Blog

In a recent article from CLO magazine, they profile an organ procurement organization that shares information across the country to ensure that patients are getting what they need in time to save their life.

It’s this approach that I think many more organizations could adopt and apply some structure too which would translate into tremendous value.  In today’s world we can not inject people with the information they need…there’s too much.  We must make it easy for them to find.

A community such as it sounds has been formed in organ donation group, serves as an ongoing conversation of ideas and information that is always easily accessible.  What opportunities does your organization have to increase the access to your information?

Enjoy your holiday weekend!

Just yesterday I wrote a post lamenting about the seeming divide between the world of CLOs and the implementation of informal learning methodologies such as communities of practice (CoP).

I have to eat a little crow on that one - not too long after I posted I received an email newsletter from CLO magazine and one of the segments was titled ‘A New Vision for Communities of Practice.’  In it is a case study about a United Way project as well as many insights from Etienne Wenger, considered to be the guru of CoPs.

Although small it’s great to see these two worlds begin to intertwine.  Follow the link above for a downloadable case study on the project while I sit here and enjoy the irony of timing.

Are you impressed with the performance of a learning leader or a supplier of learning services?  Honor them with a nomination for one of many different Learning in Practice Awards sponsored by CLO Media.

CLO Media has just released their 2007 Business Intelligence Report.  In the Executive Summary they include ‘Trends in Informal Learning’ and report the following:

“Compared to formal workplace learning, informal learning tends to be unplanned and unstructured. Because informal learning can take a variety of forms, it is difficult to define and even harder to measure.  While the BIB reports that on average 58 percent of the learning occurring in their organizations is informal, fully 36 percent place that figure at 70 percent or more. However, only 20 percent of the BIB actually tracks informal learning in their organizations. Given this low number, it is not surprising that only 8 percent of organizations have a comprehensive strategy in place to manage informal learning.”   The report did go on to say that more than half of the organizations surveyed “expect informal learning to receive increased support” while 14% expect to receive a “significant increase in support” for informal learning. 

I see this as progress and great news.  Embracing informal learning is a major mindset shift for organizations that have been going the formal/traditional route for so long and it won’t happen overnight. 

Beyond the mental shift that needs to happen, significant investments have been made in processes, procedures and systems that are more aligned with formal/traditional learning.  It simply isn’t feasible to abandon what is currently in place for something new - I’m sure many will take a cautious, phased approach to integrating more informal learning into their learning portfolio.

For those of us in the field the shift can’t happen fast enough but as a business owner I understand the cultural and financial questions that must be vetted before supporting what many consider to be a radical approach.

MediaTec Publishing, producers of CLO Magazine have just added the “CLO InfoZone” to their site.  I received a brief blurb about it Friday and a more in-depth report today.

 From the release:

“MediaTec Publishing Inc. has announced that CLOmedia.com, the online home of Chief Learning Officer magazine, has launched CLO InfoZone, a collection of microsites offering podcasts, videos, white papers and additional resources from companies in the enterprise education community. ”

They also explain that WebEx is the first to build a microsite there.  I was relieved to read this because after my first visit I felt as if it was way too WebEx heavy.  Knowing it is a WebEx microsite and that other companies will be filling in their microsites, I understand the model.

I look forward to seeing what the InfoZone becomes.

Two of my instructors from the CLO Academy Colloquium were recently honored by being in the Top 5 of Training Magazine’s Top 125. 

 Tom Clancy of EMC (#3) and Kevin Wilde of General Mills (#5) were both excellent facilitators at the Colloquium and it was great to see them honored in print.

Kudos to the CLO Academy on a great year of recruiting!

I am honored to have been in the inaugural class of the CLO (Chief Learning Officer) Academy.  They have designed the program to kick-off with a face-to-face colloquium and then have different tracks of on-line courses through Capella University.

I completed the Colloquium in September but because of my wedding and honeymoon I wasn’t able to participate in the first round of on-line classes.  Therefore…I start tomorrow.  I’ve never taken a university course on-line.  Distance courses in my college days meant checking out a bunch of VHS tapes of recorded lectures.  I’ve heard a lot of good things about Capella’s instructional model so I’m looking forward to experiencing it.

