540 - Back To School? My September Attitudes

Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - August 27, 2008.
#540 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
54,369 Readers - http://www.masie.com - The MASIE Center.
Host, Learning ‘08 - Oct. 26-29 - Over 1,177 Colleagues Registered!

Back to School - Buying School Supplies and Making Plans!
Note from Elliott Masie

September is a special time for me! It is Back to School vibes — I still consider the year as starting in September. Here are a few of my Back to School traditions:

* Off to Staples for School Supplies: I will head over to my local office supply store on Saturday and buy some supplies. I’ll pick up a new notebook, some new pens and more. A few years ago, I would buy a 3 ring binder and put “reinforcements” on 3-hole-punched paper.
* A School Year Calendar: The “academic” year is my reference point. So, I’ll pick up a calendar that starts in September and goes through August 09.
* Plans and Goals: This is the time of the year that I plan my projects and focus on new goals.
* What I Did Last Summer: There are a great set of conversations with people to hear what their summer was all about. Our staff meeting will probably resemble my 3rd grade “What Did You Do On Your Summer Vacation” activity next week.
* Countdown to Learning 2008: I wait until Labor Day to launch the social networking aspects of Learning 2008.  With over 1,100 people registered, it gives us an 8-week timeframe for building a collaborative community and shared content.

I’d love to hear about others that have a Back to School attitude as the calendar turns to September.  Send me an email!

Elliott
Contact Elliott Masie: emasie@masie.com

Upcoming MASIE Center Services & Events:
* Learning 2008: Oct 26-29 - Orlando
* 0ver 5,700 Learning Colleagues on LearningTown. Join us today: http://www.learningtown.com
Information and Registration at http://www.masie.com

539 - Reading Online; Accelerated Leadership and Tower of Terror Race

Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - August 25, 2008.
#539 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
54,369 Readers - http://www.masie.com - The MASIE Center.
Host, Learning ‘08 - Oct. 26-29 - Over 1,032 Colleagues Registered!

1. Reading Online - Is It Different?
2. Accelerated Leadership Development
3. Tower of Terror Race at Learning 2008

1. Reading Online - Is It Different? We have a robust discussion underway about the pro’s, con’s and differences of Reading Online. As we do more of our reading online, what is different (or the same) from an intellectual, emotional, navigational and retention perspective?  Personally, I enjoy the search and hyperlink capability - plus the ability to clip and send content to others. However, I find my focus to be less and there is a weaker emotional experience when I am reading fiction online.  Join the discussion underway with over 5,600 of your colleagues at LearningTown: http://www.learningtown.com

2. Accelerated Leadership Development: One of my “hot” topics these days focuses on how do we accelerate the leadership development in our organizations? Organizations that were taking three years to develop their leaders are now under severe pressure to speed that up. What can we do, through redesign and immersion, to get a leader ready in 6 months? Brian Poland, a senior learning colleague from Walmart, has agreed to lead a high level discussion at Learning 2008 on this topic.  We would love to hear from TRENDS readers about your thoughts or efforts to rapidly accelerate leadership (or executive) development. Send me an email to emasie@masie.com

3. Tower of Terror Race at Learning 2008: Join a team of learning colleagues as they run 13 kilometers through the darkened streets of Disney’s Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM) in a special Tower of Terror Race on the eve before Learning 2008 (Sat, Oct 25th). Disney is hosting this charity event, which will include over 4,000 runners - and the Learning 2008 team!  We already have a contingent of learning runners training for this event. We have created a virtual support and training process with Nike Plus technology and a community of practice & competition. Paul Arciero, our Mind/Body keynoter, is also training and coaching this event. Our team leaders are Robert Gerard from Accenture and Lauren Neitzel from The MASIE Center. You can even go to the event and cheer on our team that night. For complete details go to: http://www.learning2008.com/terror or send a note to lauren@masie.com

Elliott
Contact Elliott Masie: emasie@masie.com

Upcoming MASIE Center Services & Events:
* Learning 2008: Oct 26-29 - Orlando
* 0ver 5,700 Learning Colleagues on LearningTown. Join us today: http://www.learningtown.com
Information and Registration at http://www.masie.com

538 - Insourcing Learning and Training; 4 Day Workweek, Employee Reading Lists

Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - August 21, 2008.
#538 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
54,362 Readers - http://www.masie.com - The MASIE Center.
Host, Learning ‘08 - Oct. 26-29 - Over 1,032 Colleagues Registered!

