The view from a mountain (1 of the Life Lenses™ self-assessment)
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Communication, Diversity & culture, Human resources, Training & development
If the vision is there the means will follow (Faith Popcorn)
Are you great at being able to see over the horizon to see what’s coming? Recognize trends easily? Do you naturally find patterns in large amounts of information? Are you great at starting projects? Are you a big vision kind of person?
If so perhaps you’re a mountain or know someone else who is a mountain, one of the 8 Life Lenses™.
Mountains see the big picture. Their head (and attention) is focused upwards. Mountains relax by thinking big and broad, mulling over trends and patterns. If you could peek into their gray matter you’d see lots of thought bubbles floating by, connecting disparate ideas in new ways. They easily try new things (the word ‘mistake’ isn’t really in their vocabulary) and consequently they can be quite forgiving. Something not work out? No problem to a mountain, they’ll quickly have 5 more ideas of how to proceed.
Imagine standing atop a majestic mountain, the view is broad, wide and encompassing. A mountain sees the forest not the individual trees, that’s its strength.
I’m married to the Mount Everest of mountains – he effortlessly skims thick reports and can see how the overall concepts connect (or don’t). He keeps his focus on the big picture.
Does the idea of examining a big report for the broad patterns or overall concepts it contains make you go ‘hmmm, I’d love to do that, in fact let me dive into the report I have at my elbow right now’. Or does it make you groan, thinking you’d rather have a bikini wax. If the latter, my guess is you’re not a mountain but rather a carrot, the mountain’s opposite.
Life Lenses™ is an interactive, self-assessment tool designed to identify the invisible lenses that you wear, the lenses that colour your perspective and shape how you see the world. Life Lenses™ teaches you how to see yourself, understand others and makes communicating easier than you ever imagined it could be.
Life Lenses™ will be available online shortly. Are you ready to see clearly?
- Sign up to receive more information about the global launch
- Stay tuned for more blog posts that detail each of the Life Lenses™
- Read another blog post that summarizes all the Life Lenses™
Tags: faith popcorn, life lenses, self-assessment, Teambuilding
Calling all carrots (one of the Life Lenses™ self-assessment)
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Communication, Human resources, Training & development
God is in the details (Ludwig Mies van der Rohe)
Do you love to create systems? Do you notice details that other miss? Do you have an uncanny ability to focus? Do you not like to leave things undone?
If so, perhaps you’re a carrot or know someone else who is a carrot, one of the 8 Life Lenses™.
Carrots are good finishers, they don’t like loose ends. Carrots relax by organizing things and creating systems. Look in a carrot’s desk and you’re likely to find a place of systems. Look at their filing system and it’s likely to have a detailed plan behind it. Able to peek into their closet and you’re apt to see …. yes, a system – dress pants go here, casual pants there, long sleeve shirts here…. you get the idea.
Imagine a carrot growing in the ground. It doesn’t have a wide view but rather a detailed focus view. That’s its strength.
I grew up with a carrot mother, in fact to this day she still alphabetizes her spices.
Does that notion make you go, ‘hmmmm, I can see the merit in that’? Or does it make you shudder? If the latter, my guess is you’re not a carrot. Stay tuned for the carrot’s opposite, the mountain, in the next blog.
Life Lenses™ is an interactive, self-assessment tool designed to identify the invisible lenses that you wear, the lenses that colour your perspective and shape how you see the world. Life Lenses™ teaches you how to see yourself, understand others and makes communicating easier than you ever imagined it could be.
Life Lenses™ will be available online shortly. Are you ready to see clearly?
- Sign up to receive more information about the global launch
- Stay tuned for more blog posts that detail each of the Life Lenses™
- Read another blog post that summarizes all the Life Lenses™
Tags: feedback, learning, life lenses, self-assessment, training & development
Life Lenses™ – Are you ready to see clearly?
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Business & organizational development, Communication, Employee retention, Human resources, Training & development
- “Really trying hard to implement the ‘diversity thing’ but in reality it’s driving you nuts?”
- “Feel like your boss might as well be speaking Latin for all you understand him/her?
- “Does what’s important to you get dismissed at work?”
- “Want to take your organization to the next level but you’re stuck with doubt due to competing perspectives?”
These challenges arise because we don’t have a clear view of ourselves or others. Our perspective is unclear because we can’t step out of our own frame to see the whole view. We’re naturally biased (for example we lean towards favouring our own perspectives) and that bias affects our success.
