teamwork mechanics

random thoughts...

teams help have/make everyone accountable for the project success
success need be well defined

teams break down traditional vertical hierarchy
but individual accountability still exists, in a different order

we are all either responsible for something,
or responsible to help someone else with something
both are very important in teams
it is very important to know the difference
...it is often hard for managers to be in the position where they are responsible to help someone and to let them lead; if that person is "under them" in the traditional up and down hierarchy which still exists at the same time as teamwork dynamics are introduced in the organization.

et vice versa...

Focus?

OK, after ruminating on the library leadership topic for a few weeks now, it is evident that my greatest challenge is going to be focus.  ramblin' ain't my name for nothing after all.

No but, here is the thing, I am truly excited about this.  Thinking gets me thinking.  Everything these days seems to spur more thoughts, draw more links and point to one of the many ideas, plans, theories and goals I am trying to nail down.

I am trying to juggle it all but suspect I will have to decide "how" I want to hear all this...  and/or what I want to do about it.

I really want everyone to know more; get more information, for things to be more transparent.  But for that information and transparency to be rooted in UNDERSTANDING.  For us not to just know more but to understand better.  What we do, and each other.

I also want to find a way for all the innovation and change in service to better include administration and management, they need to be brought along for this to ever succeed.  Otherwise we continue to live in 2 camps: Old way, new way, and the powerful people of accounting and human resources too often get left in the old way camp.

Locally, I want to find ways to improve teamwork not by learning more about the theory of teamwork but by improving its practice.  We need new methods of work that apply outside the old org charts and are effective.  People get frustrated with teamwork because it promises so much fun and success but often leave us wondering what went wrong.

And that is just to start...
Focus, focus sylvie ....   yeah right.


Fun Stuff:
I have to pick 3 definitions of Leadership.  I chose these 5 and don't know what to drop...
Later I had to read 3 articles and 2 actually beat a drum that sounded a lot like the 1st 2nd quote below.

“The key to good decision making is not knowledge. It is understanding. We are swimming in the former. We are desperately lacking in the latter.” 
― Malcolm Gladwell, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

“To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart.” 

― Eleanor Roosevelt

“Great leaders don’t want attention, but they use it.  They use it to unite the tribe and to reinforce its sense of purpose.”

 -Seth Godin, Tribes

  

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” 

- Winston Churchill

“I figure if a girl wants to be a legend, she should just go ahead and be one.” 

 -Calamity Jane

...which if you replace legend with leader, is pretty much dead on.  ;)

she's baaaaaaaack!

Wow, it's embarrassing to see how long it's been.  I had so much happen in that many months and it is not that it would not have been interesting to muse here about but well, let's not dwell.

I am happy to have a very good reason for very systematic, frequent and dedicated postings in the coming year.  I have been accepted into the Sunshine State Library Leadership Institute. (SSLLI)

I am excited about focusing some of the thoughts I have been having on the subject over the years and channeling them into practical applications.

"Talk" to you all soon!
PS:This is me, excited

inspired: library contest?

you may know fl is famous for Hemingway look-alike contests...

this lovely post form the chef's widow got me thinking:
What a nice summer contest for the locals,
"Do you look like a character in a book?"
let your customer submit photos, make a flickr set, maybe even have folks vote for their favorite on your website.

then why not try to get a prize from a publisher, like an author's signed copy of the works (if possible) or something like it.


technorati tags:library-20, library2.0, library 2.0, libraries, policies, customers

Parlons d'EPS

Continuing this belated superconference blogging, it is high time I talk about EPS, Sirsidynix's Entreprise Portal Solution. It was definitely the most talked about product, with many many sessions, by sales staff, libraries and software development alike. It was also the product that conjured the most passion, both on the "excited to have all these features" side and the "this is not what I want" side.
Je m'explique:
Great dissatisfaction was expressed from many academic (and other) sites that this portal solution was clearly the next generationopac and came with so much "other duties assigned" add-on features. Many customer, academics in particular, complained about the out of the box, cookie cutter, seemingly public library focus. On the other hand, EPS customers seemed very pleased with their experience implementing the product, excited about the 2.2 version that should deliver both most fixes to theoriginal implementation bugs AND add the features that were not delivered in the 1st version. SD SD (sirsidynix software development ;) staff sounded very roud of the product and its great improvements for 2.2. (note some of these may not impress you but were long time wished of a number of sirsi customers...)
RSS feeds, CGI forms, spellcheck, the use of Central Search for federated searching and of Fast Search for faceted searching were at the top of the bragging lists. Especially exciting to me was the ability to "assume the quotes" to facilitate keyword search (eliminate the use of Boolean in quick search.) and the ability for users to a-view their accounts and renew their materials in the same page (!) and b-to modify their own holds pick up branch. I will post more about this product as we will implement at MPOW as soon as 2.2 has been in the real world for a little while. (hey, we had webcat 1st, we were the 1st unix install of iBistro, I'd like to give someone else a chance at pioneering this time...)

