by Lorri Zipperer, Rio Grande Chapter, Leadership & Management Division

Learning from failure is a key element of the systems thinker.¹

As my colleague and SLA Board member Sara Tompson and I have touted, systems thinking sensibilities illustrate an opportunity for librarians and the organizations they serve². To build onto the element of learning from failure that Edmondson³, Shumaker⁴ and others have stated it is important for an organization to learn, I’d like to suggest a new special librarian: the failure librarian.

Organizations need to have a strategy in place to learn from their mistakes. Whether the mistakes are one at a time – as in health care – or affect a huge customer base (i.e. Netflix) the understanding of how information, evidence and knowledge can be brought to bear to understand what happened is critical. This approach looks at evidence to inform direction, identify risks, strategize new approaches, and gain from employee/participant experiences to enrich the decision making process. Who better to help with that then the special librarian, as:

• We understand networking.
• We understand the value of information and how to find it.
• We understand what evidence will be most applicable where, when and for whom.
• We understand our leadership and what makes them tick.
• We understand how biases can affect decision making which enables us to seek to counteract them with good information and evidence⁵.
• We understand the boundaries and silos in our organizations and how to navigate them successfully to connect knowledge workers to enable innovation and problem solving.
• We understand that both explicit and tacit knowledge are important for decision making and seek to find both types of knowledge and respect the conduit no matter where it may exist in the organizational hierarchy.
• We understand that blame-free exploration into what went wrong is the only way to move improvement forward.
• We understand that mental models can both have negative and positive effects and seek to reveal those when they affect decision making and action amongst our staff, our peers and our management.
• We understand that a commitment to generating evidence-based solutions will enable them to be sustainable, efficient and effective.
• We understand we too can play a part in failure and seek to improve our own processes and behaviors to counteract those factors.

Or at least we should.

Our future has within its sights the potential as a positive force in many industries if we deeply understand these things and are ready to recognize failure as an opportunity to partner, innovate, and excel.

1. . The Fifth Discipline. New York, NY: Random House; 1990.
2. . “Systems thinking: a new avenue for involvement and growth.” Information Outlook. (December 2006): 16-20. (http://www.sla.org/io/2006/12/) Find Articles has posted the article as well http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FWE/is_12_10/ai_n27098382/
3. . Strategies for learning from failure. Harvard Business Review. April 2011;89:48-55. Available at: http://hbr.org/2011/04/strategies-for-learning-from-failure/ar/1
4. . ‘Brilliant Mistakes’: Finding Opportunity in Failures. Knowledge@Wharton (http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2869)
5. . Before you make that big decision… Harvard Business Review. June 2011;89:50-60, 137 Available at: http://hbr.org/2011/06/the-big-idea-before-you-make-that-big-decision/ar/1

Many thanks to my colleagues in the Rio Grande chapter who had a spirited conversation on the Edmondson article that contributed to the thinking that helped to generate this post, and Sara Tompson for editing the draft.

Lorri Zipperer, MA is a cybrarian and the principal at Zipperer Project Management in Albuquerque, NM. Lorri has been in the information field for over two decades, over half of which have been focused on health care. She was a founding staff member of the National Patient Safety Foundation and currently works with clients to provide patient safety information, knowledge sharing, project management and strategic development guidance.  She was recognized with a 2005 Institute for Safe Medication Practices “Cheers” award for her work with librarians, libraries and their involvement in patient safety and her expertise was highlighted in the June 2009 Medical Library Association policy on the role of librarians in patient safety.  Ms. Zipperer contributed chapters on knowledge sharing work for medical librarians and systems thinking as a strategic development approach to core library management publications in early 2011.  She is currently editing two books for Gower Publications, UK on knowledge management (http://www.gowerpublishing.com/isbn/9781409438830) and knowledge evidence information sharing in patient safety (http://www.gowerpublishing.com/isbn/9781409438571).

Hello from Wisconsin! We are delighted to contribute a week’s worth of postings from the Midwest! You’ll see that Wisconsin isn’t just about the cheese—our chapter boasts 120 members from diverse environments: corporate, law, academic, and other settings, many of us from unique national companies and associations. Our state’s two library schools have renewed focus on special librarianship and growing interest from our student members is evident. We are an active, enthusiastic chapter and happy to contribute our thoughts on future readiness! It’s great in the Dairy State!

“When life hands you lemons, make lemonade…” is a mantra we often hear bandied about, and with it often comes resignation. Nonetheless, to be “future ready,” we must change our attitudes about circumstances, and confront the curves life throws as growth opportunities, not traumatic horrors.

Three years ago, my comfortable, fairly established and defined career as a full-time association research librarian abruptly changed with reduction to a part-time schedule—four days a week. I felt deluged with uncertainty and lemons.

