BFTP: Wisdom or groupthink from collaboration?

“Ten men in a room trying to come up with their favorite ice cream are going to agree on vanilla,” [movie director Darren Aronofsky] said in The New Yorker. “I’m the rocky road guy.” Timothy Egan, Creativity vs Quants

One of my tech integrations specialists and I are having a friendly debate over the value of collaboration. I see collaboration as a means to an end - just one arrow in a quiver of tools one might use to achieve an outcome. (Been beating this drum for awhile. See 1 and 2..)

Tracy sees it as an inherent good. Even if the end product of collaboration is no better or worse than independent action, the process of working together itself has value. I will admit that developing good working relationships built on mutual respect is a wonderful thing. 

But I still wonder if collaboration is the answer to every problem or plan. I've found three conditions to effective collaborative efforts, ones that keep us all from going over the cliff while holding hands and singing Kumbaya...

1. Multiple POV are represented in the team. The best groups are ones in which each member can make a unique contribution, has specialized knowledge, and may have a different goal (agenda?). If I remember, Surowiecki says it's not the size of the crowd as much as the diversity of the crowd that leads to wisdom.
2. Guidance not consensus is the goal. Groups who cannot deliver a decision that is not agreed to by all parties will always take the safest approach, the one least likely to create significant change. Individuals take risks; groups maintain the status quo. While input and an understanding why a decision is made is critical, 100% agreement on a course of action or plan is not. In fact, it may be the worst choice made. Unless you always want vanilla.
3. Expedience is not essential. Most of us in managerial positions make multiple choices every day. Were I to call just my department leadership team (all four) together to get agreement on each decision I need to make, none of us would get much done. When we do meet (and when members of my department work jointly with other departments), it's about big projects, rules and policies, and basic philosophies (that can then be used to inform specific decisions).

Good leaders and managers build consensus. They make decisions based on multiple frames of reference. They take time when necessary in making good choices.

But ultimately their course of action is one for which they take individual responsibility and they sometimes make choices that are not uniformly popular. And sometimes I am wrong rather than safe.

It's the only way organizations get jamoca almond fudge.

Original post 3/26/14

Why free college is a bad idea

It may be apocrypha, but I remember hearing a story about the Seeing Eye program's early years. As this version went, early recipients of the dogs received them for free. It was discovered that some of the animals were not being well-treated. The organization then began to charge a nominal sum ($100) for the dogs to all who received one. The mistreatment stopped.

I think of that story whenever I hear about people getting something for nothing. And that includes a college education.

Anyone who wants an education past high school should be encouraged to pursue it. Whether at a state, private, or for-profit institution, additional learning is good for the economy, the country, and for an individual's personal development. Anyone of any age should be able to take classes, do guided self-study, or become an apprentice. Period.

But should it be free? A couple presidential candidates are proposing forgiveness of current student loan debts and making college free for all. While a far better way to spend tax dollars than a new submarine or subsidizing a multi-billion dollar corporation, I would not support such a program.

Back in the dark ages when I was an undergraduate at the University of Northern Colorado, I distinctly remember a few students with whom I hung out in the smoking lounge whose parents were paying their college expenses. And often when a course became to difficult or an assignment too time-consuming, those student would simply drop the class. 

I worked my way through college. The total aid I received was a $500 National Defense Loan which meant I worked 42+ hours a week while usually taking 12 credit hours of classes. Trust me, after spending my hard-earned money on a course, there was no way in hell I would drop it and waste that money.

Given the cost of today's higher education, I don't know if I could do this now. But I would like to think I am financially literate enough not accrue debt the equivalent of a mortgage on a house. I am sure I would still work. I am sure I would pick a school with lower tuition costs. I would live frugally. I would be aware of every penny of my own money paid to the school. I would not expect others to pay for my schooling.

We place less value on those things we are simply given than those things we ourselves earn. That is why I am not helping pay for my grandson's college while he is attending. I have pledged to help him with car expenses, had given him money for savings, will probably give him generous birthday and Christmas gifts or cash, and will see if I can help him with any debt he accrues while in college, but he will need to pay his own way. I want him to value his education.

