How (not) to spin a good yarn

By on February 17, 2011 in Information and Knowledge Management

Many of us were first introduced to business storytelling as one technique in the knowledge management ‘toolkit’.  KM guru David Gurteen calls it a ‘key ingredient’ for a range of organisational activities, from training to innovation.  Stories enable us to unite ideas with emotional engagement, but in order for them to be really effective the story must have a clear meaning – and be relevant to your audience.

In an article on Openforum.com, Jennifer Aaker and Andy Smith write about the ‘7 deadly sins of business storytelling’.    They are the authors of a book about using social media to drive social change.   The article actually focuses more on the do’s than the don’ts.  The key elements of effective business storytelling are:

  • Show don’t tell
  • A story arc is better than strict chronological order
  • No jargon! 
  • Focus on people, not things
  • A real story – no invention!
  • Include the problems – and the failures – in the story to increase engagement
  • Encourage storytelling by all – employees, customers etc

In practice, organisations can take simple steps to develop a storytelling culture.  The authors suggest you start a staff meeting with a story rather than a progress report and review the ‘about’ section on your website so that it includes more ‘narrative’.

There’s no ‘I’ in innovation – or is there?

By on February 16, 2011 in Management

Are group dynamics the enemy of innovation?  Writing in the Financial Post, Mitchell Osak refers to a research study that suggests this is the case.

The researchers undertook experiments that compared two innovation processes:

  • A team centred model, in which  peers were encouraged to collaborate to produce new ideas
  • A hybrid individual team approach, in which individuals were encouraged to brainstorm and refine new ideas alone and then present them to groups for development

Despite the fact that current innovation ‘good practice’ recommends team based processes, the experiments concluded that the hybrid approach generated significantly ‘better quality’ ideas – and more of them. 

Professors Terwiesch and Ulrich (Wharton College), who write about their research here, believe that a hybrid approach encourages more ‘out of the box’ thinking, whereas group dynamics can be harmful to innovation.  Peer groups can fall victim to self censorship and or to overpowering individuals.

However…  the answer is, it seems, not to dismiss the collaborative approach altogether but simply to devise tools and processes that can help minimise the potential negative elements of collaboration by bringing more objectivity to the innovation process.  Suggested techniques include ‘online suggestion boxes’ or ‘innovation tournaments’ where ideas compete for resources.

It’s quite game of Osak to write about this, especially as he happily admits he himself has advocated the collaborative approach to creativity on his own blog.  He quite charmingly refers to himself as an ‘un consultant’!

Be a conference programmer!

By on February 14, 2011 in Professional Development

Not so very long ago, when it came to the big industry conferences, you simply waited until the programme was published and then decided (funding willing!) if you wished to attend.  Key themes were chosen by the conference organisers and their industry advisers.  It was difficult to influence the content of a programme unless you were a speaker or a well-known thought leader.

How times have changed!  These days it’s relatively easy to organise an ‘un-conference’ and other forms of ‘self help/peer group’ learning events.  And social networks enable all of us to participate in the debate and conversations that can influence the design of conference programmes.

This has been the case for Internet Librarian International 2011.  The first call for speakers was announced last week but, on the Group’s LinkedIn pages fascinating conversations about key themes and challenges have been taking place since December 2010.  

The conference’s theme ‘Navigating the new normal’ reflects the conversations members are having about new work environments and how information careers can be shaped and developed.  We need to ’Get real, stay relevant’!

If you have an idea for a paper for the conference do get in touch via the Conference’s website.  Or if you would like to help further shape the programme, or respond to the ideas of others, you can do so via the LinkedIn Group.

Great art via Google

By on February 3, 2011 in Information and Publishing Industry

Google has announced the launch of Art Project.   The project has used ‘street view’ technology to capture world famous art in high resolution.  

Seventeen art galleries around the world have participated in the project, including the Uffizi Gallery (Florence) and the State Hermitage Museum (St Petersburg).  Great works of art have been captured in extraordinary detail – you can zoom in close enough to see microscopic details.   You can also take a virtual tour around the museums.  The project aims to broaden access to art, and for the participating museums the hope is that virtual access will encourage more in-person visits.

Step away from the BlackBerry

By on February 2, 2011 in Management

The perils of information overload are discussed in the latest issue of McKinsey Quarterly, the business journal for senior executives.

The ‘always-on’ culture created by multiple communication channels can fragment our attention and impede effectiveness.  The article points to recent research that suggests that multitasking can actually slow us down rather than increase effectiveness.  Not only this, it can also hamper creativity and has been shown to be addictive.

The authors argue that it is for senior managers to ‘reset’ the information culture in their organisations.  They spoke to several senior managers asking them for their top tips for coping with information overload.  Interestingly the responses seem to mirror Peter Drucker’s classic 1967 guidance on how to be an effective executive and could be summed up as follows:

Focus, Filter and Forget

Managers should grant themselves blocks of time when they are not accessible and become more ruthless about stepping back and delegating appropriate tasks and decision-making.  Colleagues should be encouraged to self edit what they send to your inbox. 

Leaders should create an information culture that encourages and enables focused reflection as well as enabling efficient information flows.

