On Monday, April 7, 2014 I start a new adventure at TELUS. For the previous five years I held the position ‘Head of Learning and Collaboration’ and worked with hundreds of team members, partners, media and customers. Perhaps the most important relationship I had was with the direct team I was accountable for. I sent the following note to them as an act of final appreciation. ________ Hey there, As I sit here on a Sunday night, I’m reminded of those times as a child when I’d get nervous on the Monday night of Labour Day because a new school year was starting the next day. I became nervous because I didn’t know what to expect. New teacher. New classroom. New classmates. New lunch kit. New backpack. New shoes. New haircut. (Egads!) There was a lot of newness going through my head in anticipation of the unknown. It was a somewhat torturous black hole of uncertainty. I was nervous for another reason too. For the previous year I knew what I had been doing on a daily basis. I knew how the routine worked, who I was sitting with and how the teacher responded to my lame attempts at humour. I was comfortable. I understood my place. I knew the shortcuts. Everyone in the class was genuinely cool with the way I acted. I was part of the gang. I was at peace with the surroundings, it being similarly mellifluous and calm to those summer nights I spent at the cottage in Sauble Beach. When I started at TELUS in mid-November 2008, I had those same nervous feelings the night before I joined you on the team. Would they like me? Would I like them? Would we be able to improve anything? Over time, and with a few subtractions and additions, a natural smoothness overflowed between us while an unmistakable odour of success billowed from coast to coast. It happened. We happened. The anxiety and nervousness I felt that night was replaced (over time) by a fortress of commonality and breathtaking change. We did it. We became it. But it was you that allowed me into your gang. I’ve got those butterflies again tonight. A new adventure awaits me on Monday and I have to put on a new backpack again. It doesn’t feel right, but in time, I believe it will. I’ve been in your gang for the past five years. I know how it works. It’s comfortable, affectionate and rewarding. I couldn’t ask for anything more. Thank you for allowing me into your working life. Thank you for accepting me and those ‘out there’ ideas of mine. Thank you for your generosity, reciprocity and sensuosity. I leave with fabulous memories, vivid team accomplishments and true interlocutors for the foreseeable future. It’s been quite a team to be a part of. Good luck, stay in touch, I’m not going far … and be kind to one another and to your new leader. She is fabulous. And remember, "We’re not here to see through each other; we’re here to see each other through". Cheers dp Dan's Related Posts:Five Essential Tips to Effectively Work from HomeIn Defense of Alexandra SamuelYa, I Cry at Work. Do You?trainingwreck is no more … introducing ‘brave new org’Redefining the Social Employee

Topic: Just-in-place learning for a Mobile Workforce Description: As an eLearning author, wouldn’t it be great if you could customize learning content based on where your learner is physically present? Learning is better when you can customize the learning experience based on their choices, responses, specialization, and scores achieved in a quiz. It’s even better, if you […]

To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for that which could have been their finest hour.  Sir Winston Churchill I could read Churchill all day. And Yeats, Frost, Handy, Drucker, and so on … but that’s not why you’re here. Today my career took on a new twist, one that I believe is indeed a special moment and that I’m both prepared and (I think) qualified for. Whether it becomes my finest hour remains to be seen. Today I am proud to announce that TELUS Transformation Office has officially launched and I have become its Chief Envisioner. For the grammar and spelling pundits, I beg your forgiveness. I like to make up words, and yes ‘envisioner’ is not in the Oxford Dictionary. What is TELUS Transformation Office you ask? There is plenty more to share and discover on the TTO official website, or with the press release but the highlights are as follows: An organizational culture change service provider offering assessment, consulting and learning services Specialization in a few key areas: Leadership Digital Readiness Connected Learning Career and Talent Flexible Work Styles Onboarding and Induction Development of strategy, collateral, content and implementation is also an option Why? If you’ve frequented this space, you know I’m a walking Venn Diagram consisting of leadership, collaboration technologies and learning practices. It’s not only my working life purpose, it is the basis of Flat Army and what I’ve been doing for the better part of my entire career. At TELUS — a Canadian based telecommunications company with over $11 billion in revenues — we had the fortune of watching employee engagement shift from 53% to 83% over a period of time that involved an amazing number of changes through an amazing group of people from coast to coast. Now it’s our chance to give back and help other organizations, leaders and employees who may want some assistance to shift their internal, organizational mindset. My Excitement is Oozing I’ve had the great fortune of working with brilliant people over my now twenty year career. (Editors Note: 20 years? Holy smokes.) This next opportunity gives me a chance to work with many more people who seek such change. It’s taking me back to my roots as an educator when I was helping those who sought guidance with their career and knowledge span. This time around — through TELUS Transformation Office — the focus is on culture, employee engagement and a more open and harmonious organizational mindset. I can’t begin to tell you how exciting this is for me. You had me at ‘hello’. I get to continue being me — inventing, philosophizing, developing, leading, writing, speaking and dreaming — while helping others. It doesn’t really get much better than that. Well, I hope the next book sells better, but that’s a whole other matter. Are You Interested? If you, your organization or an organization that you have in mind might be interested in our services … we’re now open for business. Check out the video below for some insight into the TELUS story, and drop me a line if you’d like to chat. Dan's Related Posts:After Five Years In My Role We’re Hiring My Replacement. Are You Interested?Kudos Jacques Godin, an Engaged Air Canada EmployeeFive Essential Tips to Effectively Work from HomeFavourite Posts of 2013 That I Wrote & PublishedRethinking the Work of Leadership

