We are all Rube Goldbergs Now.

This site is dedicated to the spirit of Rube Goldberg - the inventor of complicated, whimsical machines designed to do simple tasks.

The spirit of these inventions are to join together simple machine interactions in an interesting way, to achieve the desired result.

Nowadays, software services enable us all to become Rube Goldberg.

Using off the shelf capabilities, I recently used my iPhone to take a picture, upload it to Flickr, then blog about it on one of my Blogger accounts.

All in minutes. All for free.

The recipe ingredients are:
1. Download the (free) FlickIt application to your iPhone.
2. Link your FlickR account to your blog (takes just seconds).
3. Take a picture with your iPhone.
4. Upload to FlickR.
5. Use "Blog This" functionality on FlickR to post a blog entry on Blogger.










Voila!

The point of all this is that every day, new software services and capabilities are being created by talented developers. It is up to each of us to put together the pieces and work (or play) more efficiently.

This is an exciting time. Stay on the lookout for new, cool capabilities and make Rube proud!

The Battle of O.D. vs. A.D.D.

Many would argue that the I.T. function became more effective after the development of Steering Teams - regular participation by company leaders discussing and debating technology policies and systems development.

The more involved senior leaders are with an initiative, department or function the more commitment, understanding and the sharper the strategic focus. It's all about alignment, expectations and buy-in. And regular exposure to the I.T. function helps foster that.

So why don't we do the same thing with Organizational Development? For many HR departments, the O.D. team is comprised of hybrid "skunkworks" HR people who don't administer policy, explain benefits or manage compensation..

They're out there in the lines of business, working as missionaries, trying to develop momentum behind the principles of succession planning, employee development and nurturing great employee performance.

But these plans seem to be developed within the bowels of HR - then sold to various constituencies within the organization. They act (and are treated) as service providers rather than partners.

Unfortunately for us all, OD efforts are often times seen as the "project of the week" instead of an ongoing (and critical) business process.

It's a battle of O.D. vs. corporate A.D.D. (attention deficit disorder).

From an I.T. perspective, I think we could benefit from a much higher degree of collaboration between I.T. and the O.D. folks. After all, achieving the benefits of systems deployment is almost entirely dependent on how well our employees understand our processes and use the systems. The O.D. team can make a big difference in system acceptance, change management, training and individual performance improvement.

But we aren't at the table.

Because there IS no table.

I'd rather dovetail I.T. user training and performance improvement within a corporate framework/strategy rather than do it independently. We aren't great communicators. We aren't great trainers. We could use your help to improve our performance.

Perhaps we could begin with an O.D. steering team?

Until then, let's have lunch.

School's Never Out

Want to build a learning organization? It starts by asking one question repeatedly.

"What did you learn this week?"

And listening to the answer.

Try asking the question in a group setting. Invite your team to lunch or set aside some time late on Friday for a meeting. Go round the table and have each person relate what they learned this week.

The first couple of meetings may not elicit much discussion or lessons learned, but persevere and you'll begin to set the expectation that your team should come prepared with lessons to share.

Well facilitated, these meetings can become lively sessions, with team members sharing similar learning experiences or suggesting additional ways to address a situation, move forward on a difficult problem, or effectively work with a difficult employee. Perhaps an employee didn't have a lesson to share...how about recommending a favorite business book to the team?

Done well, your team will begin to open themselves up to teachable moments and to continuously self-question - how could I/we have done this better? They'll begin asking co-workers for advice rather than trying to solve situations all on their own.

You'll build a trust within your team. A feeling that you "have each other's back" - that you want everyone to succeed. At a minimum, it's an opportunity to "blow off steam" - to vet issues causing stress.

You may discover some team members who are oblivious. Each week (or month) they'll attend the meeting with nothing to share. They clock in each day and do their jobs but don't have their "radar up", watching for teachable moments. They're caught in a daily grind, locked into a rut. Worst case, they may be the kind of employee who "checks their brain at the door".

There's a place for these employees too.

Working for the competition.

Here are four steps to beginning the process.

Step 1: Start asking the question in a group setting.
Step 2: Encourage (demand?) participation.
Step 3: Keep asking the question. (Make continuous learning a habit.)
Step 4: Move the "dunces" out.

Turn learning into a habit and watch what happens to team productivity, employee engagement and morale.