1. 4 Day Work Week Experiment at MASIE Center
2. Employee Reading Lists
3. Insourcing: Returning Learning
4. Head Heart Hoof Has Great Race!

1. 4 Day Work Week Experiment at MASIE Center: We have started an experiment here at The MASIE Center - a modified 4 Day Work Week. Our staff is working one hour longer from Monday to Thursday and then doing 3 hours of telework on Friday. We are undertaking this experiment to respond to both the rising cost of energy (for both our commuters and building) as well as a desire to give employees more life/work balance options. We’ve just started the experiment and are focusing on key indicators of organizational performance, employee effectiveness and team morale.  It has required a bit of technology shifting to give everyone full remote access and a change in our work tempo. I’ll keep you in the loop as we learn from this experiment.

2. Employee Reading Lists: A simple tip for learning departments is to compile a monthly list of books that your employees are reading. While I am not very interested in which books are on the NY Times Bestseller, I would be fascinated to know which books are recommended (or panned) by my peers at work.

3. “Insourcing” Returning Learning: While there is much talk and hype about Outsourcing Learning & Training, there is little written about the reverse trend. I am therefore pleased to announce that we will have a session at Learning 2008 that tells the story of a major bank that has triggered an Insourcing effort.  We’ll discuss the process and context of bringing back the learning and training function after a period of outsourcing.

4. Head Heart Hoof Has Great Race! We had over 200 emails from TRENDS readers about the first race of our horse. I am pleased to tell you that he did GREAT! He came in second, with the first horse only one “head” ahead of him. Head Heart Hoof came out healthly, fiesty and honored to have done so well in his first outing at the Saratoga Racetrack. He’ll let you know the next time that he runs.

Elliott
Contact Elliott Masie: emasie@masie.com

Upcoming MASIE Center Services & Events:
* Learning 2008: Oct 26-29 - Orlando
* 0ver 5,700 Learning Colleagues on LearningTown. Join us today: ttp://www.learningtown.com
Information and Registration at http://www.masie.com

537 - Gender and Workplace Development; Big Race Today

Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - August 18, 2008.
#537 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
54,358 Readers - http://www.masie.com - The MASIE Center.
Host, Learning ‘08 - Oct. 26-29 - Over 1,032 Colleagues Registered!

1. Gender and Development Needs? Interesting Question
2. Learning 2008 Update: Tony O’Driscoll to Keynote
3. Big Race Today: Head Heart Hoof

1. Gender and Development Needs? Interesting Question: I want to take a deep breath and ask a difficult question about the Development Styles and Needs of new hires - based on gender! Over the past few years, I have noticed a marked difference in the maturity and style of new hires, coming to the workplace right from college. In my opinion, the women that are coming into the workplace are often more ready for work - in terms of collaboration, accountability and style. Some of the men, while having the same type of resume and domain skills, are often harder to bring on board.  I am curious if other TRENDS readers have seen this difference and have any insights or suggestions. Do some of our new hires need a specialized development model? I am NOT suggesting that we offer a male or female development track - but it is a provocative conversation. I would love to hear your thoughts and we will publish a summary next week. Send me an email to emasie@masie.com

2. Learning 2008 Update - Tony O’Driscoll to Keynote: We have just added an additional keynote to Learning 2008. My colleague and friend Tony O’Driscoll is a Professor of the Practice at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.  His current research focuses on how emerging technologies such as virtual worlds can rapidly disrupt existing industry structure and business models.  We are going to focus on Web 2.0 and the 3D Internet and look at what’s real, what’s hype and what is an ABBAration (sorry, it is a pun-filled Monday).  Registration for Learning 2008 is open at http://www.learning2008.com

3. Big Race Today: Head Heart Hoof! In a few hours, our horse, Head Heart Hoof, will have his first race! He is in the second race in Saratoga. Two and a half years of training and learning will come together at 1:30 pm. In a short 90 seconds, he will have his first experience as a racing thoroughbred. Clearly, his owners are more nervous than he is! Wish him luck.

Elliott
Contact Elliott Masie: emasie@masie.com

Upcoming MASIE Center Services & Events:
* Learning 2008: Oct 26-29 - Orlando
* 0ver 5,600 Learning Colleagues on LearningTown. Join us today: http://www.learningtown.com
Information and Registration at http://www.masie.com

536 - Olympics and Learning, Summer Patterns, Learning Connections

Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - August 8, 2008.
#536 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
54,342 Readers - http://www.masie.com - The MASIE Center.
Host, Learning ‘08 - Oct. 26-29 - Over 1,032 Colleagues Registered!