Next year, Denise and I will celebrate twenty years of marriage on July 1. That’s a score … both in terms of it becoming an awesome event (what a score!) as well as it demonstrating a group of twenty years (a more historical definition of score … think Abraham Lincoln). A couple of years into our marriage, Denise turned to me one night — it was peaceful in those days as we were married young, and there were no goats in our lives for another eight years — and she said: "Don’t you do things with boys?" I knew what she meant right away. Denise was asking why I didn’t do what she was used to, what (perhaps) she was expecting and what society deemed as ‘normal’. "You know," she continued, "do you ever go away on trips with boys or play cards or just want to do boy things with the boys?" Now, you might think she was trying to pawn me off. What she was trying to do, however, was to better understand why I wasn’t doing what every other husband or boyfriend or man she knew at the time was doing. I wasn’t fitting into her definition. It wasn’t as though she didn’t love me nor were there any marital issues … but it just wasn’t computing for her. The definition of a man for Denise (at the time) was for men to go off and do ‘man things’. I love men. I love women. I love children. But I am comfortable enough in my own skin to know that I’d rather regenerate, replenish and nourish my soul and mind in the company of both genders (and different ages) than to do so solely with males my own age. I’ve got plenty of male friends — don’t get me wrong — and I enjoy the company of them, but ever since I can remember I knew my likes and dislikes. I loathed ‘stags’ I was invited to and went so far as to ask my Best Man if we could invite our better halves to the one that was organized for me. That didn’t pan out, for the record. I asked myself the following question early on in my life, "Who Am I?" and I answered it by saying, "Who I Am." I don’t do golf. I don’t wear a watch. I don’t like cars. And I am not handy whatsoever. Clearly, I’m not like the thousands of males who do golf, wear a watch, like cars and are handy. I respect those individuals, but I’m not envious or jealous. (OK, sometimes I wish I could build a tree fort) The bottom line is that I do not pretend to be someone else. I’m happy for those that enjoy such endeavors and who excel in them outright. Kudos! But I am secure with what I’m good at and uneasy if I’m not being me. It is a conscious choice. It is my moment of verisimilitude. I’m not simply saying you should ‘Play to Your Strengths‘; I’m suggesting you must ask the question, "Who Am I" and answer it with certitude, "Who I Am". I am not against learning — after all, Ancora Imparo is one of my life mantras — but I will not assimilate because society says I should. This steadfast belief has helped me in my life, my career and with my relationships … including Denise. I share this personal insight with you for two reasons: Careers Can Become Your Purpose By invoking conviction and absolute belief in one’s self, your career can truly become intertwined with your purpose. I witness first-hand, however, far too many people shackled to a job that runs counter to their identity and their personal ethos. I don’t suggest to ‘follow your passion’ — that’s a risky strategy when you need to pay bills and fuel your future — but I would recommend standing up for who you really are, and working towards a career path that belies the current career status quo you may be suffering from. Life is What Happens to You While You’re Busy Making Other Plans John Lennon … no further words necessary. The bonus reason is that I promised "I Will" reveal more of my true personality publicly in 2014. It’s a shame we can’t travel back in time and observe the Greeks. If I could, I’d spend my days walking, listening, learning and even giving speeches in the Agora — the marketplace of commerce and intellectual exchange. Be it Plato, Socrates, Heraclitus or Pythagoras the maxim "Know Thyself" was alleged to be bandied about in the Agora on many an occasion. In Plato’s Phaedrus, for example, Socrates says the following when on the topic of his lack of patience for mythology and other unimportant topics: "But I have no leisure for them at all; and the reason, my friend, is this: I am not yet able, as the Delphic inscription has it, to know myself; so it seems to me ridiculous, when I do not yet know that, to investigate irrelevant things." Define your relevance. More importantly, avoid your every irrelevance. I am a husband. I am a father. I am a son. I am a brother. I am a brother-in-law. I am a son-in-law. I am a friend. I am a dreamer, writer, speaker, lover, artist, athlete, comedian, culture change agent, meat-eater, cyclist, traveler, poet, decorator, fashionista, supporter, thinker, mathematician, drinker, Canadian, driver … human being. I am who I am. Who are you? Dan's Related Posts:In 2014, I Will …Lessons Learned From a First Time AuthorTwo Very Incredible & Courageous WomenInstead of Inbox Zero, How About Outbox ZeroFive Essential Tips to Effectively Work from Home