Most of us are not aware of our own biases and how they get in the way of our relationships with ourselves and others.
Put another way, our perspective is coloured by the lenses we all wear – the lenses that affect what comes onto our radar easily, naturally and comfortably AND what never makes it onto our radar, our awareness, in the first place.
Life Lenses™, a simple self-assessment, make the lenses we all wear visible, the lenses that colour our perspective and affect how we act, what we think and the decisions we make.
Being aware of your lenses, your Life Lenses™, are as essential to communication as windshields are to cars.
Are you ready to see clearly? Watch for the upcoming global launch of Life Lenses™ online.
But first here’s a sneak peak. What are the Life Lenses™? They are 8 lenses that are arranged in opposite pairs. Allow me to introduce them…
Carrot lenses love details and systems, while mountain lenses love trends, patterns, big concepts
Stop lenses require reflection while go lenses require action
Head lenses pay attention to facts while heart lenses prioritize feelings and intuition
Journey lenses focus on the process while for destination lenses it’s all about getting things done
Want to find out more? Simply sign up to receive updates and be among the first to take the Life Lenses™ online assessment. Stay tuned for upcoming blog posts that will explain the Life Lenses™ in more detail.
Tags: #lifelenses, assessment, learning & development, life lenses, self-assessment, training & development
I’m launching Life Lenses™ online at the W.I.N conference in Paris
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Communication, Conflict resolution, Human resources, Training & development, Travel
I’m tickled pink, no actually blue, orange, yellow and bunch of other colours to announce I’ve been selected to speak at the upcoming Women’s International Networking (W.I.N.) conference in Paris, October 5-9, 2010. I’ll be doing a workshop on “Life Lenses™: polish your perspective & gain a whole new view”.
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The global launch of putting “Life Lenses™“ online will also happen at the conference. For the first time anyone with access to the internet will be able to assess their lenses.
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Intrigued? Read on…
“Are you often misunderstood?”
“Ever work with someone who seems like they are from another planet?”
“Frustrated by co-workers or family members who communicate in confusing ways?”
Most of us are not aware of our own biases and how they get in the way of our relationships with ourselves and others. Life Lenses™ are as essential to communication as windshield wipers are to cars.
Life Lenses™ is an interactive, self-assessment tool designed to identify how you view the world and the impact of your views. Life Lenses™ illuminates the invisible lenses that you wear, the lenses that colour your perspective and shape how you see the world.
Life Lenses™ teaches you how to see yourself, understand others and makes communicating easier than you ever imagined it could be.
Are you ready to see clearly?
Watch for upcoming blog posts on each of the Life Lenses™ and how you can get involved.
Tags: assessment, life lenses, Paris, perspective, self-assessment, W.I.N., women's international networking, world view
T&D lessons from an interviewer at the FolkFest
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Communication, Training & development
Should you need to find me during the 3rd week of July, for the past 30 some years I’ve been spending it volunteering for the Vancouver Folk Music Festival.
After a full day of multiple stages sending their musical notes adrift on the salt tinged air, when the sun is setting, kissing the mountains goodnight, with the accompanying beat of the ocean waves, there is nothing that can match the evening concerts. It’s a community minded, environmentally responsive, family friendly event with music to please every ear.
This year was no exception, as I helped to arrange media interviews. Through my volunteer work I’ve come to know Dinny from co-op radio, host of What the Folk, as each year, she too returns for more musical hits. This year I interviewed her about what she’s learned about the art of the interview.
1. Two is the magic number:
- Denny has an interesting research process. She does lots of research about the performer she’s interviewing, as much as possible. Then she condenses her notes into points that are no longer than 2 sentences. Then she condenses each sentence into two words.
- Implication for training & development: research your training topic of course but pay attention to how you craft your training agenda. Simplify. Can each of your learning objectives be summarized in 2 words?
2. Listen
- Denny suggests listening, really listening, instead of thinking about your next question
- Implication for training & development: okay listening is obvious but how many of us while we’re teaching and a participant asks a question, are really thinking of what we’ll say next? This is classic Stephen Covey, the 5th habit in his 7 Habits of Highly Effective People; seek first to understand before being understood.
3. Timing
- Denny plans to ask 6 questions in a 15 minute interview. Period.
- Implications for training & development: when I teach training trainer workshops the most oft mistake made that I see when participants start practicing is mis-use of time. Something happens when we’re up in front of a group, our clock tends to s….l….o….w down. We think we can somehow magically fit 2 hours of content into an hour.