1. Olympics & Learning: 08.08.08
2. Summer Learning Patterns: Survey Results
3. Learning 2008 Update: “Learning Connections!”

!. Olympics & Learning - 08.08.08: It is fascinating to watch the Olympics from a learning, training and performance perspective! Over the next two weeks, we’ll have an opportunity to observe some very diverse styles and approaches in training methods, used by various athletes and countries. I’ll pick one or two new sports during each Olympics to observe and research. Then, I’ll go on-line and scan for blogs and articles by the athletes and coaches. In past years, I have dove into the learning models for luge, table tennis and javelin. The learning approaches vary from intensive, lab-based muscle development to solitary training by an athlete in a remote African village. I welcome any thoughts, learnings and perspectives to share with other TRENDS readers. Send them along to emasie@masie.com  And, the Olympics will give the Masie household TV a much needed two-week break from political coverage.

An interesting example is the “Coaching Code of Conduct” document. Check out the PDF at: http://www.usolympicteam.com/content/index/955

2. Summer Learning Patterns - Survey Results: Recently, we did a TRENDS poll on how organizations and individuals alter their learning activities in the summertime. The complete results of this quick poll (over 600 responses) can be viewed at http://www.masieweb.com/learningsummer

3. Learning 2008 Update - “Learning Connections!”: We have added a theme to our Learning 2008 event. “Learning Connections!” will focus on organizations’ efforts to connect people, systems, content, context, business metrics and environments for increased learning and performance.

The learning designer of the future will create experiences that are significantly about connections, including integration with roles, collaborative environments, devices and performance support. And, like all MASIE Center events, our design model is to facilitate rich “Learning Connections” among our participants. We are thrilled to announce that our current registration includes 1,032 global learning colleagues. Save $100 by using our Advanced Registration Rate: http://www.learning2008.com

Elliott
Contact Elliott Masie: emasie@masie.com

Upcoming MASIE Center Services & Events:
* Learning 2008: Oct 26-29 - Orlando
* 0ver 5,600 Learning Colleagues on LearningTown. Join us today: http://www.learningtown.com
Information and Registration at http://www.masie.com

535 - Second City: Comedy and Learning; Geeks on Tour in an RV; Comments on First 3 Minutes

Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - August 1, 2008.
#535 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
54,323 Readers - http://www.masie.com - The MASIE Center.
Host, Learning ‘08 - Oct. 26-29 - Over 948 Registered!

1. Second City at Learning 2008 - Humor, Comedy & Learning
2. First 3 Minutes of Learning: Comments from the Field
3. Geeks on Tour - A Computer Learning RV Visits

1. Second City at Learning 2008 - Humor, Comedy & Learning: We just received exciting news. Second City, that wonderful comedy institution in Chicago, will be featured several times at Learning 2008. One of our CONSORTIUM Members, Farmers Insurance, has created a very different approach to e-Learning using the talents of Second City Communication.  You will experience them live and on-line at Learning 2008. In these tough times, comedy and humor can go a long way to make learning more impactful.  Second City will add a unique perspective to Learning 2008. Save $100 by using our Advanced Registration Rate: http://www.learning2008.com

2. First 3 Minutes of Learning - Comments from the Field: We received over 100 comments from readers of TRENDS about the power of the first 3 minutes of a learning experience (online or in a classroom). Here are a sample of these comments. Check out the comments at http://www.masieweb.com/3minutes  I will be doing a PodCast in the coming months with design tips for launching learning offerings.

3. Geeks on Tour: An RV pulled up at The MASIE Center in Saratoga Springs yesterday with the provocative labeling of “Geeks On Tour”. Chris and Jim Hurd travel around the United States all year in their unique RV, providing computer training and support for RV’ers. They will pull into a campground, conduct computer training seminars, fix laptops and teach folks how to utilize wireless access. I had Chris as a speaker at a conference on training and support in 1990. It was so much fun to see her setup and nomadic lifestyle.  Link to pictures and details: http://www.masieweb.com/rv

Elliott
Contact Elliott Masie: emasie@masie.com

Upcoming MASIE Center Services & Events:
* Learning 2008: Oct 26-29 - Orlando
* 0ver 5,600 Learning Colleagues on LearningTown. Join us today: http://www.learningtown.com
Information and Registration at http://www.masie.com