Group items tagged

Bob Marshall on what an effective group workshop looks like--September 30, 2014, quite demanding yet doable. he above story illustrates a range of features of an effective workshop: Certain shared proficiencies in e.g. Skilled Dialogue, Lean Coffee, etc.. Pre-reading (shared), including "standard" texts - here including Nancy Kline and Chris Argyris. Clarity of purpose "just why are we here?". Shared purpose "we're all here for the same things". Folks tweeting and googling continuously during the workshop. Amanuensis / cybrarian to facilitate shared learning in the workshops. Democratic agenda-setting. Mutual exploration of topics. Active curiosity. "Essentiality" - avoidance of rabbit-holes and extraneous discussion of details. Focus on impacts (as compared to busyness, or outputs, or even outcomes). Post-reading - following up new references. Follow-up conversations, actions. Feedback. - Bob Afterword In writing this story, it seemed to me that a video of a workshop in action would be a great addition to the resources available to BaCo staff to help them appreciate the nature of an effective workshop. Maybe one day I'll have the opportunity to write and/or direct such a video. Further Reading What is Dialogue? ~ Susan Taylor (pdf) Share this: inShare10 Email Print More

Seth Kahan on CEO peer groups--way to control risk-taking with small group of co-learners 3. CEO Peer Groups form in DC & Chicago - Chicago has One Opening I have been leading CEO Peer Groups since 2009. They are an opportunity to take a year long journey together with 3-4 other CEOs under my facilitation. These special groups are made up of 4-5 leaders who work together to develop leadership performance, improve their results, and dive deep into both strategy and tactics. It is a safe place to expose vulnerabilities and get powerful assistance for the most challenging situations. Ultimately it is about raising the bar on your leadership performance through a community of peers."

blog by Martin Davies for Wiley.com on value of eLearning programs for professional membership groups

In this blog post, John Hagel "lifts" from a much larger report, what platforms are, the three types (aggregation that is mainly short-term, transaction based; social for building long-term relationships and meshing of relationship networks to foster diversity of connections, and mobilization--those that move people to act together to accomplish something, ex. supply network, Linux in open source, and social movements such as Arab Spring), and how a fourth one--the "learning platform" is the aspiration of business ecosystems everywhere. Platforms do not mean apps. Platforms offer governance protocols and structure for determine who belongs and who doesn't. They also facilitate coordination, collaboration, and connection.

Nice Slideshare by Lyn Ross. teacher, of New Zealand, September 2013. Slide 9/29 distinguishes between 18th 19th 20th centuries and 21st century on learning and teaching focus (teacher led vs. student centered), approach (content driven vs. process driven), emphasis (knowing that vs. knowing how), and teacher role (expert and boss contrasted with fellow learner and facilitator). Are you the sage on the stage or the guide on the side?

Interesting article on how Reddit fired a popular staff person who facilitated the AMA (Ask Me Anything) guests going into different subreddit communities without notifying volunteer moderators of these communities ahead of time. Volunteer moderators closed their communities except to passworded members to show their unhappiness with Reddit executives' lack of early communication, etc. by Rich McCormick, July 2, 2015. Communities reopened within a couple of days.

Very good, practical article by Marco Albani and Kimberly Henderson, McKinsey & Company, July 2014 on companies and social groups joining forces to protect the environment. The seven tips to make such alliances successful work for all partnerships/odd couples IMO. 1. ID clear reasons to collaborate. "The effort needs to help each partner organization achieve something significant. Incentives such as 'we'll do this for good publicity' or 'we don't want to be left out' are not sufficient." -Nigel Twose, director of the Development Impact Department, International Finance Corporation, World Bank Group 2. Find a fairy godmother "It is important to have a core of totally committed, knowledgeable people who would die in a ditch for what the organization is trying to achieve." -Environmental NGO campaign head 3. Set simple, credible goals 4. Get professional help "It is very important to have an honest broker. The facilitator must be neutral and very structured and keep people moving along at a brutal pace. You need someone who can bring things to a close." -Darrel Webber, secretary general, Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) 5. Dedicate good people to the cause "If a company like ours believes something is strategic, then we resource it like it is strategic." -Neil Hawkins, corporate vice president of sustainability, Dow Chemical LOVE #5--HAVE SEEN "COLLABORATIONS" FAIL IN STATE GOVT. BECAUSE GOOD PEOPLE AND SENIOR LEADERSHIP WERE NOT BEHIND IT. 6. Be flexible in defining success "Partners think that collaboration will change the world. Then it doesn't, and they think that it failed. But often the collaboration changed something-the way some part of the system works and delivers outcomes. It is a matter of understanding the nature of change itself." -Simon Zadek, visiting fellow, Tsinghua School of Economics and Management, Beijing 7. Prepare to let go "I've been absent from the FSC since 1997.

