1. Keep in touch with the front line:
Know what front line staff knows. Go on the front line occasionally to find out what the customers are thinking, and what staff is experiencing.

2.  Keep in touch with yourself:
Govern your temper, put everything in perspective, and be the calm centre of any storm.  Be in control of yourself.
3. Keep in touch with staff:
Be respectful of staff, and that respect will then be reciprocated. Acknowledge and highlight the work someone does well. Don’t just point out flaws. While it’s important to make sure staff knows what they can improve, it’s important that they know what they have done well.

4. Keep in touch with the golden rule:
Give 100% of the credit to everyone else when a project has gone well. Heap praise on them. Be front and centre when criticism comes your way. Project your people. Take the burden of blame. Build trust, show you have their back and people will do their best for you.

5. Keep in touch with the culture:
Keep your style flexible to reflect the style needed in any given environment.

6. Keep in touch with opportunities:
Look for opportunities to guide people. Don’t try to control. Identify people’s strengths, compliment their strengths, and seek ways to let them use their strengths to move forward.
7. Keep in touch with failure:
Failure is a part of learning. If you aren’t failing, you aren’t trying anything new. There are very few mistakes that can’t be corrected – in some way.

8. Keep in touch with who reports where:
You need a clear reporting org chart. Dotted lines are a recipe for trouble. You need a clear structure. People need to know who’s in charge, what they are supposed to do, and where the buck stops.

9.  Keep in touch with the context and strategy:
You need time during the day to think – just think. Not surfing the Internet. That’s how you outsmart the competition. That’s how you move forward in the direction you want to go.

10.  Keep in touch with influencers:
It’s important to be an efficient advocate, developing relationships constantly. Whoever you work for you are in the business of the larger organization. For example, if you are the chief librarian of Toronto Public Library, you work for the City of Toronto; if you are in a university, you work for the university. Know the influencers of the larger organization and ensure they know you.

Those of us working in knowledge management (KM) have long said that we need KM more in troubled economic times than any other time. Why? Because using KM as a strategy for getting or staying ahead of competitors makes sense. KM can drive consistency, consistency drives quality, and quality work brings in repeat customers. While this is true, why did we see so many layoffs of KM staff as the economy turned south? Apparently, hiring KM staff picking up again or it may be that it is being outsourced? As a KM consultant, Nick Milton reports that his business is growing. Read more in If knowledge management is dead, why does it have such a strong pulse?

I am very excited about KMWorld 2012, October 16-19 in DC which will include Taxonomy Boot Camp (Oct 16-17), Enterprise Search Summit (Oct 17-19), and SharePoint Symposium (oct 18-19).  The call for speakers for KMWorld 2012 is online and I hope you will consider sharing your experiences and knowledge with your colleagues at this key event for those in the KM field.  The theme of this year’s event is Knowledge Sharing & Learning: Communication, Collaboration & Innovation .  I’ll be sharing more information about new initiatives and keynote speakers really soon!  Stay tuned, propose a talk or workshop, and mark, the dates on your calendar NOW!

Lower Lobby of the MTCC

Community Mapping: Keeping it Simple and Straightforward 

Jenny Schnoll and Lina Kim

Toronto Public Library

Toronto Public Library’s new approach to community outreach and engagement says that library staff partner and collaborate with groups and individuals so they can define and fulfill their own interests and needs. To do this well, staff need the right skill set. This poster session describes a community mapping process adopted by TPL to help staff make that first step in community entry. Community mapping is generally recognized as the first step in helping library leaders and branch staff alike develop a new understanding of how the library fits into and contributes to the existing fabric of the community.

Reinvesting in the Carnegie Legacy: Small Public Libraries, Big Community Impact

 Danielle Arial

Wellington County Library

Throughout the last decade, the County of Wellington has exemplified a commitment to community investment.  In that time, nine of their fourteen branches have been renovated or reconstructed, with the five others to be completed over the next six years.  Reinvestment in the County’s five original Carnegie libraries substantiates the very real return on investment Andrew Carnegie imagined. These innovative building projects create healthy, vibrant communities: barrier-free accessibility combined with environmentally sustainable construction standards lay the foundation for significant community impact.  Accessible washrooms and parking, along with assistive technologies exemplify the County’s commitment to barrier-free service.  Living roofs, rainwater collection for washroom use and daylight harvesting are just a few of the initiatives incorporated into the County’s Green Legacy Building Standards.  The poster session will inspire other municipalities, providing ideas as to how they can renew this worthwhile investment.