- One of my pet peeves when I’m taking a workshop is the trainer stating in a breathy, rushed voice, “we have a lot to cover so let’s dive in”. Yikes. “I don’t want to feel rushed in my learning” I start grumbling to myself. I get annoyed and my learning suffers.
- Advice? Stop! Manage your time. Period.
4. Engage your interviewee through their passion:
- When interviewing an artist Denny starts with asking them something that relates to their passion – whether about their unique guitar style or unusual way they first got into music. It demonstrates she’s done her research, shows respect and hey, everyone loves to talk about their passion. Also don’t be afraid to get a little personal she says.
- Implication for training & development: no matter if you’re teaching a group how to make widgets, communicate better or use a new computer system, start with what engages them, what is interesting to them. Classic adult education as well as popular education. This provides a hook, engages the brain for learning (and makes things waaaaaaay easier for you).
So there you have it, learning about training & development via a sunny patch at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival with insights by interviewer Denny.
Tags: adult education, Interview, interviewing, popular education, stephen covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Vancouver folk music festival
Learning from Silver Spoons; great food & great T&D concepts
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Creativity & innovation, Training & development
I was recently invited by Chris Flett of Ghost CEO and Cyndi Hunter of Silver Spoons Food Tours to take part in a culinary tour of foodie hot spots. We took in 6 restaurants and my taste buds danced in delight, where for 3 hours, I sampled, savoured and salivated.
Here’s a summary of where we went and how it applies to training & development.
As this delectable drink glided down my gullet at Pour House I was thrilled to learn that it was created by a fellow female entrepreneur, Audrey Saunders who once owned a carpet cleaning business. Not being captivated by carpets she took a bar-tending course and ended up at one of the top 20 bars in the world.
Lessons for learning – it’s never too late to follow your passion and learn something new
Next we dropped in at Nuba, owned by a Lebanese man whose family stopped off in Mexico before ending up in Canada. The culinary result? A traditional Lebanese favourite, deep fried cauliflower, infused with the Mexican influences of avocado and jalapeno.
Lessons for learning – keep the old and mix in the new for for what Nuba calls an authentic vrs traditional experience.
Rogue was next on our menu, the restaurant not the rascal.
There we were served salad that had croutons made of cornbread. To die for! They also served a sushi bomb with a pipette. Pipette’s are normally equipment found in science labs, but this creative chef found a new use. Filled with sauce, when you pop the morsel in your mouth, you also squeeze the pipette which releases the sauce.
Creative? Yes. Memorable? You bet. Applicable to T&D? Of course? What new uses can you find for things to make your training stand out?
At Guilt & Co we toured what had been an old tunnel used to run rum, which was now a funky beer cooler. We also were drawn to cards at our table with questions that begged to be answered. Questions such as “if you had to, what relatives would you lock up in the shed and why?” “What’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen?” And my fav, “paper, rocks or scissors?”
Implications for learning? What simple tools can you use to enhance participant engagement? Tip: make sure they’re appropriate for your organization’s culture, as what is one organization’s playful stress ball is another’s waste of time.
Finally at at Cobre I was tickled to find you could rent a room for a private party. No big deal right? Big deal as you could bring your own IPod and ergo have your own music played.
I was also entranced by owner Stuart Irving’s tale on how he got started. Seems in high school he didn’t like mechanics. The high-school counselor suggested he take cooking instead. Once Stuart realized cooking the food included getting to eat the food he was hooked. (That plus figuring he’d have a whole school year to make favourable impressions on his female cohorts.)
Implications for learning – the roots of our passion for learning can often be found early in our lives and customization and learner choice (in this case bringing one’s own IPod) is a great thing
Tags: Audrey Saunders, business, canada, Chris Flett, Cobre, Cooking, Cyndi Hunter, Ghost CEO, Guilt & Co, Mexico, Nuba, Pour House, Rogue, Silver Spoon Food Tours, Stuart Irving
Elegant lessons about not holding on
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Change management & wellness, Training & development
From Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo’s hands comes the gorgeous traditional Tibetan textile piece pictured above.
Equally illuminating is the quote beside it.
‘We don’t have to let go, we simply have to not hold on’ by Joseph Goldstein.
I love sayings that get to the heart of things. That pack an international journey into one suitcase. That leave you hanging, mouth slightly agape, brain humming and wanting more. This is one such.