My first course is titled “Strategic Planning and the New World of Work.”  Sounds exciting - I will write more about my experience as it unfolds so check back for updates.

Note:  if you would like to see reviews of the CLO Academy Colloquium or the inaugural CLO Institute please read here.

CLO events will host Keith Bridges in a webinar on 10/26/06 @ 2pm EST.

From their site:

Join Keith Bridges, senior HR consultant at EDS, as he chronicles the creation and implementation of 75 IT development paths critical to technical-delivery success. Development paths are blended-learning experiences that feature Thomson NETg Web-based courses, Learnflow programs for Microsoft and Cisco, Toolwire virtual labs, Expert Now online courses, instructor-led courses, mentoring, assessments, online reference libraries and exam voucher management — all delivered through a Saba LMS. In this Chief Learning Officer magazine e-Seminar, sponsored by Thomson NETg, you’ll hear how more than 35,000 people have enrolled in nearly 150,000 courses since EDS launched the first seven development paths in the fall of 2004. Hear firsthand how EDS plans to incorporate podcasts, blogs, wikis and other new emerging technologies into its learning and development programs.

Keith was afacilitator at the inaugural CLO Academy and has a great deal of knowledge in this area so I’m excited to hear what he has to say.  It’s great to see that his agenda will include some informal learning/Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, wikis and podcasts - this will only help increase the exposure and credibility of these tools as the next generation of learning methodology.

It’s free…register here.

Note:  For an at-a-glance view of all types of events related to learning and development, Orbital RPM maintains a Calendar that shows events for many months in the future for planning purposes and allows you to sign-up for reminders to email or cell phone.

I recently spent a weekend in Washington D.C. to make a vacation out of the inaugural CLO Academy that was being held in Lansdowne, VA.

It was a quick trip in D.C. so we were rushed to see the major sites. We started at the National Archives building where they have on display the Constitution, Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence along with access to countless other historical documents.

While up close and personal with these very elaborate and elegant documents, I wondered what the process would have been had our country been formed when the Founding Fathers had access to some of today’s Web 2.0 tools that we’re now using for learning and collaboration.

Imagine Benjamin Franklin and John Adams developing their ideas for the Constitution on a wiki, Thomas Paine keeping citizens informed about the American Revolution via his blog rather than the pamphlet ‘Common Sense’ or all of the Founding Fathers forming a community of practice that keeps in touch about their progress via an online portal.

What they would have gained in efficiencies back then is perhaps what we would have lost in enjoyment today. It’s tough to imagine throngs of people gathered around and craning their necks to sneak a peek of the final wiki page of the Constitution. Would John Hancock’s digital signature have the same impact as the pen and ink version does?  Probably not.

Don’t mistake my tone, though.  I’m all for these Web 2.0 tools and enjoy the efficiency they bring to offices and homes each day.  It just seems that the more efficient we get, the less that opportunity for nostalgia exists. 

On the other hand, perhaps these advacements will serve to make the historic documents all the more rare as times go by so that in several decades our societies will just appreciate the fact that they’re on paper - let alone written by hand.  If this serves to create more awareness and interest in our history, I say that’s one more benefit of the progress we’re making.

I am part of the inaugural class of both the CLO Academy and the CLO Institute and am summarizing my experiences to date through a comparison and contrast of the two programs for anyone that is considering attending either or both.

As I’ve said before, kudos to the founding members of both for elevating the status and visibility of the Chief Learning Officer role in organizations.  I am of the opinion that we are amidst a transformation in the way that organizations can use learning and development to enhance the performance of their company.  This isn’t done by putting people through more content and more training sessions - it’s done by giving people access to the information they need to succeed or helping develop new skills or mindsets for success.  Chief Learning Officers are the people to make that happen.

I’ll start the review with a bit of background.  The CLO Institute was the first to market.  I received word of it in November of 2005 and attended classes in January of 2006.  I heard of the CLO Academy in May of 2006 and attended the first class in September of 2006.

The CLO Institute was started and is heavily led by Doug Harward - the founder of TrainingOutsourcing.com.  This is an important detail as some of the content is influenced and benefits from his expertise.  The CLO Academy was started by the team at MediaTec Publishing; also the creators of Chief Learning Officer Magazine. 

