The Learning Challenge: Dealing with Technology, Innovation, & Change

Author: Julie Zamostny, Staff Development Coordinator, Western MD Regional Library

Nigel Paine presented this workshop at Elliot Masie's Learning 2015 Conference. 

This was a fantastic session - as are most of Nigel's sessions I've attended over the years - and below are my main takeaways about which I want to learn more. 

1. Learning is only effective when people care. Learning sticks when people have an emotional attachment to either the reason they have to learn something new and/or to the content itself. This made me think, yet again, of Simon Sinek's Start with Why, and I really wish all staff were required to complete his course as part of their career development. I completed it last year and it was an enlightening experience and continues to influence my work.
2. 20 minutes of 'normal' paced walking is enough to prepare the brain to learn. After 20 minutes of walking, the brain will maintain a read-to-learn state for about 45 minutes. 
3. Pomodoro Technique is a work style in which you work in 20 minute bursts segmented by 5 minutes of rest in between. I learned later, in a different session, that this corresponds with how our hippocampus works; it can only sustain active receiving of new information for a max of 20 minutes until it needs a rest. 
4. Nigel quote of the day, "Leadership [development programs] fail because we give up before it becomes habitual." 

It's on this quote that I want to philosophize more...

According to Charles Duhigg's book, The Power of Habit, 

Habits= Trigger --> Routine Behavior --> Reward. 

But what are the triggers, routine behaviors, and rewards for habitual leadership? Here's what I think:

Trigger: an awareness of a situation that challenges a core value or belief? Thinking this isn’t right 

or, this could be better. 

Routine Behavior: take the initiative to speak up and/or take action?

Reward: neurotransmitters, a problem solved, recognition for job well done, validation, etc?

I feel like I'm an habitual leader so, what are my triggers, routines, and rewards?

Example situation: creating the emerging technology collection back in 2010.

The Trigger: awareness that staff do not have readily available access to the emerging technologies 

that patrons are expecting library staff to help them with. 

The Routine Behavior: purchase emerging technologies and make them available for staff to use 

however they want; and provide training on how on how to use those technologies.

The Reward: see increase in circulation as well as an increase in the use of those technologies in 

library programs. See also an increase in requests for more technologies as they become available. Translates into validation and problem solved. 

Empowerment and autonomy plays a huge role in developing habitual leaders, however...and that is a topic for another blog post.