More than a year after Jane Kolbe suggested forming a reading and discussion group to review literature on leadership and management, the group has completed its first six books.
Thoughts on Books: A quick survey of the participants at the last session showed that most of the books resonated with someone. The favorite seemed to be A Simple Life, although it’s fair to note that we had just finished our discussion of that book. The Bennis book On Becoming a Leader, the Boyatzis and McKee book on Resonant Leadership and Bolman and Deal’s Reframing Organizations all had much to offer, and seemed to build on one another in a meaningful way. One person noted how much she had gained from Reframing Organizations, and that she’ll keep that book on her desk from now on. Another person liked The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry because it provided a different model of looking at organizations. While The Abilene Paradox was a story we occasionally referred back to, the rest of the book did not have enough substance to recommend using it again.
Participants: Most sessions averaged seven participants. There were six readers who attended most of the sessions; another seven readers joined for one or two sessions. The time commitment to read the books, plus the immediately-after-work discussion time probably kept some people from attending more regularly. Most of those who attended regularly made a good attempt at reading the book beforehand. Although people told me they read the blog site, they did not choose to post comments there.
Outcomes: While the planned outcome may have been to encourage a group of people to learn about leadership and management, there were several of unexpected outcomes related to the project. One of the regular group members received a promotion that moved her into a pivotal management/leadership role. One public library system had staff who monitored the project, read the blog, and eventually began to attend the discussion. The library system is looking at incorporating a reading and discussion program into its leadership program. Discussions between the participants, who represented three different library systems, also led to a greater appreciation for one another’s libraries, and encouraged some future partnership activities. For myself, I am working to embrace my colleagues' differences in their approaches to work, and to provide the space to others for their own "tinkering."
Recommendations: At the last meeting, the group discussed continuing the reading-and-discussion group, perhaps after a summer break. One member suggested looking at books in an online library book excerpt program. The group may also want to consider collections of articles, blog sites or websites. If we select pieces that are not book length, we may want to select several pieces, as I’m not sure we had enough to discuss when we focused our talk on Abilene Paradox.
The group may want to select books ahead of time – participants appreciated knowing what we were going to read, and to have the time to find the books. The group included people who always bought the books, and those who always checked them out of the library. Availability may be another consideration when selecting the books.
The group will also want to discuss how the blog site should continue. It’s a good place to list the books/reading material, and meeting times. Would members be willing to take turns posting a summary/essay, questions and links before hand? Perhaps this is something a revolving discussion leader might do each month. Is it necessary to post a summary?
Final Note: Thank you to everyone who helped with this project. I appreciate the help of Jane Kolbe, Jana Bradley and Tom Wilding in helping me to frame this project, and to select suitable reading materials. I am so pleased that Jana was able to join us for one of the discussions, and appreciate the time she took from both her other professional duties and personal life to do so. Those who participated in the discussions were just great! I learned as much from you, and your insights, as I did from the books. Thank you all.
Laura
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
April 30 Book Discussion
Book: Wheatley, Margaret and Kellner-Rogers, Myron. A Simpler Way. 1998. 135 pages. $19.95.
Preliminaries: Seven of us met Monday night to discuss the book. Snacks weren’t up to par, but everyone ate the trail mix anyway.
Book Discussion: Although Jane was prepared and ready to lead a discussion, this book generated such a lively response, that the discussion soon took on a life of its own as participants reflected on different aspects of the book, and how it applied to their world. In some ways, the book created the very self-organizing, creative system it described.
The discussion began with one participant asking how we are tweaking our organizations, and ended with a lively discussion on tinkers and putterers. In between, we discussed fear and pain, and whether they inform or control; we talked about visionary leaders (“the most informed person in the organization”); we talked about whether knowledge was organic; we talked about the future of libraries (but didn’t figure it out – yet!); and we talked about the importance of information and knowing our customers.
The group discussed the role of the leader as tinkerer, or at least, nurturer of tinkerers. It’s the tinkering process that allows organizations to address change. We agreed that a tinkerer needs to be open to new ideas, inquisitive; and needs to be addressing an important question. We discussed whether a tinkerer needs to have a plan. While we didn’t reach consensus on this, I think we did feel the tinkerer has some vision of what they are trying to accomplish. In comparison, a putterer may take on small problems, but doesn’t have a sense of how their work ties into the bigger picture.
Something to Think About: How do you encourage tinkering in an organization?
Preliminaries: Seven of us met Monday night to discuss the book. Snacks weren’t up to par, but everyone ate the trail mix anyway.
Book Discussion: Although Jane was prepared and ready to lead a discussion, this book generated such a lively response, that the discussion soon took on a life of its own as participants reflected on different aspects of the book, and how it applied to their world. In some ways, the book created the very self-organizing, creative system it described.
The discussion began with one participant asking how we are tweaking our organizations, and ended with a lively discussion on tinkers and putterers. In between, we discussed fear and pain, and whether they inform or control; we talked about visionary leaders (“the most informed person in the organization”); we talked about whether knowledge was organic; we talked about the future of libraries (but didn’t figure it out – yet!); and we talked about the importance of information and knowing our customers.
The group discussed the role of the leader as tinkerer, or at least, nurturer of tinkerers. It’s the tinkering process that allows organizations to address change. We agreed that a tinkerer needs to be open to new ideas, inquisitive; and needs to be addressing an important question. We discussed whether a tinkerer needs to have a plan. While we didn’t reach consensus on this, I think we did feel the tinkerer has some vision of what they are trying to accomplish. In comparison, a putterer may take on small problems, but doesn’t have a sense of how their work ties into the bigger picture.
Something to Think About: How do you encourage tinkering in an organization?
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