I allowed myself the luxury of a brief hiatus for frustration, angst, and wonderings, and then realized that mindset was a waste of time. I realized the new schedule created an opportunity— the additional day per week would allow me to try new things I hadn’t been able to do as a full-timer.

With this extra day, I discovered aspects of myself I didn’t know existed:

• I’ve enjoyed “stay-at-home mom” status for the first time, even if only temporarily.
• I considered a career change to court reporting and went back to school to explore this option—and failed miserably! But in this “failure” I realized my true calling is the profession for which I am already academically prepared.
• I next accepted the opportunity to teach two sections of information literacy at the undergraduate level to many students drawn from a largely underserved population, several of whom faced astounding life challenges…and I’d never taught anything before. But I did it, successfully, and made some wonderful connections with many of my students.

Meanwhile, my research librarian job has required that I adapt. And I’m enjoying it, as I explore heretofore untapped abilities. I’m now a published writer at my association and am reinventing my role as information professional in other proactive ways, with a positive attitude of willingness and flexibility. It seems the biggest challenges often can bring the biggest rewards.

I also accepted an invitation from my SLA chapter to join the board as president-elect and program chair for 2011. This, too, has been a remarkable opportunity for personal and professional growth. I enjoy meeting my colleagues and interacting with our vendor partners, and I’ve enhanced my resume. My own attendance at SLA events is a very different and enlightening experience in a leadership capacity. These connections and experiences are invaluable.

Here are several guidelines that can help any of us become “future ready”:

• Identify your personal life and career priorities and goals, and find a balance.
• Discover your strengths and weaknesses.
• “Failure” offers experience and potential for future success.
• Don’t underestimate what you can achieve.
• Be flexible and find new choices when presented with “unwanted” change.
• Know what makes you happy.
• Be open to learning about yourself and others through interactions with people of all ages, backgrounds, and life experiences.
• It’s fun to try new things!
• One is never a “finished product,” and commitment to lifelong learning is critical to personal growth.

Recently, someone asked me where I see myself in five years. I can’t make predictions, and five years ago I wouldn’t have guessed my current realities and accomplishments.

I’m confident I’ll be in a good place, though. The future starts now, not years from now. All of us can learn job specifics and technology as practicalities. More important is that we’re proactive—not only from 9-5 but with an ongoing positive attitude and enthusiasm for continual learning and personal growth.

We build our futures on the many new and different environments and experiences we seek and find. This self-knowledge, proactivity, and forging of connections enables us to move ahead without trepidation. And that’s what future success is all about. Be a go-getter! Know thyself! Lemonade is actually a refreshing beverage.

Is your glass half empty, or half full?

Lora Kloth is Research Librarian at Credit Union National Association, Madison, Wisconsin, and President-Elect of SLA’s Wisconsin Chapter.

Note: This article first appeared in Front Line, the newsletter of CUNA.  The views expressed in this piece are Lora Kloth’s and her’s alone and do not reflect the views of Credit Union National Association (CUNA).

Hello from the nation’s capital!  DC/SLA is excited to be contributing all of this week’s FutureReady365 posts (thanks to our future-thinking Communications Secretary, Chris Vestal).  We are a diverse community of 800+ information professionals, with members from D.C., Maryland, Virginia, as well as 30 other U.S. states and 12 countries.  You’ll see this diversity reflected in the range of future ready ideas presented in posts throughout the week.  We hope our posts will spark some thought and conversation and, of course, your comments. Most of all, we want to help keep the spark of the FutureReady blog alive  – a spark that’s become a fire, gathering us around it to brainstorm our way into the future. — Mary Talley, DC/SLA President (2011)

by Hannah Sommers, Washington, DC Chapter, News Division

To be ready for the future, we should learn better how to fail.  Our culture seems to be taking a moment to consider failure, from the New York Times Magazine feature “What if the Secret to Success is Failure?” to widespread reflection on Steve Jobs’ “wilderness” years between stints at Apple.  A recent estimate suggests that Google fails 36% of the time. And finally, who hasn’t been exposed to an earnest or sarcastic usage of the #FAIL! expression in a conversation, or on Twitter itself?  The zeitgeist has us debating – casually and more seriously – the value of failure.

It’s also something we’ve been doing in our project work at NPR. No one – in management or in project teams – wants to see failure happen on a large scale. Yet, if we fear failure and avoid it at all costs we won’t challenge ourselves to explore ideas we’re not completely sure of. We won’t enjoy the rewards that creative work should bring.

At NPR we’re using an Agile process framework to help expose and contain failure. Ultimately, we want to work without fear of failing. We want to accept small failures as a natural and expected part of the creative process. The Agile framework provides a safety net of rapid development cycles and quick course corrections. There’s lots of good documentation out there on Agile (even a posting on this site), so I won’t go in-depth here. What I will add are a few thoughts on how our profession’s approach to failure could evolve to benefit the communities we work with – to make us all more Future Ready.

If we are not afraid to fail . . . it will probably feel weird for a while.

