Notes from “Rules of Thumb” by Alan M Webber

 

Book Title: Rules of Thumb: 52 Truths for Winning at Business Without Losing Your Self

I got it from Amazon.com

The 52 RULES OF THUMB

01. When the going gets tough, the tough relax.
02. Every company is running for office. To win, give the voters what they want.
03. Ask the last question first.
04. Don’t implement solutions. Prevent problems.
05. Change is a math formula.
06. If you want to see with fresh eyes, reframe the picture.
07. The system is the solution.
08. New realities demand new categories.
09. Nothing happens until money changes hands.
10. A good question bats a good answer.
11. We’ve moved from an either/or past to a both/and future.
12. The difference between a crisis and an opportunity is when you learn about it.
13. Learn to take no as a question.
14. You don’t know if you don’t go.
15. Every start-up needs four things: change, connections, conversation and community.
16. Facts are facts; stories are how we learn.
17. Entrepreneurs choose serendipity over efficiency.
18. Knowing it ain’t the same as doing it.
19. Memo to ladders: Focus on the signal-to-noise ratio.
20. Speed = Strategy.
21. Great leaders answer Tom Peters’ great question: “How can I capture the world’s imagination?”
22. Learn to see the world through the eyes of your customer.
23. Keep two lists: What gets you up in the morning? What keeps you up at night?
24. If you want to change the game, change the economics of how the game is played.
25. If you want to change the game, change customer expectations.
26. The soft stuff is the hard stuff.
27. If you want to be like Google, learn Megan Smith’s three values.
28. Good design is table stakes. Great design wins.
29. Words matter.
30. The likeliest sources of great ideas are in the most unlikely places.
31. Everything communicates.
32. Content isn’t king. Context is king.
33. Everything is a performance.
34. Simplicity is the new currency.
35. The red Auerbach management principle: Loyalty is a two-way street.
36. Message to entrepreneurs: Managing your emotional flow is more critical than managing cash flow.
37. All money is not created equal.
38. If you want to think big, start small.
39. “Serious fun” isn’t an oxymoron; it’s how you win.
40. Technology is about changing how we work.
41. If you want to be a great leader, first get real about leadership.
42. The survival of the fittest is the business case for diversity.
43. Don’t confuse credentials with talent.
44. When it comes to business, it helps if you actually know something about something.
45. Failure isn’t failing. Failure is failing to try.
46. Tough leaders wear their hearts on their sleeves.
47. Everyone’s at the center of their map of the world.
48. If you want to make change, start with an iconic project.
49. If you want to grow as a leader, you have to disarm your border guards.
50. On the way up, pay attention to your strengths; they’ll be your weakness on the way down.
51. Take your work seriously. Yourself, not so much.
52. Stay alert! There are teachers everywhere.

Five Fantastic Ways to Follow Up on Training

Ask each attendee to email you a brief summary of the two most important points they took away from the training. Gather the feedback together and post the responses in a central location. Take the list down after two weeks.  Let a few weeks go by and then mail or email the responses to the group, along with any additional feedback that has occurred in the meantime. This will give you an opportunity to reinforce what was learned a second time. When appropriate, post statistics related to the training after it occurs. For instance, if your training was on reducing customer call complaints, report complaint statistics at set intervals so attendees can see their progress. Send out a quiz related to the training’s content several weeks after the initial session. Post the responses and award a prize for the “best” answers. The quiz can be either multiple choice or free answer. For instance, if the program was about time management, you might have attendees submit the longest list they can about ways to conquer procrastination. A week after the training, ask attendees what new skill or technique they have tried based on the materials covered in the program. When appropriate, post the anecdotes in a public place or mass email. Be sure to solicit feedback as to what worked well, what didn’t go as smoothly, and what additional training is needed. At the close of the training, ask each attendee to commit to trying 1-3 new skills from the program. Ask them to write them down, and let them know that the group will get back together to follow up and discuss techniques tried. Next, schedule a follow-up session. You may want to facilitate this meeting yourself or bring back the program’s trainer. Be an active partner in the training process. Remember, people gain new skills when they see others doing the same, when they see value in those skills, and when motivated with incentives to do so.

