Leadership and Librarians

Stephen Abram, MLSFebab FederacaoFlorianopolis, BrazilJuly 11, 2013

Where have I learned?

• Associations• Jobs• Consortia• Politics• Travel• Mentoring• Training• Projects• Be the change and

change the world

What is Leadership?

Leaders see an improvement to be made – a desirable future state, sometimes before others, and actively seek to achieve those

improvements.

Who is a Leader?

Everyone can lead.Leadership is different from

managing or supervising.

Lies we tell ourselves

• I’m not a leader• Shyness versus introversion• I don’t do presentations to management• People will notice my good work• They’ll read my report, memo . . .• Leadership is someone else’s job• I don’t make the decisions around here…• That’s their responsibility – not mine• Criticism in the absence of constructive criticism and

critical thinking

Followership

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Future Driven, Scalable Leadership Training for Librarians

• Northern Exposure to Leadership Institute• iSchool at Toronto e.g. Public Library Institute• Crucial Conversations• ALA Emerging Leaders• Mountain Plains Leadership Institute• Tall Texans• Snowbird• iSchool @ Toronto Symposia

– MOOCs, Makerspaces, New Measurements, Crowdfunding…

• Etc.

Recent Research: PhD Dissertations on Leadership in Libraries

Mary-Jo Romaniuk, San Jose State Univ.Cheryl Stenstrom, San Jose State Univ.Donna Brockmeyer, Univ. of Saskatchewan, Thomas More CollegeKen Haycock, Marshall School, University of California

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Research Insights into what Makes a Difference

• Passion is foremost• Confidence next• Influence not just Advocacy• Risk Taking – in context• Change Management• Flexibility• Dealing with Ambiguity – having the aptitude to

introduce change aligned with the future state.• Influencing Skills = selling ideas

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What doesn’t help or work

• Not taking the long view• A dysfunctional view of time• Being risk averse• Playground competition• Lack of cooperation• Backbiting and blamestorming• Fear of change or, indeed, fear at all• Generally – ‘negativity’

SLA Alignment ResearchKey Highlights:• True Relationships (not just contacts)• Real Networks, Collaboration• Consultation – based on authority, expertise, quality

and short conversations • Speed – Save Time• Packaging for Added Value Answers• Educate and Train• Understanding libraries/ians is an underserved and

regularly expressed need11

Positioning the Library and Librarian / Library Staff

Real professionals have names and reputationsWhat is your value proposition?You versus the library versus the institution?Why do you, the library, or your institution exist?

Librarian Magic

What are your magic tricks?

SmellyYellowLiquid

OrSex

Appeal?

The Complex Value Proposition

Communication theory: For adults to use a librarian effectively they have to admit thatthey don’t know something and that requires openness, trust and a peer relationship.

Risk Taking in Librarianship

Avoiding the triple diseases of:1. Conflict avoidance2. Passive resistance3. Risk aversion

Too Much Respect for Rules

Fear of Looking Silly

Too Little Time

Studying Things to Death

Not letting ideas grow . . .

Fear of Success

Failure to Reward Risk

Digital risk has raised the bar on risk taking in library land.

So Much Complication!

Too Much Respect for Tradition

While Neglecting to Curate the Future

Are there any of these in your library?

The Black Hole

Sucking the life out of initiative(s)?

Grocery Stores

Cookbooks, Chefs . . .

Cookbooks, Chefs . . .

Meals

The new bibliography and

collection development

Ask Us, KNOWLEDGE

PORTALSKNOWLEDGE,

LEARNING,INFORMATION &

RESEARCHCOMMONS

THE EXPERIENCE OF THE LIBRARYSo let’s talk about . . .

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Human

Resources

Service

Learning

Value

SIMPLIFY

SHARING YOURSELF AND YOU

Up Your Game• Embedded team member• Embedded teacher• Embedded research coach• Embedded personal librarian• Re-intermediation• Tools – business cards, e-mail sigs, web pages, social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr,…)

UNCOMFORTABLE CHOICES: SACRIFICEUp Your Game• Dog, Star, Cow, Problem Child/?• Reduce investment in successes – This isn’t a typo• Increase investment in future successes – learn from failing• Look at TCO - Do NOT value your own time at $zero• Look at all costs incurred and not just hard costs• Review the opportunity costs in soft costs (e.g. ILL …)

Being Open to Ambiguity

Be the Change We Want to See

Entering the Knowledge Era

• Right answers/facts give way to consensus answers/informed guesses

• Information combined with Insight rules• Knowing where and how to look is infinitely

more valuable than knowing facts• Knowledge is an immersion environment -

an Information Ocean - where are the maps that work here?