If we are not afraid to fail . . . we might start thinking about risk differently.

If we are not afraid to fail . . . we might think about our jobs differently.

If we are not afraid to fail . . . we might look at the failures of others differently.

If we are not afraid to fail . . . we might conclude that not trying can be a sort of failure.

If you are not afraid to fail . . . other people will probably want you on their team.

If you are not afraid to fail . . . you will really be in control of that which you can control.

If you are not afraid to fail . . . you will actually fail now and then.

If you are not afraid to fail . . . there may be pain.

If you are not afraid to fail . . . there may be joy.

If you are not afraid to fail . . . you will learn to recover from failures.

Hannah Sommers is Program Coordinator in the NPR Library, where she coordinates the product development efforts of NPR’s Library teams.  She serves as DC-SLA Treasurer and tweets at @hsommers.

by August Jackson, Washington, DC Chapter, CI, IT, and Taxonomy Divisions

Two topics that most people go out of their way to avoid are fear and failure. I’m going to tell you about specific times I’ve felt fear or experienced failure. I share this to encourage you to listen to your fear and court smart failure to build a portfolio of experimentation to build new skills, buttress your reputation and expand your network.

Please forgive an MBA-toting strategy guy from throwing around a term like “portfolio.” Portfolio strategy consists of making multiple bets with varying levels of risk. The idea is that we have safe bets that will generate reliable returns. We also have a few options that may generate high returns but also might subject us to a higher potential for loss. When we invest in an index fund that tracks the S&P 500 or balance our 401(K) we’re employing portfolio strategy. Companies have portfolios of products that include legacy cash cows and new products that may either become superstars or flop.

The modern career should follow a portfolio strategy to augment day job “stability” with cutting edge projects and activities that may pay off big– or not. We need to take on projects and use tools with the full knowledge that they might not pan out.

Experimentation matters for librarians and related elite knowledge workers because there is an expectation that we are on the vanguard of information technology and tools. Our stakeholders rely on us to be the early adopters that are aware of what’s far over the horizon. That’s a critical value we deliver. We don’t have the luxury to wait for certainty that a new tool or medium is the next Twitter before we engage with it.

Here are my criteria for choosing experiments:

1. The experiment has the potential to deliver value to my professional community.
2. There is an opportunity to develop new skills.
3. The project does not require me to seek anyone’s permission. I love projects that have no expense or that I can fund out of my own pocket and that I can do on my spare time.

The issue of permission deserves attention. For many librarians with whom I speak this is a major source of fear that keeps them from experimenting with tools and projects that clearly interest them. So many work places have prohibitive policies and arcane processes. Policies spell out what cannot be done with company-owned tools in the name of productivity, information security or reputation. Steer clear of these issues and build experimental projects that are separate from your day job.

Now I want to tell you about two experiments I’ve undertaken. The first is The Competitive Intelligence Podcast, which I first published in 2005. The first time I learned what podcasts are I saw their disrutpive potential. I was particularly excited by the low costs of production and distribution that would open up opportunities to reach niche markets. I enjoyed setting up my own web site, RSS feed and learning how to record and edit digital audio. The first episodes were very low quality, especially with respect to my ability to speak coherently and edit competently. In the years since I’ve published 40 episodes of the podcast that have been downloaded over 60,000 times. I’ve interviewed the leaders in my profession. I funded the modest costs for the podcast out of my own pocket. I’ve built a skill set that I’ve been able to use in my day job.

The second experiment is the Competitive Intelligence Twitter Chat undertaken with my fellow CI professionals Sean Campbell and Scott Swigart. A Twitter chat is a scheduled, real-time discussion around a specific topic with a common hashtag. In our case we used the #cichat hashtag. Our chat was only the second Twitter chat in which I had ever participated, so I barely knew what I was doing. Our first chats were not very well attended, and participation was going down. After a few months we decided that we should step back and re-evluate the medium, our promotion of the sessions and the logistics. We may revisit the project in the future, but in the meantime we did make some new connections, and now I’m an experienced Twitter chat leader.

A good experiment will generate a modest amount of fear. You’ll also know that you’re in a good place if you don’t know entirely what you’re doing and that you’ll learn as you go. If you’re not a little afraid and don’t face some real risk of failure then you’re not experimenting enough. This is the type of experimentation that is key to evolving your career to be Future Ready.

August Jackson is a competitive intelligence and strategy professional who focuses on the role of information and data as the basis for competitive advantage. In his day job he supports Verizon’s enterprise
strategy and market intelligence. He also cofounded Mosi Systems to help organizations improve insight and foresight using cutting edge technologies to organize and analyze data and information. He blogs at
http://augustjackson.net and also produces the Competitive Intelligence Podcast which can be found at http://www.cipodcast.com. August can be reached by e-mail at august@augustjackson.net and you
can follow him on Twitter @8of12.