Topic: Adobe eLearning Basics: Enabling Tracking Description: Ability to track learner performance is utmost important for eLearning courseware developers. Join Dr. Pooja Jaisingh, Sr. Adobe eLearning Evangelist, to learn how to publish and deploy your eLearning and mLearning courses effortlessly to leading xAPI, SCORM, and AICC compliant LMSs. She will take you through the best practices and […]

Laszlo Bock is the Senior Vice-President of People Operations at Google. He rose to such a role at the age of 33 in 2006. My math background puts him at an age that is slightly younger than me, so I’m a wee bit jealous. I’ve never met Laszlo. But I’d like to. And one day, maybe I can even work with him. Here’s why: 1) He’s a long-term thinker Anyone who is worried about the health of his or her organization in terms of life-work balance is a long-term thinker in my books. Laszlo says  "By analyzing behaviors, attitudes, personality traits and perception over time, we aim to identify the biggest influencers of a satisfying and productive work experience." Over a one hundred — yes one hundred — year study, Google and Laszlo aim to curb the imbalance that manifests at their organization between life and work. Inspired by the 65-year (and counting) Framingham Heart Study, Laszlo is intent on not only the long-term survival of the company that employs him, but on the true definition of life-work balance and worker engagement. And he’s doing so through long-term thinking. 2) He knows when change is required and is not afraid to do so It’s Google, so you would expect everything to be peachy and perfect. After all, there was a movie made about work life at Google. But no, Laszlo is happy to change when it’s necessary. For example, on the topic of their hiring practices — famous for mind bender puzzles, SAT scores and high GPA’s — Laszlo says  "Google famously used to ask everyone for a transcript and GPA’s and test scores, but we don’t anymore." He also intimated past practices were somewhat ludicrous by stating, "We found that brainteasers are a complete waste of time. They serve primarily to make the interviewer feel smart." Google switched to behavioural based interviews, for the record. 3) He understands employees are differentiated and diverse Employees are not drones. Organizations are not robotic. Thus, those responsible for hiring — leaders and recruitment — need not look solely for 1’s and 0’s. Laszlo says, "When you look at people who don’t go to school and make their way in the world, those are exceptional human beings. And <Google> should do everything we can to find those people." I believe in both the art and the science. It may not come from one individual on a team, but the combination of such talent can create incredible things. The same occurs when mixing old school, new school and school of hard knocks backgrounds. 4) He ‘gets’ culture In my experience, I’ve met far too many HR leaders and professionals who claim to understand culture, when in fact they are simply transactional order takers. That isn’t culture, that’s a Dairy Queen. Laszlo is one of those HR leaders — I’m sure he’d want me to say people leaders — who believes he doesn’t deserve a ‘seat at the table’; he is the table and that table is setting the tone for openness and collaboration. For example, Laszlo says  "The bulk of what we do to cultivate this creative, passionate workforce costs nothing. Making our mission tangible is a natural outcome of who we are. Defaulting to open and giving Googlers a voice is a natural consequence of acting in accordance with what we believe about people." I’m not looking for a new role. I’m plenty busy right now with the ‘Chief Envisioner’ one recently announced. But if the stars align, I’d at least like to meet up with Laszlo and swap stories. He doesn’t need a copy of Flat Army — he already has demonstrated that in spades — but I would love to give him a signed book nonetheless. Laszlo is definitely one to tip your hat to. Dan's Related Posts:HR Doesn’t Need a Seat at the Table, it is the TableWhose Job Is Leadership, Anyway?Can Leaders Lead From the Side?Coaching Should Be An Expectation Of All Connected LeadersBill Sullivan, CEO of Agilent Technologies is a Chief Engagement Officer