Excellent schematic drawn by Jane Hart, Social Learning Centre, UK, to show the new "learning and performance consultants" roles ranging from instructional & resource designers to performance support specialists to collaboration advisors/community managers TO LEARNING ADVISORS, PKM SPECIALISTS, CAREER COACHES (emphasis mine), November 19, 2012

schematic from Jane Hart on the new roles for learning and performance professionals

Best short article on mixing it up in networks and forums to innovate, expand one's thinking, etc. that I have seen. By Grant McCracken, HBR, 1.4.13. Believe this short article has value for personal learning plan/network development. Excerpt: Only the person with several addresses in the conceptual world can hope for serendipity, that extraordinary moment when vexing problems vanish before the approach of deeply unexpected understanding.

excellent article by Jennifer Chandler and Kristen Scott Kennedy on building capacity through networks, February 5, 2016. 

Great article on capacity building for nonprofit leadership and staff in communities of color serving people of color

Written by Yuhyun Park , the chair of infollutionZero Foundation. Great graphic of the digital literacies children must learn as "they spend, on average, 7 hours a day in front of screens from television and computers to mobile phones and various digital devices." He defines these skills as Digital Intelligence, or DQ: Digital Safety (behavior risks, content risks, contact risks), Digital Security (password protection, internet security, mobile security), Digital Emotional Intelligence (empathy, emotional awareness/regulation, social and emotional awareness), Digital Communication (online collaboration, online communication, digital footprint), digital literacy (computational thinking, content curation, critical thinking), digital rights (privacy, intellectual property rights, freedom of speech), digital identity (digital citizen, digital co-creator, digital entrepreneur), and Digital Use (screen time, digital health, community participation).

Effective online instruction depends on learning experiences appropriately designed and facilitated by knowledgeable educators. Because learners have different learning styles or a combination of styles, online educators should design activities that address their modes of learning in order to provide significant experiences for each class participant.

article in Academic Matters, the Journal of Higher Education, by Stephen Carson and Jan Philipp Schmidt, May 2012 issue. Excerpt: "Expertise will be earned and maintained through ongoing lifelong education, not conferred once and good for life. Open learning systems offer the possibility for the kind of continuous lifelong learning that will be necessary as the pace of technological and scientific knowledge development increases. Like athletes, learners will not just learn once, but will maintain a level of performance ability in their chosen field through ongoing study and participation in learning communities."

Facilitating life long learning should be the goal of every teacher. I think that sometimes it is so cumbersome - passing tests, etc., that the fun part of learning is lost.

GOOD INFO: This web page provides information on common software tools available on personal computers and/or the Internet to facilitate assessment FOR learning in electronic portfolios.

Home page for Collaborative Ways, Richard Schultz's and Eiwor Backelund's business on online collaboration.

nice summary of what it takes to create a networked learning organization. Harold Jarche, May 6, 2015

Article in Bloomberg Business by Brent Arslaner, Unisfair, Inc. and Spencer Jarrett, InVision Communications, 2009 on pros and cons of virtual meetings replacing f2f meetings.

interesting article by Facebook co-founder on how tech start-up expectations/long hours result in diminishing returns and ageism and sexism

interesting idea for gathering participants to learn from doing including reflecting and re-iterating phases. "Make Cycles" promoted by weekly newsletter to participants.