Lower Lobby of the Convention Centre, Thursday February 2nd and Friday February 3rd, from 12:00 Noon – 2:00 p.m.

OLA Poster Sessions: Feb 2 & 3 – Descriptions

Comfort & Joy: Yoga and Make-Your-Own-Sundaes During Christmas Exams

Robin Bergart, Jim Brett, Sophia Apostol, Robin Sakowski, Randy Oldham, and Doug Horne

University of Guelph Library

The University of Guelph Library piloted a program last December to help students relieve their stress during the final exam period. We teamed up with the university’s Athletics Centre, Wellness Program, and Students’ Association to offer yoga and relaxation classes, healthy snacks, and a sundae bar! This poster documents the reception by the students. Did they welcome it or find it disruptive? Did it help their studies or distract them instead? What were the most popular activities? How would we do it differently next time?

Talk with U of Guelph – with many other library staff  - about their programs and projects on February 2nd & 3rd in the Lower Lobby of the Convention Centre at OLA’s Superconference  at the Poster Sessions, 12:00 Noon – 2:00 p.m.

Here’s the full program of OLA Poster Sessions – it’s not published anywhere else!

Creating Inspiring Services
Edson begins by talking about what it means to be “innovative”: how to recognize it, how to make it happen more, and how to prevent the opposite from happening.  Using his past five years of experience moving a respected cultural institution into the 21st century, Edson shares his lesson learned, creative strategies, tips and more.  He understands how to engage his community, how to create and support an innovative culture, how design exciting new services and to put that knowledge into practice.  Filled with lots of examples, he inspire us to create innovative services for our communities.

Another indication that Edson knows how to engage his community?  He’s also researching organizations that get more than one million hours per year of volunteer effort through their websites.   Hope he shares what he learns with the audience of Computers in Libraries 2012.

We’ve talked a lot about thinking critically and strategically as well as creativity.  Today Don Tapscott pointed me to an interesting article on creative thinking, an excerpt published by Fast Company from a book, Bob Gill, so far.  As author, artist & graphic designer Bob Gill says, “Interesting solutions begin with interesting problems. So reframe the problem.”  Rebecca and I have been working with clients on “reframing” their perspectives and challenges, so I’m looking forward to reading more in Gill’s book.

I was also inspired recently by some creative ideas from KM evangelist Bob Buckman who spoke at KMWorld 2011. He said to me, it’s necessary to move “an organization to a decision making process that is faster than the competition. Speed of Innovation is the key to competitive advantage. Being able to innovate around the needs of the customer is great, but if your competition does it faster than you, then you still loose.”   I’m planning to use some of this words as a theme for KMWorld 2012: Knowledge Sharing & Learning: Communication, Collaboration & Innovation.  The call for speakers will be up at the beginning of January and from all the buzz following KMWorld 2011 I know we will have lots of fabulous content in our event next fall, Oct 16-19 in DC.

In fact, I think 2012 will be the year of innovation for me and hopefully for lots of others.  In addition to KMWorld 2012 including “innovation” in the theme, Computers in Libraries 2012 has the theme, “Creating Innovative Libraries” and has a wonderful line up of terrific speakers.  The full program will be online shortly.  And I’m working on the theme for Internet Librarian 2012, Oct 22-24 in Monterey CA — so how should I include “innovation” in it’s theme?  Internet Innovation for Creative Library Services?  Inspiring Innovation with Internet Intricacies?  Connecting & Collaborating with Internet Innovations?     Internet & Innovation: Driving Success?  Imagining our Future: Innovation & the Internet?  Ideas welcome!

Many of you know that I love Google Doodles and often write posts that include their fun seasonal or special occasion doodles, like today!  But who knew that Mashable also loved them, check out some of the older Hallowe’en Google Doodles in their post.  And have a great Hallowe’en day!