Five Laws of Library Science

• Books are for use.• Books are for all; or, Every reader his book.• Every book its reader.• Save the time of the reader.• A library is a growing organism.

S.R. Ranganathan

Five New Laws of Library Science

• Libraries serve humanity.• Respect all forms by which knowledge is

communicated.• Use technology intelligently to enhance

service.• Protect free access to knowledge.• Honor the past and create the future.

Walt Crawford and Michael Gorman

Librarian Core Value Commitments• Democracy• Stewardship• Service• Intellectual Freedom• Privacy• Literacy and Learning• Rationalism• Equity of Access• Building Harmony and Balance

– Michael Gorman, Library Journal, April 15, 2001

VALUES

To have the right staffGet the right information

In the right format To the right people

At the right timeTo make the right decision

RIGHT

Leadership is People not Projects

• "Successful knowledge transfer involves neither computers nor documents but rather interactions between people."

Tom Davenport

People like librarians, teachers, faculty, counselors, therapists, social workers, advisors, . . .

Taking The Knowledge Positioning

• Data >>>• Transformations are:• Applying standards• SGML, HTML, Fields,

Tags, MARC, normalizing . . .

• Information >>>• Transformations are:• Representing data:• Display, Chart, Format,

Publish, Aggregate, Picture, Graph, Sort, Rank, Highlight, etc.

Taking The Knowledge Positioning

Data >>> Information >>>Knowledge >

Applystandards

TangibleRepresentationsof Data

LearningKnowingFilteringEvaluatingBalancing

Knowledge is not the path to:

WISDOM

Taking The Knowledge Positioning

• Behaviour• Decisions that result in action, even if that action

is non-action• Key success factors are intelligent, informed and

impactful results• Has value in proportion to its results in the

context of the individual or social organization• Measure behavioural impact – don’t just collect

statistics.

Taking The Knowledge Positioning

Data====>

Information=======>

Knowledge======>

Behaviour======>

Apply Stand-

ards Store

&Move

Display Chart Graph Publish Picture Format

Knowing Learning Filtering Evaluating

Gerunds

Do Decide Choose Apply Enact

ActionVerbs

Transformational Process

• Data• Information • Knowledge• Behaviour

• Norm• Form• Transform• Perform

Success

The Five Stages of Technology Adoption

• Awareness• Interest• Evaluation• Trial• Adoption

The $60 Million Dollar Question

How do we more speedily process our organizations through this cycle?

CHANGE

• Innovators• Early Adopters• Early Majority• Middle Majority• Laggards• Non-Adopters

2.5%13 %17.5 %33.5 %17.5%16%

The Classic Corn Research

The Classic Corn Research

What Favours Rapid Adoption?

• Relative Advantage• Compatibility• Complexity• Trialability• Observability

The Market Adaptation Sequence

• Product Acceptance• Motivation• Confidence Level• Education / Attitude• Acceptance Criteria• Selling Strategy

Understanding Adoption Types: Innovators

• Technology fascination• Motivation -- Implement New Ideas• Confidence Level High -- experiment, risk• Self taught, independent• Latest technology, few features, performance• Self sold, when turned on, word of mouth

Understanding Adoption Types: Early Adopters

• The coming thing• Motivation -- leap frog the competition, prove

business• Willing to try new things, reasonable risk• Will attend night school to learn• Innovation, better way to do job, selective• Sold on benefits, references, word of mouth

Understanding Adoption Types: Late Adopters

• Obvious solutions to problems• Motivation --social pressure, fear of

obsolescence• No risk, slow to change, needs references• Seminars, proven products, hand holding• Brand important, pay for needed features

only, terms & conditions important• Examples, address cost/technical support

Understanding Adoption Types: Laggards

• Absolute need• Extreme competition/social pressure • Reluctant to change• Will send someone to a seminar, needs proof,

ease of use• Lowest cost, competitive terms, brand• Productivity increases, fear

What kind of librarian are you? Critical thinker or Criticizer?What is your library culture around change or innovation?

