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One of my personal hobbies is photography and I subscribe to PC Photo Magazine.  I am a self-described pack rat and have kept all of the issues they’ve sent for fear that there may be a morsel of information in one that I’ll need to come back to.

As part of the process of moving into my new office, though, I thought about how likely it was that I would go back and look through old magazines as opposed to looking for the information on the Internet or via some other source.  It didn’t take long to decide that they belong in the circular file.

It was very liberating to toss them out - knowing that I could find my answers in other ways.  Then my eyes drifted to the top shelf where there sat many of the binders I’ve collected over the years through various projects and seminars.  I haven’t gotten up the nerve to toss them just yet but the experience with the magazines got me thinking about it.  I haven’t touched many of those binders in years.  Before digging through old binders to answer a question, I am more inclined to talk with a colleague or look on-line.  The shelves in my office are prime real estate and I don’t want them being occupied by information that I won’t use.

For the time being, though, instead of tossing them I’ve decided to not allow binders to take up any more room on the shelf.  Of the binders I get in the future, then, I will have to decide if they get a spot and another one gets tossed or if they never get a turn in the rotation.

Perhaps some day I’ll have the nerve to purge my shelf more radically - but I doubt it. 

Many training companies like to load their participants up with take-aways that usually collect dust once participants return to their office, just as mine are.  Since people are more inclined to go ask a colleague or consult the internet when they have a challenge, why not spend those training dollars on things that make it easier for them to do so?

This post is part of a series.  For previous posts please select from the list below:

• Foreword
• Social Brickworking

The next installment in this series involves drywall.  On a recent Sunday, my cousin and I had encountered several setbacks that put us behind our timeline.  He travels for his job and was leaving early the next morning and would be gone for two weeks straight.  I couldn’t let the project lie dormant for two weeks and needed to get to a point where I could do OK on my own.

Throughout the day my cousin was rebuilding a stud wall that we had demolished to create more space in the office.  We also spent some time hanging sheets of drywall. 

After my cousin left that night, it was up to me to finish hanging the drywall and then to begin the process of ‘taping and mudding.’  I had never done any of this before but had been told that taping and mudding was the most difficult part of the process.

The next day I finished hanging the drywall at lunch time.  Before moving into the taping and mudding, I broke for a sandwich.  While eating I searched Google for anything on ‘taping and mudding drywall.’  I found a video of Myron Ferguson modeling the steps for invisible drywall seams.  I watched the video twice while I ate and at the end of my meal I felt pretty well prepared to tackle my next obstacle.

With this just-in-time information, I headed back downstairs and proceeded to tape and mud the seams of the drywall sheets.  My results were pretty impressive although the process to get there wasn’t as clean as Myron’s.  Below is a picture of the shirt I wore over the few days it took for the multiple coats of mud needed:

Consider the similarities of the position I was in and what happens in organizations daily:

• Unexpected snags caused a delay in our project timeline 
• My supervisor was pulled away from the project at a critical time
• I was left alone to figure out how to deliver on our objectives

Having access to the Google database allowed me to find the just-in-time (JIT) information I needed to proceed.  This is the philosophy of JIT training - give people access to information so that they can get it just when they need it.  The level of retention of this information is astonishing.  If I were put through a course on drywalling months ago I would not have retained much.  Because of my experience, though, I could help another amateur drywaller through the process.

What would be the value of having the Google-equivalent of relevant JIT information in your organization?

I have subscribed to Chief Learning Officer Magazine nearly since its inception.  In the July 2006 issue, there was a brochure touting the launch of the CLO Academy.

Back in November of 2005 I received an email from a different organization announcing the launch of the CLO Institute.

If nothing else, it is exciting to see the visibility and credibility that is being given to the strategic role that learning leaders can play in organizations.  Beyond that, though, I’m curious as to how the CLO Academy and the CLO Institute will differ in their approach to developing leaders of strategic learning.

I took the first three classes ever offered by the CLO Institute in January and am currently working on the client project required for certification.  The classes were very insightful and well worth my time. 

The CLO Academy opens its doors in September and I plan to be in attendance.  Check back for a compare and contrast of how these two institutions approach this much needed track for professionals in the learning community.