Perhaps we should start a new trend – an intermittent ’closed-door’ policy

Information blackholes

By on January 31, 2011 in Content, Professional Development

Hanna Kazerani spoke about organisational information blackholes at LIKE 21.  This networking meeting was held in Clerkenwell in London and was a full house. Hanna has had a fascinating career path that has taken her from her native Iceland, via parliamentary speech writing to a range of consultancy focused roles.

Hanna spoke about some of the organisations she has worked with, and described some of the information messes her clients have got themselves into.  Information governance frameworks are sadly lacking in many organisations.  Even if policies are in place, what is often required is cultural and behavioural change.  Much discussion  over dinner of ‘carrot and stick’ followed.

LIKE will meet again next month to take on knowledge management.

Hockney the early adopter

By on January 26, 2011 in Mobile Devices

The artist David Hockney always been quick to adopt new technologies in his artistic endeavours.  He has been embracing the iPhone as form of canvas for over two years.  In early 2009, when many of us were still trying to master the basic functions, Hockney was sending his friends paintings of flowers created by using the touchscreen as a canvas.  

He has now, of course, begun to add works created by his iPad to his portfolio.  In an interview in the LA Times, he extols the speed and convenience of the iPhone and iPad, which he always carries with him.  In 2010, one of his iPad works was used on the cover of the New Yorker and an animated version was used to help launch the magazine’s first ‘table’ format.

It is expected that the iPad pictures will appear alongside his other recent work at the Royal Academy exhibition scheduled for 2012.

The issues facing STM publishers

By on January 23, 2011 in Content, Open Access, STM Publishing

In 2004, Richard Poynder interviewed Derk Haank, who had moved from Elsevier Science to head Springer, a company formed by the merger of BertelsmannSpringer and Kluwer Academic Press.   Now, in a wide-ranging interview for Information Today, Richard has again interviewed Derk.  Their conversation covered many of the key issues facing STM publishers and their institutional customers. 

When Derk joined Springer, he made the decision to launch Open Choice – a hybrid open access (OA) model that led the way for other subscription-based publishers.  With the purchase of open access publisher BioMed Central (BMC) in 2008, Springer became the world’s largest open access  publisher.  With the launch of SpringerOpen in 2010, Springer created a range of ‘pure’ OA (sometimes known as Gold) journals in the STM field.

Derk considers OA to simply be one of several business models pursued by Springer. The ‘traditional’ subscription model is just as sustainable as OA now and into the foreseeable future.   However, Springer will be looking to the potential of ‘nontraditional’ markets too – smaller institutions, individuals and businesses for example might find Springer content of interest if the right pricing/access model can be found – via the iPad or other mobile devices perhaps.

The full interview can be found here, and provides an illuminating overview of the issues facing STM publishers – from OA and pricing to the ever-increasing growth in research.

Networking with NetIKX

By on January 20, 2011 in Professional Development, Social Media

NetIKX (the Network for Information and Knowledge Exchange) hosted a sell-out event at the British Dental Association in London yesterday.  Lively debate and discussion followed the presentations (by Nicky Whitsed of the Open University and Hazel Hall of Napier University and the LISRC). You can read more about the presentations and the discussions here.

NetIKX was created in 2006, but its pedigree goes back further to the Aslib Information Resource Management (IRM) Network which was founded in 1992.  Members of NetIKX meet six times a year for presentations and discussion.  The membership is a balanced mix of public and private sectors, from one-person bands to large multinationals.   NetIKX is now in year two of its three-year Programme Framework.  The next event, scheduled for March, 2011, will explore whether KM still has a role in organisational strategy (another lively debate, no doubt!).   In May there will be a SharePoint seminar hosted jointly with CLSIG.

Further events in 2011 will cover risk management (July); the development of internal capabilities (September); and how Web 2.0/3.0  is transforming information services. 

The growing popularity of professional networks like NetIKX demonstrates how keen our profession is on peer-to-peer learning and sharing.  It also shows that, no matter how joined up we are through a range of social media, sometimes an animated, face-to-face discussion over coffee or wine is the best possible learning experience.

What do students REALLY want?

By on January 19, 2011 in Academic Libraries, Digital Publishing, E-books, eBooks and eReaders, Information and Publishing Industry, Post

In an interesting blog post, Stephen Abram considers the findings of a recent (US) research report.  The original research was conducted by the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) and asked US college students about their format preferences for textbooks.  BISG found that ‘nearly 75% of students…say they prefer textbooks in printed rather than etext form’.  Reasons cited for this preference included the potential resale value of the books and its ‘permanence’.

About 12% of the students surveyed said the prefer etexts to printed texts because of lower cost and portability while 11% preferred to rent textbooks.

Stephen Abram’s interpretation is slightly different.  The survey was conducted before what he terms the ‘explosion’ of affordable tablets and e-readers in the consumer market which will almost certainly impact the uptake and acceptability of etexts.  He also feels that students considered a ‘polarised’ view (either print OR etext) when in fact a hybrid model that combines e-texts with books would be much more likely. 

Abram also states that it is often difficult for people who are surveyed to compare a situation they know (in this case text books) and an ‘imagined future state’.   The e-text space is evolving with textbooks and library research services beginning to integrate.  The space should be watched closely, says Abram.