Leaders have many modes.

They choose to use the personal behaviour that works in the situation.

Be 3D or 6D, but not 1D

"An optimist is someone who says a glass is half full. A pessimist says it's half empty. A

leader might say, "Looks like we've got twice as much glass as we need. Let discuss it."

Are you on the ‘hits’ train?

BIGDATA

QUALITATIVE INFORMATION

QUANTITATIVE DATA

and

STATISTICS

MEASUREMENTS

versus

Are you locked into a traditional library mindset?

What about value and impact?

LISTEN TO THE MUSIC IN YOUR HEAD

Exercise your mind about the rhythms of your work. . .

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Or shall we stick with this?

Algorithms

• Search differentiator• Commercial algorithms versus those based on big

data • Measuring end user success versus known item

retrieval…• “Romeo and Juliet”• Problems with the unmonitored trial

– Wrong tests– Poor sampling– Mindset issues

Sharing Learning and Research• Usability versus User Experience• End users versus librarians• Known item retrieval (favourite test) versus immersion

research • Lists versus Discovery• Scrolling versus pagination• Devices and browsers and agnosticism• Satisfaction and change• Individual research experience vs. impacts on e-courses,

LibGuides, training materials, etc.

Focus and Understand on the Whole Experience

Statistics, Measurements and Analytics

• Counter & Sushi data are very weak metrics that don’t provide insights into the critical stuff

• Database usage (unique user, session, length of session, hits, downloads, etc.)

• Web and Google Analytics (6,000+ websites)• Foresee satisfaction and demographic data• Search Samples (underemphasized at this point.)• Time of Year Analysis • ILS Data (from clients &n partnerships)• Geo-IP data, analytics and mapping.• Impact studies and sampling – especially on training• Gaining insight from information and data

Analytics

Conclusion: 28 Key Tips

Good not Perfect It’s not the steps that cause delays in development -

it’s the space between the steps No mistake is ever final. Freeze and Go! The right metaphor is seasonal

change - not revolution or evolution Prefer action over study: If you’re studying

something to death - remember that death was not the original goal!

Conclusion: 28 Key Tips

Mock-Up, Build, Rebuild, Beta, Pilot, Launch, Re-Do

Remember the rule of six (6). You get very diminishing returns after asking the same question of like people.

Remember the 15% rule: Humans have extreme difficulty in actually seeing a difference of less than 15%.

Conclusion: 28 Key Tips

Use the 70/30 rule: “I agree with 70% and can live with the other 30%.”

Remember the old 80/20 rule standby: No matter how few or many users you have, 80% of your usage/revenue/etc. will come from 20% of your users.

Remember the 90/10 rule. 90% of your costs are in implementation, not development.

Conclusion: 28 Key Tips

“Productize”: Be able to physically point at your product or service.

Get out of your box! It is unlikely that you are the alpha user profile.

You can’t step in the same river twice. Your knowledge of the new development means you probably cannot see the potential pitfalls.

Conclusion: 28 Key Tips

Understand the differences between features, functions and benefits.

Understand your customer and don’t assume - TEST.

Don’t just ask your clients what they do, will do or want. OBSERVE them.

Have a vision and dream BIG!

Conclusion: 28 Key Tips

Ask the three magic questions:What keeps you awake at night?If you could solve only one problem at work, what

would it be?If you could change one thing and one thing only,

what would it be? Never underestimate the user – especially

students. Seek the real user.

Conclusion: 28 Key Tips

Respect information literacy, learning styles and multiple intelligence.

Understand the adoption curve. Do research for yourself too. Set up alerts on

your hot issues. Bring management on side first, then

customers and users, BEFORE you launch.

Conclusion: 28 Key Tips

Feedback is a gift - you can keep it, return it, hide it in the closet. Don’t overvalue one piece of out-of-context feedback or let it loom out of perspective and balance.

Measure - don’t just count: Decision-makers CANNOT interpret your statistics.

When you have 100 options to choose from the critical skill isn’t choosing 5 but sacrificing 95.

The Library as Sandbox

Stephen Abram, MLS, FSLAConsultant, Dysart & Jones/Lighthouse Partners

Cel: 416-669-4855stephen.abram@gmail.comStephen’s Lighthouse Blog

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