allowed me to expand my own thoughts. Each week I walked out of class thinking about how true Phil Condit’s quote that says “None of us is as smart as all of us” really is for my learning.

I found the readings from Schein and Block to be quite helpful. I really appreciated the prescriptive nature of Block’s Flawless Consulting. His writings have made me see concepts such as managing expectations, giving feedback, effective listening, giving support, disagreeing reasonably, maintaining a relationship, and more importantly being my authentic self in a whole new light. While I use these skills everyday, Blocks packaging of these principles made me think about the significance they play in helping me to cultivate positive personal and professional relationships. The ten principles that Schein presents forms the basis for successful consultation to happen. In addition, these principles are applicable in a variety of settings and situations. While all the principles are essential, I felt the most telling for me was Principle 3 Access Your Ignorance. This principle resonated with me because I, just as many others, sometimes fail to realistically acknowledge gaps in my own knowledge. Schein says that the only way we as consultants can discover our own inner reality is to learn to distinguish what I know from what I assume I know, from what I truly do not know. Mastering this principle will serve me well professional and personally. You can not begin to help someone else if you don’t know what you don’t know.

Over the course of the semester I have begun to exhibit several of the behaviors espoused by Block and Schein. At the conclusion on the course, my lessons learned, based on concepts that I highlighted in my blog postings, are:

• Being Authentic is Essential – In relationships consultants must be authentic and have excellent interpersonal skills. Block’s position on authenticity resonated with me because I strive to be authentic in all of my relationships whether professional and personal. I pride myself with “being honest with myself and being direct and honest with others”.  It’s a characteristic that I appreciate in the people with whom I interact daily.  In the workplace, I have found that the people whom I supervise appreciate my being honest and direct especially when it comes to providing feedback, constructive criticism, or discussing expectations. My authenticity opens the door for my employees to be just as honest and direct with me as well.
• Active Inquiry and listening as status – equilibrium processes - While the concept of listening seems so simple it is a skill that some individuals do not master well because they are actively thinking of the response they will provide instead of listening fully to the person who is trying to convey a message. It is extremely hard to communicate with individuals who exhibit this behavior. The main challenge is typically determining if your message is being heard. I’ve learned that successfully navigating this type of communication conundrum requires that I develop a strategy to ensure that my message is  being heard and acted upon. The lesson learned is that active listening is a significant skill that must be used in all interactions. The information gained in this class has made me much more cognizant about the significance of listening and allowing an individual to express what transpired in through their own lens. To do so requires that I listen attentively and refrain from intervening with a diagnostic solution until the person with whom I am communicating message has been heard. The process of active listening has proven helpful as it allows an individual to share the emotions that sprang forth because of a given situation or event. I have found that issues fester and do not go away until the message that an individual is trying to communicate has been heard. Active inquiry brought information to the surface that I, as the manager, had no idea the employee was harboring. We were able to move beyond these issues once they were out on the table.
• Identifying and Naming the Resistance – I believe I am better equipped to identify and name resistance. More importantly, I am now much more aware about those things that trigger my own resistance. I now try to address my own resistance before it gets out of hand because while resistance is a natural occurrence it should not impede progress or serve as a barrier to accomplishing a task.
• Taming what goes on inside my head! – Schein says that the most important thing to understand in any relationship is what goes on inside the head, especially one’s own head. This statement made me think of those instances in my own communication habits with individuals and I had a thousand thoughts percolating in my head as they were talking. The impact of this was that I did not pay as much attention to the conversation as I needed to because I was busy formulating a response. Not only was I displaying poor listening skills but also an utter lack of respect for the other person with whom I was communicating. I’ve come to learn that being actively engaged in the communication cycle requires that one develops good listening skills.

In all, this has been a great semester. I have learned a lot and grown personally and professionally.  Have a Happy Holiday and I will see you in the New Year!

On another note, the in-class activities lead by Steve and Laura, were very telling and drove home the importance for creating meeting space that facilitates dialogue. The graphic recording activity was extremely refreshing. When I first entered class that night, I was feeling somewhat stressed and overwhelmed because of demands at work and for my classes. So drawing on the wall allowed my mind to drift away from the many thoughts that were cycling through me head to participate in a fun activity. Both activities reiterated Block’s statement that the arrangement of the room carries its own message. As a manager, I would like to implement some of the suggestions that Block offers to overcome the limitations of my meeting spaces. Of the suggestions he offers, I think removing the table will be a difficult adjustment for my employees because as Block suggest “people will whine that they have no place for their water bottles and notebooks or anything to lean on.”