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When we started our current consulting project we were placed in the ‘consultant area’ - a narrow room off a main hallway with a long counter-top, power strips and blue network cables galore.  Our client is a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Denver so they occupy many of the floors in this high-rise.

The ‘consultant area’ is located on the 36th floor.  Soon after we started, though, we were given individual cubes on the 25th floor.  There was great intent behind this move because we could have our own spot, dedicated phones, etc.  The problem was that everyone we depended on for our project was still up on 36.  Not only were they 11 floors apart, they were on different elevator banks so going to meetings, con calls, etc. meant going down to the lobby, across a few elevator banks and then up to 36.  Not good for spontaneous interaction.

Despite our new digs on 25 we found ourselves going back to the less-than-glamorous consultant area on 36  more often because we were on the main drag and could engage our key SMEs and stakeholders very easily rather than spending the time to draft a well-written email or voicemail.

Realizing the impact that proximity had to our project, our team was given an unused office on 36 to use as our Project War Room.  In it we have posted our Project Org Chart, Project Plan, Contact List and a basket full of leftover lunch cookies, fruit and snacks.  This is our own space and it’s located in the heart of our extended project team.  Our core team (5 people) sits in there daily and we are able to brainstorm with various SMEs at a moment’s notice, hold meetings, conference calls, etc.  It has truly become project central.

Is this the solution for everything?  No.  I find myself heading back to the Consultant Area every few days for the times when I need quiet time to think, write or do anything that requires intense concentration for long periods of time.  There are not long periods of peacefulness in the Project Room…ever.  Each place has its purpose, though, and we’re lucky to have the two spots to choose from.

I have heard that employees located over 50 feet apart are unlikely to get up and engage each other face-to-face - rather they will use email or the phone.  What opportunities are there in your organization to give people a common place to gather for key projects?  Consider dedicated ‘War Rooms’ associated with big deliverables or clients - places where people can opt to work when collaborating rather than going through the more formal process of checking calendars and scheduling meetings when all you need is a 5-minute conversation. 

Many new companies, such as Google with their Googleplex, are hiring top designers to build this collaboration space into their new buildings.  Don’t have a Google-size budget?  Convert unused office space, common areas or any other space into a place where people can confer.  This combined with their offices or cubes for the times when they need quiter concentration will present options to your workforce on how they can work best.  Take it from a War Room veteran, though, there is power in proximity.

This month’s Big Question on Learning Circuits Blog is

What questions should we be asking? 

In a former life I worked for a company whose business model was structured around a two-day workshop.  Although in the time since I’ve been there I have learned that a two-day workshop can usually be just a cog in a larger wheel (if it’s to be effective) that two-day workshop was excellent.

One of the most popular modules was one called ‘Effective Questions.’  In it, the facilitator had participants experience the difference between two different questions that could be asked in the same scenario (i.e. Why are we so behind schedule? vs. What can we do to get back to our projected timeline?)

An effective question can leave a person to stew on it for hours or days only to have an answer pop-in unexpectedly.  I feel this is what the learning and development field should strive for in their communication to business executives.

Some examples would be:

•  What knowledge, skills and attitudes are necessary to execute on your strategy? 
• How can we more effectively diversify your learning ‘portfoilio’ so that the maximum return is realized?
•  What are the various futures that may be in store for this organization?  What are the common denominators between those potential futures that we can align learning and development with now?
• How can your incentive programs be better aligned with the behaviors required for success?  What can learning and development then do to make it easier for people to receive those incentives?
• How can your current training expenditures be adjusted in order to maximize the net present value of these allocations?

I feel that learning and development needs to continue to show that we think like business executives in order to get the ear of business executives.  Through well targeted questions, executives will convince themselves of the value of their workforce having the skills, attitude and knowledge needed to succeed.  At that point, we in the learning and development field can banter as to the specific methodology to use - won’t that be a good problem to have?

My wife is a runner and is constantly struggling to get me to do a lap around a local park.  She simply wants me to be in the best shape possible as we grow old together.  My usual counter is that I want her to  do crossword puzzles with me so that we can continue to have intellectual conversations deep into our golden years. 

There’s no shortage of evidence to show that physical exercise will payoff throughout your life but how about mental workouts?

Yahoo! has posted another article (the second in as many weeks) that links learning with long-term health.  The first was related to Alzheimer’s where this one is more about living longer overall and being mentally more acute.

This stream of research on the benefits of continuing to learn throughout life confirms what what many have suspected for a long time but it’s always nice to see it in writing.  It won’t get me out of jogging but it should buy me some more time doing crosswords.

My father used to say that you could always tell where a company was struggling by watching their commercials.  Many years later that still rings true as I watch companies try to shape their public percpetion with carefully crafted ads that seem targeted from focus groups and customer surveys. 

With that in mind, what perception do you think Kodak is trying to overcome with this internal commercial?

To me it looks, feels and sounds like an internal PR campaign from a company that has grossly missed the turning point in their industry.  Instead of spotting the trend many years ago, now they’re forced to announce their entrance into the digital world via a mea culpa that would have you think that they’ve been developing some of the best digital technology the world will ever see during their absence from the field.  I’m not convinced.

I saw a brief blurb on the news that Kodak’s workforce is half of what is was three years ago.  Here is what a local Rochester station said last month.

I will not claim that a learning culture at Kodak would have prevented this - but hey…I’m biased and I do think that instilling the elements of a learning organization would have strongly contributed to a different story for Kodak’s recent years. 

A learning organization is one that learns from its mistakes and successes, spots trends in the market and acts on them by being nimble enough to do so.  A culture of learning rewards knowledge sharing which reduces the chances that you’ll be blindsided by something like digital in 2007.

Kodak could have presented themselves as a picture company many years ago - whether those pictures are on film or in a file it shouldn’t matter.  Part of making that transition would require a company that is ready to learn and develop.  For those in Rochester that are now getting their close-up as a result of the press attributed to their drastically late entrance into the market.  Say…cheese?