Format - How the two programs approach the development of learning leaders

• CLO Institute:  The CLO Institute has different Learning Programs for participants to choose from.  They include a Certified Chief Learning Officer (CCLO), a Certified Learning Strategist (CLS) and a Certified Learning Architect (CLA).  Participants take classes according to which Learning Program they select.  Once all classes for a Learning Program are completed, participants must do a real-world project in order to be certified.  Currently all classes are conducted face-to-face although they mentioned that on-line classes will be held in the future.
• CLO Academy:  The CLO Academy also has choices to make.  Theirs are Certification Tracks [cannot embed a direct link] and are called Learning Leadership, Learning Effectiveness and Learning Management.  The CLO Academy begins with a 2.5 day face-to-face session (called a Colloquium) regardless of which Track is selected and then all following Track-specific courses are conducted on-line through a partnership with Capella University.

Content and Style

• CLO Institute:  The CLO Institute classes were that…classes.  We were instructed from 9-5 and then went to our respective hotels to return the next day.  This is not all a complaint, though.  In an environment where people are hungry for the knowledge I don’t think presentations are all that bad.  The classes were small enough that we could ask questions at any point. The advantage of this format is that we received a lot of great information. The CLO Institute helps learning leaders view and analyze learning as an investment; this requires a good deal of foundational content for participants and that’s what they provided.  The CLO Institute is where I was began to apply concepts such as net present value (NPV) and economic value added (EVA) to learning expenditures.  The disadvantage of their format was the lack of informal networking and peer-to-peer collaboration.  To their credit, the CLO Institute has since set-up a place on their site as an on-line resource for the community of past participants.
• CLO Academy:  The CLO Academy Colloquium was a very different experience from the first classes of the CLO Institute.  We were borderline sequestered on the sprawling campus of the Conference Center in VA.  I ate all of my meals with participants and faculty and joined them for drinks and conversation in the late evening.  For the informal learning and relationships between peers and with faculty, the CLO Academy has it nailed. Most of the CLO Academy was in a ‘case-based’ environment.  This was a term I heard there which basically meant we had an in-depth interactive case study that we were put into that mimicked a real company.  As I put in an earlier post, the components of the case study need a little tweaking in order to be completely relevant for a learning executive.  Once these are made I’m sure it will be much more satisfying for participants.  The great part about the case study, though, was that our stellar faculty rotated among teams and gave some insight into their roles and specific methodolgy.  I did take away some nuggets from their informal talks that were not directly related to the case study.The CLO Academy also had three formal lectures from the faculty.  I had many ideas validated in the lectures but the agenda was so tight that we only had time for about two questions total following each of the structured presentations.  Some faculty were available during evening ‘fireside chats’ and meals which provided an opportunity to ask follow-up questions but I would have preferred more time with them in the front of the room for a Q/A. In terms of content and new ideas, I haven’t gotten much (yet) from the CLO Academy.  In their defense, though, the Colloquium was to establish the basics that will be built on by the on-line Capella courses (which for me begin in January due to my vacation).  According to the literature, the purpose of the Colloquium was to “provide a solid foundation for the shift from tactical to strategic thinking.”  I think that the CLO Academy is making a dangerous assumption that all participants are walking in as tactical thinkers.  At least that is how the messages were delivered to participants - that we would make this transition to being strategic thinkers.  Even if this is true for the majority of participants, I don’t know that people want to be told so outright because most people would probably like to think of themselves as strategic. 

 Faculty

• CLO Institute:  The CLO Institute went for variety.  They want to expand the view of learning professionals to include CFOs, COOs, etc. so they brought that expertise into the classroom.  Our presenter for “Level 6: Beyond ROI” was a financial consultant that happened to know about learning expenditures.  She was on a mission to teach us to speak to CFOs and I appreciated that perspective.
• CLO Academy:  The CLO Academy went for star-power.  If you want to interact with and hear from some of the top CLOs and learning executives in the field, this is the place for you.  I had one-on-one conversations with learning executives from Microsoft, General Mills, IBM, EDS, EMC, Delta and Defense Acquisition University.

All in all, I felt that both programs were well worth my time and money.  They were both very different and each had their unique advantages.  I hope that the above review helps anyone trying to determine which to attend.  Please write with any specific questions if you’re still struggling with your decision or are just curious.