Focusing on letting go means choosing to have reached out, to have grasped in the first place. If you’re not holding onto something you can’t let it go because you didn’t have it in the first place.
Not holding on means not making the choice to grasp in the first place. No clenching, no holding on with teeth gritted teeth until the cordons in your neck are screaming at attention.
Regarding training and development, I’ve learned to not hold onto my expertise. While I have it in spades (expertise that is), I freely share it and welcome others’ expertise. Not holding onto my having to be the supreme expert, know all, Grand Poobah of powerful learning means I can focus on other things when I’m designing and/or delivering a workshop.
Other things like creativity, innovation and engagement.
What can you not hold onto regarding your training and development?
Tags: buddhism, buddhist, business, joseph goldstein, leslie rinchen-wongmo, Management, tibetan
Charlie bit my finger… again (avoiding learning traps)
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Diversity & culture, Training & development
This simple, short video below has generated almost 223 million hits. Aside from the astonishing capacity for videos to spread through the ether, I was keen to ponder why the popularity.
(The video, if you’ve not seen it, is about a baby biting his (presumably) brother’s finger. The brother then proceeds to once again place his chubby little digit into the carnivorous mouth, which once again chomps down.)
The video has to do with not being able to avoid traps that are right in front of our face. It has to do with doing the same action repeatedly but expecting a different outcome. It has to do with learning.
The video reminded me of Portia Nelson’s famous ‘Autobiography in Five Short Chapter’:
I
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk
I fall in.
I am lost … I am helpless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes me forever to find a way out.
II
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I am in the same place
but, it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.
III
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in … it’s a habit.
my eyes are open
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.
IV
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.
V
I walk down another street.
When it comes to training and development what traps do we need to look out for? What new and different streets do we need to walk down? Here are some suggestions:
– when someone asks if you can do a session in what you know is too short of a window, walk down another street
– when someone in your workshop is disruptive, rude and/or cracking inappropriate jokes, don’t fall down the hole and do nothing. The other learners are looking to you for action
– when someone in your workshop suggests an activity that you know most of the participants would love BUT a few wouldn’t, don’t be seduced by popularity to do what’s easy, do what’s right – be inclusive
Tags: access and inclusion, autobiography in 5 short chapters, inclusion, learning traps, Portia Nelson
Seth Godin on amateurs, professionals & the great unwashed
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Business & organizational development, Human resources, Training & development
Seth wrote a post with the above title. He recommends you hire professionals or amateurs and not the bulk, who are in between.
Professionals he defines as: those who cost big bucks but are worth more, those who show up … regardless, those who have integrity and stand up and those whose learning curve is always pointed up.
Amateurs he says are those who are in it for love not money, are a wee bit obsessed with the craft and will trade income for “doing what she loves with freedom”.
The rest? The rest do it because it’s a job. Period.
As a learning and development specialist I recommend combining the top two. Amateurs and professionals.
I’m passionate about learning, mine and yours and ours. I do it because it love it. Because I wake up at 3 am and have a hard time falling back to sleep because I’m excited about a new way to turn someone onto learning. Because my mind is constantly churning out new ways to increase people and organization’s love of learning. Because I adore helping people laugh, learn and lead.
If that’s amateur then I’m a proud amateur.
As a learning and development specialist I’m also highly formally trained. I ALWAYS include professional development in each year’s business. I figure I owe it to my clients to ride the learning wave or create the wave, versus being left behind on the beach. And I charge. I charge what I’m worth – you get the full meal deal with me. Lots of international experience, decades of experience period and experience with a wide variety of sectors means I can not only handle almost any learning curve ball thrown my way, but I can throw it back with grace and grit.
If that’s professional, then that’s me.
As a learning and development specialist I grind my teeth in frustration when I hear someone (from Seth’s unwashed masses):
- complain about having to teach something to their colleagues
- claim dull content prevents them from making learning engaging
- assume they can teach simply because they’re a content expert (not realizing that training and development are a whole different skill set that doesnt’ automatically come with subject matter expertise)
I believe training and development is a calling. I’ve answered the call, loud and clear and with passion and exuberance. I get paid to do it. Fortunate me. Just call me an amafessional.
Tags: amateur, business, learning & development, Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?, marketing, professional, seth godin, training & development
Note to self about training & development
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Human resources, Training & development
(Thanks to Katrina Kavvalos for the video).
Tags: flexibility, flexible, learning & development, training & development