Understanding Action Learning
In a little departure from my normal reading, my book this week was Understanding Action Learning. Authors Judy O’Neil and Victoria Marsick write for L&D and OD people, but their applied research is pretty grounded:
As much as adult learners can absorb in the classroom, they can learn and retain much more on the job.
O’Neil and Marwick offer a 17-step process to implement Action Learning in organizations. The authors’ experience with a number of global companies is interesting, even if this kind of process-driven approach doesn’t appeal to me personally.
I like the idea that people in companies make ideas real. I like the idea that there’s there’s time for talking and there’s time for doing. I like the idea of Action Learning — it’s a little bit of the guild model, only in this case apprentice leaders learn from company leaders. What I’d look for, though, is how Action Learning moves from the schloopy language of OD folks into the real world. (I think it has with some of the Hoshin Kanri work from the TQM days.)
Understanding Action Learning
Authors: Judy O’Neil, Ed.D., Victoria J. Marsick, Ph.D.
Pub Date: 2007
ISBN: 0814473954
Make the Impossible Possible
Human resources are people. Bill Strickland knows that.
True confession: I almost didn’t read this book because it had an orchid on the cover. And although orchids are my favorite flowers, I thought this book was going to be a little too…Oprah for me. I am so glad I picked it up. Stunned. Blown away is more like it.
Make the Impossible Possible is the life story of Bill Strickland and how he created the Manchester Bidwell Guild. You want to be humbled? Read about Bill’s drive and vision that resulted in thousands of inner city kids learning skills and trades that landed them great jobs. Watch the video here. Words can’t describe how good it is. Here are some of his tenets:
People are born into this world as assets, not liabilities. It’s all in the way we treat people (and ourselves) that determines a person’s outcome
The sand in the hourglass flows only one way. Stop going through the motions of living–savor each and every day. Life is here and now, not something waiting for you in the future.
You don’t have to travel far to change the life you’re living.
Honestly, I can’t do this review justice. I’m emotional about this book. Bill Strickland is on my list of people I’d love to meet in my lifetime. I’m just dazzled by what he’s done and the faith he has in people. I think HR has the opportunity to do great things. And Making the Impossible Possible is a roadmap to learn how to do it.
Here’s a thought: Set aside some time and watch Bill Strickland talk about the power of believing in people. Watch all the videos. Think about them. Then go out and buy yourself a copy of the book.
Oh, the orchids? It’s because the kids at Manchester Bidwell grow award-winning orchids. I should learn to not judge a book by its cover. When I read Making the Impossible Possible that came crashing down like a ton of bricks.
Make the Impossible Possible: One Man’s Crusade to Inspire Others to Dream Bigger and Achieve the Extraordinary
Publisher: Doubleday Publishing
Pub. Date: December 2007
ISBN-13: 9780385520546
BONUS: Here’s a video of Bill Strickland presenting at TED 2002 in a talk titled “Rebuilding America One Slide Show at a Time.” Watch it. It’ll be the best 15 minutes you spend today.
Looks: Why They Matter More Than You Imagined
I have a face made for radio.
I wish I could have started this post with, “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful.” Ah, for the sake of a little more symmetry, a few more inches, perfect hair and I could be…who am I kidding? (Once, when I thought I was being particularly funny and Sarah didn’t, I said, “It’s funny when Chris Rock says it.” And she retorted, “Well, you’re no Chris Rock.” It was my Dan Quayle–Lloyd Bensten moment.)
Looks Matter, or U-G-L-Y, You Ain’t Got No Alibi
Um, yeah, looks matter. Author Gordon Patzer brings that home with all kinds of research in Looks: Why They Matter More Than You Imagined. In a chapter titled “How Looks Determine Career Success,” Patzer writes that personal attractiveness (PA) is a financial boon. Beautiful people make more money. And they have an advantage when interviewing:
Exceptionally good-looking people are more likely to get hired for just about any position when competing against averaging-looking candidates with the same qualifications, scores of scientific studies show. Hiring-the-handsome is a routine practice among even seasoned HR pros who sincerely believe they are able to ignore such superficialities as an applicant’s PA. That’s because they think the person with high PA is actually better qualified or, if not, will nevertheless turn into a better employee.
The funny thing is, I’m not sure what we can do about it. Looks was an interesting read. It’s well researched. But short of of plastic surgery and shoe inserts, what we can do about looks and height? I’m just hoping that we don’t have to start doing sensitivity training for “uglyism.”
Looks: Why The Matter More Than You Imagined
Author: Dr. Gordon L. Patzer
Pub Date: 2008
ISBN: 0814480543
Bonus Feature: U-G-L-Y Cheer from “Wildcats,” Starring Goldie Hawn
The New Human Capital Strategy
I have an involuntary reaction to the phrase “human capital strategy.” I cringe.
So, when I got Bradley Hall’s The New Human Capital Strategy, I was prepared for more of the “people are your greatest asset” pablum. Not so. Not even close. This book rocks. It’s tight. It’s researched. And it’s chock full of important information about managing people.
Here’s a passage about the difference between programs and systems that every HR professional should commit to memory. (Repeat after me: Systems, not programs.)
Systems, Not Programs
The HR profession is very adept at program development. Success is most often defined as creating and/or adopting best-practice programs, and HR is organized and managed accordingly. HR consulting firms align their practices with the way their clients are organized: They deliver products and programs for HR subprofessions (such as training, staffing, and compensation). But the data is indisputable: Decades of new and better programs have not delivered great results. The reason is that “world-class programs” cannot deliver performance results. Only systems deliver results.An automobile engine is a system that requires great parts. All parts must be fully integrated and aligned to the purpose of the engine, whether that be high performance or a fuel economy. A well-built engine uses just the right parts and no more. Likewise, succession planning, training, and appraisal can be viewed as parts. Just as throwing pistons and spark plugs into an engine compartment will not deliver a satisfactory engine, neither will “world-class” HR programs deliver acceptable customer results. More and better HR programs will deliver no better performance in the future than they have in the past. Performance results require a system.
I’m rereading The New Human Capital Strategy. I don’t normally do that (too many books to read each week). This one’s worth the time. This is an important book for those of you who want to understand the research behind HCM. And if you like to call consultants on their crap when they use the word “causation” when trying to sell you an HCM “program,” this one’s for you. (At 28 bucks, it’s a lot cheaper than the million-dollar price tag usually associated with HCM consulting.)
Author: Bradley W. Hall
Pub Date: 2007
Your Price: $27.95
ISBN: 081440927X
A Class With Drucker
I just finished William Cohen’s A Class With Drucker. Quick summary: Call me Peter.
Cohen was in the first cohort of doctoral students that management guru Peter Drucker taught at Claremont Graduate School. The book is a set of recollections about the classes and Drucker’s teaching style (bouncing somewhat between sweeping statements, long lectures, and the Socratic Method).
A Class With Drucker summarizes Drucker’s major teachings while giving insight into a professor who was very approachable to his students. He liked to be called by his first name, but he demanded respect. The book provides some good insight into the complexities of the man by one of his most successful students.
If you like to get an historical perspective on one of the great management thinkers of our time, coupled with clear Druckerian management lessons at the end of each chapter, this is your book. You could read a lot of Drucker books, or you could read this one. A Class With Drucker will save you a lot of time: It boils down all the lessons into one volume.
A Class With Drucker: The Lost Lessons of the World’s Greatest Management Teacher
Author: William A. Cohen
Pub Date: 2007
ISBN: 0814409199
AMA Bookstore: $24.95
Next Up: From Difficult to Disturbed: Understanding and Managing Dysfunctional Employees by Laurence Miller
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