Lori TZ’s Learning Blog

Social Media Discernment

Thu, 3 Sep 2009 10:26:48 -0500

Consumer use of social media in an online world is a simple exercise of, “Don’t check your brains at the door.” Sneak peak. The wedding dress watercooler: Mom says, “I saw a 50-80% off sign at BridesMart, have you stopped there yet?” Daughter, “No, but I haven’t heard much about it.” Jackpot. Bridal gown: check. Now onto bridesmaid dresses; where to go?

It was the ninth day of June. A search for local shops and reviews came back with a plethora of conflicting views. I checked Twitter.com/search, Yelp.com, insiderpages.com, and Google Map reviews. We went to several shops over the course of two weeks. The most diverse bridal shop reviews were about The House of Brides. So we went elsewhere first.

A dress shop in the Western suburbs of Chicago was bold enough to comment that the House of Brides negative reviews actually drove people to their store because they carried many of the same brands. Another wedding shop said that even so, the House of Brides was the benchmark for other smaller wedding shops. Our curiosity was peaked - we would see for ourselves. These were a sample of some of the reviews:

Twitter
laurenbaldoni cannot believe how rude people are at the House of Brides. Now why again should I give you my business?

http://www.yelp.com Abaigael M. Like Lara, I was hesitant to go here because of the previous reviews. To my surprise, it was a great experience.

http://www.insiderpages.com House of Hell 1 Star Rating - Unsatisfactory
By Melody R. House of Brides They are beyond unprofessional. They gave me a Polyester dress when I ordered a Taffeta Dress. I spent $246.15 on a dress that looks like a table cloth.

http://www.google/maps reviews: Devon R. All in all, I have to say--check out House of Brides and ignore all the horror stories! I was thoroughly pleased with my experience there from start to finish and would recommend them to any bride!

Our firsthand account: The House of Brides in Schaumburg was a positive experience. Alicia, our sales associate was friendly, patient, and knew her stock well. I think we’ve found a dress winner for the attendants. I will let you know if the delivery experience is as positive as the sales experience.

Does this mean my exploration of social media was a waste of time? I don’t think so. I think it just heightened our discernment level. As with anything, perception is reality, so in deciding what would make us turn around at the door and what criteria would ultimately tip the purchase decision, our gut was tuned to criteria important to us. Our gut feel was the sales associate would follow through. According to the social media reviews - we have a 50/50 chance of being right.

In looking for other indicators, personnel believability and reasonable facts convinced us that the dresses would in fact be delivered.

Outcome: The dresses were promised at the end of August, and were delivered September 3. Okay there was a little discrepancy in delivery, but the wedding is in October. Again, we didn’t wait until the last minute - we didn’t check our brains at the door.

LinkedIN - Is Twitter a waste of time?

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 10:58:31 -0500

Prompt: Is twitter a waste of time or a real marketing tool? Share your experience with others.

Current information and market pulse is a need for business, not a want. Twitter has been a good resource for me to practice critical thinking and get some ideas about how the field of learning and development, public relations, and marketing can intersect from an operational point of view.

Let's face it, there have been cutbacks and department elimination where training and formal employee development is viewed as a cost center. In industries or sectors of business where just-in-time learning and innovation can't wait for a 1-3 month development cycle, informal learning can be a business solution. I'm sure you will not be surprised that there is some cross over in content that is collected and distilled. The content and data is used differently by learning and development, public relations, and marketing professionals - but there is a connection. One informs the other.

On Twitter, the discussions, links to blogs, research, and access to well established practitioner views are gold. Case studies and first hand accounts outlining pull learning vs push learning and informal social learning infrastructures that foster interactivity between complementary groups* is something you won't get from a book when thinking about how learning contributes to the bottom line - today. (*e.g. groups: customer/company, mentors/mentees, experts/masses, and service needs/vendors who can provide services, productivity problem/solution think tank.)

I am learning that the management of collaborative learning can be effective in a strategically structured informal network environment for adult learners whether that learner is the customer or the employee. It's all about the bottom line. Alignment of training and HR staff development strategies with product development and relationship sales strategies just makes sense.

Reply: Why IS it so hard to be human in business?

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 13:14:25 -0500

Amber Naslund of Altitude Branding presented a couple of good questions in her June 4th post. There were many good thoughts posed a 24 count comment stream. I added mine to the list. You can read Amber’s original post at: http://altitudebranding.com/2009/06/why-is-it-so-hard-to-be-human/#comments

She says, “ If you’re predisposed to burying your humanity in the face of business, can you be reformed? Is it going to become a world of the businesses that are human-driven, and those that aren’t? Is that going to start determining who wins and who flounders?”

I thought of Brent and Gabe at the Articulate conference. They were authentic at the conference. They are authentic in their posts. Did I feel silly talking with Smiley on video at the conference - yes! Was it a professional risk. Yes... Was it traditionally corporate, no. Were my comments truthful and in support of the company. Yes.