THIS JUST IN (unrelated to EPS) :
from a SD press release: "...Peter Gethin, SirsiDynix managing director for Europe, Middle East & Africa, has decided to retire..." I guess Peter wouldn't mind me referring to him as part of the old guard (the good old guard). Hoping everyone will know he was not only famous for the traditional joke and the Gethin report at superconference, he was a force, a smart, original, free thinker. I hope to hear from him again.


technorati tags:sirsidynix, EPS, opac,library-20, library2.0, library 2.0, libraries, customers

I'm on!

Well, turns out it's a lot harder to blog what I learn than to blog what I think. (duh!)


I will end up reviewing my notes when I get home and posting what I hope will be a much more intelligent summary next week. Today my main concern is leading the circulation sharing session this morning, which always make me a little nervous. I really look forward to it though.
I hope the turn out is good.
While you patiently wait for educational content, here is a picture of Mack,














who really was working the registration desk.





Technorati tags:library-20, library2.0, library 2.0, libraries, policies, customers

superconference day 1 (updated)

Love it here. It was actually warmer in CO(46F) when I arrived, than it was in Orlando (37F) when I left. Now I know what the F stands for...

Got to talk to Mack about linking to respective blogs. Read his posts on Swem Review.

The federated searching session from today was most excellent. It was the best idea to have both sirsidynix present their products and efforts and 2 different users explain their selection and implementation process of 2 different products.
main 2 points in short:
XML matters most, and more and more everyday.
It's not about the searching, it's about the FINDING!

more to come.
mood: festive, smart, anticipatory.
cold

UPDATE:
Since Mack really puts me to shame with his coverage of the Federated search session, I will refer you back to his post and add a few more comments from the "how will/would this work at MPOW?" stand point.
Biggest discovery point ('reality bites'): I will have to implement (read: find time, funds and acquire expertise) proxy authentication for our users to our databases before fedsearch can be done. There s a way to use the sirsidynix portal login to attempt it but not all db vendors are apt to accept it as secure. Plus, fedsearch is not going to replace native search so authentication will best be managed with one solution instead of trying to make it work separately in each.

Biggest remaining pondering point: The fed search product can be used as an entry point to all your resources, including your own catalog, so IT could be the portal also... hummmm...

Most valuable "freebie": once you set up fedsearch, you can, should, will, have the ability to add resources that are available for free. Think image seach including flickr, yahoo and google images and picassa etc...

BACK TO: It's about the finding. Think DELIVERY OF THE RESOURCES DISCOVERED, always.

Blogging conference content is hard! see you soon.





technorati tags:library-20, library2.0, library 2.0, libraries, policies, customers

to Colorado!

I'm off! Looking forward to hearing Steven, finding out about RSS feeds from my OPAC, ditto for federated searching. Will be presenting the results of the 2007 user enhancement request forum for the circulation module in a sharing session. Most of all, I will be getting my batteries charged. After all, it's not so often there is more than one library systems administrator in the room.
I will be blogging here as time allows, more likely posting to flickr.

Excited to see Colorado, to meet again with Kathi and Janet and to get together with many smart people that have been helping, mentoring and setting a good example for me for many years.


technorati tags:library-20, library2.0, library 2.0, libraries, policies, customers

Rowdy teens continued.

Read an update here.
Ha, Ha! ...although this quote: "... the library had already indicated that a plan for guards was not enough to rescind its vote on the closing." somewhat shoots my 1st theory down? Maybe...




technorati tags:library-20, library2.0, library 2.0, libraries, policies, customers