Might learning to pay one's own way might be the best educational experience of college?

The glamorous life of a professional speaker

Multiple attributions to this quote

I was amused by John K. Coyle's article "What it's really like to be a public speaker" (Strategy+Business, June 19, 2019. He writes:

There might be better jobs out there, but I doubt it. Think about all of the highlights in an average public speaking gig. You take an all-expenses-paid trip to a luxurious resort or hotel — often at the beach or in one of the world’s coolest cities. Usually, there is a reception the evening before the speaking event, and you’re introduced to the host organization’s leaders and event sponsors — all inevitably interesting people who open up to you about their lives. You have some fine wine and a great meal, more conversation, and then finally return to your hotel room, where there is often a welcome gift waiting for you. Unlike with consulting and many other road-warrior gigs, you don’t have to stay up late preparing materials for your talk, because you know the material cold.

For 25 years, I did paid public-speaking on the side from my day job. From 1992 to 2017, I spoke at 110 conferences (some multiple years) and did consulting for 75 school districts and education agencies. 95+% were paid gigs. In good years, I made the equivalent of 50% of my school salary in just the 30 or so days I was on the road. Each year when I renegotiated my contract with my public school district, I asked for more days off rather than a higher salary. It seemed to me a win-win, and I eventually wound up with about a 180 day contract (and a very empowered staff).

Like my professional writing work, my professional speaking career was not intentional. I was asked to speak at conferences, I am guessing, because people foolishly thought that since I could write (books, articles, columns, etc.) I could also speak. I think did a fair job and received a good deal of positive feedback so my ego was fed and not just my bank account. And to be honest, I hoped my messages to librarians, teachers, and administrators suggested positive ideas that bettered the lives of students. I took the work seriously and worked hard at becoming an ever-improving presenter.

Some of the "perks" that Coyle mentions above, were indeed a part of my speaking experience. I did get to wonderful places like Sydney and Cairo and Beijing and Nairobi and Cartagena and Tallin (just to mention a few) and I believe I spoke in every state in the US except four. Many times I was able to add on a few days to be a tourist in the exotic place to which someone else had paid me to travel. I would probably never hiked Kilimanjaro or explored Angkor Wat or rafted the Snake River had these adventures not been added to a speaking gig. I loved my Platinum frequent flyer status. Swank hotels I did not find appealing except for the Shangri La in Bangkok. Were I a billionaire, I might just live there. I don't remember the fine wines Coyle mentioned, but then perhaps he was not speaking at library and school tech conferences.

As glam as some of the jobs might seem, the bulk of the work I did was right here in the good old USA. A typical trip would consist of leaving work in my school district about noon to catch a 4pm flight that would get me to the city where I would speak about 8 or 9 pm. I'd need to be up and ready and down to the conference venue by 7 am to check the AV stuff, meet the host, etc. I'd give my talk(s) and head to the airport for a late afternoon flight, arriving back in Minneapolis usually after 10pm. After a 2 hour drive home, hit the sack, and be ready for the next day at the real job. Most speaking work required hours of customized preparation to fit conference themes and organizer goals in advance of the conference as well, so many of my weekends were less than recreational.

Over the years I sometimes thought about ditching the day job and speaking full time. But I never really felt I had the chutzpah needed to make a real career of it. I've never felt comfortable self-promoting - feeling there is a little snake-oil salesman in all keynote speakers/consultants. (Sometime the more snake oil, the bigger the speaker.) I prided myself that my talks were always grounded in the genuine experiences of my work as a technology and library director. I wasn't all theory and prognostication. Were I to leave the regular job, I would lose what kept me grounded and authentic. I also liked that steady paycheck and now I am happy to have a pension. I really had the best of both worlds - speaker and regular Joe employee.

I don't get asked to speak anymore. The world has moved on and younger, brighter, and more energetic people now inspire and inform and entertain today's practicing educators. And that is the way it should be. I am hugely grateful for the opportunities I was given over the years. But it is also pretty nice to be a "has been." My vacations are vacations and my weekends are my own.