My response to Amber’s blog post:
Accountability, relationship and owning our own role as a cog in a larger framework (regardless of the title) will only work well if authenticity about weakness as well as strength is rewarded. It is the clean energy of service industries.

It’s just the right thing to do. Businesses can be taught to be human, because human choice drives whether a business fails or succeeds. There has never been a time more likely to draw the interest of C-level decision makers to connectivity as a business solution than now.

Why? Because in a volatile market where no position or industry is exempt from scrutiny in either internet time (a) or each 24 hour cycle, there are more opportunities for decision makers and the support structure to develop empathy.

Even those C-level employees who were given no slack when they built the business from the ground up are seeing that the market is just too sparse to go hunting as a lone wolf. So as in nature, the cycle of change takes time.

Driven by survival instinct, the C-level decision maker is motivated to earn a place in the pack, yet entrance to the pack will take some tolerance and adaptation from those who have been hunting with the pack since birth.

I like the example given by Douglas LaBier who wrote in the Washington Post, “When empathy is aroused [in any role], you let go of your usual attachment to yourself and you want to help, or connect in some way. I invite people to think of it this way: When you cut your finger, you don’t say, “That’s my finger’s problem, not mine”; nor do you do a cost-benefit analysis before deciding whether to take action. You respond immediately because you feel the pain.”(b)

(a) http://www.internettime.com (Jay Cross)
(b) http://www.adultdev.org/papers/empathy.php (Douglas LaBier)

Who’s backstage isn’t messy?! Life happens. But, that’s what makes connecting so important. There is a dual consequence of decisions made with the justification of “It’s nothing personal, it’s strictly business.” Yes, handing out pink slips and trying to fit everyone into a box brings quantified results that can be measured in “widgets produced”(a), but like fossil fuels the long term ROI has a threshold - the cost of a “pound of flesh” is the gradual erosion of a human’s capacity to produce.

Authenticity builders cost a little more in time and energy to put in place, but the long term ROI is that the investment made to get to know the pain leverages the potential of getting to root causes for our employees and our clients.

Your post makes me pause and ask, “Do my actions say I believe this?”
Am I willing to accept feedback about my own blind spots so that I remain authentic in business and in personal relationships? It is a daily goal.

The old educational adage of “I don’t care what you know until I know that you care” comes to mind. Perhaps I’m naïve, but it would appear that in a tough economic climate it is also relevant to business.

CISPI Celebration of Learning

Fri, 5 Jun 2009 11:32:56 -0500

What do sunflowers and green beans have to do with learning? The Celebration of Learning program was all about stimulating that point of connection between existing and new ideas. Held on the rooftop at the Pegasus Restaurant in Chicago on Thursday, June 4, our feast of good food and fellowship was both a time to connect with colleagues who attended and to learn about a potential connection with future colleagues through the Daniel Murphy Scholarship fund.
The evening began with a randomly strewn table of seed packets. Member synapses were popping as we shared one-on-one and in clusters. The challenge: How did the seed packet we chose represent a training and development or HPT (Human Performance Technology) principle? Sunflowers: Having seen vast fields of sunflowers all pointed with synchronous precision towards the sun, a member imagined a like response to a perfectly tuned audience during a successful presentation. Green beans: They grow on a vine, learning doesn't happen in isolation. And the name on the packet was "Burpee" - thus the association, what goes in doesn't come out in the same form. (O.K., I'll admit, there was a bit of laughter going on too.)
During the evening, I heard highlights from the Thiagi workshop, how one member had added professional voiceovers to his list of services, how one company has incorporated social media monitoring as a complement to both the marketing and the training division, and some additional insight into a performance matrix for diagnosing performance problems from a member who had submitted that particular tip as part of the evening's activities.
Then, we heard some encouraging stories about how some hard working Chicago 8th grade students were getting an educational break through the Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund. These students may one day be employees, clients or colleagues. Daniel J. Heraty shared opportunities to be a one time scholarship application interview volunteer, a student mentor, or to be an inspirational story teller to motivate students to continue their education with excellence. A percentage of the CISPI program registration, as well as funds collected from a free will donation, were given to the cause. CISPI members are changing the world-- one interaction at a time.
If you were unable to attend the event but would like to donate either time or money, visit www.dmsf.org or contact Dan Heraty direct at 312-455-7802.
This time was well spent. I look forward to connecting with you at the next CISPI event!

Learning Trends Twitter Experience

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:57:33 -0500

It was food for the brain. Come to the next one. June 18 & 19. Draw your own conclusions. Love it. hate it. Dissect it. Try it. http://learntrends.ning.com/events/june-learn-trends-networked?rsvpConfirm=1

Ciao!