Topic: Adobe eLearning Basics: Publishing to Devices Description: Join Dr. Pooja Jaisingh, Sr. Adobe eLearning Evangelist, to learn about the different publishing options, available in Adobe eLearning tools, to make the content available on tablets and mobile devices. She will take you through a step-by-step procedure to publish MP4 videos, interactive HTML5 courses, responsive eLearning, and eLearning […]

LinkedIn Skills. Useful or useless? First off, what are they? LinkedIn itself states the following: LinkedIn Skills & Endorsements helps you discover the expertise that other professionals have. You can: Add a skill to the Skills & Endorsements section of your profile from the Edit Profile page. Add up to a maximum of 50 skills. Endorse your 1st degree connections’ skills. The cynic in me believes this feature is simply an attempt by those at LinkedIn to accomplish their stated goal of building (and I would suggest selling) the world’s first economic graph. As LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner states: We want to digitally map the global economy, identifying the connections between people, jobs, skills, companies, and professional knowledge — and spot in real-time the trends pointing to economic opportunities. My big data dreamer brain thinks it’s a brilliant idea, but how does it help you and me? It’s definitely cool. The graph would be incredibly revealing. But it’s not going to help you become a better person or professional. Data points like "The 25 Hottest Skills That Got People Hired in 2013″ — also distributed by LinkedIn — can provide some interesting insight, but does it help you personally? Again, it’s interesting … but I doubt the 25 hottest skills list actually helps you personally. There are countless articles and posts by others helping you with the skills itemizing and selection process. The skills you choose can then be showcased on your LinkedIn profile for others in your 1st degree network to subsequently endorse. Mine looks like this: If you’re in recruitment or are hiring someone I can see the benefit. For example, if you’re reviewing someone for a role, the number of endorsements related to their various skills may help you distinguish one candidate over another. You can also click on the number associated with each skill (eg. 99+ for Leadership Development in my case) and those that have endorsed the skill will appear in a new window. If the candidate possesses some influential people who have endorsed the skill, that may also distinguish one candidate from another. Of course you can click on the skill itself and from there you’re taken to another screen that details positions related to the skill, people in your network with the skill, amongst other options. The example below is the result of clicking the skill ‘Strategy’ from my profile: A clear and positive advantage with your LinkedIn skills rests in the fact the endorsements are people driven versus the algorithm driven model found in applications like Klout. (I’m not a Klout fan or user.) The disadvantage, however, is if the LinkedIn connections you accept into your network aren’t really your professional colleagues — you have never worked together and know one another only through LinkedIn itself — and if they endorse your skills, does that make you out to be a liar? On the subject of whom to accept into your LinkedIn network, Alex Samuel writes about the favour test and says, "The favor test is simple: Would you do a favor for this person, or ask a favor of them? If so, make the connection. If not, take a pass." So what to do? I don’t think the skills feature in LinkedIn is critical for success in your career. It provides a great crowd-sourced adjudication of your skills, but it’s not ever going to become the sole reason you get a job or advance your career. The skills feature provides good insight on professional experience — and there are additional features noted above that might help you source new positions or reconnect with old contacts — but be wary of placing too much stock in its bottom line career benefit. A snapshot like this of your skills background is an anecdotal representation of you and your successes. That’s not a bad thing, per se, so you may want to ensure the skills that are being profiled are the ones that you truly want to be known for. Make note of this point and edit your skills now, if you haven’t done so already. In my mind, LinkedIn skills are useful not useless … but the usefulness itself is somewhat limiting. What are your thoughts on the LinkedIn skills opportunity?   Dan's Related Posts:My 1800+ LinkedIn Network Graphically MappedLinkedIn is not Facebook so Please Think Twice About Your UpdatesOur Three Young Children Blog … Here’s WhyThe Anti-Social Social DilemmaFuture of Work: Add Open Leadership, Enterprise 2.0, Connected Learning and Mix

Topic: Choosing the right LMS for Enterprise Learning Description: Choosing an LMS is a time-consuming and expensive affair! Making a wrong choice is not an option here, as it can break your learning infrastructure and restrict you from tracking learning effectively. You need to carefully consider the features and services available with the LMS before you make […]