 

Source: businesstrainingworks.com 

Two flipchart are better than one

One flipchart is not enough for me! When I facilitate training I always set up two (or more!) flip charts, in addition to the PowerPoint. Some of the benefits to doing this are:

1. It allows to compare two different sets of information. Example: “On flipchart A we listed some challenges you face every day as a manager. On flipchart B we listed the traits of the best boss you’ve ever had. How do these two relate to each other?” We can bring the two flip charts together and show how they are similar or different.
2. It allows you to move around the room in a meaningful way. “Way over there we see how we currently do things, and way over there we see how we need to do things in the future. How far apart are we from where we need to be? How does that make you feel?”
3. It allows everyone in the room to feel close to the action if you are in a big room.
4. It allows audience participation as scribes and to post the sheets on the wall.
5. It keeps people from staring at PowerPoint all day long. I like to mix high tech with low tech and you can’t get lower tech than flipcharts.
6. It allows you to quickly move from one page to the other if ideas flow over more than one sheet (if you flip it over, then the ideas are covered, and ripping them off and posting them breaks the “flow”)
7. The markers smell soooo nice.

 

Do you have any other reasons you like to have multiple flip charts? Let me know!

 

Dave

Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory

David Kolb’s learning styles:

 

Two Continuums: Perception (how we think about stuff) & Processing (how we do things)

N: Concrete Experience = Feeling (not thinking). Artistic, intuitive. [Trainer as motivator]

E: Reflective Observation = Watch, Observing and describing. [Trainer as Expert]

S: Abstract Conceptualization = Think (not feeling). Scientific, systematic. [Trainer as coach]

W: Active Experimentation = Doing. [Trainer helps people to learn for themselves]

 

Learner Types:

Convergers: feel+do. solve problems, decisive.

Divergers: feel+watch.

Assimilators: think+watch

Accomodators: feel+do

Recommended Web Design Websites

Some nice sites for web design, that my daughter Flora recommends, are:

 

www.howdesign.com

www.pelfusion.com

www.smashingmagazine.com

www.sharebrain.info

www.scrapblog.com

Five Step Model for Structuring Training

 

In designing, developing, and delivering training, the following outline can be useful to make sure that your training will be effective:

1. RATIONALE: Why Learn This? Explain to the learners why the learning is important, and how it specifically applies to their work (What’s in it for me?).
   
2. OBJECTIVES: What Will You Learn to Do? Explain the objectives of the training, in the form of “When you are finished with this training program, you will be able to do these things ….” Put the objectives in terms that are significant, specific, and meaningful.
   
3. ACTIVITIES: Design activities into the training that give the learners interesting, active, and fun things to do.
   
4. EVALUATION: Use an evaluation of some kind so that learners can check their understanding of the concepts that are in the objectives. Make it non-threatening and part of the learning process.
   
5. FEEDBACK: If the evaluation confirmed that the learner understands the concepts and/or can perform according to the objectives then provide Confirming Feedback. If the evaluation showed that the learner did not understand the concepts, or the learner can’t perform according to the objectives, then Corrective Feedback can be given, and an opportunity for continued learning, and re-evaluate, can be given.
   

 

SOURCE: Telling Ain’t Training

Space Guidelines for Training

According to Delivering Training (ASTD)

Reception Area: 2-10 square feet per person.

Meal: 12-13 square feet per person.

Theater Seating: 9-10 square feet per person.

Classroom Seating: 15-17 square feet per person.

Conference Seating: 23-25 square feet per person.

U-Shaped Seating: 34-36 square feet per person.

Distance from the Screen in Training

Here are some guidelines from the book Delivering Training (ASTD)

1. The distance from the screen to the last row of seats should not exceed six screen widths.
2. The distance from the screen to the front row of seats should be at least twice the width of the screen.
3. The proper width of the viewing area is three screen widths. No one should be more than one screen width to the left or right of the screen.
4. Ceiling height is important. The room’s ceiling should be high enough – a minimum of nine feet – to permit people seated in the last row to see the bottom of the screen over, no around, the heads of those in front of them.

Ways to Ensure Participation in Training

Relax and establish an informal atmosphere.

Encourage participants to take control of their own learning.

Accept participants where they are.

Communicate openly and honestly.

Tap participants for their ideas.

 

Source: Training for Dummies, Elaine Biech

Guiding Principles of “Telling Ain’t Training”

1. Start with the learner and never lose focus.
2. Present principles that apply to all types of learning
   1. Mental (cognitive)
   2. Physical (psychomotor)
   3. Emotional (affective)
3. Provide a training session structure you can apply universally and that is based on learning research.
4. Include learning strategies and activities, complete with examples, that you can apply and adapt right away.
5. Lay out practical tools for designing your next training session – with a very high probability of success.
6. Present helpful ways to evaluate your training effectiveness.
7. Present both myths and truths about training and learning so that you can separate ineffective lore from what science has shown leads to a high probability of learning success.
8. Conclude with some practical wisdom and thoughts about applying and maintaining what you gain from the reading and practice.

Source: Telling Ain’t Training, ASTD