She’s eleven years old and has been precocious for as long as I can remember. At five, she told us, "It’s time for me to start learning how to play violin." At eight, she said, "Why can’t I have my own blog?" And now, at eleven, Claire — our oldest of three children — has taught us a lesson in perseverance and decision-making. First, the background of this story. At the beginning of 2014, Claire’s grade five cohort began a program to read both fiction and non-fiction books in preparation for participation in the Red Cedar Book Awards Program. The Red Cedar Book Awards Program itself, "encourages students in Grades 4 - 7 in British Columbia to read Canadian fiction and non-fiction titles. Each year, a Red Cedar Award is presented to one fiction and one non-fiction book which receive the most votes from children in the program." Those who want to participate in this voluntary activity must read what seems like a thousand books in order to qualify for the one-day trip to Nanaimo, British Columbia where BookFest occurs. This extravaganza — billed as the "Vancouver Island Children’s Book Festival" — not only is a big deal for those students who qualify by reading the requisite number of books, it’s a chance to meet some of the authors they actually read in person! As an author and a lifelong proponent of reading, this was a remarkable opportunity for Claire. Part two to the story takes us to another remarkable event on Vancouver Island, the 6th Annual Butterfly Ball. The ball is "an enchanting evening for dads and daughters in support of children and youth through Children’s Health Foundation of Vancouver Island." What isn’t there to like? A good cause, a good night, and quality time with the up and coming violinist. Tickets for the Butterfly Ball were purchased in late 2013. Claire and I were stoked for a ‘grown-up’ night out. The story takes a sharp twist because in late January the date for BookFest was announced. May 3, 2014. The Butterfly Ball? Yep. May 3, 2014. Why the issue, you ask? Shouldn’t a ‘ball’ be happening at night, and shouldn’t a ‘bookfest’ happen during the day? You are correct my young mathematician, however, the school bus Claire was taking to Nanaimo for BookFest and returning to Victoria on had her pencilled in to arrive at some point around 8:30pm. Sadly, the Butterfly Ball ended roughly around 9:00pm, so therein lies the dilemma. She could not attend both events. For several weeks, Claire laboured over the decision. I even looked into float planes and airlines to shuttle her from Nanaimo to Victoria in time for the Butterfly Ball. "Do I potentially disappoint Dad and not go to the gala," she must have mentally mused several hundred times. "Do I forgo the chance to meet with authors, and celebrate my accomplishment of reading all those books," she clearly asked herself over and over again. "Do I give up the chance to participate in the hottest ticket in town while giving back to a worthy cause," she might have questioned to herself. One night, while traveling in March, I received a call from Claire on my mobile. "Dad, I don’t know what to do. I want to go to both events, but I can’t," she whimpered, clearly on the verge of tears. I received an email the next day from her as well indicating the difficulty she was facing. It was heartbreaking, but she was figuring it out. By mid-March, after thinking about the pro’s and con’s, Claire made her decision and let us know over dinner. She chose the BookFest, and her rationale was something I’ll never forget. Mom, Dad, I’ve worked really hard reading those books and I want to complete my goal. It’s my only chance to be a part of BookFest in Grade 5. I want to meet the authors too. I don’t want to disappoint you Dad, but can we go to the Butterfly Ball next year? What you don’t know is that some of her very close chums were also going to the Butterfly Ball. As you can imagine, there was probably some pressure in her circles to choose the Butterfly Ball, let alone thinking she might disappoint her Dad. In the end, Claire chose perseverance. She stuck with her goal of reading those books and BookFest was the ultimate reward. Her decision-making was logical. It was pretty decisive for an eleven year-old. She made her decision by weighing all the pro’s and con’s, but stuck to her instinct of what was going to make her feel nourished, and one might argue flourished. She did so knowing it might disappoint her chums and (potentially) her Dad — it didn’t — but she stuck with her core beliefs. Claire left this morning at 7:15am on the school bus to Nanaimo to enjoy BookFest. I know she’s going to have an unbelievable time. I learned a lot from you over this process Claire, and I want to thank you. You taught me that difficult decisions can be pragmatically delineated. You can reach a conclusion with humility and love. You can show compassion and unending concern while labouring over a final verdict. I just want to say how proud I am, and how lucky we are to have you as our daughter. And don’t worry, we will definitely make it to the Butterfly Ball next year. We might even invite your younger sister. Dan's Related Posts:An 8 Year-Old Does Social LearningOur Three Young Children Blog … Here’s WhyTake a Chance on YouWhose Your Brian Reid?Instead of Inbox Zero, How About Outbox Zero